T.O. Op Ed: Why Governor Chris Christie and His Aides Belong in Handcuffs

[lindysalsagal]

"If Occupy Wall Street protesters get arrested for blocking a bridge to make a larger point, then every member of New Jersey Governor Chris Christie’s administration should receive at least the same treatment, if not face greater charges.

During his January 9 press conference, Gov. Christie’s explanations of the scandal in which he used his official position to score political payback prove that he’s corrupt, a coward and a bully. He’s a coward for deflecting accountability away from himself to members of his administration."

http://www.truth-out.org/opinion/item/21302-why-governor-chris-christie-and-his-aides-belong-in-handcuffs

Why Governor Chris Christie and His Aides Belong in Handcuffs
Saturday, 18 January 2014 10:19
By Carl Gibson, Occupy.com | Op-Ed

__________________________________________________________________________________________

Several other smaller scandals are explained in the article.

[Dark n Stormy Knight]

1. Good article. I think it underplays the effect and the potential effect of the closures, though.

When will top Christie aide Bridget Anne Kelly face criminal charges for emailing “Time for some traffic problems in Fort Lee,” and doing it from her Yahoo account instead of her work account? When will we see those responsible for maliciously shutting down a critical national thoroughfare face the consequences for a petty, political act that ruined the days of everyone involved in those traffic jams? If the state puts political activists in handcuffs for shutting down bridges, it should do the same to governors and the minions who do their bidding.

Day's ruined is a little vague. For one thing, I'd like to see some mention of the fact that EMS response was delayed in at least 3 cases, including one in which the woman died. She may have died anyway, but it is also true, if we're talking conjecture, that others could have died due to such delays, even though, fortunately, none did as far as we know.

[lindysalsagal]

3. Yep. It should be illegal to deliberately delay rescue vehicles in such an important and vulnerable

place.

It's not like this is a bridge over the Little Falls creek in outer nowhere, Nebraska.

[WillyT]

2. K & R !!!

[Cha]

4. Damn Straight! thank you, lindy.. great juicy article!

Unreal!

snips//

"As Ezra Klein wrote, Gov. Christie has a staffer who is paid to follow him around with a camera, record him bullying his constituents, and proudly post the videos on YouTube. One clip showed Gov. Christie shouting “Keep walking! Keep walking!” to a constituent who was criticizing him openly."

"One of the most cowardly ways Christie exercised his executive power was by setting the date for the special election for the U.S. Senate seat vacated by the late Senator Frank Lautenberg, which popular Newark Mayor Cory Booker had already said he would seek. The three dates Christie could have chosen for the election were a Tuesday in November 2014, a Tuesday in November 2013, or a date of his choosing."

All the money he wasted because he's such an coward and wanted the vote count high so it would look good on his presidentin resume.

"Christie’s most nakedly corrupt acts as governor was in using his executive power to remove a public official from office for opposing one of his campaign contributor’s projects. On January 10, the New Jersey Pineland Commission is set to vote on a controversial pipeline that will run through state protective land, possibly harming residents nearby and threatening protected plants and wildlife."

"Nakedly corrupt" So Far.

"What Chris Christie has in common with bullies is that he steals kids’ lunch money to give to his rich friends. Since he was inaugurated in 2010, Christie has cut public education by $1 billion, while giving out $2.1 billion in corporate tax breaks – half a billion more than the state previously gave out in the last ten years combined. The most recent corporate tax break bill Gov. Christie signed made it even easier for corporations to have access to public money."