New Rants on Old News...

Governor Christie's Bridge-Gate investigation continues even though he spent one million dollars of taxpayers' money to hire his own people to clear him of any knowledge and wrong doing. Seriously? Even if it were true, who in their right mind is going to believe it? That was a waste of money that his state so desperately needed. If it was that easy to clear him the other investigating agencies would have done it already. But some people just don't want to turn over their emails and other documents. And more people are resigning and retiring. Anthony Sartor, a Port Authority commissioner appointed by New Jersey decided it was time for him to retire. In the meantime, Manhattan District Attorney, Cyrus Vance, is launching his own investigation on several projects concerning Christie and the rebuilding of the World Trade Center, among others. I believe where there is smoke, there is fire. The fact of the matter is that Christie's internal investigation wasn't very thorough at all. They didn't go over a massive amount of documents, they didn't bother to interview key people involved in the scandal such as Bridget Kelly, Stepien, Wildstein, Baroni and David Samson, the former chairman of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey and former state attorney general or anyone at the Port Authority. They did, however, interview Christie, who claimed he was innocent in all this mess.

Unfortunately for me, I thought for the first time in a long time I was going to be able to vote for a Republican for President in 2016. I liked Christie's no nonsense attitude, his moderate views, the way he handled the crisis after storm Sandy. So needless to say I am very disappointed that he may be guilty of being involved in such a ridiculous act that could potentially kill his chances of running in 2016. An act that had heads rolling and wasn't at all necessary or legal. An act that has the potential of now opening up other cans of worms in three independent investigations concerning him and the Port Authority. Let the chips fall where they may, I hope they get to the bottom of it all soon.

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Oscar Pistorius, "Blade Runner," accused of killing his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp, in South Africa, has been on the witness stand for five days crying a river of tears. The proscutor had been vigorously arguing his case that Oscar killed his girlfriend intentionally and then altered his story to fit the evidence found at the crime scene. I always thought he was guilty from the start because Reeva may have been planning to leave him and that set him off. That is what the evidence seems to indicate. Neighbors heard arguing just before shots were fired. He has made several mistakes in his testimony, during all his sobbing, and the inconsistencies are adding up. South Afirca doesn't have jury trials, just a judge. The judge will hopefully be able to see through his tears to the truth of what occurred the night Reeva's life was violently cut short.

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Recently, while my daughter was watching Nancy Grace for fun, I heard about a southern politician, Louisiana CongressmanVance McAllister, who was caught on video with his lips interlocked with employee, Melissa Peacock. Really there is nothing to be shocked about. It seems that it is almost a pre-requiste that politicians cheat and wives support them . . . hence my favorite television show The Good Wife. This story is relatively new, but what I think makes it a hot topic for the media is Vance has 5 children and ran on a Christian way of life/family values platform. His ads featured him with his wife and children around the kitchen table. The hypocrisy is hard to swallow. On top of that, he asks for forgiveness from God, his wife, his kids and his constituents because he has "fallen short." Fallen short is an understatement. Meanwhile, he is still holding office, he hasn't resigned. But guess what? That poor staff member, Melissa, is long gone. Her husband says Vance apologized to everyone except him and he is filing for divorce. Seems to me there is more to the story and why wouldn't there be. And here it is . . . the two also have some sort of business connection. The congressman used his own money to get elected in a special election and was planning to run in the fall for a full two year term. Good luck to him.

 

 

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I wonder what happen to Anthony Weiner?  I hear he is looking to downsize his appartment from one costing $12 - 14,000 per month, to one costing $8,000. The cost of texting selfies?  Boo Hoo.

Bridgegate and Chris Christie...

For the first time in a long time, I finally saw something in a Republican politician that I liked. Chris Christie came across as a take charge, no nonsense, down to earth, calling it as he sees it, leader. I saw him in action during storm Sandy. He was impressive enough to sway my thinking into believing I could actually vote for him if he ran for president in 2016. Even our Governor Cuomo, who is a democrat and may throw his hat in the ring in 2016, was not the strong leader I thought he needed to be. These are hard times in every sense of the word. People around the country are struggling with so many issues and these constant bouts with extraordinary and devastating weather events are more than we can stand. Too many people are still not back in their homes due the the damage from Sandy. It's hard to believe.

Fast forward to Bridgegate. I did a lot of reading about this scandal and I watched the very long, televised press conference that Christie had after the scandal broke. He sure seemed sincere in his apologies and his insistence that he didn't know anything about it's planning or execution. I hoped he was telling the truth. Surely, he would not compound the stupidity of this whole mess by adding his denials of any knowledge, especially if there was evidence out there that he knew something or even gave the orders to close the lanes on the George Washington Bridge. If there is proof he knew anything about it at this point, he could kiss his political career good bye.

A couple of things bothered me though. First, he said he had just learned of the fact his staff was involved the morning before the press conference, but later said he had lost TWO nights sleep. I caught that, but then the media highlighted it and questioned it. Everyone was asking why, if he only found out the day before, did he lose two nights sleep? That in itself isn't so incriminating. I'm sure there are many reasons why he could have lost an extra night's sleep. But now there is a second thing weighing on my mind. David Wildstein. Wildstein is the person who ordered the lanes of the George Washington Bridge closed based on an email from Bridget Kelly saying, "time for traffic problems in Fort Lee." Wildstein answered "got ya," as though he had understood her short command and had done this sort of thing before.Wildstein knew Christie in high school. Someone at the press conference asked Christie about their "friendship." Christie downplayed the relationship, saying they went to high school together, they passed each other in the hallways, they haven't seen each other in 20 years or more. Really? Because this doesn't have the ring of truth to it. Why? Well, a special position was created for Wildsten in the Port Authority by the request of Christie, namely Director of Interstate Capital Projects paying over $150,000 per year. A position that never existed before and is being done away with now that Wildstein resigned on the heels of the scandal. Who believes Christie would ask for a position like this for a guy he barely knew existed in high school? I don't. I have some serious concerns about it. To top it off, Wildstein, in an effort to save himself from prison time, is offering up evidence that Christie didn't tell the truth on some matters during his press conference, for immunity. Bridget Kelly and Bill Stepien were subpoenaed to submit documents for the investigation and I heard she refused.

Lastly, Rachael Maddow pointed out something interesting on her show. We all have a hard time thinking Christie would condone wrecking havoc on Fort Lee just because the mayor there didn't endorse him, especially since he admits they didn't ask for his endorsement. But Maddow looked closely at the timing of the event and what happened just before the lane closure went into effect. it seems that Christie, for the first time in I don't know how many years of NJ history, decided not to give a supreme court justice a lifetime appointment after he had served seven years with a very good record. This angered the state senate because there was no reason for it. So in retaliation, every appointment Christie made to fill that seat, was rejected. The night before the traffic jam, another candidate had been rejected and Christie was pissed. The president of the senate lives in Fort Lee. Maddow's theory is that the lane closures were in retaliation for this situation and had nothing to do with the mayor. It seems to make sense. Does that mean Christie knew what was about to happen or did his staff orchestrate the whole thing without his knowledge? Did the governor tell them to do what they have to do to get back at whoever, but he doesn't want to know the details? I don't know. I imagine that happens all the time. Of course, when he asked them about it they lied and/or said nothing. That may be the way it is done to protect the reputation of the leader, so he can say he knows nothing, and the underlings become totally responsible and the scapegoats. Heads have to roll. Some key people close to Christie lost their jobs. But that didn't end things and subpeonas are going out. If there is anything incriminating out there it will surely come out. Its just a wait and see game.

I don't know what to think or believe. The whole idea was asinine from the get go.