So now we know why Lobbyist Haley Barbour jumped out so quickly to defend Christie

[malaise]

The entire ReTHUG party was in on this looting of Sandy money - make them pay
http://blog.nj.com/njv_editorial_page/2013/02/former_mississippi_gov_haley_b.html
<snip>
Former Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour is a partner in a lobbying firm that works for AshBritt, the giant Florida debris-removal company. He’s also a big backer of Gov. Chris Christie.

After Hurricane Sandy, Barbour played matchmaker. Christie quickly hired AshBritt to help clear New Jersey’s storm-ravaged coastline.

Barbour might think that qualifies him to shoot down the criticism of Christie’s AshBritt deal. On the contrary: It renders his critique uniquely ridiculous.

[kelliekat44]

1. Time to re-open the Katrina money usage in MS, AL, and NO and everywhere else. nt

[global1]

25. Thinking About This - This Is Why Repugs Are Against Big Government And Want States To.....

do everything. Think of how the Repugs have taken control of so many states Governorships and Legislatures. It's easier for them to get at the money and hide the fact that they are getting it. If this is happening in NJ - one has got to conclude that this is going on in many of the other states as well.

If there is some calamity - the likes of a Sandy or Katrina or anywhere where FEMA or Federal Funds are involved - the Federal Government should have control over that money from the get go. If there is a watchdog set up to monitor the disposition of Federal Funds it has to be by the Feds that are doling out the funds. It can't be delegated to the state where a brother of the Governor could be made the watchdog. That's like putting the dogs in charge of guarding the hen house.

Think about all the Fed funds from taxpayers like us that probably wound up in the pockets of the politicians - instead of the people that need the money to rebuild and recover.

I think this NJ thing with Crispy is just one of the beginning layers of the onion. As they begin to peel away the layers - I think we'll see this spread to other Repug areas of the country and this could blossom out to a really big scandal. Haley Barbour is probably one of the first ones to look at with more scrutiny now given his name surfacing here in NJ.

I only hope that Kornacki and Maddow continue to pick at this - because if they just stop at NJ - I think we're only getting a small part of a real big scandal.

Thinking about the Gulf Coast after Katrina - this was during Dubya's reign - could he have been in on some of this? What about the BP Spill money? What about monies in NYC after 911?

I wonder how much Federal Cash has been diverted in schemes like this?

[KT2000]

32. local control is

control f the locals. Much easier.

[global1]

43. Not Understanding Your Response......

are you saying local control is much easier to handle or much easier to divert?

[KT2000]

86. much easier to accomplish

and just as effective.

[JDPriestly]

53. Think of the GWB administration and Katrina. As the OP says, wonder what happened there?

[thecrow]

57. Where's the $9Billion that they "lost" in Iraq?

All they said about that was "OOPS"

[global1]

59. Could It Be Coming Back To Us In A Way Of Campaign Donations?......

Is it funding elections here? Hmmmmm....... $9 billion could win a lot of seats in the House, the Senate and Governorships in the states.

[malaise]

70. Lost?

Looted!!

[ReRe]

85. Someone needs to check into Jeb Bush too....

Have you ever heard of "Disaster Capitalism?" Ever wonder why Republicans don't believe in climate change? They want climate change. So they can cash in on "cleaning up" after the disasters. Did you read Naomi Klein's Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism? If you didn't, stop everything you're doing and read it, now. You can get it from any library. If they don't have it, they have a way to borrow it from a library that does. If your library has to borrow it for you, I warn you that they probably only let you keep it for a couple weeks. I suggest you buy it, as I'm sure you can get it very inexpensively online at this point in time. The Neoliberalism she speaks of has come to the United States of America.

[tridim]

2. The can of worms is open now. This scandal is massive.

All run by Christie's inflated ego.

[malaise]

3. Don't you think it was also run by elements of the RNC

Southern hurricane looter money Inc.????

It is huge.

[eShirl]

10. RNC: Racketeer Nfluenced Corrupt organization

[tridim]

29. Yes, with Christie as the de-facto leader of the GOP.

[malaise]

72. Because he had the most money straight from the Federal government

Let's just follow the money.

I figure men said let's jsut get past the election. Little did they know that the dolly house would come crashing down.

[Squinch]

78. I am not, by nature, a grave dancer BUT

I keep thinking of his obvious enjoyment when he viciously abused his constituents for simply asking valid questions. And then I think about how he was lionized for being so abusive, because he was directing his abuse at people that Republicans deem unimportant.

I am enjoying the hell out of this.

[spanone]

4. that would be a beautiful twofer....taking barbour down with christie

[malaise]

7. There's a lovely word in our language

malfeasance - it is going to take them down. The haters of big government royally fugged with Federal money this time. Down they go!!

[Skidmore]

8. The saddest thing is that the really corrupt big money guys

behind these political jockeys will never be touched by this. They will just look for another horse to back and hire a new jockey.

[malaise]

9. Excellent point - they need to be permanently disqualified from all contracts linked to

Federal funds.

[complain jane]

61. +1

[The Wizard]

84. Christie the jockey

Never mind.

[TexasTowelie]

16. Yeah, I picked the correct word even after the catnip break!

I used "malfeasance" in my 7:31 a.m. post on the thread I started about Up with Steve Kornacki.

[malaise]

18. I saw it

[Orsino]

5. The most important title takes precedence.

I think we should refer to him as Lobbyist Haley Barbour.

[malaise]

6. Brilliant

Will edit

[Jefferson23]

11. snip*All told, the auditors figure AshBritt has to give back somewhere in the neighborhood of $300K.

Buuuut . . . .

In the meantime, the auditors’ office in Tom’s River was broken into and their computers and some hard drives were stolen.

Sometime between Tuesday night and Wednesday morning on October 9th, computers and hard drives were stolen from the office of the Louis Berger Group. The computers and laptops potentially contained documents pertaining to FEMA claims, FEMA billing records, auditor reports and sensitive personal information collected during the cleanup effort after Superstorm Sandy. Mastronardy did not disclose the contents or data which resided on the stolen equipment.

Imagine that? there goes the evidence. Ooops.

And for whatever reason, state authorities are not exactly in “hot pursuit:”

The Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office maintains a high tech crime unit which is frequently called upon by local law enforcement for assistance in technology related crimes. According to the Ocean County Prosecutor’s office, the high tech crime unity employs, “specially trained detectives to conduct and assist with investigating technology related crimes. Such crimes include Internet fraud, credit card theft, identity theft, child luring, child pornography, network intrusions, email and instant messaging threats.”

According to Al DellaFave, a spokesperson for the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office, that unit has not yet been requested to investigate the incident, nearly two weeks later.

Better yet, this weekend we learn that, back in December, when the BrideGate sh*t was hitting the fan, the State of New Jersey quietly—one is tempted to say surreptitiously—fired their prime contractor for the whole statewide cleanup, Hammerman and Gainer, for who knows why . . . ?

It’s easy enough to guess, given the distress signals that many Jersey homeowners are sending up a year after the hurricane. Things like:

This Louisiana firm, called Hammerman and Gainer (HGI), got lambasted by Sandy victims at several legislative hearings. It was accused of losing applications, of giving people the runaround when they called with basic questions or tried to find out where they stood on the waiting list.

It’s been faulted for unreturned phone calls and delays in getting people back into their homes—not just in New Jersey but in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

But, it’s very curious to me that, with all of those irate taxpayers breathing down their necks, the administration wouldn’t jump at the chance to say “we heard you, this company was doing a lousy job so we fired them.” The only place the news of the contract termination surfaced was on a State Treasury Department website.

So. Sorry Hurricane Sandy victims, if you thought things were going slowly before, wait until your state officials have to shop this massive three year $68 million contract around a second time.

I guess the Christie administration decided to take a “let’s not tell the kids” approach on this because administration officials like Richard Constable, who is overseeing the state’s rebuilding program, evidently felt that it wasn’t newsworthy enough to mention the fact that the statewide rebuild project was without a contractor when he testified before the State Assembly back in December.

Nor did he feel that it was relevant last week when he reported progress awarding grants and notifying grant applicants of their status.

Ditto Marc Ferzan, New Jersey’s “Sandy czar” who refused to attend a series of legislative hearings to respond to complaints from Hurricane Sandy victims.

Once word leaked out, however, on January 23, 2014, Lisa Ryan, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Community Affairs, offered this baffling statement:

We’ve recently concluded our relationship with HGI as New Jersey transitions to the next phase of disaster recovery.

What phase of disaster recovery might that be, Ms Ryan? The phase where the people who have been waiting for a year to get back in their homes still don’t know where their aid applications have gone?

Ryan did not respond to follow-up questions about why the contract was ended or who was now running the housing programs.

Neither is HGI saying. Cherie Pinac, HGI’s COO, said only that it was a “mutual agreement to terminate.”

But the State Treasury Department website posts a related document

. . . dated Dec. 16 . . . that says a settlement agreement was executed by the state of New Jersey, the Department of Law and Public Safety, the Office of the Attorney General and HGI on Dec. 6. That document states HGI will receive $9 million for an “unpaid balance” and another $1.5 million for “interim compensation” during the “transition period.”

In the corporate world that I inhabited, up until 2003, it would have been a rare and startling occurrence, indeed, for two parties at this level to agree to terminate a 3-year $68 million contract less than a year into it.

There’s this, though:

According to the Wall Street Journal, a law firm representing HGI donated $25,000 to the Republican Governors Association the month after the firm submitted its original proposal. The RGA, which Gov. Chris Christie chairs, was an important source of cash for his re-election campaign. The association pumped $1.7 million into Christie’s campaign.

At any rate, now that the cat’s out of the bag it looks like Boss Christie has some ‘splaining to do. New Jersey Senate President Stephen Sweeney, on Friday, called on Christie’s administration to give the state Senate a clue.

Advocates for Sandy victims questioned why the firing wasn’t publicized. “Every taxpayer deserves to know what is going on. The whole country is paying for our rebuilding,” said Staci Berger, executive director of the Housing and Community Development Network of New Jersey, an organization that has criticized the Christie administration’s handling of the recovery.

Honest to gawd, you couldn’t make this stuff up . .

http://www.rumproast.com/index.php/site/comments/something_is_rotten_in_jersey/

** Dirty hands all over the place.

[malaise]

15. Great post Jefferson23

RETHUGs and thugs they are.
Do we get a resignation or an impeachment??

[Jefferson23]

19. My guess is he will fight it out until the bitter end. What will he have

left to salvage for any political career if he leaves in advance?

From his perspective, it may be do or die.

[malaise]

20. Here's the problem

This has splintered the gang - no one can be trusted.
So who is there to fight on his behalf?
It's all downhill from here. The bully went too far and overplayed his hand. He's corrupt to the core. Adios to his political career.

[Jefferson23]

24. In the end, yes..he is finished unless he can pull a rabbit out of his hat. Yet, I think

in part to his disposition, he will go down fighting..I don't expect to see a gracious
resignation. The bully that makes up this man's constitution will likely be more pronounced
as time goes by as the political pressures increase for him...imho.

[malaise]

26. Life has taught me that once a bully gets a good beating he turns in to a cowardly wimp

and he's usually terrified of being treated the way he treated others.

[Jefferson23]

30. If he resigns and soon..that would be the best outcome for New Jersey residents.

I hope you're right.

[malaise]

33. I said six months on the poll

but that would be tragic for the party so they may force him to step earlier. I'd love it to drag on to October/November.

[lindysalsagal]

64. There's no evidence any of them give a rat's ass what's good for NJ. Don't hold your breath.

They'll have to arrest Chrispie to get him out of power.

I want to see NJ voters marching in the streets of Trenton for his impeachment.

[Jefferson23]

65. I think you may have misunderstood my post..I essentially believe Christie will

go down fighting. Resigning will surprise me if he does in fact go that route.

[Laura PourMeADrink]

27. The right has read the tea leaves and already anointed Jeb. But,

I remember distinctly reading that someone close to him confided
that he would never run because he has too many skeletons. Sounds like they all do.

[malaise]

31. They all have skeletons - I dare them to trot out Scott Walker

Wisconsin is waiting

[unionthug777]

47. it is too early for me

to read his name....haven't even had my coffee yet !!! thanks malaise !!

[Politicalboi]

80. They're not the Pentagon after all

Sept 10th 2001 Pentagon misplaces 2.3 Trillion dollars, next day, magically all those files to find where that money went, went up in a puff of smoke.
And “hot pursuit:” would mean pot smokers, not upstanding men in suits and clean cut.

[Laxman]

12. This Is A Problem Inherent In The Process

Using the block grant process was a requirement created by the republican congress to keep the federal government out of the hair of the states (remember, most disasters tend to occur in very republican environs). Problems like this occurred in Louisiana, Mississippi, Texas and other states after disasters like hurricanes Katrina and Ike.

The action plan required in Sandy was a relatively new requirement designed to avoid using the money as a slush fund and trying to give some policy direction. Christie's administration has been resistant to any outside direction and has gone t lengths to obfuscate how they spend this money. Additionally, it is more and more clear they are spending it for their maximum benefit. Try and find out what the GORR (Governor's Office on Rebuilding and Recovery) is up to. Very difficult.

[malaise]

28. The Feds have to resist these 'States' right to loot the Feds with

no accountability.

[Laura PourMeADrink]

36. We are always wondering what they stand for - this is it...Their main

core belief is that if there is a way to make money for the private sector, think of a "cover" that sounds
altruistic, and help anyone and everyone with money to make more money. Most prime example - Iraq - the cover was to
spread "freedom" but their real goal was to line the pockets of the war machine.

[erronis]

82. You said it better than me - thanks!

Always - follow the money.

From the taxpayers (via congressionally-instituted tax laws), to the Treasury (after special congressionally-specified loopholes), to the appropriations and other congressional committees, to special interest legislation (guess where this comes from), to specific allocations to special projects (in congressional states), to block grants (to states). All of this leads to quid-pro-quos into the congressional pockets - oh well, maybe not direct bribery but the same as campaign contributions and personal junkets/gifts.

I think I left out the large entitlements from the above paragraph. That's only because the critters can't figure out how to get their feelers on these very well. The DoD and black budget - well, that's major league.

[babylonsister]

13. He did it during Katrina, too...

http://mediamatters.org/research/2007/08/30/media-ignored-mississippis-use-of-waivers-to-re/139727


Media ignored Mississippi's use of waivers to redirect funds designated for low-income Katrina victims
Research August 30, 2007 7:39 PM EDT ››› SIMON MALOY


Despite widespread reporting on the reconstruction in the Gulf Coast, the media have largely ignored reports that Mississippi Republican Gov. Haley Barbour has used waivers to redirect funds designated for low- to moderate-income Katrina victims.

On the second anniversary of Hurricane Katrina's August 29, 2005, landfall, the media have largely ignored reports that Mississippi Republican Gov. Haley Barbour, leading the recovery effort in the state, has repeatedly sought, and obtained, waivers from the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) allowing the state to spend federal funds that would normally be reserved for low- to moderate-income residents on other projects. As a consequence, just 20 percent of the $5.4 billion in Community Development Block Grants (CDBG) awarded to the state has been earmarked for programs designed to benefit Mississippi's low- to moderate-income Katrina victims -- less than half of the 50 percent requirement mandated by Congress, according to a recent report by the Steps Coalition, an organization that monitors the Mississippi Homeowners Assistance Program. Moreover, the $1.1 billion in federal funds that have been earmarked for programs benefiting lower income residents have been distributed very slowly. As the Biloxi Sun-Herald reported on August 26, the Steps Coalition said the program has been deficient in "helping people of low-to-moderate incomes." Furthermore, investigative journalist Tim Shorrock wrote in an August 29 Salon.com article that the distribution of federal funding in Mississippi under Barbour "has been badly skewed toward wealthy homeowners."

more...

[malaise]

17. Oh My!!

We know why they hate big government - to enrich themselves and their 1% donors.

[factsarenotfair]

22. That is just tragic.

And I'll bet if someone looked into it, they would find that the small amount of money actually spent on low-income housing was not spent without racial bias.

[LuvNewcastle]

39. Yes he did.

One example was a $700 million dollar housing grant (for, um, housing) that was used to expand the port in Gulfport. At least, that's supposedly where it went. The state (Barbour) got permission to use the funds from the housing grant for other purposes, and he said we should use the money for the port since it would provide all these thousands of jobs. Turns out that the port expansion would provide about 1200 jobs at the most, and that's an extremely optimistic estimate.

Since nearly all the press in Miss. is RW, no one to my knowledge has thoroughly investigated exactly where that housing grant money went and to whom. My guess is it went into Barbour's already bulging pockets as well as his political cronies.

That $700 million is just some of the money spent on that port, which is never going to be a major port because the Port of New Orleans is much too close to it. I'd like for Greg Palast or another investigative reporter to come down and take a look into it. Of course, that's just the tip of the iceberg of all the billions spent here in Miss. after Katrina. A big fat book could be written about where all that money went.

[Loaded Liberal Dem]

14. Barbour and Christie

Two large assteroids, orbiting each other. Hey, who says the Republicants aren't into science?

[malaise]

21. LOL

Welcome to DU Loaded Liberal Dem

[Loaded Liberal Dem]

45. Thank you!

[calimary]

48. Welcome to DU, Loaded Liberal Dem!

Glad you're here! A good point you made a few posts up! They're gas giants alright. The GOP seems to attract such things.

Another reason why it's just VITAL to connect the dots with these people. Follow the money. ALWAYS follow the money. That was true during Watergate. Still true today. Who's in bed with whom, who left how much money on the nightstand, and where (and who) did that money come from?

CONSTANT VIGILANCE!!!! That's what Mad-Eye Moody always warned Harry Potter. It's also a warning well worth taking to heart in the non-fiction world we inhabit.

[Loaded Liberal Dem]

62. But...

...how much of the world we inhabit is truly non-fiction???

[kairos12]

23. Textbook disaster capitalism as described by Naomi Klein in "Shock Doctrine."

[malaise]

35. Yep

They've perfected the model but this time they got too greedy.

[Jefferson23]

34. Did you hear that Dershowitz suggested Christie get a criminal lawyer asap? LOL

That cracked me up. Doesn't look good when the Tee Vee lawyer commentators are
giving you advice.

[malaise]

37. Bwaaaaaaaaaaah hahahaha

Too good!

[LuvNewcastle]

40. Dershowitz would be perfect for him. One gigantic asshole defending another.

[PADemD]

38. Sunday Talk Show Guest

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10024423270

“Political Capital” on Bloomberg TV

• White House counselor John Podesta
• Former Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour (R)

[Laura PourMeADrink]

41. too bad we don't have a real press

[malaise]

50. Oh My

[another_liberal]

42. Bada Bing!

The "Waste disposal industry" again. Wha'cha gonna do?

[starroute]

44. There are other Barbour-Christie connections

Barbour pioneered the use of dark money (including Koch money) when he was running the RNC in the 1990s. He then focused on lobbying for several years before running for governor of Mississippi (in a campaign that had its own questionable aspects). He headed the Republican Governors Association during the 2010 campaign cycle -- and that position is now held by Chris Christie.

Putting all that (and various other bits and pieces) together suggests that over the past 15 years, Barbour has been at the center of a grand strategy to focus on governor races -- rather than the more high-profile national campaigns that had started attracting an uncomfortable amount of attention -- and that Christie is to some extent his designated heir.

A lot of it has to do with the money. Barbour and associates have been very successful at getting a lock on the Deep South, but those states are poor, and unless there's federal disaster money floating around, there isn't much to skim off. New Jersey and other northern states are far riper pickings.

[malaise]

51. Great information

Thanks

[madokie]

46. Haley Barbour is as slimy as toastie christie

maybe even more so.

I'm so sick of right wing jackasses

[malaise]

63. They are THUGs

ReTHUGs

[madokie]

71. Without a doubt they are

It makes me sad to think there get enough votes to hold any elected office. How the hell can anyone be so stupid to vote for them is beyond me.

[Berlum]

49. A freaking Republicon Loot-America Fest

Greedy bastards.

[malaise]

73. That simple

a ReTHUG loot-America Fest

[Coyotl]

52. Can anyone think of a good reason not to have leftover Bush USA's in the DoJ?

These guys are all corrupt. That's why they are republicans.

[malaise]

81. Excellent point

They should all have been removed.

[Segami]

54. Haley Barbour Relative DEFRAUDED FEMA After Katrina, Judge Rules

Should we be so surprised?......



August 31, 2011

~snip~

WASHINGTON — Six years after Hurricane Katrina, a relative of Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour was found by a federal court to have masterminded a massive fraud against the Federal Emergency Management Agency in the inspection of the legendary trailers that housed storm refugees along the Gulf Coast.

The U.S. Court of Federal Claims found last week that Rosemary Barbour's company, Jackson, Miss.,-based Alcatec LLC, had engaged in a fraudulent billing scheme as part of a $100 million, five-year maintenance contract with FEMA. She was ordered to pay more than $350,000 in penalties and damages. In often colorful language, the judge described the testimony of Rosemary Barbour during an eight-day trial in May in Jackson as "exasperating" and "bumble-headed." Rosemary Barbour, the company's sole owner, is the wife of the governor's nephew, Charles Barbour, a former Hinds County supervisor who last week lost a Mississippi Senate GOP primary. Gov. Barbour is not affiliated with the company. "The governor doesn't know anything about it," said Laura Hipp, his press secretary.




~snip~


Gary Wordel, the company's operations manager in Brooklyn, Miss., who testified in the trial, said in an interview that "I was told that when the inspection reports came in to leave the dates blank." Wordel, now of Fort Worth, Texas, said that the forms would be transferred to Alcatec headquarters in Jackson, where Rosemary Barbour tightly controlled the invoice process. She and a few close associates, he said, would then fill in the dates to make it appear that inspections of such trailer items as hot-water heaters, air conditioning and electrical systems had taken place 14 days apart, even though there sometimes was only one visit.


"They were double-billing things they didn't do," Wordel said.


Barbour maintained that she had put in proper invoicing procedures and that if there was a problem, it was done by lower-level employees. Court of Federal Claims Judge Christine Miller agreed with the government's case and dismissed Rosemary Barbour's claim, ordering her to pay $77,000 in penalties and $275,050 in damages. In scathing terms, Miller wrote that Barbour's testimony "over two-and-one-half days, if nothing else was clearly and convincingly exasperating." Miller also wrote, "what the court did not appreciate was Ms. Barbour's bumble-headed game of eluding defense counsel's questions." The judge also criticized FEMA for its "inexcusable mismanagement" of the contract.



~snip~

Rosemary Barbour is a controversial figure in North Mississippi who received millions of dollars in often no-bid federal contracts after Katrina to provide showers, tents and laundry facilities — drawing charges of favoritism because of her connection to the governor. His office and FEMA denied any connection at the time, including in a story in the New York Times. According to fedspending.org, an independent website, Alcatec LLC won $21.8 million in 87 federal contracts from 2000 to 2009. Her company is named for her children, Allen and Camille.

The Guatemalan-born Barbour, 44, qualified for government preference programs as a woman and as a Hispanic. Her company is still operating and is listed as being "in good standing" by the Mississippi secretary of state.


http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2011/08/31/122778/haley-barbour-relative-defrauded.html

[malaise]

76. And he is tomorrow's Sunday talk show guest

The political elite are corrupt to the core.

[Solly Mack]

55. K&R

[Digital Puppy]

56. How deep does this rabbit hole go??

While I sit hear and read all of this news about Christie and backtrack to what happened in MS re: Katrina/Sandy, I can't help but wonder about all of those people who have been waiting on these funds to help them restart their lives after these natural disasters. I bet many of them got *some* money, but not all that they deserved and just gave up and moved.

This situation isn't right and I hope people (and the media) don't forget that this affects REAL PEOPLE and their lives. All of of this caused by a handful of fat cats looking to make some extra $$$ for their billionaire puppet masters.

Sickening.

[malaise]

83. You think they give a damn about the people who need the finds to restart their lives

These ReTHUG scumbags oppose a minimum wage, attack teachers and firefighters and want to outlaw unions. They fight against healthcare. They have entered politics to loot the Federal government.

[sadoldgirl]

58. Let us not forget that this is not just a republican trait.

After all the former mayor of New Orleans is also in trouble with the law concerning bribery after Katrina. So, let us clean out all the stables and check out the money links and corporate connections of all political office holders.

[ChisolmTrailDem]

68. Well, looky here, you found one Democrat... Good for you. nt

[benld74]

60. There is no masking he GOP and what it does,

when a scandal happens, just wait for the 1st defenders of the so called 'victim' to start chirping, how 1)this is a partisan witch hunt 2)wait for the 'victim's press conference' and listen to they words they choose.
That's all you need do, jeez, I should be a journalist!

[Skittles]

66. they're all crooked bastards

Haley is worried the spotlight will turn and shine in his direction

[ChisolmTrailDem]

69. He sure looked worried yesterday on Andrea Mitchell. And his smoothe-talk was

a little frazzled around the edges.

I was not aware of the Christie/Sandy connection when I watched yesterday but now his demeanor on that broadcast makes more sense.

[DURHAM D]

74. Yep.

I noticed that and so he just changed the subject to Hillary and Benghazi. Andrea just let him go on with no push back.

I was shocked

[Enthusiast]

67. Ulterior motives. Republicans have a boat load of ulterior motives.

[DURHAM D]

75. This is an excellent thread.

Thank you.

[malaise]

79. Great posts from lots of DUers

Let's thank all of them including you

[Aerows]

77. Haley Barbour was Governor of my state

He's a piece of crap. That's as nice of a thing as I can think of to say about him.