Although I don't speak for MC, I think he was telling you that he was poking fun, speaking tongue in cheek to a certain extent.

I have to go with Afs on this one, as far as believing that Christie is lying. Everything about his personality shows me that he IS a micro-manager, and I find it hard to believe that he would give that kind of authority to his staff, the authority to shut down major traffic routes.

That doesn't make it a GOP exclusive. Every politician lies and covers up. It's in their blood, I swear.

As for his nomination in 2016, he, like Giuliani, suffers from being a little bit too New York (and I say that because the nation perceives the tristate area in that regard), a bit too outspoken, a bit too abrasive. However, he doesn't have the morality issues that Giuliani had - the crazy marriages, the girlfriend, the split with the Church and so on. I was always sorry that Giuliani didn't run for Governor after September 11th. He would have been a shoe-in, and we would have been spared that pig Spitzer.

Its interesting how both scandals have one thing in common: Both had incriminating evidence that surprisingly the responsible parties didn't erase or destroy, whether tapes or e-mails.

Remember that what killed Nixon wasn't the Watergate break-in as much as the cover-up and Nixon claiming to everybody (including several of his aides) that he never knew about the break-in or approved of it...until it came out that he was lying on both. Christie laid down the law, made his claim the other day on what's happening. If new dirt shoots holes in his story, then he's in trouble.

Anyway while you're naive and take his word for it, there's no direct evidence so far connecting the Governor to this delay. Is it a fair assumption that he knew what was going on and gave tacit approval to such a move? Yes. But that's not the same as evidence.

First my apologies MaryCas, I misinterpreted your post and sorry if I was rude.

Ronnie perhaps I'm a bit naïve in thinking Christie didn't have anything to do with this? Maybe. So far I'm inclined to believe it was his staff and not him. But it's not because I'm some extreme right winger I truly believe that Christie is the right type of man we need in the Oval Office and I'd hate to see such a politically savvy, smart man lose that chance.

In addition the left knows that if they trash this guy enough they take out one of the more challenging front runners for the GOP bid.

fat white guy= liar!

skinny black guy/kenyan/hawaiian/???= pinocchio

yuk, yuk, yuk!

Remains to be seen. There is an undeniably startling comparison, however, in that you have an incumbent administration with a seemingly insurmountable lead against his opponent, and whose operatives engage in underhanded, abusive conduct for political motives. There was much more of a buffer zone between the Watergate burglars and Nixon than that between Christie and his bullying aides.

We found out that when this ruse was put into play in September, it generated a great deal of discussion, concern and anger among more than a few officials. The communications were specifically presented to Christie's scheduling sacretary, which greatly broadens the leap in logic one must take to believe that he was "blindsided" last week.

Christie's Deputy Chief of Staff Bridget Anne Kelly is probably going to face criminal indictment. Thus, she will be in a position to be offered immunity or a plea bargain that will likely implicate others. The Governor could be one of those others.

The introduction of criminal charges, especially federal charges, will change the complexion of this scandal a great deal, and would make it a central isuue through the presidential campaign season.

Kelly, I'm sure, has secured counsel, and has been advised not to have any contact with anyone. She may receive limited immunity in exchange for making a sworn statement about how this happened and who knew what and when.

Scooter Libby could probably give some good advice.

Being Deputy Chief of Staff, Kelly seems the most likely to get immunity. However, can they give immunity to others as well, or does the first one to "spill the beans" get best deal (as it would seem?)



TIS

Immunity is generally based on the value of the information to the prosecution and whether it can be obtained through other means or sources. The value of the information takes into account the credibility and ability and means to know. The gravity of the offense of the witness and potential other criminals is also weighed.

Kly, Kelly either implicates Christie or she doesn't. If she does, even if no criminal or civil liability accrues to Christie, Kelly's implication will tag Christie in a very negative way.

Another thing I learned, that the State Attorney General(?) was to switch over to the new AJ on Tuesday and subpoena power for current AJ ended on that day. Evidently the new AJ said he'd have meeting to extend it. Would there really be any chance that a new AJ would NOT extend it? Wouldn't look good if he didn't no? So many legal issues. No wonder lawyers get paid an arm, a leg & a first born.



TIS

Meanwhile, as you can imagine, jokes are running rampant on the web. Here's one of the milder ones.


TIS

Since the NJ AG is appointed by the Governor, there is a question of an extension. However, I'm not sure that that limits the NJ Legislature's investigation.

Did they have to in stall an XL Toilet at the Governors Mansion for CC

Jon Stewart had a good joke about this. Yes, Christie's aides have been thrown under the bus, but it's OK because the bus isn't moving - it's stuck in traffic.

Water off a ducks back. We're cool. This is an interesting thread in that we are all speculating. There is a lot of dirt yet to be uncovered and many angles to explore. Many more twists and turns to maneuver. It's the stuff TV crime dramas are made of.

Can't say I'm a fan of those shows in any case I hope Christie isn't implicated in anything which I still say he won't. He's not only the only GOP candidate worthy of the nomination but in general maybe besides a select few others. I just feel he's a man that could really turn this country around

Christie has a new headache this morning:

Feds investigating Christie's use of Sandy relief funds

I can't help but think of the old joke:

What's the difference between New Jersey government and organized crime? - one is organized.

New Jersey and its governors still have a long way to catch up with Illinois. 4 of their last 7 governors are in prison.

You are correct JL, but still a traffic jam (even if it was intentional) a big scandal in Jersey? As Hyman Roth would say, thats "small potatoes."

What makes it big is the attention from the New York City (metropolitan area) media. The New York State governor is a Democrat and the recently elected mayor of NYC is a Democrat. That can add a little zing to the circus. Bridgegate will be a headline for a long time. It will probably produce some spin-offs too, just like a successful TV comedy.

Two aspects of the Bridge lanes' closing that have not received much attention are:

New Jersey Law enforcement was not notified and no provision was made for transit of emergency vehicles;

Christie's judgement: i.e., his appointment of the incident's protagonist - Kelly.

I didn't think much of the bridge scandal, other than it was a typical crappy thing a politician would do. But this allegation of diverting the Sandy funds, if true, might cause me to reconsider voting for Christie. I have not voted for a conservative president, but I had been favoring voting for Christie in '16. The past two presidencies of Bush & Obama have been utter disasters.

If Christie's dismissed aide sits still for this rap, it'll be the end of her career--and she's too young for that. She'll have to put up a defense, and shift the blame to Christie. I bet the tabloids are all over her now with offers. If she does, it could derail him.

Rand Paul is licking his chops. So are a slew of "unknown" Democrats who will run against Hillary.

On her show last friday, Laura Ingrahm criticized MCCain, Lindsey Graham, and the Bushs among other Republicans for their criticism of Christie. The split in the Republican party is real.

Impeccable timing, eh?

I mean I don't know whether there is actually a case or not, but with this convenient timing, it just feels like the Obama Administration wanted to pour more salt into Christie's wound while its fresh. Reminds me of when during the "invisible primary" (the period after an election but before the primaries for the next national election) in 2011 when Romney was getting pounded for "RomneyCare" and the President thanked him in name for being a father of ObamaCare.

The latest is that the Obama Administration approved the ads..

http://dailycaller.com/2014/01/13/christie-office-obama-administration-approved-jersey-shore-tv-ads/

I'm baffled when I come across liberals online who think Hillary will win the nomination easily in a slam dunk. Remember when she was simmilarly "unstoppable" in '08 before that black freshman Senator with a foreign name beat her? Sure this time she'll hire better political operatives (probably Obama's guys/gals) and she's not hamstrung by stuff like Iraq as she was in '08. But she's not invincible.

I think more than anything else, they're forgetting about the one big obstacle in her way: The Vice-President. After we've had 2-term completed administrations within the primary era of American politics, their Vice-Presidents have run for President, all winning their party's nomination.

Joe Biden previously ran 2 unsuccessful Presidential campaigns. You all really think he'll refuse to take advantage of his last, best chance at becoming President himself? I would be shocked if he doesn't run.(Notice that Hillary sometime back politely sniped at Biden for being against the President's decision to greenlight that raid which killed Bin Laden. She thinks he's running too.)

Still it would be interesting to see how the President would deal with this hypothetical primary. Both members of his administration, though one actually served both terms and Biden as VPs usually are has been a loyal hatchetman. Biden would expect Obama's support, but Hillary is a (theoretically) a much better candidate than Biden.