For your reading enjoyment: a selection of Bridge-scam quotes.
Or Bridge-gate. Or whatever.
http://www.nydailynews.com/opinion/christie-waterloo-article-1.1570246
In the best possible light, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie built a top staff of lying thugs who threatened lives and safety to serve his political ends. If not, Christie is a lying thug himself.
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Christie’s presidential ambitions are all but kaput, as he will be lambasted and lampooned as a man of low character and horrible judgment — again viewing him in the most favorable way.
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Give full credit to his statement, and Christie stands as a hardball-playing governor who horribly misjudged or distorted the character of those around him and compounded the felony by trying to skate by their wrongdoing without full investigation. Take his denials of knowledge with skepticism, and the man is a monster.
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2014/01/08/chris-christie-bridge-scandal-politics/4375273/
The "pettiness and vindictiveness'' of his close aides reflect poorly on Christie's own judgment, says Ana Navarro, Republican consultant. "This speaks to character and to leadership. It is a serious matter and Chris has to treat it that way. He has some explaining and house cleaning to do.''
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The bridge controversy "has all the makings of the kind of scandal that interferes with someone's ability to pursue higher office – it's political payback, it interfered with the public, it's basically dragging voters into a feud,'' says GOP consultant Dan Hill.
It also echoes similar tales that have circulated in New Jersey of Christie exacting revenge that date back to a 1997 local race, when he sued his opponent for defamation.
http://seattletimes.com/html/nationworld/2022620525_apxtrafficmystery.html?prmid=4939
The messages "indicate what we've come to expect from Gov. Christie -- when people oppose him, he exacts retribution. When people question him, he belittles and snidely jokes. And when anyone dares to look into his administration, he bullies and attacks," Democratic National Committee chairwoman Debbie Wasserman-Schultz said.
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Fort Lee Mayor Mark Sokolich: "When it's man-made and when it was done with venom and when it was done intentionally, it is, in my mind, the prime example of political pettiness," he said. He said the gridlock put people in danger by holding up emergency vehicles, and he added that those responsible should resign.
While Sokolich is a Democrat, Christie sought bipartisan support during his re-election campaign to bolster his image as a pragmatic leader willing to work with his political opponents.
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Fort Lee Councilwoman Ila Kasofsky: "I think this is 10 times worse than Watergate. Because this affected so many more lives and their health and safety."
http://edition.cnn.com/2014/01/08/politics/christie-bridge/index.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+rss%2Fcnn_allpolitics+(RSS%3A+Politics)
Fort Lee (aka Serbia) Mayor Sokolich (aka, “the little Serbian) : "That position becomes more difficult to understand. I'm rooting that the highest elected official in the state of New Jersey isn't involved. But I'm beginning to question my judgment.”
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A source close to Christie said "there will probably be some sacrificial firing and that'll be it."
http://www.businessinsider.com/chris-christie-is-shocked-shocked-to-find-that-political-retribution-is-going-on-in-here-2014-1?utm_source=hearst&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=allverticals
Here's what I don't buy. Let's stipulate that this hare-brained scheme was hatched by Christie's staff and appointees without his knowledge. Therefore, he didn't know about the lane closures or their motivations before Sept. 13, when Port Authority Executive Director Patrick Foye (a New York appointee) started complaining about them.
There have been 117 intervening days, during which Christie accepted the resignations of two of his Port Authority appointees who are caught up in this scandal. I assume he and his top staff have had a lot of conversations during that time, trying to figure out exactly what happened in Fort Lee.
Did his people really manage to keep him in the dark for that entire time such that he's shocked today? If so, what does that say about his skills as a personnel manager?
http://www.businessinsider.com/chris-christie-bridge-scandal-2016-president-2014-1
The recent Mark Halperin and John Heilemann book, "Double Down: Game Change 2012," suggests that there could be plenty of dirt on Christie to uncover. One of the things that most concerned Mitt Romney's staff about the nomination of Christie as vice president in 2012 was that they were "stunned by the garish controversies lurking in the shadows of his record."
Here's the key paragraph:
The vetters were stunned by the garish controversies lurking in the shadows of his record. There was a 2010 Department of Justice inspector general’s investigation of Christie’s spending patterns in his job prior to the governorship, which criticized him for being “the U.S. attorney who most often exceeded the government [travel expense] rate without adequate justification” and for offering “insufficient, inaccurate, or no justification” for stays at swank hotels like the Four Seasons. There was the fact that Christie worked as a lobbyist on behalf of the Securities Industry Association at a time when Bernie Madoff was a senior SIA official—and sought an exemption from New Jersey’s Consumer Fraud Act. There was Christie’s decision to steer hefty government contracts to donors and political allies like former Attorney General John Ashcroft, which sparked a congressional hearing. There was a defamation lawsuit brought against Christie arising out of his successful 1994 run to oust an incumbent in a local Garden State race. Then there was Todd Christie, the Governor’s brother, who in 2008 agreed to a settlement of civil charges by the Securities and Exchange Commission in which he acknowledged making “hundreds of trades in which customers had been systematically overcharged.” (Todd also oversaw a family foundation whose activities and purpose raised eyebrows among the vetters.) And all that was on top of a litany of glaring matters that sparked concern on Myers’ team: Christie’s other lobbying clients, his investments overseas, the YouTube clips that helped make him a star but might call into doubt his presidential temperament, and the status of his health.
http://blog.nj.com/njv_editorial_page/2014/01/chris_christie_bridge_scandal.html
(Go to linked article for further links.)
Chris Christie bridge scandal is 'Nixonian,' hard to see how he recovers: Opinion
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At Slate, John Dickerson wonders, "Will Christie apologize?" Ultimately, that's what will determine the fate of his presidential campaign, he argues.
Ezra Klein at Wonkblog believes "Chris Christie's problem is that he's really, truly a bully" -- and a bully with power is a dangerous combination.
"It's hard to see how Christie recovers from this," says Jamelle Bouie, a columnist at the Daily Beast.
"Nixonian," a headline at Talking Points Memo cries.
Rachel Maddow told the Star-Ledger's Stephen Stirling that state reporters were right to keep the heat on Christie: "The national press owes the New Jersey papers a huge debt of gratitude."
And New York Magazine's Jonathan Chait seems to think it's all over for the golden governor, titling his piece, "Chris Christie 2016: A Bridge to Nowhere
= new reply since forum marked as read
for those Schmokin' hot emails! 
Ryan Grim ✔ @ryangrim
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Chris Christie Outraged By Christie Administration
11:54 AM - 8 Jan 2014
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