Christie always made sure to maintain deniability. That's why when Wildstein resigned he didn't ask why.
There's an alternate theory that it was to punish the state Senator from Fort Lee, who had the nerve to stop some of Chrisie's judicial appointments just days before the bridge closure was ordered.
As for being 'smarter than that,' smart people do tremendously, unbelievably stupid things all the time. Nixon bugged and harassed the opposition in a campaign he was going to win in a landslide regardless. Clinton got a BJ from an intern in the White House. Dick Cheney / Scooter Libby revealed a CIA agent's identity because her husband said mean things about him in the paper. John Edwards got some photographer pregnant while running for president alongside his wife who was dying of cancer. Politicians have sent wiener pics from their own phones, used aliases to sext over twitter while planning a NYC mayoral run, run off to Argentina on a state-paid jet to see a mistress while saying you're walking the Appalachian Trail.
If the Port Authority people had decided to shut down the traffic, but there was no evidence that Chrisie's office was involved, this wouldn't be a major story. The guy would be fired and that's that. The difference is that Chrisie's Deputy Chief of Staff directly ordered it (in a suspiciously causal and pre-planned way) and laughed about it afterwards. Where is the similar email chain from Obama's Deputy Chief of Staff ordering the IRS audits against Tea Partiers again, now that we've had months of investigations and hearings (that actually just showed the IRS audited OWS too, though the chair of the Republican investigations hid that fact to allow the outrage to continue)?
There's always a vague truth that "the buck stops here" and both Obama and Chrisie deserve some flak for what happens under their watch, but there's a huge difference between someone down the line doing something bad and your deputy ordering someone down the line to do something bad.
I see what you did there. And I approve. And in a way I agree. But in another way, I disagree. The IRS scandal for instance was aimed squarely at his political opponents. I don't like it - I REALLY don't like it when it's the IRS, that's Nixonian - but I've grown to expect it. This little stunt was not only incredibly petty, it was also aimed at innocent bystanders because their collateral damage would cause some pain to a political opponent. Even for politics, that's below the belt.I can see the outrage at Christie if this is tied back to him. But all I see is the leader of an executive branch claiming he didn't know what pettiness his subordinates were up to. :whiste:
Agreed, on both counts. But I don't know that I'll ever really believe he is cleared. Goes back to the Ron Paul thing - if he didn't know, why the hell not?I like the way Christie is handling this. His press conference lasted 107 minutes until he exhausted all questions from the press. Reporters were actually complaining the press conference lasted too long! I personally hope the Federal investigation clears him.
That certainly makes more sense. Your second point is valid as well, although I'd have an easier time understanding stopping traffic for a BJ or a nice piece of ass. But maybe that's why I'm not a politician.There's an alternate theory that it was to punish the state Senator from Fort Lee, who had the nerve to stop some of Chrisie's judicial appointments just days before the bridge closure was ordered.
As for being 'smarter than that,' smart people do tremendously, unbelievably stupid things all the time. Nixon bugged and harassed the opposition in a campaign he was going to win in a landslide regardless. Clinton got a BJ from an intern in the White House. Dick Cheney / Scooter Libby revealed a CIA agent's identity because her husband said mean things about him in the paper. John Edwards got some photographer pregnant while running for president alongside his wife who was dying of cancer. Politicians have sent wiener pics from their own phones, used aliases to sext over twitter while planning a NYC mayoral run, run off to Argentina on a state-paid jet to see a mistress while saying you're walking the Appalachian Trail.
Fine. Obama is no different with all the idiot moves that the underlings in his admin have done. Notice I explicitly did NOT USE the 's' word here. 'Plausible deniability' has been a hallmark in politics / business for ages. Not justifying it; just stating reality.
Even if he's innocent of direct involvement, he clearly failed to manage his staff competently and allowed a climate where "political hardball" was considered acceptable behavior. Two big negatives in my book.Agreed, on both counts. But I don't know that I'll ever really believe he is cleared. Goes back to the Ron Paul thing - if he didn't know, why the hell not?
Republicans don't actually want to prosecute Obama over these manufactured scandals because if it actually went to court, they'd embarrass themselves with the lack of evidence. It's in the best interests of the GOP to just keep talking about it rather than doing anything substantive to punish Obama because it helps rake in campaign dollars/get voter support for re-election. It's also great Fodder for rightwing media.
Is that why Bush, Cheney, Rover and all those other criminals such as bankers have never been brought to trial by Obama the Righteous?
You're just another partisan, Spideykus07
Is that why Bush, Cheney, Rover and all those other criminals such as bankers have never been brought to trial by Obama the Righteous?
You're just another partisan, Spideykus07
Obama didn't need to:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scooter_Libby#Trial.2C_conviction.2C_and_sentencing
You're fucking retarded.
You're a useless waste of meat.
And you're literal subhuman garbage incapable of rational thought.
And here's Spideykus07's cheerleader, right on cue.
LOL, keep raging, you buffoon.
You're a useless waste of meat.
stfu children or i'll have tony soprano, er, i meant chris christie come and sit on you. :d
STFU children or i'll have Tony Soprano, er, I meant Chris Christie come and sit on you.
STFU children or i'll have Tony Soprano, er, I meant Chris Christie come and sit on you.
While it is common for the top guy to be insulated from the messy stuff there is a huge difference in not knowing about a policy failure vs one of your direct reports orchestrating a political hit.
To some extent, yes. Someone died as a result of the traffic deal. Several innocent Mexicans and one US border agent dies as a result of F&F. And 4 died as a result of major oversight incompetence in Benghazi. Christie fired the idiot that did the hit. Who's head rolled as a result of F&F or Benghazi?
Again, note that I am not using the 'S' word.
While you can certainly argue that Obama should have fired people anyway, there's a clear difference between someone being bad at their job and someone deliberately attacking your constituents in order to punish political enemies.