Goodbye Chris Christie, and Hello Scott Walker

[Ellipsis]

At this point, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie is probably toast. According to the New York Times, the former Port Authority official who oversaw the lane closings on the George Washington bridge, David Wildstein, says that the order to close the lanes came from the Christie administration, and that he has evidence to prove that the governor knew as much. This, it’s worth noting, comes from a letter demanding that the Port Authority cover Wildstein’s legal fees.

In any case, it flies in the face of Christie’s claim, during a two-hour press conference earlier this month, that he had no knowledge of the closures prior to revelations that his officials were involved. “I was blindsided,” he told reporters, as he denied any “knowledge or involvement” in the incident.

If Wildstein has this evidence, and if it shows that Christie knew, then that’s it. The game is over. Not only will Christie have to abandon his presidential ambitions, but given the scope of his dishonesty, there’s a decent chance he’ll have to leave office.

In which case, the Republican Party will have lost its most electable candidate for the 2016 cycle. Which raises the question: Who else does the GOP have?

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/01/31/goodbye-chris-christie-and-hello-scott-walker.html


YA THINK?





Walkergate 2: The Sons Of Doe Ride Again


After the Walkergate investigations ended with the conviction of six of Scott Walkers aides and supporters, many people thought that that was it.

But in October, news broke that there was another John Doe, or to be more accurate, five more John Doe probes, being conducted. Precious little was known about these newly discovered investigations. What we did know was that the investigations involved possible illegal collaboration between the Koch Brothers - Bradley Foundation-supported front groups such as the Wisconsin Club for Growth and Americans for Prosperity and the political campaigns of at least one of the recalled Republicans.

Trying to get a grasp of what was going on was greatly hindered by the fact that the possibilities were so vast and the network of these front groups and the politicians were so immense, it was hard to keep it all straight. Another issue was that the credibility of the sources of information was dubious at best. Unlike Walkergate, these investigations started to leak like a sieve. Sadly, the leaks were all right wing operatives, some who were claiming to be the subjects of the investigations. To complicate things further, they were leaking to the right wing front groups and propagandists, adding to the doubt.

Fortunately for us, Lisa Kaiser of the Shepherd Express was digging into it already. Kaiser was the first to point to some of the central people/groups that were part of the investigation. She pointed out that Eric O'Keefe, who has claimed to be one of the subjects of the investigation, was the head of Wisconsin Club for Growth and has ties to the Sam Adams Alliance, which in turn funds the Franklin Center and by extension, Wisconsin Reporter.

Kaiser also pointed out the enmeshment of R.J. Johnson, who was a consultant to Scott Walker's campaign as well as involved with Wisconsin Club for Growth. Johnson was one of the people regularly copied into the emails that were flying between Walker's campaign and his county staff.


http://cognidissidence.blogspot.com/2014/01/walkergate-2-sons-of-doe-ride-again.html

[Squinch]

1. Do you think Steve Kornaki would be willing to spend a few months in Wisconsin in winter?

[Ellipsis]

5. It's been so cold and we've had so much snow I wouldn't if I were him...

we're running out of places to put the snow. I haven't seen a winter like this ...ever.

Maybe with one these Milwaukee tool heated jackets and he stayed close to the Lake Michigan

http://www.ohiopowertool.com/P-4394-milwaukee-m12-heated-jacket-black-only-2344-select-size.aspx?CAWELAID=1612114365&cagpspn=pla&gclid=CMuy2r_BqbwCFUhgMgodpGQAJQ

[Squinch]

13. That is so cool! Or... not...

[Ellipsis]

17. Bosch and Dewalt came out with them this year as well.

I like the Bosch one myself.

[elfin]

29. He can stay at my house if he does!

Deep in "Walkersha" County, much to my chagrin.

However will feed him and house him and all his gear just to see him burrow into the Weasel and finally take him down.

[Enrique]

2. what about Bob McDonnell?

oh, right...

[Jack Rabbit]

3. Why not David Koch himself?

He wants to be dictator, after all.

[Ellipsis]

10. Better to have the servants to the dirty work.

[Jack Rabbit]

35. He seems to have run out of servants

Suddenly, the star of the show is damaged goods. If not Christie, who? Rand Paul? Rick Perry? Rick Santorum? Pul-leaze!

Better Hillary Clinton than any of the above named. And I don't think very highly of Hillary Clinton.

[okaawhatever]

15. I think he ran as a VP candidate years back. Basically a Bircher platform. nt

[Jack Rabbit]

23. It was the Libertarian Party

The word "libertarian" is, I believe, often misused here. Yes, David Koch and his brother are Birchers more than they are libertarians.

Usually, I use the word libertarian to mean anti-authoritarian. It otherwise doesn't say much about one's ideology. Ayn Rand was a libertarian rightist, while Noam Chomsky is a libertarian leftist.

I don't really regard the Birch Society out of whose tradition the Koch brothers came to be libertarian. It really isn't authoritarian, either. That tradition is more to be described as paranoid and psychotic.

[Tx4obama]

4. Mitt Romney, 2016 front-runner - see link below

Here: http://www.democraticunderground.com/10024422245

[Ellipsis]

7. I thought he threw in the towel... think he'd come back? I think they'll reach out to Jebby...

to come and save the day.

[flamingdem]

6. Yes, the Koch Bros want him bad

He's their lil puppet

[Ellipsis]

9. He is firmly in the pocket of the rich and he's a great lier, very convincing.

Last edited Fri Jan 31, 2014, 11:04 PM - Edit history (1)

He can read any script unflinchingly, a rich mans dream.

True(10%) --- (9)
Mostly True (15%) --- (13)
Half True (21%) --- (18)
Mostly False(17%) --- (15)
False (29%) --- (25)
Pants on Fire(8%) --- (7)

http://www.politifact.com/personalities/scott-walker/

[flamingdem]

12. He survived that recall, that gives him points

with Republicans, he also survived other scandals, I think he's their man due to that lying skill.

Ugh, he's a lizard and won't get far -- makes Mitt look like a nice person!

[Ellipsis]

19. Ads Telling Voters "Recall Is Not the Wisconsin Way" was funded by the Kochs and....

many good people from Wisconsin bought into the hype who did not vote for him in the original election... Walker had a lot more time and money to run ads then Barrettt and Barret was weak.

In the final weeks of Wisconsin's 2012 recall elections, a previously-unknown group called Coalition for American Values Action flooded the state's airwaves with over $400,000 in ads that made a unique appeal: instead of promoting Governor Scott Walker or attacking his opponent, the ads attacked the premise of the recall itself. Over pastoral images of Wisconsinites with fishing poles and tractors, viewers were told that "recall is not the Wisconsin way," and to "stop the recall madness" by voting to reelect Walker.

Coalition for American Values Action adDespite the ads purporting to represent Wisconsin values, funding for the message came from well outside the Dairy State's borders: all of Coalition for American Values Action's known contributions come from an out-of-state group linked to the billionaire Koch brothers.

Coalition for American Values Action reported to Wisconsin election authorities that it spent $400,080 on its "recall isn't the Wisconsin way" ads, but because of an apparent loophole in state campaign finance law, it never disclosed the true source of its funding. Recently released tax filings, though, reveal that the primary source of the group's funding in 2012 was the Center to Protect Patient Rights (CPPR), a conduit for $156 million in political spending raised by the Kochs and their network of funders.

The Center for Media and Democracy has filed a complaint with Wisconsin's Government Accountability Board alleging that Coalition for American Values Action violated Wisconsin's campaign finance laws by failing to disclose this funding.

http://www.prwatch.org/news/2014/01/12354/exclusive-koch-network-funded-ads-telling-voters-recall-not-wisconsin-way

[Egnever]

8. I think this shows a sad lack of ethics on the part of journalism

I am not opposed to the Christie take down. I am generally happy when any republican is taken down. However they are making a huge leap with this letter IMHO.

The letter doesn't say anything directly tying Christie to the bridge closures only that the guy has proof that some of christies statements about him are wrong.

It may turn out he does have evidence tying Christie to the closings directly but making that leap based on that letter is grossly irresponsible IMHO.

[Ellipsis]

14. I don't disagree... I think ultimately my point is Walker has more skeleton's in his closet.

If Christie crumbles Walker won't be far behind. He'd bear much closer scrutiny. The corruption around Walker has all ready been proven. How can Walker lead the country when he can't even ferret out corruption in his own administration.

The way they handled the protests at the capital were completely unethical. Then he brings in the new of the Capital police who makes an utter fool of himself trying to quell a group of nonviolent singers.

He hasn't created any jobs. His only creative concept has been to steal them from Illinois and Minnesota with bribes. One would have to question the ethics of that.

The only thing he has going for him is he is the best bullshitter Wisconsin's produced since McCarthy. He's a fucking unscrupulous used car salesman.

[Egnever]

20. Sorry

Did not mean to Hijack your thread. I agree with you on both points actually.

[Ellipsis]

21. Hijack away... it's cool and a kick.

[Auntie Bush]

30. Well said, Ellipsis

Especially this line. " He's a fucking unscrupulous used car salesman.
'

[okaawhatever]

18. No, the letters state that Christie knew about the lane closures. From the NYT:

In a letter released by his lawyer, the former official, David Wildstein, a high school friend of Mr. Christie’s who was appointed with the governor’s blessing at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which controls the bridge, described the order to close the lanes as “the Christie administration’s order” and said “evidence exists as well tying Mr. Christie to having knowledge of the lane closures, during the period when the lanes were closed, contrary to what the governor stated publicly in a two-hour press conference” three weeks ago.

Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey, appearing contrite, held a nearly two-hour news conference in Trenton on Thursday. video Video: Christie News Conference on Bridge Flap JAN. 9, 2014
During his news conference, Mr. Christie specifically said he had no knowledge that traffic lanes leading to the bridge had been closed until after they were reopened. “I had no knowledge of this — of the planning, the execution or anything about it — and that I first found out about it after it was over,” he said. “And even then, what I was told was that it was a traffic study.”


Christie lied flat out, for two hours, in front of press. I think Wildstein is trying to get immunity or at least his attorney's fees paid for. He's made a big gamble making this public. I doubt he'd do it without having something to back it up.

[Egnever]

22. And that is exactly my problem with the journalism

You bought their interpretation of the letter and it didnt say any of that.

In order to make it say that you have to take portions out of context. The portion they are using as proof and you are quoting is prefaced by "it has come to light" it is the same as saying "we heard"

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2014/02/01/nyregion/bridge-letter.html

The actual letter.

[Gothmog]

11. Morning Joe was pushing Jeb Bush

Scott Walker has to be re-elected in 2014. I am really hoping that the Democrats can defeat him.

During this morning's show, Morning Joe was pushing the concept that Jeb should be frontrunner. Joe thinks that Jeb is waiting until the time is right and will ignore his mom's advise. I think that Jeb can only run if Hillary Clinton is the nominee in that this lessens the nepotism issue. However, Jeb's brother was a disaster and I think that W will hurt Jeb. I also think that Bill Clinton was a better president compared to W

[Ellipsis]

16. If nothing else, the jobs issue is going to come back to bite him in the ass.

[Scuba]

24. Hey, the man's a proven winner ...

A successful fundraiser ...




A protector of the priviledged ...




Who's loyalty is unquestioned ...

[Ellipsis]

25. kick

[ArnoldLayne]

26. Thank goodness

[BlueStreak]

27. Walker could never get elected

He is a thoroughly repulsive personality. He doesn't have a pleasant, lakeable veneer to cover up all those hateful, ugly policies he supports.

Reagan did for sure.

And the Bushes had a swagger that Americans like.

While Romney isn't warm and fuzzy, he did have a persona of competence and civility that worked for him to a degree.

Christie was liked because he was brash and "told it like it is" Americans like that.

There is simply nothing to like about people like Walker, and to a lesser degree Ryan. Likewise, I don't see any charisma from Rubio, and certainly not Cruz. These people are just ogres promoting the ugliest visions for this country, and in the course of a long campaign, that comes through.

The only serious candidates in the current pack are Huckabee, Jeb, and Romney if he tries again.

Rand Paul is a special case. It is hard to get a bearing on him. I don't think he could win, but we saw what a strange and powerful cult Ron Paul was able to assemble. So I wouldn't be too quick to write him off.

But Walker? No. Not a chance. Ever.

[TroglodyteScholar]

28. I don't think he could possibly have appeal on a national level

Wisconsin is a very strange state, and aside from our tea partiers and oligarchs, our red voters can be pretty damn purple.

Most of the people I know who voted for Walker in the recall election didn't do it because they like him. The most common justification I heard was that it's only right to let the man serve out his term. While I disagree with this, it does show clearly how little love our Republicans really have for him.

This is his own back yard. And that's how "highly" they regard him. And we're supposed to believe that he can win over Republicans nationwide?

Psssht.

[BlueStreak]

31. He has all the charm of a snake

Look whom Americans have chosen.

JFK was super high on the Charisma scale.

LBJ was mostly a sympathy vote for JFK, but he had that Texas belligerence that Americans like.

Nixon was the big exception to the rule. And he won the election through acts of treason, making dirty deals with the Vietnamese.
http://truth-out.org/progressivepicks/item/13994-how-richard-nixon-sabotaged-1968-vietnam-peace-talks-to-get-elected-president

Carter was likable and trustworthy. He wasn't huge on rhetoric, but he was seen as a moral man, much like choosing a pope.

Reagan was he ultimate in charm, authentic or acted -- it doesn't really matter. He was a charming man. And like Nixon, Reagan made a treasonous deal with the Iranians to win election.

Bush I wasn't really a choice. It was Reagan's 3rd term. And he was running against Dukakis. Good man, but he didn't have the personality for the race, and had a very poorly run campaign.

Clinton was almost as charming as Reagan.

Bush II had that pig-headed belligerence thing working. Americans like that, and they don't really punish candidates for being really stupid. This belligerence thing could have worked for Christie.

Obama is in Reagan's class for charisma, just with a different center to his power base. Both Obama and Reagan were able to woo enough people from the other side to win.

I'm sorry. I don't care how much money the Koch brothers want to put behind Walker. He cannot win on this stage. And I have my doubts that Ryan can, although he is apparently a little brighter than Walker.

[TroglodyteScholar]

32. Excellent breakdown!

Personality definitely does matter. I suppose it'd be lucky for us if the Republicans ended up running this guy who doesn't have one.

As far as I can tell, Ryan's kind of become a joke among locals... even Republicans can tell that he's not qualified to be the "new intellectual hope" of the GOP that he's tried to market himself as.

[rustbeltvoice]

33. let Walker embarass himself nationally

What i have seen of Wanker is stupidity, meanness, and dishonesty; of course none of those are disqualifications for a Republican.

I have not seen one photograph in which he does not look like a goof, even more than gwbjr.

I remember when Wanlkr took the prank phone call and sucked up to the fake Koch. That should be played again, and again.

[Aerows]

34. It won't take much

All he has to do is show up and open his mouth. I don't know how people in Wisconsin can stand listening to his voice.

[rufus dog]

36. I agree, Walker will be the next puke hurled onto the floor

Same thing they tried to do in 2012.

Giuliani
Thompson
Pawlenty
Perry
Gingrich
Santorum

(I'm sure I missed some Bozo taking center stage)

Point being they are so damn bankrupt they throws these clowns out hoping one will take hold, and the paid talking heads breathlessly touted how viable they were and a threat to Obama.

In reality they are a steamy, chunky mess on the floor that the majority of Americans mop away.

[Ellipsis]

37. JOHN DOE PROBE: Did you see what they just did, there? Analysis from Uppity Wisconsin

Aided by the right-wing noise machine, conservatives and their "independent" political organizations have been illegally leaking privileged information and complaining openly about the secret John Doe investigation looking at illegal coordination between those same groups and an unnamed state political campaign (circumstantial evidence strongly suggests the campaign might very well have "Walker" in its name). The groups and that unnamed campaign were active in the last round of recall elections.

The aggrieved parties were so upset that three of them (all unnamed) sought court rulings designed to kill the probe, which is Wisconsin's version of a grand jury investigation. Why, the investigators served us subpoenas! They carted off truckloads of evidence belonging to us! How <sputter! whine!> dare they violate our rights and misapply the law!

Yesterday, a state appeals court panel rejected arguments that, if accepted, effectively would have quashed the Doe probe and possibly others like it in the future. The appeals panel unanimously agreed the probe was operating within legal limits and said it could proceed.

http://www.uppitywis.org/blogarticle/john-doe-probe-did-you-see-what-they-just-did-there