Election integrity officials in Mesa County Colorado have no, wait for it, *integrity*

Mesa County Colorado is a *very* Republican county - in 2020, it went for Cheeto by a lot, and in 2018, the clerk in question was unopposed in the general election (she defeated one challenger in the Republican primary).

From NPR - 

Voting Data From A Colorado County Was Leaked Online. Now The Clerk Is In Hiding

It's been nearly a month since sensitive data about voting equipment in Colorado's Mesa County was posted online by conspiracy theorists eager to cast doubt on the outcome of the 2020 election.

At the center of the criminal investigation into how that information was released is county clerk Tina Peters, whose whereabouts remain unknown. She hasn't returned to work in Mesa County since the data breach was announced.

There seems to be a culture problem in her office.  From the Grand Junction (CO) Daily Sentinel -

Charges filed against Mesa County deputy clerk

To avoid being arrested and put in jail, Mesa County Deputy Clerk Belinda Knisley turned herself in to Mesa County District Court today and was advised on charges of felony burglary and misdemeanor cyber crimes filed against her in relation to a personnel matter and ongoing investigations of her office.

As a result, Knisley, 66, was ordered not to enter the Mesa County Clerk and Recorder's Office while state and federal criminal investigations are ongoing into possible felony charges for breaching election security, according to her arrest warrant.

Neither of them should expect Cheeto to pay for a lawyer.

Biden nominates Emanuel as ambassador to Japan; Japan is nowhere near hellish enough for Emanuel

From the Chicago Tribune - 

Biden to nominate Rahm Emanuel as ambassador to Japan after months of speculation

President Joe Biden will nominate Rahm Emanuel as his ambassador to Japan, capping off months of speculation that the former Chicago mayor would be tapped for the prominent foreign post, the White House announced Friday.

The move will give Biden a deeply experienced government tactician and political veteran in his ranks of top diplomats, but the choice also drew criticism from some in the Democratic Party’s progressive wing who have found fault with Emanuel’s eight-year tenure as mayor.

I've got a suggestion as to where Emanuel should be sent.

From the website of the Federal Bureau of Prisons - 

Those are locations in Illinois.  Since a posting to Afghanistan seems out of the question at this point, and stocks on the village common have fallen out of favor, a term in prison seems to be most appropriate.

Insider trading while people die? It's official - Rand Paul is a Republican

The corruption is bad (enough for him to be removed from office, IMO), but the sheer *callousness* of it may actually be worse.

From CBS -

Senator Rand Paul failed to disclose wife's purchase of COVID-19 drug maker's shares

Kentucky Senator Rand Paul waited more than a year to disclose that his wife purchased stock in a company that makes a COVID-19 treatment, an investment made after Congress was briefed on the threat of the virus but before the public was largely aware of its danger.

The Republican filed a mandatory disclosure Wednesday revealing on Feb. 26, 2020 that Kelley Paul purchased somewhere between $1,001 and $15,000 worth of stock in Gilead, which makes the antiviral drug remdesivir. Under a 2012 law called the Stock Act, which was enacted to stop lawmakers from trading on insider information, any such sale should have been reported within 45 days.

Kentucky's daily Covid report is here; don't have access to Paul's P&L statement for this, but I expect that Paul sees and increase in cases and dead people to mean an increase in profits.

Members of the public are dying, so the GOP sees a justification for helping...themselves to public money.

 From NPR -

A Group Of Michigan Lawmakers Used Coronavirus Relief Funds For $65,000 In Bonuses

Lawmakers in a Michigan county are vowing to return $65,000 in bonuses they gave themselves using federal coronavirus relief funds.

During a July 15 public meeting, the Shiawassee County Board of Commissioners voted to approve "hazard pay" for elected officials and county employees who worked through the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

[snip]

According to the Associated Press, the board of commissioners gave $557,000 in hazard pay to 250 county employees, including $65,000 that went to the seven county commissioners, all of whom are Republicans. 

Of course.

Matt Gaetz hires Jeffrey Epstein's attorney. Not exactly adding to his credibility there.

 And it worked out *so* well for Epstein.

From Taegan Goddard's Political Wire -

Rep. Matt Gaetz’s (R-FL) congressional campaign paid $25,000 last month for “legal consulting” fees to Manhattan criminal defense attorney Marc Fernich, who lists among his “notable clients” the accused child sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein, Insider reports.

Whether it was murder, as some believe, or suicide, as others believe, Epstein still died in a jail.

From CBSNews -

In July 2019, Jeffrey Epstein, already a convicted sex offender, was arrested and charged with sex trafficking by federal prosecutors. On August 10, Epstein was found dead in his federal jail cell at Manhattan's Metropolitan Correctional Center (MCC).

The New York City Medical Examiner's Office ruled Epstein's death a suicide by hanging, but a forensic pathologist who observed the four-hour autopsy on behalf of  Epstein's brother, Mark, tells 60 Minutes the evidence released so far points more to murder than suicide in his view. Dr. Michael Baden's key reason: the unusual fractures he saw in Epstein's neck.

And whether a prison cell or a jail cell, it seems to be a place where Gaetz seems to be destined to end up.

Trump may have been the dirtiest member of his administration, but he was hardly the only one.

From AP -

Watchdog: 2 Trump EPA appointees defrauded agency of $130K

     Two high-ranking Trump political appointees at the Environmental

 

Protection Agency engaged in fraudulent payroll activities — including

 

payments to employees after they were fired and to one of the

 

officials when he was absent from work — that cost the agency more

 

than $130,000, a report by an internal watchdog says.

 

     Former chief of staff Ryan Jackson and former White House liaison

 

Charles Munoz submitted “official timesheets and personnel forms

 

that contained materially false, fictitious, and fraudulent statements”

 

to mislead EPA personnel and facilitate improper payments over

 

multiple months, according to a report by EPA’s Office of Inspector

 

General.

The rats are deserting the sinking ship

 Wonder if Cheeto is feeling the walls of Mar A Lago closing in?

From Salon - 

Mo Brooks throws Trump under the bus in response to lawsuit accusing him of inciting MAGA mob

Rep. Mo Brooks (R-AL) claims in a new court filing that he was asked by a White House official to speak at former president Donald Trump's infamous "Stop the Steal" rally that preceded the Jan. 6 insurrection.

The Alabama Republican was given Trump's endorsement for the U.S. Senate after making the speech, which a lawsuit alleges helped incite the violent assault on the U.S. Capitol, but Brooks' attorneys responded by insisting he only took part because the former president wanted him there.

Maybe he's already selected the interior design for his cell.

Spoiler alert: the COs there won't care.

From The Hill -

Mary Trump: Ivanka 'much less likely to stay loyal' to father than Weisselberg

Mary Trump, former President Trump’s niece and vocal critic, says that his daughter Ivanka Trump is “much less likely to stay loyal” to her father than Trump Organization chief financial officer Allen Weisselberg, who is facing more than a dozen fraud and conspiracy charges.

Weisselberg pleaded not guilty last Thursday to 15 charges against him, including tax fraud, conspiracy, grand larceny and falsifying business records. He and the Trump Organization have denied wrongdoing, though prosecutors have indicated that their investigation is ongoing and more charges could be coming

Trump Org indicted in an example of "what goes around, comes around"

 Note: an indictment is not the same thing as a conviction.

However, it's a first step along that path.

From CNBC - 

Trump Organization and its CFO indicted by Manhattan grand jury

The offices of the Manhattan District Attorney and New York Attorney General have obtained indictments against the Trump Organization and its longtime finance chief Allen Weisselberg, two people familiar with the matter told NBC News.

The indictments against the organization and Weisselberg, handed up by a New York grand jury, are expected to be unsealed in court Thursday afternoon in Manhattan, a Trump representative told NBC.

Weisselberg is expected to surrender Thursday morning, The Washington Post reported earlier, citing sources. The Post said he is expected to be arraigned in front of a state judge later that day. The Trump Organization is also expected to be arraigned.

Guessing that Cheeto is convicted before he is reinstated to the presidency.

Well before.

Proposition 123: Read the fine print, folks

In a few days, early voting will start for May's special election when the voters will consider Proposition 123, a plan approved by the legislature to get the voters to get the lege out from under a court order to properly fund public education.

Since I may be the only observer in the state to not weigh in on the measure, it's time for me to do so.

For readers with short attention spans:

It's more than a bad idea; it's a scam.  I am voting against it and recommend that you also vote against it. 

For readers with longer attention spans:

When Arizona became a state, millions of acres of land were set aside in a trust administered by the state.  It was allowed to sell off a portion of those lands every year with the revenue being earmarked to help support a number of beneficiaries, primarily public education in Arizona.

If approved, the measure would allow the governor and the legislature to sell off state trust lands at a faster pace, bringing down the overall value of the trust, ostensibly using the increase in short term revenue to bolster public education funding here in Arizona.

The measure is something that is actually *bad* for Arizona public education, and even worse, it doesn't look like that the authors of the measure ever intended help public education.

People as ideologically diverse as five current and former Arizona state treasurers and former congressman Ron Barber think this is a bad idea.

These aren't people with whom I am often in agreement (including Barber, they are, one and all, far too conservative), but they are right on this.

Their evaluations of Prop 123 are far more eloquent than anything I can come up...but that won't stop me from chiming in with a few points. :)


Firstly, it's a scheme to sacrifice the future to pay for the present.

There are fables/aphorisms/fairy tales/whatevers to that fit here -

For people who are weary of the constant battle to support education in Arizona, or have just become so desperate to temporarily stave off further damage to the state's education system, there's the one pointing out the lack of wisdom in "eating your seed corn".

From TheFreeDictionary.com (linked above) -

	To eat the corn which should be saved for seed, so as to forestall starvation; - a desperate measure, since it only postpones disaster.
	any desperate action which creates a disastrous situation in the long-term, done in order to provide temporary relief.

For the people who look upon the state's trust lands with covetous eyes, there's the one about a goose and some golden eggs.

From UMass.edu -

One day a countryman going to the nest of his goose found there an egg all yellow and glittering. When he took it up it was as heavy as lead and he was going to throw it away, because he thought a trick had been played on him. But he took it home on second thoughts, and soon found that it was an egg of pure gold.

Every morning the same thing occured, and he grew rich by selling his eggs. As he grew rich he grew greedy; and thinking to get at once all the gold the goose could give, he killed it and opened it only to find nothing.

Greed often overreaches itself.

Secondly, there's the people who are supporting the measure oh-so enthusiastically, almost piously.

Sharon Harper, the chairman of the political committee formed to spend money, is the CEO of Plaza Companies, a large real estate firm/speculator, and W.J. "Jim" Lane is the mayor of Scottsdale.  A place where the most appropriate Christmas gift for the majority on the city council (of which he is the undisputed leader, both legally and practically) would be lip splints.

Needed because when a deep-pocketed developer walks into the room, they pucker up so intensely that they may sprain something.

This committee has raised nearly $4 million to spend in support of the scheme -

In contrast, the committee formed to oppose the measure has raised slightly less -

The committee is strongly supported by big business, getting more than $1.2 million in funding from business entities -

To be sure, the people behind those business entities are ponying up some of the personal money (one page from the same campaign finance report) -

To be blunt, these are people whose definitions of "right and wrong" overlap with their definitions of "sufficient and insufficient ROI".


Thirdly, and perhaps most damning of all, there's the "fine print" of the proposal.

Not only is there nothing that forbids the legislature from cutting General Fund appropriations for public education by the same amount of revenue generated by trust land sales (or more!), there is "poison pill" language that allows the lege to massively cut education under circumstances that the lege itself can create.

The text of the proposal, from the bill passed by the lege (emphasis added) -

2.  Article XI, Constitution of Arizona, is proposed to be amended by adding section 11 as follows if approved by the voters and on proclamation of the Governor:

11.  Schools; inflation adjustments; exceptions; definitions

Section 11.  A.  On or before February 1 of each year, if the state transaction privilege tax growth rate and the total nonfarm employment growth rate are each at least one percent, but less than two percent, the director of the office of strategic planning and budgeting, or its successor agency, and the director of the joint legislative budget committee, or its successor agency, shall jointly notify the governor, the president of the senate and the speaker of the house of representatives.  On receipt of the notification, the legislature is not required to make the inflation adjustments required by section 15-901.01, Arizona Revised Statutes, for the next fiscal year.

B.  On or before February 1 of each year, if the state transaction privilege tax growth rate and the total nonfarm employment growth rate are each less than one percent, the director of the office of strategic planning and budgeting, or its successor agency, and the director of the joint legislative budget committee, or its successor agency, shall jointly notify the governor, the president of the senate and the speaker of the house of representatives.  On receipt of the notification, the legislature shall not make the inflation adjustments required by section 15-901.01, Arizona Revised Statutes, for the next fiscal year.

C.  Beginning in fiscal year 2024-2025, on or before February 1 of each year, if the total amount of general fund appropriations for the Arizona department of education, or its successor agency, is at least forty-nine percent but less than fifty percent of the total general fund appropriation for the current fiscal year, the director of the office of strategic planning and budgeting, or its successor agency, and the director of the joint legislative budget committee, or its successor agency, shall jointly notify the governor, the president of the senate and the speaker of the house of representatives.  On receipt of the notification, the legislature:

1.  Is not required to make the inflation adjustments required by section 15-901.01, Arizona Revised Statutes, for the next fiscal year.

2.  May reduce the base level for the next fiscal year by the amount of the inflation adjustments required by section 15‑901.01, Arizona Revised Statutes, made for the current fiscal year.

D.  Beginning in fiscal year 2024-2025, on or before February 1 of each year, if the total amount of general fund appropriations for the Arizona department of education, or its successor agency, is at least fifty percent of the total general fund appropriation for the current fiscal year, the director of the office of strategic planning and budgeting, or its successor agency, and the director of the joint legislative budget committee, or its successor agency, shall jointly notify the governor, the president of the senate and the speaker of the house of representatives.  On receipt of the notification, the legislature:

1.  Is not required to make the inflation adjustments required by section 15-901.01, Arizona Revised Statutes, for the next fiscal year.

2.  May reduce the base level for the next fiscal year by two times the amount of the inflation adjustments required by section 15-901.01, Arizona Revised Statutes, made for the current fiscal year.

E.  If the inflation adjustments required by section 15‑901.01, Arizona Revised Statutes, are not required to be made or are prohibited from being made pursuant to this section for a fiscal year, the omitted inflation adjustment amounts:

1.  Are not required to be paid or distributed in any subsequent fiscal year.

2.  Become a part of the calculation of the base level for subsequent fiscal years.

F.  If base level reductions are made pursuant to subsection c or D of this section for a fiscal year, the reduced amounts:

1.  Are not required to be paid or distributed in any subsequent fiscal year.

2.  Do not become part of the calculation of the base level for subsequent fiscal years.

G.  This section preserves the authority vested in the legislature pursuant to this constitution.

H.  For the purposes of this section:

1.  "Total nonfarm employment growth rate" means the percentage change in the seasonally adjusted total nonfarm employment in this state from the final month of the most recent calendar year to the final month of the immediately preceding calendar year, as reported by the Arizona department of administration or its successor agency.

2.  "State transaction privilege tax growth rate" means the percentage change in the revenues derived from the state transaction privilege tax that are distributed to the state general fund from the most recent calendar year to the immediately preceding calendar year, as reported by the Arizona department of revenue or its successor agency.

3.  Nonseverability

If any portion of this proposition is finally adjudicated invalid, the entire proposition is void.

4.  The Secretary of State shall submit this proposition to the voters at a special election called to be held for that purpose on May 17, 2016 as provided by article XXI, Constitution of Arizona.

The way that this is written, the lege could enact more corporate tax cuts, further reducing state revenue.

And increasing the percentage of education spending as a portion of general fund expenditures (without actually increasing education spending) to the point where they could legally further reduce education spending.

Secretary of State (and Chief of Voter Suppression) Michele Reagan is on board with this scheme too, judging by the rather slanted ballot language crafted by her office -

People like Doug Ducey and the lege favor Proposition 123, and that's reason enough to oppose it -

The next time that either one supports something that benefits civil society will be the first time.



Information on Proposition 123, including things like ballot arguments filed both in favor of and in opposition to the measure can be found here.

Russell Pearce misuses county resources: gets "admonished"

From the Arizona Republic, written by Yvonne Wingett Sanchez -

Russell Pearce, the former Republican state Senate president known for his hard-line stance on illegal immigration and controversial remarks about Latinos and women, appears to be violating the Maricopa County's e-mail policy.

On late Tuesday afternoon, he sent an e-mail from his county treasurer's account that hits on the enforcement of immigration laws, sanctuary city policies, the ACLU and the media. The e-mail was titled "NO PERMISSION SLIP NEEDED:  STATES HAVE INHERENT AUTHORITY TO ENFORCE OUR IMMIGRATION LAWS, ENOUGH OF THE LIES BY THE LEFT AND PROFITS OVER PATRIOTISM CROWD."

Maricopa County policy defines improper use of e-mail as using it for "illegal, inappropriate, obscene, political, or personal gain purposes."

{snip}

He signs off with a description of himself, "Senator Russell Pearce and former President of the Arizona State Senate, former Chief Deputy of the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office, former Judge, author of:  SB1070, Employer Sanctions, Proof of Citizenship to vote, No welfare for illegals, No bail for illegals charged with serious crime, English as the Official Language, No in-state tuition for illegals, etc."

In most any other state, Pearce would have been fired; in Arizona, he gets less than a slap on the wrist.

For wasting public resources on his private jihad against immigrants.

Laurie Roberts, a columnist for the Republic, has her take here (as it turns out, Pearce is a "well-rounded" winger - he hates public education almost as much as he hates immigrants)

A possible future career for John Huppenthal that utilizes his current skill set...

This has not been a good week for AZ Superintendent of Public Instruction John Huppenthal (but it's been a GREAT week for the writers at Blog for Arizona!).

The news, broken by Bob Lord at BfA, that Huppenthal used pseudonyms like Thucydides and Falcon9 to post comments on blogs went all MSM and national -

Phoenix channel 3 (KTVK)

Tucson channel 9 (KGUN)

Phoenix channel 5 (KPHO)

Arizona Republic

Arizona Daily Sun

Phoenix New Times

Talking Points Memo

Sacramento Bee (via AP)

Boing Boing

Crooks & Liars

DailyKos

Education Week

 ...and many more.

The story seems to have legs, as other blogs find comments by Huppenthal, many of which make his BfA comments (i.e. - poor people are "lazy pigs", etc.) look mild, almost endearing.

It also seems to be hurting him where it counts (for an R facing a primary challenge, anyway) - with other conservatives, many of whom are trying to distance themselves from him.  And they're not being subtle about it.


I'm not going to predict that his political career is all but over (he's weaseled out of tight situations before), but he's facing some strong electoral headwinds in 2014, and may be looking for work in 2015.

As such, I have an oh-so-humble suggestion -

When he's out of work next year, he should join with other similarly embattled (currently) elected officials and form a "think tank" dedicated to espousing conservative positions.

The principals of the "think tank":

Scott Walker, current governor of Wisconsin, and alleged "capo di tutti capi" of a major criminal conspiracy centered on illegal coordination of campaign fundraising.  Ostensible head of the "think tank"

Tom Horne, current attorney general in Arizona, who has his own (alleged) experience with campaign finance misdeeds (he can serve as the "think tank's" lawyer)

John Huppenthal, current superintendent of public instruction in Arizona.  He can serve as the "think tank's" "Director of Online Propaganda Communications" (because "Sock Puppet" doesn't look good on a resume)

Rick Scott, current governor of Florida.  He can serve as "Director of Whiz Quizzes For Fun And Profit"

Rick Snyder, current governor of Michigan.  He would be the "Director of Disenfranchising Minorities"

Chris Christie, current governor of New Jersey.  He will be the chief enforcer/bully.

Paul Lepage, current governor of Maine.  Deputy bully.

Constantin Querard, political consultant.  Talking head.  Not an elected official, but with Al Melvin's campaign for governor of Arizona circling the drain, he finds himself in need of a paycheck.

Eric Cantor, current majority in the US House of Representatives.  Chief of Governmental Relations (aka - head lobbyist)

Rick Perry, current governor of Texas - Director of Insight on Social Issues


The chief funders of the "think tank"?  The Koch brothers, of course.

Tom Horne should NOT withdraw from the AG's race

Tom Horne, Arizona's Attorney General, is a transcendentally unethical man -

- Before becoming a lawyer, the SEC permanently banned Horne from securities trading for many reasons, not least of which was fraud

- Failed to report a bankruptcy when required

- After becoming AZAG, hired an alleged girlfriend to a taxpayer-funded position for which she was considered, ummm..."underqualified"

- During his campaign for AZAG in 2010, allegedly violated campaign finance laws by coordinating activities with an independent PAC; he denied wrongdoing, but after becoming AZAG, he hired the head of the PAC to a taxpayer-funded job with his office (the case is still ongoing)

- Committed a hit-and-run accident while leaving an alleged nooner at his alleged girlfriend's home.  We know this because the FBI had him under surveillance at the time as part of the investigation into his alleged campaign violations

- Per a complaint, and a lawsuit, from a now-former staffer, has required employees of the AG's office to work on his reelection campaign while on state time


In short, he's the most ethically-challenged attorney general in Arizona's history (so far as I can find).


In 2010, I thought that Democratic nominee Felecia Rotellini was far more qualified for the job, and Horne has done absolutely nothing in the years since to alter that opinion.

IMO, he wasn't qualified for the job to begin with, should have resigned when his bad behavior brought disgrace to the office, and shouldn't have sought reelection even if he adamantly refused to resign.


Now, some big-name Republicans are on board with the "should not run for reelection" part.

- Congressman Matt Salmon personally asked Horne to drop his reelection bid.

- US Senator Jeff Flake has publicly called on Horne to withdraw from the race.

- Even former state legislator Frank "Don't Make Me Mad" Antenori, not exactly the epitome of professionalism when he was in office, is calling on Horne to step aside -

Of course, these Rs (and others) aren't bothered by cheating to win an office, or by the misuse and corruption of the office once in it.

Nope, their problem with Horne is that they believe that if he wins the Republican nomination, he probably will lose to Felecia Rotellini in the general election.

In that regard they are correct, of course. 

In 2010, a horrible year for Democratic candidates, no matter how well-qualified, Rotellini stood out.

Intelligent, accomplished, dedicated, and with a long and documented history of public service; more than one voter, including some Republicans, told me that while they voted for Horne in the end, Rotellini thoroughly impressed them.

In spite of the Republican tidal wave in 2010, Rotellini nearly defeated Horne, and 2014 isn't shaping up to be a "wave" year, for either major party.

Now, my first response when the big-name Rs started calling for Horne to step aside "Finally!  Even the Rs have had enough of Tom Horne!".

Then I started thinking about it.

People like Flake, Salmon, and Antenori are always wrong on any significant issue.

The facts that they are always wrong and yet agree with me suggest that perhaps I should reevaluate my position.

So I have.

Horne should NOT withdraw from the race, but his opponent in the Republican primary, Mark Brnovich, should.

The reasons for this are simple.

1.  Horne has thoroughly "poisoned the waters" in the race for Republican candidates.  While he has rendered himself all but un-reelectable, his presence casts a deep shadow over any other R who might win the nomination.  While another R will have a better chance of defeating Rotellini, he/she will still face some major electoral headwinds.

2.  If Brnovich stays in the race and loses the general election, or worse, the primary, he will be seen as "damaged goods".  If he withdraws now, he can come back in 2018 as a stronger candidate

The reality in AZ politics is that a Democrat can lose a significant race and come back stronger (witness: Rotellini).

A Republican?  Not so much (witness: JD Hayworth).

Just a few thoughts...

NJ Governor Chris Christie: A "Not Ready For Prime Time" Politician?

Chris Christie, picture courtesy ABCNews.com

By now, everyone has heard of the political scandal in New Jersey -

Gubernatorial appointees there ordered the closure of two of the three lanes leading to the George Washington bridge. heading into Manhattan from New Jersey, creating a traffic jam that crippled Fort Lee, NJ for four days in September 2013.

When questions first arose, asked by, and spurred by, reports in the local newspaper, the Bergen County Record, the initial story was that it was part of a "traffic study".

That story didn't have a lot of credibility when no one involved could or would present actual verifiable evidence of the existence of such a study.

Then speculation grew, positing that the closure was not about a "study" but instead about a simple political vendetta.  The speculation was that the real object of the closure was to hurt the mayor of Fort Lee, Mark Sokolich.

Sokolich, a Democrat, has refused to endorse Christie, a Republican, during Christie's recent reelection campaign (which Christie handily won, despite not having Sokolich's endorsement).

That seemed to be too petty, even for someone with the bullying reputation of Christie, so speculation continued, focusing on the possibility that the retribution was directed at some legislative Democrats representing northern NJ.  They blocked a judicial appointment of Christie in response to Christie's removal of another judge based on partisan considerations, not merit.

Either way, while the Christie administration's vendetta (if, indeed, that's what it was) was aimed at specific political rivals, the impact of the vendetta fell upon the tens of thousands of people living in and around, and traveling near, Fort Lee.

This scandal has been growing, to the point that there are legislative hearings looking into it (with at least one former Christie appointee availing himself of his Constitutional protections against self-incrimination and refusing to answer questions) and talk of a federal investigation (using public resources for personal political gain is a crime).

On Thursday, Christie held a marathon press conference where he:

• Apologized.
• Claimed he knew nothing of the events until the newspapers reported on them.
• Blamed his staff, some of whom are/were long-term allies, saying that they had lied to him.  For years.
• Announced the firing of a couple of scapegoats.
• Claimed ignorance of the events until they became public knowledge.
• Apologized some more.
• Claimed some more ignorance.

It seems obvious that more evidence will come to light in this matter, so some of this may change in the coming weeks, but there are a couple of main likelihoods here.

Neither of which bode well for Christie's future.

One, Christie could be telling the truth (or something that's close to it), in which case he has no oversight of the activities of his closest staffers.  Meaning that as a president, he would be most like a blustery version of George W. Bush.

Two, Christie could have approved the lane closures.  Whether or not that approval was "direct" or of the "wink and a nod" variety, whether or not the intended target was the mayor of Fort Lee, legislative Democrats, or some as-yet unknown object of Christie's ire, impact of the lane closures fell upon thousands of people who had no part in New Jersey's political knife fights.

Now, I'm not an insider with the investigation, so this is little more than speculation on my part, but given the months of stonewalling while hoping this would go away followed by the disavowal and scapegoating when it didn't, this seems most like a political vendetta run by the modern equivalent of The Three Stooges.


Vendettas and "payback" (both positive and negative) are as much a part of politics as meetings and speechifying.

That's not limited to American-style politics, or even to governmental organizations, and human nature being what it is, it probably isn't going to change any time soon.

However as much a part of the fabric of politics vendettas may be, and however much people have accepted them as an inevitable part of that reality, there's a limit to that acceptance.

And harming thousands of people because one or few others may have ticked you off is well outside of that limit.


No matter how this situation ultimately works out, it shows that Christie is not ready for higher office.

Either he is a completely "hands-off" executive with an out-of-control staff, or he is the supremely petty bully that his reputation says he is.

Either way, he's not suited for the highest office in the country.

Having said all of the above, his presidential candidacy isn't toast.

Primary and caucus ballots won't be cast for another two years.

Two years is an eternity in modern politics.  He'll have time to clean up his image, plus most or all of the other candidates will have their own travails that will impact their viability as candidates.

I don't think he'll be able to fix this, spite and arrogance are too much a part of his persona, but I've been wrong about such things before.

Grab your popcorn and settle in; this mess is only the opening act in the 2016 stage show.