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.

Oscar Pistorius, The Bladerunner

By now everyone has heard of the case of Oscar Pistorius, the South African athlete who had a double amputation on both legs and went on to race in the Olympics and win gold medals. He was a national hero because of his remarkable feat. Now he is facing premeditated murder charges because he shot his live-in girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp, three times. His story, as to what happened, seems unbelievable to me and yet a judge decided to grant him bail and release him until his case will be heard in June. This decision was made even though violence against women is so bad in the country of South Africa, it is said to be a national crisis. What message does this send to men and women alike?

The story Oscar is telling is that he thought there was an intruder in the house, so he got out of bed, grabbed his gun, without wearing his prosthetic legs, and shot four times through a locked bathroom room, killing Reeva. She was hit three times. He claims he thought Reeva was in bed at the time. He claims he shouted to the intruder to get out. He claims he never put the lights on until after he fired all the shots. It was only after firing the shots and going back over to the bed, did he realize Reeva was not in the bed.

Does that make sense to anyone? It doesn’t to me, and like Judge Judy says, “if it doesn’t make sense, it’s not true.” First of all, when anyone in bed hears a noise in their home, don’t they first check to see if their significant other is still in bed? I mean wouldn’t your first thought be that they may have gotten up to use the bathroom or get a snack? And, if they were still there asleep, wouldn’t you at least wake them and alert them to the fact someone may be in the house, so they aren’t sleeping ducks OR maybe so they can call the police while you fire shots? What burglar do you know who would invade a heavily guarded house and then lock themselves in the bathroom where police can break down the door and escort them to jail? And why, if Oscar screamed to the intruder to get out of the bathroom, didn’t Reeva answer from the either the bed or the bathroom, asking what was going on? Surely that would have been anyone’s natural reaction in that situation. Did he think she slept through the whole thing? There were many more questions brought up by his explanation than were answered. All of them pointing to a story full of holes and illogical statements.

Some reports say one witness heard arguing and described it as “non-stopping fighting,” hours before the shooting. Another witness says they went to their balcony when the first shots were fired and saw the lights on at Oscar’s house, then heard a woman scream and two more shots fired. I wonder if the judge, who was so quick to grant bail, took those pieces of testimony into account?

The facts of this case are disturbing to say the least, and coupled with the social issue of gender violence in South Africa, it’s unbelievable that a judge would allow Oscar to walk freely for three to four months while the case against him is pending. One can only hope and pray, that because he is such a prominent figure worldwide, that attention and focus will be given to this case from every corner of the world. Maybe this case will create international scrutiny and pressure on South Africa to take this issue seriously and cause them to enforce their laws and punishments for rape and other violence perpetrated against women. Maybe Reeva’s death won’t be in vain. Maybe she her legacy will be in the loss of her life she will be saving the lives of other women. One can only hope to try and make sense out of the senseless killing of a beautiful lady with her whole promising life ahead of her, and pray for her family who suffered such a tragic loss.