Reminder: after the traffic shutdown Christie said maybe it should be permanent

[cthulu2016]

After the obvious crisis caused by Fort Lee being shut down to one lane, Chris Christie said that as far as he was concerned, maybe that crisis (one lane) should be permanent.

Christie also defended Baroni's charge that Fort Lee perhaps had too many bridge lanes, telling reporters early this month, "We should look at this policy because I don’t know why one town gets three lanes. One lane maybe; three lanes?”

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/12/10/chris-christie-bridge_n_4415953.html

I agree with others who are coming to the view that that weird press statement, and others about how Fort Lee has too many lanes, are central to the whole story.

The crisis was ONE LANE. Christie's response to the crisis was yeah, well maybe they SHOULD only have one lane.

He even told reporters that he was ANGRY about Fort Lee having multiple lanes.

And that was after we had seen all the horror stories about what happened when Fort Lee was, in fact, squeezed to ONE LANE.

It's like saying, "Maybe that kid SHOULD have been trapped in a well." "Maybe that boardwalk SHOULD have caught fire." "Maybe we should have MORE hurricanes."

A building burns down because only one of four fire hydrants was working. The governer says, "I'm not worried about it. I don't know why that block ever had four fire hydrants to begin with, instead of one. I am ANGRY that there were ever four working hydrants there. I think we need fewer fire hydrants."

???

You don't, as a politician, say it is probably for the best. Even if you think it you don't say it... unless you are conveying a message.


More:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10024329579

[el_bryanto]

1. that is a bit of a red flag

I think it's clear what happened there; either he knew it was happening and encouraged it or he didn't and created a culture of disrespect that enabled it. Either way he should be on the hook.

Bryant

[ProSense]

2. A couple of

"The crisis was ONE LANE. Christie's response to the crisis was yeah, well maybe they should only have ONE LANE. "

...his comments about the lane closures are mentioned here: http://www.democraticunderground.com/10024319407

His comments were definitely odd.

[Hassin Bin Sober]

8. In other words "Real nice traffic flow ya go there. Be a shame if anything happened to it"

[riqster]

9. Exactly, Guido.

[Hissyspit]

3. The guy is lying.

[Bandit]

4. Duhhh, He is a Republican you know

It is a necessity for a Republican to be a LIAR or they would be kicked out of the Party. In fact it is a point of Pride among them.

[Hissyspit]

5. Remember

Christie said he "has not had a conversation with Bridget Kelly" since emails and that he's "not interested" in her rationale right now.

He's NOT INTERESTED?

Really?

That's absurd.

[ProSense]

6. Chris Christie's State of the State Speech - He's Done...

Chris Christie's State of the State Speech - He's Done (watch it here)

by mumtaznepal

Chris Christie just gave his State of the State speech, and judging by his tone and body language, this man's political career is over and he knows it.

Christie was quiet-voiced, unbelligerent, seemed to be barely mouthing a shallow, superficial speech devoid of brags on past accomplishments or excitement about the future.

The speech was poorly-written, didn't include much content, and basically hinged upon the idea of not raising taxes by making the choice to steal public employee pension money to improve schools and police services.

But the most noticable thing was Christie. I assumed his crisis management told him to shut up, tone down, back off, be contrite.

But this looked like a man who knows the other shoe is gonna drop any day, and he's not gonna finish his term.

For the first time, Chris Christie himself has told me his career is over, and resignation will come.

Anybody else see this? Comments? Replay below, with some press coverage before

<...>

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2014/01/14/1269645/-Chris-Christie-s-State-of-the-State-Speech-He-s-Done

Scandal upstages Christie’s State of the State speech
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10024331033

Opinion: Conservative nightmare in unfolding scandal

BY EJ DIONNE

WHAT IS the greatest fear of conservatives when they warn against the dangers of big government? It is that a leader or |the coterie around him will abuse the authority of the state ¬arbitrarily to gather yet more power, punish opponents and, in the process, harm rank-and-file citizens whose well-being matters not a whit to those who are trying to enhance their control.

This, of course, is a quite precise description of what happened when Governor Christie’s aides ordered the closure of some access lanes to the George Washington Bridge last September. Their motivation was political payback. The result: Thousands of commuters, along with emergency vehicles, school buses and pretty much the entire town of Fort Lee, were thrown into gridlock.

Using public facilities for selfish ends is the very definition of corruption, which is why this scandal bothers people far outside the conservative orbit. It took months for the episode to hit the big time because so many (the New Jersey governor claims he’s one of them) had difficulty believing that government officials would act as recklessly as Christie’s gang did — and with such indifference to how their actions would affect the lives of people in northern New Jersey who were bystanders to an insider game.

Christie was finally moved to condemn the indefensible only after the smoking gun emerged in the form of emails from his staff and his appointees. Their contents reflected a vindictive urge to squelch all resistance to the governor’s political interests....At his epic news conference, he focused again and again on how loyal staff members had “lied” to him and how he felt personally victimized. What he never explained was why he did not press his staff earlier for paper trails so he could know for certain that all his vociferous denials were actually true. He didn’t deal with this flagrant foul until he had no choice.

Saying he had faith in his folks is not enough. Christie still has to |tell us why he did not treat the possibility of such a misuse of power with any urgency.

- more -

http://www.northjersey.com/news/opinions/ejdionne_011414.html?page=all

[Walk away]

7. Christie looked like a beaten man....

I had to watch most of the speech on mute and, even without the sound, he looked deflated and wupped. I don't know if it's an act to get sympathy or it's the real thing, but everyone he has bullied in the past must feel a little better today.

[libdem4life]

10. I think that there was A Lot of Conversation around the final funding for the $1 billion project.

Those are the kind of "negotiations" that warrant incidents like major traffic problems. They only had funding on one of the buildings. The other funds were "undetermined" until the Monday following the incident. Without the three lanes, the value of the projects was significantly lesser because the valuation was heavily dependent on the easy access across the bridge. Common in large construction projects.

The funding was completed the following Monday.

[stg81]

11. .