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Time for some TRAFFIC!

hgc said:
This is something that struck me within the first few minutes of the beginning of the "epic" press conference. Christie was providing tons of irrelevant detail - to distract and wear down his questioners. I was amazed at the press malpractice. If Chris Christie the prosecutor was met with such stonewalling from a witness, he'd know how to get his relevant questions answered.
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I wonder sometimes if the press in general has been tamed by years and years of charges of "liberal media" and "they should be fair and just report the news." As Eric Alterman wrote in "What Liberal Media?", "playing the ref" can be a very effective tactic.

Where have you gone, Sam Donaldson?
 
Regnad Kcin said:
I wonder sometimes if the press in general has been tamed by years and years of charges of "liberal media" and "they should be fair and just report the news." As Eric Alterman wrote in "What Liberal Media?", "playing the ref" can be a very effective tactic.

Where have you gone, Sam Donaldson?
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I don't think this was a case of skittishness around "liberal media." I think they were not recognizing that they weren't getting answers to questions that matter. I can't believe, for instance, how much time was taken by Christie talking about such irrelevancies as his own emotions, only to be followed with questions that elicited more of the same. So, that's a common press malfunction - inappropriate interest in their subjects' emotions. Also, how could Christie's repeated assertions about how terrible it is for his staff to lie to him not be followed with questions asking isn't what they did to Fort Lee a whole lot worse than the offense of lying to the boss?
 
Certainly. I'm only suggesting a prevailing pattern in news gathering these days; the Christie PC is not a unique example of what you describe.
 
Regnad Kcin said:
I wonder sometimes if the press in general has been tamed by years and years of charges of "liberal media" and "they should be fair and just report the news."
.....
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This writer holds a similar view:
I think the mainstream media and its dominant pundits are unable to take in exactly how far to the right the Republican Party has swung in the last decade, and so they need to invent “moderates” to keep from writing over and over about the party’s departure from political sanity.
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http://www.salon.com/2014/01/13/how_the_media_created_chris_christie/
 
hgc said:
I don't think this was a case of skittishness around "liberal media." I think they were not recognizing that they weren't getting answers to questions that matter. I can't believe, for instance, how much time was taken by Christie talking about such irrelevancies as his own emotions, only to be followed with questions that elicited more of the same. So, that's a common press malfunction - inappropriate interest in their subjects' emotions. Also, how could Christie's repeated assertions about how terrible it is for his staff to lie to him not be followed with questions asking isn't what they did to Fort Lee a whole lot worse than the offense of lying to the boss?
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Whether or not the media have done their due diligence on this is irrelevant, because there are lawsuits afoot. And that means court-ordered subpoenas, which means stuff will get dug up regardless. And if/when it does, the media will return like a flock of crows picking at the most freshly-dead, stinking corpse.
 
Player in NJ bridge scandal will talk for immunity

TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — The former appointee of Gov. Chris Christie who directed lane closures that backed up traffic for hours in one New Jersey town is reiterating that he is ready to share more information if he can be granted immunity from prosecution.

Meanwhile, 17 other people and three organizations are being issued subpoenas as lawmakers try to learn exactly how the September lane closures on an approach to the George Washington Bridge from the community of Fort Lee happened and why.

David Wildstein, whom Christie appointed to a position in the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, has already supplied a legislative committee with the most damning documents in the case so far, including an email from a Christie aide saying it was "time for some traffic problems in Fort Lee," a sign that the lane-closing plot was hatched by Christie's aides as a political vendetta.

Wildstein's lawyer Alan Zegas told The Associated Press on Friday that there has not been any offer of immunity from the U.S. Attorney's Office, which is reviewing the matter. "If he has immunity from the relevant entities, he'll talk," Zegas said.
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I wonder what he would say though. Immunity should come only on condition that he tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. Depending on what he says, that could be very bad for Christie. How loyal is he? Is he willing to to take the fall to protect Christie? Or are there people between him and Christie (Bridget Anne Kelly for example) willing to take the fall to protect Christie?

Also, what law(s), exactly, were potentially violated here?
 
Puppycow said:
I wonder what he would say though. Immunity should come only on condition that he tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.
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AFAIK, that's a standard condition of immunity. If they find out you lied, they can revoke it and hit you with even harder penalties.
 
Holy cow, this is too much. Remember how in the guv's "epic" press conference he made much hay about not knowing Wildstein that well, and about how his man Baroni at the PA asked if it was OK to hire this Wildstein guy whom the guv barely knew in High School?

Turns out to be a little different than that, according to CNN:

Give him a position at the top of the agency; he's a good friend of the governor.

That's how David Wildstein was introduced to the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey in 2010, according to a former employee with extensive knowledge of the agency's hiring practices.

Soon after, Wildstein was named the director of Interstate Capital Projects, a title that previously had not existed at the bi-state agency, setting in motion a career that would eventually place the former political blogger at the center of the lane closures controversy at the George Washington Bridge.
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http://edition.cnn.com/2014/01/16/politics/christie-wildstein-port-authority/index.html

Soon enough someone is going to compile the list of lies told by the heroic guv in that phony baloney performance.
 
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Biscuit said:
Who is going to be the Governor's Oliver North and take the fall?
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When Ollie North looked bound to fall
Out of nowhere twas saved by Fawn Hall
But when Governor Christie
Tells stories all twisty
Dear Bridget will do bugger all.
 
hgc said:
Holy cow, this is too much. Remember how in the guv's "epic" press conference he made much hay about not knowing Wildstein that well, and about how his man Baroni at the PA asked if it was OK to hire this Wildstein guy whom the guv barely knew in High School?

Turns out to be a little different than that, according to CNN:
CNN said:
Give him a position at the top of the agency; he's a good friend of the governor.

That's how David Wildstein was introduced to the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey in 2010, according to a former employee with extensive knowledge of the agency's hiring practices.
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Just to be clear: Christie is not claiming the Wildstein is a good friend. Baroni is not claiming that Wildstein is a good friend. Wildstein is not claiming that Wildstein is a good friend. CNN is not claiming that Wildstein is a good friend.

CNN is reporting that somebody else is claiming that yet another person entirely, who is neither Christie nor Wildstein, once claimed that Wildstein is a close friend.

You're citing this CNN report like you never heard of name-dropping before. One would think that with all the true dirt about Christie out there, you'd find something a little more impressive to bring to the table.
 
Puppycow said:
Player in NJ bridge scandal will talk for immunity



I wonder what he would say though. Immunity should come only on condition that he tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. Depending on what he says, that could be very bad for Christie. How loyal is he? Is he willing to to take the fall to protect Christie? Or are there people between him and Christie (Bridget Anne Kelly for example) willing to take the fall to protect Christie?

Also, what law(s), exactly, were potentially violated here?
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Interfering with interstate commerce, using staff paid on the government dime for political duties, and there are additional civil law issues, but I believe you were asking about criminal.
 
theprestige said:
Just to be clear: Christie is not claiming the Wildstein is a good friend. Baroni is not claiming that Wildstein is a good friend. Wildstein is not claiming that Wildstein is a good friend. CNN is not claiming that Wildstein is a good friend.

CNN is reporting that somebody else is claiming that yet another person entirely, who is neither Christie nor Wildstein, once claimed that Wildstein is a close friend.

You're citing this CNN report like you never heard of name-dropping before. One would think that with all the true dirt about Christie out there, you'd find something a little more impressive to bring to the table.
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The answer lies in the question of what qualified Wildstein for his Christie appointed job. If it was a political reward (like heck of a job Brownie) or was he simply the most qualified, it will add some insight.

And one need not look hard to find that answer. Christie created the position and appointed his close political ally, Wildstein.

Ex-blogger is Governor Christie's eyes, ears inside the Port Authority
SATURDAY, MARCH 3, 2012
Longtime employees, however, privately describe a man intent on carrying out a political agenda rather than one built on reform or improving the region’s transportation system. They believe the appointment of Wildstein and dozens of others recommended by the governor — for jobs ranging from toll collector to deputy executive director — are evidence that political loyalty trumps merit. -
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Note the article is two years old, untainted by the current political wind.
 
theprestige said:
Just to be clear: Christie is not claiming the Wildstein is a good friend. Baroni is not claiming that Wildstein is a good friend. Wildstein is not claiming that Wildstein is a good friend. CNN is not claiming that Wildstein is a good friend.

CNN is reporting that somebody else is claiming that yet another person entirely, who is neither Christie nor Wildstein, once claimed that Wildstein is a close friend.

You're citing this CNN report like you never heard of name-dropping before. One would think that with all the true dirt about Christie out there, you'd find something a little more impressive to bring to the table.
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You're right that we don't know if Wildstein is Christie's friend or not, and I don't actually care about that detail. What seems apparent to me, and you're welcome to disagree, is that Wildstein was placed in that job as a political operative on Christie's behalf. I don't know his entire career history, but unless he has some experience working in government (or the private sector) in some capacity related to infrastructure development, then what was he doing there?

I find it mostly interesting because Christie, in his "epic" press conference, acted like he had practically no connection to this guy. And as with my prior critique, Christie larded up this story with the usual irrelevant details so as to distract from what really matters. He told a long story about how he barely knew him in high school, they met because they both worked on the Kean campaign, he (Christie) was an athlete and this guy had other interests, they didn't run in the same circles, he hadn't seen him in the years after high school, blah blah blah. And in the meanwhile, what matters is how this guy came to be hired and what he was supposed to be doing.

Well, we now know what he was doing: Carrying out Christie's political hit jobs by any means necessary. Is it any surprise that he didn't need relevant experience to hold his position?
 
Skeptic Ginger said:
Ex-blogger is Governor Christie's eyes, ears inside the Port Authority
SATURDAY, MARCH 3, 2012

Note the article is two years old, untainted by the current political wind.
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Interesting article, thanks.

Funny that he was supposedly there to "reform" the "wasteful and dysfunctional" place. That was the cover story anyway.

ETA: last line of the article:
He also quoted that great political strategist Machiavelli: “Whosoever desires constant success must change his conduct with the times.”
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Hmm, if remaining loyal to Christie is no longer useful to him, and he's an admirer of Machiavelli, maybe that is the advice he will follow? I don't see what benefit he gets personally from remaining loyal to Christie anymore.
 
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Puppycow said:
Interesting article, thanks.

Funny that he was supposedly there to "reform" the "wasteful and dysfunctional" place. That was the cover story anyway.

ETA: last line of the article:


Hmm, if remaining loyal to Christie is no longer useful to him, and he's an admirer of Machiavelli, maybe that is the advice he will follow? I don't see what benefit he gets personally from remaining loyal to Christie anymore.
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The passcode to the pre-arranged offshore account?

Just kidding... he's hosed. :p
 
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