New York Times Editorial: After Chris Christie’s Performance

[DonViejo]

By THE EDITORIAL BOARD JAN. 9, 2014

Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey issued repeated apologies Thursday for the abuse of office that now threatens to undermine his political future. Though he sounded remorseful — and clearly sorry that this scandal might sink his ambitions for national office — he blamed his staff for making him a victim. Unbeknown to him, he said, they shut down lanes to the George Washington Bridge to create a four-day traffic jam to punish a local mayor who failed to endorse him in last year’s election.

He said he fired his “stupid” and “deceitful” deputy chief of staff, Bridget Anne Kelly, “because she lied to me” about the gridlock scheme. Mr. Christie has also asked a Republican operative and former campaign adviser, Bill Stepien, to withdraw as a candidate to take over the state Republican Party. He, too, was on the email chain. Two of Mr. Christie’s appointees to the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, David Wildstein and Bill Baroni, resigned in December as news of the traffic vendetta became public.

Through his 108-minute news conference, Mr. Christie insisted over and over that he knew absolutely nothing about this illegal scheme. He was “blindsided” with the news on Wednesday morning, he said. That was the first time he said he saw emails showing how his aides gleefully plotted to shut down traffic lanes to punish Mayor Mark Sokolich of Fort Lee, N.J. For that reason, he said he is “embarrassed and humiliated.” This version of reality simply does not add up.

It’s good news that the United States attorney for New Jersey, Paul Fishman, has opened an inquiry into the matter and can make certain that all parties testify under oath. While the State Assembly has done a good job of investigating the Fort Lee scandal, it is important that the case be examined by a prosecutor’s office.

There are plenty of questions that Mr. Christie and his aides, current and former, need to answer.

more
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/10/opinion/after-chris-christies-performance.html?_r=0

[GP6971]

1. Him playing the victim card

really fell flat. And we're going to trust him with our nationally security should he run for president???? I would like to say fat chance, but the politics of this nation are so screwed up, I don't dismiss any possibility

[yellowcanine]

2. Yep, that is the part that really "gets me sauced," to use a Christie phrase.

The guy is governor. He hired these people. By his own admission his staff was close and marched in lockstep, not given to hiding things from each other or him. So there were no "rogue" operators on his staff. And he did not exactly turn over every stone trying to get to the bottom of this. With his "jokes" and sarcastic dismissal of reporters' questions he clearly sent the message that he was not looking for answers and his little "if you have anything to tell me I DON'T KNOW ALREADY" sounds like a cleverly parsed message to "STFU and we might be able to ride this one out."

[longship]

3. Woof, Woof! Christie's in deep poo-poo.

He does not own the US Attorney.

He's a goner.

[zentrum]

4. The Times Editorial doesn't

...even address the main question: Kelly and the other aides had their email records subpoenaed two weeks ago. Are we really to believe he only found out the full "truth" yesterday morning? Even after a subpoena that blew the top off and revealed their guilt--they still didn't inform him?

Come on NYT!

[DeSwiss]

5. K&R

[stg81]

6. he laid it on too thick re Kelly - and it rang false

this is a woman he has worked with for many years, she has 4 kids, and he called her "stupid" and "deceitful" to the world - without ever speaking to her directly about why she was fired.

A classier way to go would be to say something like "the actions speak for themselves" or "I'm disappointed" or "I don't understand why this happened." NOT stupid and deceitful. He was trying way too hard to scapegoat her and it was crude and obvious.

[Cha]

10. Excellent point, stg

[defacto7]

7. And there's the sociopath!

I apologize... but it's all their fault. I am innocent. The rage and unending denial is next.

[Cha]

8. I'm thinking Christie really pulled off the "remorseful"

pity-crap 'cause he got Caught!

Is Stupid Bridget the one who's running for AG.. so many players!

"What makes Mr. Christie’s claim of victimhood hard to accept is his own history of vindictive behavior. For instance, a Rutgers professor lost financing for a project because he voted against the governor on a redistricting commission. A Republican colleague who had a disagreement with Mr. Christie was disinvited to an event in his own district. Mr. Christie has denied that he sent signals to his staff to punish anyone who crossed him. “I am who I am, but I am not a bully,” he said Thursday. But he has set a tone that makes abusive actions acceptable."

Petty much, mr bully pity-party with "zero credibility"?

I read the "redacted" was because it wasn't germane to the issue.. Let the prosecutors decide that.

thanks for the article, DonViejo~

[Voice for Peace]

9. "This version of reality simply does not add up."

Respectfully BRUTAL

[Dawson Leery]

12. 900 pages of documents from the executive office are being released today.

[groundloop]

13. Christie should have paid closer attention to Bush & Cheney (re. Valerie Plame)

If he'd have taken better notes he might just have pulled it off. I'm convinced the only reason he's pissed off at his staff is because the situation blew up in his face, and that the only 'lies' were his staff telling him "we've got this handled".

[DallasNE]

14. Surely Christie Had Inquiries Daily While The Lanes Were Closed

How did he handle those inquiries? And why wouldn't he pull strings to get those lanes open? As an executive, when someone told me a traffic study was underway, I would have asked if there wasn't some other way to conduct the study and to get those lanes open immediately -- just the way the Port Authority guy from New York finally did. The total unconcern Christie displayed just doesn't square with what a leader would do under the circumstances as nobody could be that callous.

[Fortinbras Armstrong]

15. One thing I simply do not understand

What possible benefit Christie et al. thought they would get from the bridge lane closings. They seemed to think that this would embarrass the mayor of Fort Lee and get lots of people pissed off at him. Did not one of them say, "If our involvement in this comes out, aren't we going to get lots of people pissed off at us?"

I'm reminded a bit of Ross Perot in 1992 saying that he withdrew from the presidential race because "Republican operatives" threatened to disrupt his daughter's wedding. The head of the Republican National Committee (whose name I don't remember) said essentially, "Why would we do something stupid like that? When it got out, as it inevitably would, we would look bad and Perot would get sympathy from the voters." I had no problem whatsoever believing him.

[DallasNE]

16. Obviously, They Thought They Could Get Away Clean

They even had the Port Authority police telling irate motorists that it was the fault of the Mayor. They used private gmail.com and yahoo.com email accounts to hide their activity. Indeed, it took 3 months for a dogged reporter to come up with enough to get the ball rolling. Frankly, it is hard to believe that those so far thrown under the bus would have had the power by themselves to pull this off. Let's see what Christie does when a subpoena is issued for Kelly's correspondence. Will he exert executive privilege even though it is a criminal probe? (Nixon was rebuffed in his efforts but today's Judges are more political so it is an open question).

Note that in one email at the time the Mayor wondered if this could be retribution aimed at him so this is something that is known about Christie -- that he is a bully.