With New Jersey Governor Chris Christie facing evidence that he shut down public services as political retribution, expect the following web content to disappear:
And from Dan Lederman's press agent:
What a good speech by Chris Christie. Very inspirational and values oriented about the direction our country needs to take. Really makes me wish I was there. (but alas, I chose poorly when it came to presidential primary candidates.)
I think the Christie speech might be best framed in terms of being “Reaganesque.” There’s a reason people talk about this guy being a candidate for president. He’s that good [Pat Powers, "Good Speech by Christie. But a Little Melancholy," Dakota War College, 2012.08.28].
Christie photos are already missing from that post and from a September 20, 2012, DWC post, which linked to more pix at Lederman's RushmorePAC.org. Lederman has scrubbed any election season 2012 Christie content from his PAC website.
Related: David Montgomery notes that we South Dakotans would have trouble uncovering Christiesque corruption in South Dakota state government, since our public records laws exempt our government officials' e-mails from public scrutiny... and since Republicans like Lederman control the Legislature and have little interest in investigating their own good-old-boys' club.
sleaze squared: great find.
Historic preservation is important. The day Dan Lederman is elected President of the United States, we'll be able to look fondly upon this post to see who inspired this great American patriot.
(Wretch!)
Chris Christie is the Bill Janklow of New Jersey. He even looks and sounds like a chubbier version of Bill Janklow. Both above average leaders. Both petty to a fault. The arrogance of demanding that Democratic officeholders endorse him - and causing traffic jams for thousands when they don't!
Paging Brendan Johnson: the US Attorney for New Jersey is opening an investigation.
Gov. Chris Christie seemed like one of the few Republicans who could do positive work in DC. This traffic snafu seems thuggish.
The dumbing down of the Republican Party has left its water mark when Chris Christie is considered their only strong hope to win the presidency. Alas, he just handed his primary opponents a loaded gun when all they had against him was failing the Duck Dynasty Christian candidate purity test (DDCCPT). Now what?
@Jeff Barth, please understand one thing. Just one thing. Chris Christi is a republican, it is in his dna to be the thug that he is. As you ran for public office, I chipped in some moolah for your campaign, you have seen with your own eyes what republican leadership has done to our state. When was the last time you saw that there was any kind of advancement of jobs or opportunities here in our state? Those opportunities do not exist for anything that is new, what we make do with is relics from the past that we basically inherit through attrition.
Now we look at Christie and we can see that he is no different than our own brand of mafia right here. Some thought that his embrace of Obama was a sign of an open door policy that he would have if he were elected to the highest office in the land. Alas, that is not so. He did it for his own selfish reasons that had nothing to do with you and me, it is all about him. That is the difference between republicans and the rest of us. They are all about themselves and we, the rest, are all about being a good neighbor.
I sort of feel sorry for Dan Lederman. What happened during his childhood to turn him into an adult that craves attention and just a few seconds to smile big with people he defines as authority figures, while at the same time launching petty attacks through the courts and other means against fellow South Dakotans who haven't directly caused him harm?
Here is a little history of the man Dan Lederman has so much love for. Sweet http://crooksandliars.com/susie-madrak/long-ago-chris-christie-lost-benefit-
What a remarkable history. Honest folk do not stand much of a chance with this bunch of leeches.
The four-day traffic holdup last September was front page news in the New York Times and I suspect several news outlets in New Jersey. The buzz that it was a politically motivated punishment has been strong for at least a couple months. The key Christie appointees and their resignations, resulting from the growing buzz, were high school buddy and Port Authority chief David Wildstein on Dec. 6 and Port Authority appointee Bill Baroni on Dec. 13. Deputy Chief of Staff Bridget Anne Kelly, who sent the email ordering the bridge closing on Aug. 13, stayed aboard the Christie inner circle until today.
As much as I like what Chris Matthews calls Christie's "atteetude," I find it impossible to believe Christie was "blind sided" about all of this until yesterday, after the press got its hands on the damning emails. This scandal had legs from the beginning.
It's unimaginable that we are here today, Jan. 9, 2014, and Chris Christie is telling us he had no idea what was going on until today, saying he's got 65,000 state employees and he can't account for every one of them.
I would expect this kind of rationalization from a middle school student.
Lederman & Christie are the exact same type of Republicans, the kind that are in name only! Neither is conservative, both are about themselves and not the people.
Lederman's sleazy civil suite actions and recruiting decoys for the US Senate race for Rounds? It ensures that Lederman will never be able to win a state wide race. The people that make or break such races are the conservative activists, and a great many of those appear to be behind Nelson.
It amazes me, that I, a GOP conservative has seen Christie in no different light well beyond the past of the local and national slobbering over him. Who am I, and who are those attached to Christie.
Love to see Dems go all "Darrell(my brother did it) Issa" on Christie for the next two years,just to see if something sticks. Unfortunately,Dems are hard-wired to try to get along with the enemy,even when there is no reciprocation.
"That is the difference between republicans and the rest of us. They are all about themselves and we, the rest, are all about being a good neighbor."
You actually believe this complete bullshit? You guys are just as bad as the tea partiers. Crazy and polarizing....contributing to what is destroying this country. This republican will remember your comment the next time I am hugging a toilet puking up black soot from the 3AM fire we ran to when it was 0 degrees out.
SD Dems are pussies Mike. You guys laid down and died with both Daschle and Herseth. Ol Bern your state leader should be making noise over EB5. What's got his tongue tied, another dairy, chicken/turkey farm?
Transcript of emails/texts in the Christie bridge scandal:
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2014/01/09/nyregion/09christie-email-documents.html?hp&_r=0
Good move by Dan: Wear black, and stand next to someone, um, bigger than you.
PBS was on this story months ago. I have missed what suddenly turned it into a new big deal. As for Lederman, sleep with dogs, wake up with fleas.
Jeff, that's the thing! I've said some good things about Christie being rational and practical. That fits with R's analogy of Christie to Janklow. Janklow was much more about results, not ideology. But that also led Janklow to put results over decency and fairness as well and to use his power to intimidate people into doing his bidding so he could get what he wanted. Sound familiar?
DB, I think the soot or the cold still has you a little delirious. Take a few deep breaths... and note that I will agree that we can find examples of Democrats who abuse their power.
Les, was LBJ a wimp?
Montgomery follows up with another blog post on this morning's chamber sponsored legislative breakfast and how scripted it was as opposed to Jack Marsh's journalistic approach.
http://politicalsmokeout.tumblr.com/post/72771907480/chamber-breakfast-quiet-with-pre-screened-questions
Les, you may be correct on dems not making noise about this EB-5 scandal, but then I would say that there is always Madville. Think about this, besides Madville, who you gonna call? You sure are not going to get any traction from the big town of Sioux Falls or its widdle brother, Rapid City to make the case. It seems like just the independents like CAH and Mercer and Monty make the call on the foul. Your party is aware of this and that is why they do the things they do, always playing the refs against the flagrant foul stench of corruption. How do you guys stand knowing what a sorry state of affairs your party has put our state? Yet, you all want to return the same old oddities to Pierre each and every time. Take a look at your Ms NOmer, talk about a dismal failure, geesh.
And if memory serves,Saint Ronnie Raygun traded arms for hostages to a nation on our terrorist watch list,aided and abetted both Iran and Iraq and was totally delusional before he was ever diagnosed as being delusional. Pussies? Which wingnut Potus stood by and allowed 241 unarmed Marines to die in Beirut,for nothing,before ordering the rest out of country with no retaliation? No,it wasn't Carter.
Let's try it this way. Near as I can figure SD has a Rep. Guv,a Rep. AG,the senate has a wingnut supermajority of 30-5 over Dems and the House is 50-19-1 in favor of Rs. Only one statewide office is controlled by a Dem. What would you have Dems say about EB-5? We surrender?
I agree with Les. Hunhoff has been totally silent on EB-5, very disappointing. Has he sent any statement out in regards to it?
Good point, Mike. If we're talking about South Dakota specifically, then yes, nearly all of the bullying and corruption lies at the feet of Republicans, because SD Democrats haven't been in a position to wield such power or be corrupted by it! But if we were, would we be as susceptible to the temptation of power (and payback!) as Republicans?
I'm surprised the republicans even let Montgomery into their legislative breakfast.
I could honestly see Dems using corrupt practices as payback. I don't,however,think that Dems would hold a grudge like reps have shown the ability to do. Clinton was impeached as payback for what reps called Democratic efforts to run Nixon out of office. Hogwash. Reps are still kicking around the idea of impeachment for Obama. Dems seem to want to move America forward and with a few more executive maneuvers,maybe they can drag Boner,McCTurtle and the rest of the reprehensible Rs into the 21st century.
Cory, note my post said, SD Dems are pussies. Also of note, I gave Hunhoff the opportunity to rise above the wimp to corrupt. His choice. He's darn sure no voice for your party.
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LBJ was no wimp, he was an assassin. You have a better definition of carpet bombing for Christmas? And there's also a bit of suspicion on his part of the JFK recipe for death.
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Careful, Mike. Follow the money on Dems. It ain't pretty either. I forget, you Dems use my money for good, so all is good, at the end of a gun barrel as with Repubs.
CAH, I would submit that no, dems would not be "But if we were, would we be as susceptible to the temptation of power (and payback!) as Republicans?"
The crony corrupt part is just a fact of life in the republican way of governing (they cannot). The dems have an idea that there is supposed to be a level playing field and that when you make a deal, it stands, and they constantly work towards that goal. Kind of like in the old days when you could buy and sell cattle with a handshake and it meant something. When you deal with the new republicans, there is no honest broker, only false hope. The gang mentality of this bunch is even more disturbing, you really have to be a total nut case to be excommunicated (Ted Klaudt) from the bloods or the crips of Pierre politics. Here is a rant from Ted on the misuse of funds from a blog site:
http://www.southdacola.com/blog/category/ted-klaudt/
It seems that once they get caught from the Big Muddy, these big ole catfish will grunt all kinds of tales.
Les how did you manage to not blame LBJ for Nixon's "Checkers" speech? You still upset over the "Daisy" nukular ad that blew Goldwater's campaign out of the water?
Mike, it appears you're a little short on having lived that generation. The LBJ you suck up to would be considered hard right by today's standards. Nixon and LBJ slept together, face to face.
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Jer, you haven't been paying attention. Independents like Mercer, CAH, Monte? Seems pretty quiet on the Jackley decision for Mercer's request. I'd be disappointed if his independent career suddenly went dependent, just when I felt his redemption was close.
Yes, they have been quiet on the Jackley denial as there is only so many times you can go to the well for the information. It is plain that he is not going to give it up so what is the next step, a lawsuit? The news outlets all seem in agreement that Benda did himself in so they are not saying it was a hit, but Jackley is acting like it. We still don't know if B. Johnson is actually doing anything on the investigation. I am wondering if this one will turn out like the one on Walker over in Wisconsin where they had all kinds of things going on and in the end, the newt is still governor. There, they had the Koch brothers, here we have a bunch of wealthy Chinese dudes with millions of cold hard cash moolah that has vanished like flatulence in the wind. As the common denominator is endless money, are they both gonna be the same end result? Hope not. That is why I keep my hopes on these three to keep the interest.
@DB, good for you that you have a job and you get paid for putting that fire out. I always tip my hat to the good folks that do the work that taxpayers pay them to do. Most of us appreciate that work.
Of course, you will find that there are many of your republican party that does not. They would believe that the public could get by without your attentive services and we could go it alone with some kind of private business deal doing a bidding process. Me, I think that collective bargaining regarding public workers is a good thing and support that union kind of thing.
So the next time you are hugging a toliet and puking up soot, remember this, indies and dems believe in what you are doing to protect and serve us, your neighbors. You can hear how the republicans support you on the news you watch in the station. See how they would support you if you happened to get laid off and need unemployment insurance. It is all about them sir, all about them. Thanks again for putting the fire out, spring will soon be here. that will help your dangerous job we hope.
Les,
Glad you brought up Nixon. I think South Dakota Republicans are trying to outdo Nixon on the corruption scale. They are getting close, the only real difference is that Nixon was paranoid about power, South Dakota Republicans like dirty money from communists.
Nixon made his share off the communists Roger, in much the same way our state did. Off their backs. Nam was much worse than Watergate. Your prez is no better with his drone killing machine. I don't care who started it, he claimed he would bring our kids home.
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I didn't bring him up. Your ally from Ioway did.
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Les,
When do insist on playing the blame game? Are you attempting to diminish the GOED/EB-5 scandal because of Johnson did in Vietnam?
Explain how the Daugaard/Rounds scandal correlates with Vietnam?
Using Les logic since Nixon made his share off communist, it is perfectly alright for state Republicans to do so too.
FYI, we are out of Iraq, President Obama said we will be out of Afghanistan in 2014 and we will be. McCain, et al would much prefer that we stay there and "bomb bomb Iran".
You get the twistit award Roger. It appears you can't follow a thought process. Cory brought the LBJ subject up. Ioway Mike brought up Nixon and Goldwater and more BS. Johnson engaged us, Nixon kept us in it and created genocide with his Christmas carpet bombing. Nixon's Nam was worse than his Watergate. Had about as much to do with EB 5 as Cory's statement on LBJ did.
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And the nosebleed Democrat takes his party to new heights
Les-back at 18:02 you blamed Johnson for carpet bombing.At 23:15 you accused Nixon of carpet bombing. Apparently you are a little short of having lived that generation. For all of LBJ's faults,at least he had a conscience which affected him enough that he refused to run again. Nixon(Raygun,Ford,and both dumb bass dubyas) not so much. Did repubs choose the color red because they admire commies or does it cover their embarrassment. Never mind,you can't shame republicans.
No kidding mike, in putting blame on both parties I crossed my thoughts and later put them in proper order. You and a series of nosebleed democrats choose to attack with off topic comments rather than get to work and build your failed party. Why I'm even responding to an Iowan with his nose in SD is beyond me. Iowa finally get tired of your canned rants?
(Hey, Les, we don't dismiss arguments just because of where a person lives. Interested observers from across the border can contribute insights we might miss locally.)
Aww...someone punched Les' buttons too hard.
2014's "I'm not a bully" is 1973's "I am not a crook". Except Christie won't resign, and will continue wreaking havoc on the Republican party.
Fine by me.
Les-I didn't see where you put them in proper order. Like it or not,I'm here for the duration and I have thick skin. This is one Dem leaning Ind. that isn't afraid to mix it up.
Mike from Iowa,
Welcome to South Dakota and Madville Times. Despite Les's objections to outsiders commenting on South Dakota politics, we still abide by the First Amendment here. You have met, in the person of Les, a typical redneck Republican of our state.
Using Les's logic, if you can call it that, Cory and Mike brought up Nixon, LBJ, etc., Les responded to those comments and I responded to Les's comments. Somehow in his little mind he thinks that is wrong or twisted.
Every political scandal is to its own. I don't know that they can really be graded or ranked by Republicans or Democrats were worse.
Today, in South Dakota we have the GOED/EB05 scandal and ongoing cover up by the state's highest ranking law enforcement officials and Republicans will attempt to diminish its impact because Johnson and Vietnam.