Yes, 2016 is a long way off, but as handicappers, can we agree the Christie presidential odds need a severe downgrading? More mayors are coming forth! Athletes are coming forth with accusations! Athletes!

I think I smell toast... and I'm no where near running out of metaphors.

I am glad you can finally concede that there has NEVER been a scandal full of lies and incompetence as Obama's Benghazi scandal..

I mean, honestly. The Obama Administration blatantly stated that the anti-muslim video prompted the protest that turned into an attack.

There WAS no video in Benghazi.

There was no protest in Benghazi.

What there was was a terrorist attack by an Al Qaeda offshoot in Libya...

THESE are the facts....

Obama lied.. Our ambassador died...

It's that simple...

Michale

Here I couldn't agree with you more ;)

(Albeit for different reasons)

-David

Never mind.. :D

David,

Yemen Consulate Attack, Sep 2008? No Americans killed..

Istanbul Consulate Attack, July 2008? No Americans killed...

Yemen Consulate Attack, Mar 2008?? Attack missed the consulate. No Americans killed..

Syria Consulate Attack, Sep 2006?? Only casualties were the attackers. No Americans killed..

Karachi Consulate Attack, Mar 2006?? The attack was actually against the Marriot Hotel, not against the Consulate itself. David Foy, FSO was the only American killed

Tashkent Consulate Attack, Jun 2004?? No Americans killed..

I could go on and on, but I think you get the idea..

The author of that little graphic is utterly and completely ignorant of the circumstances or, more likely, doesn't want to concede the facts..

There is absolutely NO comparison between the incompetence and the lies of Benghazi to any past event....

Michale

Michale

Still in denial though, eh?

No US Ambassador has been killed since the Carter Administration when Ambassador Dubs was killed in Kabul in 1979.

Then along came Obama's incompetence and Ambassador Stevens was killed on 11 Sep 2012 in Benghazi.

I wish I'd of invest in Nestor though. Will post the link in a separate post. Nestor is a stock that went up 1900% as people confused it with Nest.

Where's a time machine when ya need one, eh!?? :D

CW,

OK, I just have to call "bullshit" here. The original Star Trek series, with Cap'n Kirk, full of hormones, and kicking ass and taking names everywhere in the galaxy he went... lasted only 3 years. So, sorry, but macho isn't any sort of measure.

Yea, but ya have to go back almost 50 years. It was quite a different time back then, I am sure you will agree..

But you actually prove my point for me. Liberal Hollywood have done everything they can to distance themselves from the Original Trek.. They even tried to KILL the "Star Trek" part of Star Trek: Enterprise in Season 2 (Might have been Season 3). Fans excoriated Beavis & Butthead for that and ST:Enterprise never recovered. Which is a shame because ST:Enterprise had some really good aspects to it. It was at it's best when it was laying the foundation for the Original Trek.

As to Voyager, I liked it as well. I didn't expect much from it, calling it a LOST IN SPACE wannabe... But I was pleasantly surprised. Especially after they lost Kes and added Seven Of DoubleD :D

I can't personally chime in on the Stargate thing, as the movie is the only thing I enjoyed in that series, but Star Trek arguments can get quite convoluted, here.

This entire line of reasoning came about while I was laying new CAT5 at work for a LAN upgrade. I was mulling over the Weigantian discussions and somehow STARGATE UNIVERSE popped into my head. I remember thinking to myself, "It had such great potential, coming off of nearly two decades of the successful Stargate franchise. But then liberals got ahold of it and killed it.." and viola..

An argument was born.. :D

Liberals are even MORE culpable because when they destroyed Stargate Universe, they killed the Stargate Atlantis movie that was in the works...

If you like great time-travel movies, I would highly recommend STARGATE SG1: Continuum... :D

Michale

Good point on the incompetence issue. How Christie could have not been aware of what was going on could indeed be damaging, later...

Especially since CC was a fed. prosecutor, which means he's supposed to be able to get to the bottom of such shenanigans quickly. The fact he didn't speaks volumes.

Michale -

Like Paula, I do enjoy when you laud "leadership" on the one hand, and then excoriate Obama for "throwing someone under the bus" on the other hand. Strange how that works, eh?

TheStig [4] -

I, too, hate "Bridgegate"... just had to say that...

Good point, though, on the Nixon parallels. "Enemies lists" and all of that...

[5] -

Yeah, but the 2 hrs will allow CC to later state "he answered all the media's questions," which will be a political asset for him.

Michale [7] -

OK, I just have to call "bullshit" here. The original Star Trek series, with Cap'n Kirk, full of hormones, and kicking ass and taking names everywhere in the galaxy he went... lasted only 3 years. So, sorry, but macho isn't any sort of measure.

And, seriously, you're counting Voyager in with your stats? I mean, I liked the series (better than I ever liked TNG, I might add), but hardcore Trek fans seemed to hate it. I mean, a WOMAN captain? Who stood about five-foot-nothing?

Heh.

Paula [8] -

Actually, that's a valid topic of conversation here. Michale and I see eye-to-eye on very limited topics, but this does happen to be one of them. I can't personally chime in on the Stargate thing, as the movie is the only thing I enjoyed in that series, but Star Trek arguments can get quite convoluted, here.

Heh.

:-)

-CW

All kinds of ambassadors and embassy personnel were killed on Bush's watch

http://i730.photobucket.com/albums/ww307/AndreasFerrari/zzzzzzzzz2n8d5z8_zpsf277ba75.png

Still in denial though, eh?

Did you invest in NEST??? :D

Nah. It was only open to VC companies unfortunately.

I wish I'd of invest in Nestor though. Will post the link in a separate post. Nestor is a stock that went up 1900% as people confused it with Nest.

:)

-David

New Jerseyians are not impressed with this faux Democrat Hysteria scandal... :D

Michale

Besides, those are just 2 examples that I am intimately familiar with.

If I dug around, I am certain I could come up with hundreds of more examples of the same..

American Values is not a dirty word, don'tcha know... :D

Michale

Stargate vs Star Trek? Really?

Yes, really..

Do you have any facts to refute my conclusion??

No??

Didna think so.. :D

David,

JUST the man I wanted to see!! :D

Did you invest in NEST??? :D

You forgot to mention because ... "Benghazi, Benghazi, Benghazi!"

You mean, like the Left did with "ABU GHRAIB, ABU GHRAIB, ABU GHRAIB"???

At least one of our Ambassadors was never killed on Bush's watch and, post 9-11, not one single jihadist made it to their targets on US Proper.

Obama's count was 1 dead ambassador and 5 jihadists acquiring their targets..

Don't even get me started on Iran and Obama handing the Middle East to Al Qaeda and Iran on a silver platter...

TS,

Obama is indeed a good example of how the steady drip of negative press can bog down a political agenda.

There is no reason to be..... wait?? What did you say??? :D

But, actually, you miss my point..

It's not negative press that bogs down a political agenda. It's negative ACTIONS. Actions that the American people simply do not like.

THAT is what Christie and Obama have in common. They are acting like 2-bit corrupt politicians (the most disgusting and degrading slur I can imagine) and the American people of the here and now demand more from their leaders..

Christie and Obama are simply two sides of the same corrupt and perverse coin.

Just like Democrats and Republicans..

Michale

It's the press that's being picky, not me. That's what the press does, especially when somebody like Christie talks too long, providing reporters with a bonanza of loosely anchored facts to check.

Obama is indeed a good example of how the steady drip of negative press can bog down a political agenda.

You forgot to mention because ... "Benghazi, Benghazi, Benghazi!"

Heheh. Ok, I stole that from this editorial in the Newark Star-Ledger

http://blog.nj.com/njv_editorial_page/2014/01/chris_christies_gwb_scandal_an.html

-David

What a silly, silly man you are.

You see, therein lies the problem.

You think that the vast majority of Americans think like you do..

And yet, the "kick ass" you so disdain IS what works in America..

No where is this more epitomized than in the Stargate and Star Trek franchises...

You had Stargate SG-1 and Stargate Atlantis. Kick ass American shows that had an almost TWO DECADE RUN... 20 Frakin Years!!

Then Hollywood liberals entered the scene and brought us Stargate Universe.. All of the sudden, it was all about touchy feely, feelings, character development, nuance, all of the things that the Left cherishes but Joe SixPack despises....

It barely lasted 2 years...

Star Trek: TNG... 7 Years

Star Trek: DS9 7 Years...

Star Trek: Voyager 7 Years...

Liberals take over and create a touchy feely Star Trek with Scott Bakula as Captain. Barely goes 4 years...

Are you seeing the pattern??

America is a Center Right to Right country..

Americans thought they would give the Left a chance and see what they could do..

An economy in the toilet. American prestige in the toilet. American allies totally shunning the US.. A nuclear armed Iran.. Our MidEast allies running to Russia and China..

And a POTUS who doesn't give a rip about anyone but himself...

Yea, Democrats had their chance..

They blew it..

It's that simple...

Michale

Just today, Christie's assertion that he hadn't met with David Wildstein "in a long time" has been compared to the fact that the two were photographed together on Sept. 11th, the third day of the bridge crisis making national headline news.

The EXACT same assertion was made with Obama and how he met the head of the IRS at the White House right before the targeting of conservatives..

And ya'all pooh-poohed it away as meaningless...

There will be a steady drip of this kind of thing.

As there was with Obama.. :D

The Christie-saga could be word for word and point for point as any of Obama's scandals..

But because Christie has a '-R' after his name and Obama has a '-D' after HIS name, the responses from the Left are diametrically opposite..

The Right ain't much better, to be sure..

Which is why I treasure my NPA status so much..

I can point fingers at BOTH Partys and yell "HYPOCRITES!!!!" :D

It's one of my few pleasures in life.. :D

Michale

Just today, Christie's assertion that he hadn't met with David Wildstein "in a long time" has been compared to the fact that the two were photographed together on Sept. 11th, the third day of the bridge crisis making national headline news. You might think the governor should have asked a few questions, but apparently he did not. Why not?

There will be a steady drip of this kind of thing.

Both initially began with accusations of easily understood criminal behavior, allegedly perpetrated by persons with direct connections to the office and person of the CEOs in question.

These circumstances opened up inevitable criminal investigations which could not/cannot be easily, quietly or quickly shut down. Fire in the sausage factories = press field days = a brisk breeze over the fires.

Both Nixon and Christie responded in the opening game by firing key personnel and claiming ignorance. In both cases the claims of ignorance initially seemed both hard to believe and hard to prove beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
Still, a credible threat to the CEOs is that fired subordinates face their own legal sanctions and have every incentive to cut deals with prosecutors.

Nixon had to worry about evidence on audio tapes, while Christie must worry about E-mails. Christie has the much bigger worry. E-mails are much less ambiguous than audio tapes, subject to much quicker automated analysis, and basically live forever. While Nixon had his office bugged, Christie and his entire staff are "bugged" and leaving a much better electronic trail for prosecutors to follow.

So yes, it's early in the game leading up to 2016, but the landscape has changed dramatically. It's simply impossible to believe that at least a few more shoes aren't about to drop. Christie may be innocent, he may beat the rap, but at best, this looks to be a major distraction for him, and equally important, his backers. The latter may decide it's just easier to shoot the lame horse and pick another from their stable.

I agree Obama should have fought for Shirley Sherrod -- however, once matters became more clear he apologized for firing her, as did Tom Vilsack, and offered her a high position in the USDA.

"Christie showed LEADERSHIP. He basically owned up, took steps and kicked ass.."

No, he passed the buck, said (many times in many ways) that he had no idea what kind of liars he was employing as his top aides, threw what's her name under the bus as fast as he could, to the extent of claiming that he hadn't even bothered to ask her to tell her story. Evidently he found the newspaper's conclusions persuasive enough, even though he had previously done everything he could to convince the world the story was bullshit.

He's just a typical blowhard weasel who takes credit when things to well and pushes blame on underlings when they don't.

He's supposed Kicking Ass, as I mentioned above, will certainly appeal to people like you, while simultaneously repelling others. So, enjoy telling yourself what an impressive leader he is, and make sure to share that with all your likeminded friends so that your leaders decide "he's the one!" for 2016. I think Hillary, Joe Biden, or whoever else gets the nod on the Dem side will then have plenty of good stuff to work with! Bring him on!

Excellent analysis... Can't find any fault with it..

Paula,

To me, while the bullying angle is valid, I think the incompetence angle is the real killer. The guy claims "he knew nothing!!!" He is on record as being sarcastic about "holding the cones" when reporters asked him about these events, before the story broke nationally. He's being asked about this 4-day traffic jam and allegations are swirling in NJ about whether his administration was exercising a vendetta, but he was completely blindsided by the story when it hit last week? He hadn't looked into it at all to that date? Just had no idea? First he'd heard of it?

Ya know.. All of that sounds VERY familiar.. Eerily so...

Ahh yes, that's right.

It played out EXACTLY the same way for Obama and Benghazi. Obama and IRS targeting Conservatives. Obama and the WWII Veterans. Obama and Train Wreck Care Dot Com, Obama and every scandal that has happened.

Obama knew nothing about any of it and was shocked (SHOCKED, I tell you!!) that any of it was occurring..

Within hours he's fired one of his top aides without even asking her what she'd done or not done? Coz at that point he was just too upset?

{cough} Shirley Sherrod {cough, cough}

The only difference between Christie and Obama was that, as CW points out, Christie showed LEADERSHIP. He basically owned up, took steps and kicked ass..

Compare and contrast that to Obama who never took responsibility for ANYTHING, beyond milquetoast and insincere "The Buck Stops Here" whinings..

I know I have mentioned this before (once or twice) but I find it so fascinating that EVERYTHING you complain about in Republicans is the exact same thing that occurs in Democrats in general and Obama in particular...

It's fascinating. :D

Michale

How much the damage sticks to Christie, in my view, will depend on 2 things: One: more shoes dropping or not and
Two: whether his opponents take advantage of the opening now available.

Right now, I think, both repub opponents who will battle him for the repub nomination, AND Dem opponents, should he actually get the Pub nomination, already have plenty to work with.

To me, while the bullying angle is valid, I think the incompetence angle is the real killer. The guy claims "he knew nothing!!!" He is on record as being sarcastic about "holding the cones" when reporters asked him about these events, before the story broke nationally. He's being asked about this 4-day traffic jam and allegations are swirling in NJ about whether his administration was exercising a vendetta, but he was completely blindsided by the story when it hit last week? He hadn't looked into it at all to that date? Just had no idea? First he'd heard of it?

Within hours he's fired one of his top aides without even asking her what she'd done or not done? Coz at that point he was just too upset?

He hadn't previously given a damn about the events or how they'd affected his constituents? Just not his problem evidently? Not his administration's problem? Just not important enough to have bothered looking into?

Righties won't care about any of that because they are idiots who operate purely on "if liberals don't like him I do" but other people are capable of some amount of analysis and evaluation and I think Christie came off as just another "find a scapegoat" "mistakes were made" no-accountability-here politician in trouble. He talks a good game but he's done nothing but weasel. His trusted aides became "stupid liars" -- good judge of character, he.

Was he stupid or is he lying? Neither is good for him. This takes a lot of bloom off the rose.

It's quite possible that media will attempt to give him a pass -- but anyone running against him is an idiot of they allow that.

Don't forget, too, that Romney passed on him for veep because they were concerned about what's lurking in this guys background. The pubs blew 2012 in a lot of ways, but one thing they are very good at is oppo research.