Saturday, March 8, 2014

Dumb Reality Shows My Kids Watch…


First of all I am not going to sit here and type that I  do not watch dumb shows, because I do. Here are the shows that distract me from my reality: Mob Wives, Real Housewives of New York (I can only stomach one series of the franchise and my kids got me started), and of course my two ridiculous soap operas (Young and The Restless and Bold and the Beautiful). These are my guilty pleasures. Don’t worry, if I forgot any others my snarky kids will fill you in. But this blog is not about me and what I watch, it’s about what they watch…and I don’t even know the half of it.

First we have “Dance Moms,” about a seriously overweight dance instructor, Abby Lee Miller, who verbally abuses the girls in her 8 to 10 girl dance troop, and who is impossible to please even when they come in first place (they didn’t get enough points). Then add to the mix some outrageously, argumentative, petty, sarcastic, envious stage mothers who like to argue with Abby and verbally abuse their own children because winning is everything. Now, as you see there is redundancy in my description around the words “verbally abusive.” I want to know why CPS hasn’t been called on all the mothers and most especially Abby? I can’t even count the number of times these girls have cried a river over unnecessary comments and yes even insults which are damaging their self esteem. Is it me? Cause I don’t get it. Is this all about being on television? Does anyone freaking care how much emotional damage is being done to these sweet little girls and what lessons they are learning? Abby even punishes them if, for example, they want to take a senior trip with friends and miss a class or practice. She yells at them if they want to pursue other talents, like singing. Lately she has been threatening them all that they aren’t good enough and she is constantly looking for talent to replace them. These kids live in fear of being kicked out of her dance troop. The girls are subjected to their moms arguing with each other over who deserves to have a solo this week. They complain that one of the girls is Abby’s favorite and always gets special attention. Abby even has a pyramid where she unveils each of the girls’ faces, one at a time. Most of them are in the bottom row, which means their performances have been below par, or they are guilty of a petty infraction like their hair piece fell off during a competition. At the top of the pyramid is always Abby’s favorite, Matty. So poor Matty is set up to be the one the girls have to strive to beat and the Mom’s hate the favoritism so they are always talking about Matty and her mother. All I can do is shake my head. This is entertainment?

Then we have a new show, at least I think it’s new, called Couple’s Therapy. The couples are beyond helping for the most part, especially when you have a therapist that curses a blue streak and breaks down crying in front of her “clients.” I just can’t get into the show enough to complain about it decently enough. This is what I do know, Jon (from Jon and Kate Plus 8), who could not stand Kate’s verbal abusiveness anymore, goes out and find another “Kate” named Liz, to cohabitate with and wonders why they have issues. Duh! Then there is a rapper, Ghost Killer Face (whatever) who is on the show with a girl named Kelsey. He is very upset because she didn’t tell him she was a stripper years before they met. He gives her hell about keeping her past a secret. Then, guess what? Turns out he has been cheating on her the whole time they have been together with a woman he has been seeing before he even met her. Neither woman knows about the other. So he wants the other woman on the show so HE can decide who he really loves and wants to be with! Oy vey. There is a single girl, Farrah, on the show. She is not part of a couple so why is she even there? All she does is cry and then you can’t understand a freaking word she says. There is a lesbian couple, and one of them is really nuts/unstable and the other one has to keep trying to figure out how to make her happy. Then there is Taylor Armstrong, who I think was on the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills a while back. She is there with her new husband, the previous one committed suicide (I wonder why). Her bloated lips may qualify her to be in the fish species. I hate them. Taylor is used to the good life and complains that her towels aren’t the right color and the food tastes like school cafeteria food. Enough said. Just a few temper tantrums for the “therapist” to work on. Done with this show.

My older daughter watches “Sister Wives” which even my younger daughter cannot stand. It’s about an obnoxious Mormon man, Cody, who is married to four wives. They consider themselves “sister wives.” They claim they aren’t jealous of each other, but there are times when it’s obvious they are. The wives and their respective children all have their own home on a cul-de-sac in Vegas. It took them forever to find 4 homes close together so the kids can play with each other and yet each wife has her own home…and of course Cody doesn’t have to waste much time traveling about since he has to divide his time fairly amongst all four women. I don’t know how many children he has altogether, but my younger daughter and I can’t stomach the lifestyle and I don’t think these women are happy. Mind you, he is all for plurality of marriage BUT finds it disgusting if a woman, or let’s say one of his wives, wanted more than one husband. There are so many things that annoy me about this show that I am going to blame it for part of my high blood pressure.

There are many more shows they watch. Some of them they save until I have gone to bed so they don’t have to hear me complain. I think that’s best too. The quality of television has hit rock bottom. I’m so glad I have a nice big flat screen tv to watch it all on.

Wednesday, March 5, 2014

Girls Sues Parents

It's all over the news the past couple of days and here are the facts. Rachel Canning, 18, a high school senior, is suing her parents to get them to pay for the rest of her high school education and college. Her high school has already said they won't kick her out. "The lawsuit asks that her parents pay the remaining tuition for her last semester at her private high school, pay her current living and transportation expenses, commit to paying her college tuition and pay her legal fees for the suit she filed against her parents." Who is paying her lawyer? The father of the friend that Rachel is currently staying with since she walked out of her family home four months ago. She left home because she didn't want to obey the rules. Apparently Rachel had a boyfriend who her parents thought was a bad influence on her and they wanted her to stop seeing him. An honor student in previous years, Rachel has been in serious trouble the past year. In October she was suspended from her expensive private school for truancy. Her boyfriend was also suspended. The parents took away her car and phone privileges. Rachel didn't like that. CSP was contacted based on Rachel's allegations of parental abuse and the investigation determined they were unfounded. Her parents are distraught. The rules they imposed on her included and 11 o'clock curfew and chores. The parents are upset with the family who took their daughter in and financed this law suit for her, and rightly so. Yesterday the judge ruled against Rachel saying, "Do we want to establish a precedent where parents live in basic fear of establishing rules of the house?" Family Division Judge Peter Bogaard asked. Rachel is seeking to remain unemancipated so her parents will be responsible for all her expenses. The judge also cited certifications submitted by the Sean and Elizabeth Canning about their daughter’s alleged history of staying out and drinking during the week. Once, he said, she was driven home by her boyfriend’s parents at 3 a.m. In addition, Bogaard said, Rachel was removed from her position as captain of the cheer leading squad and from the campus ministry. "What kind of parents would the Cannings be if they did not discipline her?" he asked. "The Cannings had the right to set up rules."

I think Rachel's parents are within their rights to refuse to pay for college. College is a privilege, not a right. College is expensive. I can see helping out a child, when you can and they deserve it, to keep loans down and allowing them more time to study. My younger daughter had no free time to work with the demands of her major. She spent almost all her time at home studying or doing assignments. Both of my girls worked hard throughout their academic careers and my husband and I wanted to help them in any way we could. But, Rachel has made some bad choices. She doesn't seem to appreciate everything she has been given. Her parents paid for her tuition at her private school and she was suspended. Her behavior at school was such that it caused her to be removed from two groups she participated in. Why should her parents pay for her last semester?  Why should they invest money in her college education? How do they know she won't drop out, skip classes and have to retake them, or fnd other ways of getting nto trouble? She broke their trust and their hearts. I knew a girl in college who dropped out after her third year to marry a guy her parents didn't approve of. Then she moved away. I heard some time later the marriage didn't work out, but she had a baby and her whole life was forever changed. Rachel sounds like spoiled brat used to getting her way. This is what she demanded and the judge refused: "Rachel Canning had sought immediate relief in the form of $650 in weekly child support and the payment of the remainder of her tuition at Morris Catholic High School, as well as attorney's fees." What nerve! I agree the parents needed to show some tough love. But their plan has been sabatoged.

I am not so much pissed at Rachel for her ungrateful behavior towards her parents, but at the Ingelsino family, who are financing her law suit. What business is this of theirs? Instead of acting as mediators and trying to help this broken family reconcile, their "well intentioned" interferance is causing more problems than ever. I think it's alienation of parental affection. They are helping her attack her parents. And where does it say she is entitled to all the things she is demanding? She is able bodied. Let her go get a job and see what it feels like to earn money the hard way instead of having it handed to her. She says her parents earn over $300,000 a year and can afford to pay for her college. Maybe they can, maybe they choose not to. It is their money to spend as they see fit. She is 18 and considered an adult. This is their family's personal business. But, instead of trying to fix the matter through reconcliation, these Ingelsino's made it easy for her to stay away from her family and not suffer any consequences for her behavior. They provide her with a roof over her head and nice home cooked meals and who knows what else. If they enjoy being so involved, let them pay for her college and expenses and wait for years or decades while she tries to pay them back. I don't think they will be so eager to do all that, do you? I think these people should be sued for helping cause possibly irreparable damage to the relationships in this family. Can't wait to see what the judge decides about college...I don't think he is going to want to set a precedent that parents have to pay for their children's education!

Tuesday, February 25, 2014

High Blood Pressure…

It was just a matter of time before I would develop high blood pressure, medically known as hypertension. My mother had it for years and was taking medication for it. My mom and I have the exact same temperament. Everything that happens, from the smallest annoyance to a major headache, sets us off. So I always knew one day I would have to face the music and deal with this health issue.

Now hypertension doesn’t have any symptoms, so it’s pretty hard to figure out something is wrong on your own unless a major consequence occurs. I do see a doctor regularly, about once a year, but maybe that’s not enough. Last November you may recall I was whining about a bout of bronchitis that I was suffering through. When I went in to be checked out and for medication, the nurse told me my blood pressure was high. I stored the information in the back of my head because I was still unpacking, the holidays were approaching and the weather was lousy for weeks. I considered it may have been a momentary thing and that my blood pressure could have gone back to normal on it’s own. However, I am not one to take chances with my health after having a couple of scares in my lifetime.

On Sunday we went to my aunt’s birthday party. Before going to the party I stopped at my cousin Maria’s house so she could measure my blood pressure. I wanted to know if it was high and if so, how high. Then I could make my doctor’s appointment and give him some numbers to work with. Well, first Maria uses her hand held blood pressure device. She takes it twice, after giving me time in between, and it comes out to 157 over 84. Okay, that’s enough to scare me because I know the (old) normal is 120 over 80 and I have no clue if I am in the danger zone. She decides to take me into her bedroom where she has a more advanced technological machine that reads it for you automatically and she is thinking this will confirm her other readings and we can be more sure. Well, at first the machine kind of malfunctions and gives a bad reading, so it has to be reset. Then it looks like it works, except now the readings are even worse…174 over 86...something outrageous like that. She doesn’t seem to be concerned, but I am. I felt like I had "one foot in the grave" as my mom used to say. I don’t know what to make of this except an appointment to see my doctor on Thursday afternoon. I may need medication to get it under control, but I would like to try and control it with diet in the future, if possible. The last thing I want to do is have a long row of pills to take every day for a half dozen conditions. I already take Fosamax and calcium for my osteoporosis, which my mom also had.

Getting older is a real pain in the ass. Doctor appointments and pills. Waiting in the office and waiting at the pharmacy. But what can you do? Neglecting your health only makes things worse and harder to fix…sometimes the damage is irreversible. So I would rather err on the side of caution. And, if you are reading this and have been neglecting your health, or maybe putting off an appointment for a mammogram or other screening, you should stop right now and pick up that phone. There is never a good time to see the doctor, but the best time is before something serious happens.

And next I am going to make an appointment for my mammogram, it's been a year snce I have done that!

Monday, February 24, 2014

My Aunt Mary’s 90th Birthday Party…

 
My Aunt Mary with her son, Paul (next to her)
and my family standing behind
 
My Aunt Mary turned 90 on Valentine’s Day, but the weather made it impossible to celebrate it that weekend. My aunt has been in and out of the hospital many times the past two to three years. I went to see her just a couple of weeks ago at the hospital. She couldn't breathe one night and it had snowed a lot. The ambulance couldn't get through the streets, the fire department had to help. They could not use a stretcher due to ice, so a few men had to carry her into the ambulance. When she got to the hospital, they ran tests. She had had a heart attack (not her first) and two strains of the flu and pneumonia. That was a Tuesday night. I went there on that Saturday afternoon. She had already made a ton of progress and was chatting with us and asking about my girls. After we were there a while she told us we could leave, that she was fine...and she was. Along side her bed were discharge papers! My cousin, Maria, glanced through them. I was alarmed that they were releasing her too soon. Her family had to consider taking her to a rehab until she could get around on her own. But, about 3 or 4 days later, she was released and able to go home. My aunt Mary is amazing! God Bless her.

This weekend the weather was beautiful…and so was my Aunt Mary. I walked into the party room at the restaurant to see her seated at the table in the center of the back wall, the room had two long tables extending from each side of her table…like a U shape. I walked over to greet her and she tells me to sit near her. She is in great spirits, wearing a beautiful pink chiffon dress and the cameo pin my uncle Tony had gotten her many years ago. On her wrist was a bracelet with several small cameos that came from Italy. My Aunt Mary always loved parties and family get togethers and yesterday was no exception. Everyone was taking pictures to preserve the memories of this special day. My aunt was surrounded by her children, Maria and Paul, her grandchildren, Frank, Joseph and Deanna, her sister, Angie, and a lot of nieces, nephews and friends. As we are chatting, my aunt tells me she feels a little chilly. I tell her that maybe she should open my gift. We open the package together and in side was a shawl I had gotten her. We slipped it over her shoulders right then and there. Now she is a little more comfortable. Out with the food!

The restaurant served many plates of appetizers family style: a mozzarella and tomato salad, a calamari salad, stuffed eggplant, stuffed mushrooms, stuffed clams, garlic bread. There was plenty of wine at all the tables. When I wasn’t pouring myself half glasses of wine, my husband was and when he wasn’t looking, the waiter filled my glass to the brim a couple of times. The entrée hadn’t even come out and I was feeling happy and very full. For the entrée they had a chicken and sausage plate with potatoes, peppers and onion and a dish of penne with tomato sauce. Everyone was enjoying the food and the company. Then my Aunt Mary started to talk and everyone else got silent. She wanted to thank everyone for coming. She said in times like these, when most families drift apart, she was happy to say that her family always remained close. And, with a tear trickling down the corner of her eye, she told us how much she loved us all…those of us who were there and those of us who weren’t. It was very touching.


My Aunt Mary's Family
Bottom Row: Deanna, Maria, Aunt Mary, Angie,
Back Row Center: Joseph, Frank, Paul


It is only fitting that my Aunt Mary was born on Valentine’s Day, a day that celebrates love. My Aunt Mary has always been a wonderful, loving person. She has a heart of gold. She raised her family and worked hard her whole life. She has had more than her share of health problems. She always seemed to have endless patience with children and loved being around them. I really never heard her complain much about anything. And, because of her, we will all have many cherished memories of the Thanksgiving and New Year holidays that were always celebrated in her home. She inspired me to try and make all the holidays special for my children too.

My aunt’s memory is a little faulty, as you might expect, but no worse than mine. She kept asking about my parents, how they were doing. Whenever she does, I don’t have the heart to tell her they have been gone a long time. I just tell her they are well, but not able to go out much any more. She always tells me to send them her love and that she misses them. I have all to do not to cry myself. My Aunt Mary is all that we have left of her generation. We have lost so many loved ones over the past 30 years it brings tears to my eyes as I write. She has given us many a scare the past couple of years, but her positive attitude always pulls her through. Her last recovery seemed almost miraculous. Not only the recovery, but the short time it took her. I’m very thankful and feel blessed that she not only bounced back, but was able to come out and celebrate her birthday in style.

At the end of her little speech, she talked about how good her children were, how good her grandchildren were and how blessed she was to have them. Then she said, “I’m the only one who’s a stinker.” Everyone laughed. She added, next year we are all going to do this again. There is nothing I would love more than to be able to celebrate my aunt’s 91st birthday with her in 2015. Happy 90th Birthday Aunt Mary…and many more!


My Aunt Mary's Thanksgivings: http://ninaspetpeeves.blogspot.com/2011/11/my-aunt-marys-thanksgivings.html

My Aunt Mary's New Year's: http://ninaspetpeeves.blogspot.com/2012/12/happy-new-yearpast-and-present.html

 


Thursday, February 13, 2014

Dylan Farrow And Her Molester...

I find subjects like this very hard to write about. So I can only imagine how difficult it was for Dylan Farrow to publically expose what was done to her when she was seven years old by her abuser. Her very public letter, published in the New York Times, sounded very real, sincere and detailed to me. I believe her. I cannot imagine living in a world where your abuser is celebrated and revered and honored for his accomplishments. There is no escape from reliving the horrible acts that were done to her when his name is always in the media and he is surrounded by celebrities and critics and on the recieving end of accolades. Where can she run? Where can she hide from it all? He called her a liar years ago and he continues to do so today. It's sickening.

There is plenty of evidence, that came out years ago, to more than suggest this little girl was telling the truth. This was not a little girl coached by her mother, to say evil things about her father. To come to that conclusion would make Mia Farrow, a loving mother to all her children, the evil monster. That is the only defense that the molester had, to redirect the focus and blame on someone else, to cast doubt on the child's accusations. But, no matter how hard he tries, there are facts in evidence that he cannot explain away.

Here is an interesting and well researched article that presents the facts of the case concerning what happened to Dylan Farrow: Facts considered by the court. If you haven't read Dylan's letter to her accusor, you can find it here: Dylan's Letter to Her Abuser

I recall the horror and shock when, on the heels of these accusations, Woody Allen (yes I said hs name), married his "daughter" Soon-Yi in 1992. He was 56 and she was 21. He married her right after his breakup with Mia Farrow, who he never "lived" with, but did adopt two of her eleven children, Moses age 13 and Dylan age 6. Allen was sleeping with Soon-Yi when she was about 18, for a year before breaking up with Mia, who learned of the affair in 1992. Mia went to Allen's apartament and "discovered six nude Polaroids of Soon-Yi on his mantle, her legs spread open."

I am not a lawyer, judge, or jury. I don't need evidence beyond a reasonable doubt to come to my conclusions. The facts speak for themselves. Dylan speaks for herself. Who can we believe? Who should we believe? I am satisfied that Dylan was molested by her father and her mother did everything in her power to protect her as soon as she foundout. Unfortunately, the scars and pain she suffered have not gone away and probably never will go away. She is living a lifetime sentence in her own personal prison, while her abuser receives lfetime achievement awards.

Wednesday, February 12, 2014

Justin Bieber, The New Lindsay Lohan?

I'd be remiss if I didn't blog all my rantings and ravings about Justin Bieber's series of incidents. I don't wnat to give Justin a free pass just because I have been busy. It seems while I have been involved with moving the past 12 months, Justin has been busy breaking the law and getting into trouble.

Starting back in February 2013, Justin was allegedly photographed with his "lil" friends, Za and Twist, and some blunts. In March he turned 19 and celebrated with underage drinking, showing up late for concerts, and collapsing on stage during a London concert. He returns to the US only to spit in a neighbor in the face when he complains to him about his wreckless driving in the neighborhood. In April 2013 the Swedish police find marijuana and a stun gun on his bus. In July 2013 he is videoed pissing in a mob bucket in a New York City nightclub kitchen...remind me not to eat there. In August 2013, there are a couple of club altercations. He take a little break in September.

In October he assaults a tour manager in a South Korean nightclub. In November 2013 there is a little sex scandal in which a woman photgraphs him allegedly spending the night with her and then he is caught coming out of a brothel in South America...you got to hand it to him, the kid gets around. Later that month he is detained in Australia when they find weed on one of his entourage members. In December 2013 a girl passes out in his mansion while partying with Justin. In January, 2014, he gets in trouble for vandalism when he throws about two dozen eggs at a neighbor's house...I know I'd be pissed! Five days later the cops raid Justin's house over the egg incident and find drugs, Molly/Ectasy, but arrest Justin's "lil" friend, not him. While on Miami beach Justin is stopped for drag racing, fails a sobriety test and is arrested for a DUI. He resists arrest and is found to have an expired driver's license. And, just like Lindsay Lohan, he is out and about after a slap on the wrist.

Interestingly enough, Justin happens to be a Canadian citizen, unlike Lindsay. People here have gotten so fed up with him they have started a petition to get him deported. A petition of this kind requires 100,000 signatures for the US government to consider looking into the matter. Last I heard, Justin's petition has 255,740 signature to be exact. And, they want to revoke his green card. Here you go:

"We the people of the United States feel that we are being wrongly represented in the world of pop culture. We would like to see the dangerous, reckless, destructive, and drug abusing, Justin Bieber deported and his green card revoked. He is not only threatening the safety of our people but he is also a terrible influence on our nations youth. We the people would like to remove Justin Bieber from our society."

Granted Justin committed these incidents literally all over the world, so no one place has his complete record, unlike Lindsay. But isn't it sad that all these young entertainers can think to do with their money is drink alcohol and do drugs? I haven't heard anything on Lindsay recently, and I hope that means she has been getting help to stay sober. It's sad stories like that of Cory Monteith and Philip Seymour Hoffman that should be a wake up call to everyone. Those who are addicted and the people who love them, should take action now. There have been too many memorials to say good bye, too many lives cut tragically short. Is this the best we can do...just stand by and say goodbye? Is there no good way to prevent these things from happening? People who are addicted to drugs are mentally incapacitated and can't make the decision to save themselves. They not only put their lives in danger, they put others' lives in danger. Instead of finding Hoffman and getting him help before he died with a needle in his arm, they are now busy, after the fact, looking for the people who gave him the drugs. Why can't drug rehab be mandatory for known addicts before they kill themselves? Maybe that's a simplistic way of thinking, but it's sickening to wake up and read about one death after another when these deaths could have been, should have been prevented.

Wake up Justin! You've been blessed with a lot of things in life, the most precious of which is life...and you are taking it for granted and throwing it away!

Tuesday, February 11, 2014

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.