Lindsey Graham throws bridge troll Christie under a bus.

[ProSense]

Graham: Bridge Scandal 'Reinforces A Narrative' That Christie Is A 'Bully'

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) on Thursday said that the scandal about lane closures on the George Washington Bridge surrounding New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) shows that the governor is a "bully."

"It seems to me that this whole bridge thing reinforces a narrative that's troublesome about the guy, he's kind of a bully," Graham said Thursday, according to MSNBC.

Graham said that even if Christie wasn't directly involved in the lane closures, the way he governs influenced his staff.

"If anybody in my office had done such a thing, they knew what their fate would be cause I'm not that kind a guy," he said. "I just don't see how people that close to him could have felt comfortable enough to do this if they thought their boss wasn't of this mindset. Isn't that just common sense?"

- more -

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/graham-calls-christie-bully-bridge-scandal

NJ Lawmaker Wants To Hear From Fired Christie Aide Bridget Kelly Next
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10024306506

[JoePhilly]

1. That's awesome. Nt

[freshwest]

19. I'd say 'Cool story, bro' to Lindsay. His GOP policies make him a bully. Nice guy? Not. n/t

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

2. So what's Lindsey "Mini-Me" Graham's motivation

for tossing Christie off the bridge? If the GOPers thought Christie was a strong candidate, why would any of them want him gone? Maybe to give Paul Ryan another chance? Graham isn't a true teabagger, he's more in the warmonger camp. So what does he want?

[customerserviceguy]

7. Graham knows that Christie can't win the nomination

Even without this incident, he'd be trounced anywhere further than 100 miles from the NJ border. My guess is that he wants Christie to drop out early, so that some other "moderate" Republicon has a chance of getting the sliver of GOP vote that Christie would have had in Iowa, New Hampshire, and South Carolina. Who that Rethug is, is anybody's guess, I can't figure out who is more like Lindsey Graham than John McCain.

Besides, if the rumors about Graham are anywhere near true, then I would suspect he'd know a lot about bullying, and would mention it in his denunciation of Christie.

[Tom Ripley]

26. +1000 (that's a spot on analysis)

[Jim Lane]

15. His motivation is probably his upcoming primary.

He's facing a Tea Party challenger in 2014. Christie is anathema to the right wing of the Republican Party (dropped the appeal from the marriage equality ruling, allowed undocumented aliens to be eligible for in-state tuition at state universities, etc.). Graham sees a chance to kick Christie while he's down and thereby endear himself to the right-wingers whose votes he needs.

[BeyondGeography]

3. This is actually true

Graham said that even if Christie wasn't directly involved in the lane closures, the way he governs influenced his staff.

[calimary]

4. Gee, imagine lindsey graham making sense for once.

Well how 'bout that.

[BeyondGeography]

10. The South will rise again

Lindsey can feel it.

[Baitball Blogger]

25. The tone gets set, and everyone knows their cues.

An entire community can go bad that way.

[gordianot]

5. Bully is a good fit for Christie, Christie could release the bully attach fitting names for Lindsey.

[Thinkingabout]

6. The GOP will be Christie's biggest problem. Lindsay Graham has proven on several occasions to be a

Bully himself and members of Congress has also been guilty. Joe Wilson with "you lie" wasn't praising Obama.

[elfin]

8. McCain must have told him to say that

Or else Graham didn't wait for the memo and tried to think for himself.

For once, I have a glimmer of interest in what McCain will say to see if they amazingly agree yet again. L

[davidpdx]

20. Those two are practically attached at the hip

[herding cats]

9. What would his staff have had to gain for themselves by doing this?

Christie was teh one who didn't gain the endorsement not them. Why would they put their and Christie's careers on the line like this without some sort of approval beforehand?

[okaawhatever]

11. Not to mention that the text "time for some traffic problems" implies a previous discussion. I think

if someone texted that out of the blue without previous discussions someone would say, "huh?" It doesn't pass the smell test for a random comment or response.

[herding cats]

13. Definitely it was previously discussed.

It is implied by the texts that this plan had been laid out in other discussions and all that was left was the implementing of it. And yet Christie wants us to believe he's so hurt he didn't even want to question Bridget Kelly about what took place, who was involved and when did it all begin. He just wanted to fire her and be done with her.

[pacalo]

14. Good point. That goes for Wildstein's "got it" text reply, too.

[JI7]

12. didn't CHristie have some advice for Obama on the whole "you can keep your insurance" thing

i guess christie isn't going to take the same advice for himself.

[rocktivity]

16. TORO TURD!

You Rethug establishment types don't hate Christie because he's a bully. You Rethug establishment types hate Christie because YOU wouldn't be able to bully HIM!


rocktivity

[Lex]

17. The way Christie's staff communicated in an off-the-cuff way

about creating traffic problems it's clear that similar things had been done before AND it was tacitly approved beforehand by Christie.

[merrily]

18. Graham lamely attempted to backpedal later.

When traffic isn't moving, though, throwing someone under a bus and trying to backpedal don't work very well.

[Lancero]

21. Why throw him under a bus?

I think dropping a bridge on him would be more appropriate.

[Coyotl]

22. Kudos on OP lexicon. Who is the Bridgegate Troll? The buck stops at Christie. D'oh.

[Beacool]

23. They eat their own............

[grantcart]

24. Is it possible to be thrown under the bus when the guy lays

Down on the pavement on his own????