Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Pelosi: “He either is stupid, or he thinks the rest of us are.” Why not both?

I might just take the rest of the day off and do even more nothing than usual.

They fucked up the fucking up of the fuckup!

Seems like a complicated subject, have you tried yelling at it?

Proof that we need a blogger ethics panel.

The Supreme Court cannot be allowed to become the ultimate, unaccountable arbiter of everything.

And now I have baud making fun of me. this day can’t get worse.

“What are Republicans afraid of?” Everything.

They traffic in fear. it is their only currency. if we are fearful, they are winning.

“The defense has a certain level of trust in defendant that the government does not.”

The poor and middle-class pay taxes, the rich pay accountants, the wealthy pay politicians.

Michigan is a great lesson for Dems everywhere: when you have power…use it!

Hey Washington Post, “Democracy Dies in Darkness” is supposed to be a warning, not a mission statement.

The gop is a fucking disgrace.

Chutkan laughs. Lauro sits back down.

It’s a good piece. click on over. but then come back!!

So it was an October Surprise A Day, like an Advent calendar but for crime.

Democrats are back in array!

Everybody saw this coming.

Relentless negativity is not a sign that you are more realistic.

This fight is for everything.

A sufficient plurality of insane, greedy people can tank any democratic system ever devised, apparently.

rich, arrogant assholes who equate luck with genius

Putting aside our relentless self-interest because the moral imperative is crystal clear.

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60Comments

  3. 3.

    lamh36

    Seems he was nothing but a photo whore last night:

    @Joan_Rivers 9m
    A surprise guest at Howard Stern’s birthday was Governor Christie. I asked him how the traffic was coming in. pic.twitter.com/OCdFU1oA1C

  6. 6.

    gene108

    In ranking the NJ governors, I’ve witnessed in living here 17 years, I can say the bar is pretty low for being a good governor here.

    I wasn’t that glued into politics, when Whtimann was in governor, but she managed to get re-elected and then left to head the EPA under Bush & Co on her own terms and not to avoid some sort of ruinous scandal, which seems pretty damn good.

    I appreciated the fact Corzine tried to do things to improve the state, like make solar cell production a major industry here, and raise taxes on millionaires like himself to pay for things, but he was aloof. In his defense he didn’t have any major scandals, despite losing his re-election bid.

    McGreevey resigned in scandal.

    Christie’s now enmeshed in his own scandals.

    The rest were interim governors.

    I really wonder what would happen, if NJ every got a good governor.

    I think heads would explode.

  7. 7.

    aimai

    Can Christie find god and find forgiveness? Thats the only way he gets back on the right wing rubber chicken circuit, eventually. Meanwhile he is condemned to be the flying dutchmen of photo ops and journalistic gets. Once every single person who sees him hovering by, like a flaming nazi gasbag, shouts “didja move the cones, christie?” or “Show us the sandy money!” its all over. In politics sometimes you can argue “every knock’s a boost” and “just spell my name right” but I think Christie has reached the Gary Hart/Anthony Weiner stage of notoriety.

  8. 8.

    lamh36

    @aimai: there will always be Faux News to fall back on.

    So I see that Joey Scar is standing by his friend Chris Christie better than Christie stood by his “friend” Wildeman. So how soon before Joey Scar throws his friend Christie under the same bus Christie threw Wildeman.

    Also too, since Joe and Mika are such good friends with GovChristie maybe NBCNews should recuse them from discussing bridgegate? Naw that’d be too much like integrity

  10. 10.

    Mark C

    I wonder if there will be a trail that will implicate him. Like most everyone, I see his denials as bold-faced lies, but he’s both smart and spent years as a Federal Prosecutor. I suspect that there will be no proof that he ordered the lane closures or knew about them beforehand. That said, given the nature of his inner-circle and his management style, he almost certainly was involved. Of course he knew about them once they happened, but again proving that he knew the cause was political retribution or coercion is something all together different. I guess we’ll see in the days ahead but I wouldn’t be surprised if we find that he has carefully insulated himself. Now, if you can get some of his inner-circle to break their silence, that’s a different story (Wildstein was not inner circle).

  11. 11.

    gene108

    @aimai:

    Can Christie find god and find forgiveness?

    Will the Southern evangelicals accept the forgiveness granted to him by his Catholic God?

    There’s some sort of acceptance of Catholics by evangelicals these days, but I’m not sure how far it goes.

  16. 16.

    mellowjohn

    i was fortunate enough to have a place to stand in grant park the night in ’08 when obama was elected. he walked out on stage to bon jovi’s “who says you can’t go home.”

  17. 17.

    Keith P

    Not to focus too much on CC’s physical appearance, but since he had the lap band surgery and supposedly works out twice a week, has he actually lost weight? I’ve known people who had the surgery and gotten thin, but CC looks the same as he did when he was first elected.

  18. 18.

    p.a.

    The Fools were a band that did comic and satiric pseudo-covers of popular songs. They did take-offs of bon Jovi with “You Give Rock a Bad Name” and “Living Off My Hair”.

  19. 19.

    Ted and Hellen

    GW Bush walks away from killing hundreds of thousands of people, but you’re wetting yourself over a bridge closing. Only in America.

  24. 24.

    Tripod

    @Mark C:

    Well, I think his problems are fundamentally political, and if the Democratic Party regulars are done with him, they’ll find a way to blow torch him out of office.

    He reminds me a lot of Blago.The manifestations of megalomania sure do track – celebrity nut riding, using the power of the office in petty ways, the delusional thinking that the White House is the next step. I bet he’s seen the Godfather movies a bunch, and believes they’re a Machiavellian political primer rather than a soap opera for men.

  25. 25.

    Tommy

    @gene108: Wonder. Wonder. I wonder if 4 our of five governors didn’t end up in prison. They did. When I saw all this happening I thought to myself, stop thinking of Illinois.Go to NJ. My second thought, you are wimps about graph.Shut down a bridge. Laughing.

  26. 26.

    PurpleGirl

    @Betty Cracker: I don’t know that Springsteen has forsaken CC; it seems like Springsteen largely ignored him and it might have been just that one concert when Springsteen acknowledged him. The video of Springsteen and Fallon is a return to his original distaste of CC. (And a really great song it is.)

  28. 28.

    Cervantes

    @gene108:

    I really wonder what would happen, if NJ every got a good governor.

    Tom Kean was not bad (for a Republican), but that was probably before your time. As you say, Whitman and Corzine were OK — McGreevey, too, policy-wise, I’d say, but he shouldn’t have allowed his private interest to corrupt public choices.

  30. 30.

    PurpleGirl

    @Cervantes: I consider Whitman a neutral. One of the things she did was to borrow a huge amount of money to put into the government workers pension fund because she didn’t want to raise taxes to cover what was needed.

  31. 31.

    Amir Khalid

    @PurpleGirl:
    Don’t you remember the post-Sandy meeting that was brokered by none other than Barack Obama? It all began when your president called Christie from Air Force One and put Bruce on the line.

  32. 32.

    The Other Chuck

    @Keith P: He’s not svelte, but comparing pics of him from 2008, he’s definitely lost some weight. The rate of weight loss from lap band surgery is already pretty risky, so he’s got a few years to go yet.

  33. 33.

    PurpleGirl

    @Amir Khalid: Yes, he did do that but I don’t consider that as making the two men best buddies. Springsteen was still able to write that song and sing it with Fallon.

  34. 34.

    Cervantes

    @PurpleGirl:

    I consider Whitman a neutral.

    Yes, I agree with you. When I said she and the others were “OK,” I meant “just OK” as opposed to gene108‘s “good.” Thanks for clarifying.

  36. 36.

    Warren Terra

    One lane to the bridge to NYC
    And sorry I could not use the other three
    One of many commuters, in place I stood
    And looked down the others as far as I could
    to where they joined the GWB

    …

    All four lanes that morning equally lay
    in asphalt smooth, in faded black
    Oh, Christie kept the three for another day!
    Fort Lee’s mayor had got to pay
    Decreed Christie’s crooked claque

    I shall be telling this with a sigh
    Trying to make it make some sense
    Four lanes accessed a bridge and I,
    I took the only one traveled by,
    Chris Christie made all the difference

  39. 39.

    Chris C.

    Bon Jovi: “Who says you can’t go home?”

    Chris: “Yuz can’t if yuz’re stuck on a bridge, muthafuckers”

  42. 42.

    slippy

    @Ted and Hellen:

    Christie with a whole nation’s military at his command, with his infantile temper, could easily get us all killed. It’s very good that he’s been exposed before he got much closer to the triggers.

  43. 43.

    eemom

    @PurpleGirl:

    Another thing Whitman did — as head of EPA under Bush — was stand at Ground Zero and tell a shitton of clean up workers now dying of toxic exposures that the air was safe to breathe. Fuck her.

  44. 44.

    Tommy

    Happy thoughts about this song. Oh so much doom and gloom. I was a tennis player and I often went off to play tennis at camps. The last one was around this time. 1987. We bunked on the courts. Over-the-top shit. I WANTED to go there. My parents saved everything for it to happen, it wasn’t cheap. This was over Christmas.

    You went to see your family, I went to play tennis.

    I recall a small TV and this song playing on MTV. We were not allowed in that time to watch much TV, other things to do. It brings back memories ……

  47. 47.

    CaseyL

    Graft is an inescapable part of politics, particularly in places like New Jersey, for many reasons (not least of which is a long history of heavy Mob presence and influence).

    If you can’t get rid of graft altogether (and I don’t think that’s possible), then the next best thing is to have politicians that govern well and effectively even as they’re skimming and playing enrich-the-cronies. That is basically what “machine politics” is all about.

    Christie could have been in that corrupt-but-effective category, if he wasn’t also thin-skinned, revenge minded, and petty. He didn’t “govern well and effectively,” he held up important projects to ensure money went to his cronies, and punished people who displeased him by punishing their constituents. More protection racket politician than machine politician.

  48. 48.

    rikyrah

    Caught On Video: Police Hit, Tie Down, Then Chop Off Possible Rape Victim’s Hair (VIDEO)

    Warren Michigan police officers were caught on camera, strapping a 22-year-old mother into a chair and cutting off her hair. The officer with the scissors, Bernadette Najor, can be seen hitting the young mother, before having her restrained. The video shows her grabbing the woman’s hair, repeatedly jerking her head back, while she hacks off the woman’s weave. Najor has been fired. All of the male officers, who can be seen helping to restrain this young woman, remain on the police force. Every one of them stood by while this was done. None seemed shocked, upset or even concerned about what is happening two feet away from them.
    Here’s the video.[….]

    There’s more to the story as well. The young mother in the video, Chandra Greggory, had been at a party in Detroit earlier in the evening. When she woke up in a Motel with no idea how she got there, she told police she thought she had been drugged. Instead of investigating a possible rape, it appears that the cops arrested Greggory instead. She was accused of destroying the hotel room. All of the charges against her have been dropped. If she is telling the truth, this young woman was a victim of abduction and possible rape, just prior to being abused, restrained and humiliated by the Warren police.[….]

    http://www.addictinginfo.org/2014/01/31/police-video-mom-rape-victim-chop-hair/

  49. 49.

    rikyrah

    The nightmare scenario for Republicans on immigration

    By Greg Sargent
    January 31 at 2:42 pm

    The conventional wisdom has it that Republicans are taking a great risk by contemplating immigration reform right now, because it could divide the party and alienate the base heading into the 2014 elections. Some say there’s no urgency to act because Latinos don’t matter in the midterms and Republicans can always do reform in 2015, repairing relations in time for 2016.

    But what if waiting until 2015 is actually worse for the GOP?

    Here’s an alternate reading: If the party tackles reform in 2015, it could get tied up in GOP presidential primary politics, pulling the GOP field to the right and leaving the eventual nominee saddled with extreme party rhetoric and positions on the issue, further alienating Latinos in the general election — exactly as happened in 2012. So while it might be difficult for Republicans to get reform done this year, braving it might be better than waiting.

    I ran this scenario by several GOP strategists. They agreed it’s a real problem.

    “If Republicans wait until 2015 to tackle this issue, that puts a very emotional and controversial issue right in the middle of the Republican presidential selection process,” veteran GOP pollster Whit Ayres, a supporter of reform, tells me. “The opportunity for demagoguery will be exceedingly prevalent if we wait that long.”

    “It could drag the entire field to the right on immigration, which is the last thing we need if we want to be competitive in the America of the 21st century as well as in the 2016 presidential election,” Ayres continued. “It’s a very real threat.”

    http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/wp/2014/01/31/the-nightmare-scenario-for-republicans-on-immigration/

  51. 51.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @rikyrah:

    That’s horrible. Isn’t it interesting how the ancient symbolism of having one’s hair cut = losing one’s power (e.g., Samson, Rapunzel) pops up even today with contemporary bullies. In a way, these police officers are merely continuing the tradition of young Mitt Romney. It’s a completely unnecessary humiliation.

  54. 54.

    max

    @SiubhanDuinne: O/T, but RIP Maximilian Schell.

    Bummer.

    Christie ducked the press, but there’s no escape for this guy.

    TPM:

    Mitt Romney, Round Three? A poll released this week in a key presidential primary state found that the 2012 Republican nominee is still the preferred 2016 choice among a crucial cohort of voters.

    The Purple Strategies poll placed Romney as the 2016 front-runner for the Republican nomination in New Hampshire with 25 percent of the vote. Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) followed at 18 percent, and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie ranked third at 17 percent.

    Guy wouldn’t be running in Iowa, would be losing in NH, and toast in South Carolina. Not happening.

    max
    [‘Now it’s done whether he gets run out of office.’]

  56. 56.

    gene108

    @CaseyL:

    Christie could have been in that corrupt-but-INeffective category

    FTFY

    His policies hurt a lot of people.

    Prior to this he just had that sort of Teflon coating that I hadn’t seen another politician wear since Reagan; he did some questionable things but nothing seemed to stick to him.

  57. 57.

    gene108

    @Cervantes:

    “Good” in my ranking is relative to other governors. Compared to resigning due to scandal, Whitmann’s tenure was “good”.

  59. 59.

    rikyrah

    Outside of Psycho, I really liked the remakes

    …………………..

    Fantasy Hollywood: restaging classic films with black models

    When two Dakar-based photographers messed with some very familiar screen moments, they were taken aback by the racial dimension to the response

    Back in the 80s, my classmates and I piled into Mbabane’s local cinema to watch Top Gun. We’d turn to each other, channeling our best version of Val Kilmer to spout “You can be my wing man anytime” – followed by intense laughter. Who doesn’t have a favourite line, an iconic moment from film lodged in our minds?

    Dakar-based photographers Omar Victor Diop and Antoine Tempé were counting on just that, the shared experience and ubiquity of film, when the hotel group Onomo International invited them to create a series of photographs using the hotel as a backdrop. They turned to the silver screen, to iconic moments they’ve held onto to and mined for their collaborative project, ONOMOllywood.

    In 20 images that pay homage to characters such as Truman Capote’s Holly Golightly in Breakfast at Tiffany’s, these reinventions begin with the a humble “what if…” A question looking to how popular global cultural translates to the local, what could it look like, and what new memories would it create. The project has created conversation, accolades and blowback, but in an interview with Another Africa, Diop takes it all in stride.

    http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jan/30/fantasy-hollywood-black-models?commentpage=1

  60. 60.

    gian

    One of the la radio stations did a parody of born to be wild.
    All I can remember is
    Get your motor running head out on the highway. Better pack a sack lunch ’cause that’s where you’re gonna stay.

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