Dreams Of Our Fathers, Hopes Of Our Egos, Or...

Finally!  The news we have all been waiting for...

Chris Christie still plans to do his 2016 thing.  The Bridgegate story be damned.  After all, he had "nothing to do with it." I don't know if he remembers from his time as a US Attorney or not, but you start low and work your way up.  The investigation that is going on so far hasn't even scratched the surface as near as I can tell, unless you count his own internal document, which shockingly enough cleared him of all wrong doing.

 

I apologize for the sidebar, but it is not clear to me why he feels so entitled, but if he hasn't noticed, Americans first off are pretty quickly getting fed up with bullys who do things the way they want, without regard to what the rest of us want.  Second, the Republican Party has gone moderate with each of its last two nominees.  I would argue longer than that as we are seeing the results of George Bush's term as President where he spent money recklessly to win elections and fight wars that were less than necessary, not to mention the civil liberties questions that continually pop their heads up under Barak Obama, but which clearly started post-9/11.  Nonetheless, the politics are simple.  If the talking heads nominate another moderate, I suspect the Tea Party folks walk and either go third party or sit on their hands.

All of that though flows back into Chris Christie.  Christie has governed as a tough in your face prosecutor, but Democrats are not the accused, they are merely another political party with ideas different than your own.  He talks about building consensus, but it sounds like from the stories on Bridgegate, his staff built consensus through political pain.

I am amazed by the brazenness of his staff, which again, makes me think somewhere along the line he nodded his head.  His Deputy Chief of Staff, Bridget Anne Kelly, did not get to her position by being stupid.  Somewhere along the line she should have realized these emails might end up in the public domain, or did she think her boss was the head of a crime family and simply wouldn't allow these emails to see the light of day?  The same with his old high school buddy David Wildstein.  These two make kid running for high school class President look smart, but if they were this brazen, why not believe they had the authority from Papa Bear?

I know I am blogging a lot about Chris Christie, but the hubris astounds me of some of the brightest GOP "stars."  If this is the best we have, I think we are in serious trouble.

To me, this looks like someone's dreams are going to come crashing down because of the weight of his ego.

And The Headaches Are About To Begin...

So if Chris Christie thought it was bad earlier this month, I think the headache is about to be a full blown migraine with the report this afternoon that not only did Christie know about the George Washington Bridge closings that have caused the initial headaches, but that he ordered them.  Woops!

As I noted before, the Republican Party would have done well before they anointed another moderate as the party fave for President.  This appears to be exactly what is was first reported to be...political bullying by a guy who thought he could get away with it.

Fear not, Governor Christie, MSNBC loves you, or used to when you were useful to them slamming the conservative principles that Republican candidates should be carrying.  Instead, you are just another self serving jerk who set back not only yourself, but Republican efforts to keep people aware of the issues of Benghazi, Obamacare, and so forth.  So much for leadership...

Rising Stars Burning Out Fast

A few years ago I was told Bob McDonnell, the 71st Governor of Virginia, was a possible candidate for Vice-President on a Mitt Romney ticket.  Just a few years later, I am told that Chris Christie is the 2016 nominee for President.  A few days ago, everyone realized neither is going to happen and these two are just two more fallen stars in the American GOP.

Again and again, we see corruption and asinine behavior from those who are supposed to be the prime players in the GOP farm club...the candidates who will restore the Republican party in the near future.

Instead, one is indicted by federal prosecutors for corruption and the other appears to have misused his office to pay back political opponents by shutting down roads, DMV offices, and ultimately who knows what else.

I apologize to all my friends in the Republican Party, but the McDonnell defense that I just did what everyone else did, doesn't cut it.  I get that we are the stupid party.  I'm even accepting of that.  I am not willing to lower my standards though so that I can become the Evil party...the party where it is okay to take from one person who works to give to someone who doesn't; the party where it is okay to kill a baby, but not a convicted murderer [for the record, both are wrong]; the party which says spotted owls are more important than humans.  When did it become okay for Republicans to lower their standards to that of their opponents Governor McDonnell?

You were one of the first people I talked to when I was appointed by Governor Gilmore to an advisory board.  If I had known you were so hard up for cash, I wouldn't have wasted your billable hours.

As for Governor Christie, you have campaigned twice on "getting things done," but now you just sound like the blowhard bully you cry that you aren't.  You were the knucklehead who ran his mouth until someone would bloody your nose and guess what.  Folks in New Jersey seem lined up to return the favor to you.

If the charges against McDonnell and potentially Christie, weren't so serious, I would laugh, but instead the "bright stars" of the Republican Party have burnt out...

...And Now The Christie Situation Is Really Explained.

As if things couldn't get any worse for Chris Christie, now this, a bit of humor for your morning from the one man in America who seems to be able to simplify complex political calculations into ten minute segments which are all too easily digested by the American public.

Chris Christie has enjoyed his image of rough and tumble street Governor for quite a while and now when that same image makes it clear he is a "petty" bully, he seems to find religion.

As I noted yesterday, this situation is his own fault and all the complaining about the media covering it is for naught.  The media has its story and when the New Jersey legislature begins considering impeachment hearings, no one should be surprised.  Congratulations Governor Christie, you have saved Mr. Obama...again.

Beware of Political Kingmaking

So when I look up political anointing for the Presidency, the dictionary says to look up Christie, Chris.

Governor Christie of New Jersey is currently hiding from the storm clouds that gathered over his presumed Presidential aspirations after it was revealed that his Deputy Chief of Staff ordered lane closures on the George Washington Bridge in an effort to snarl traffic for the local Fort Lee,  New Jersey community where the Mayor Mark Sokolich refused to endorse his re-election.  (The mayor by the way is from the opposite party.)

Moreover, rumor has it that the US Attorney is looking into the issue as well.  Disrupting traffic patterns for political purposes seems beyond corrupt and worse, there was a death in the community that may have been caused by a delay in EMS arrival due to bridge traffic.  At least one State Senator is already calling for a grand jury investigation into this situation.

Unfortunately this is classic Chris Christie.  If you don't do what he wants, you get paid pack, and you get the same Sopranos payback as Obama has been famous for in Chicago.  Erick Erickson stated last year that his staff "operate as divas."  While Christie speaks in his press conference that he is not a bully, this is just not accurate according to history.

The worst part of this situation is it distracts from issues like Benghazi, Obamacare's continued problems, and the utter lack of job growth in the US economy.  This gives the media a chance to attack Republicans instead of asking questions about if the economy is so great, why aren't the unemployed finding jobs?  This episode allows Obamacare to continue to run its course without attention.  Finally, it allows Hillary Clinton to continue to campaign for President having provided no substantive answers to questions about Benghazi. 

The warning here should be perhaps we should let things play out before we make them the Republican standard bearer in 2016 or any other year, especially when the player in question may not best represent the standards of the party.