Daily Kos- Chris Christie

Fri Feb 07, 2014 at 02:46 PM PST

Governor Chris Christie betrayed by his staff yet again

by HoundDogFollow

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May I call your attention to Joe Coscarelli's amusing observations in a New York Magazine article, Chris Christie Betrayed by Staff Again? Coscarelli may have discovered why Chris Christie is such a sad fellow.

According to Chris Christie, the entire bridge scandal happened because "completely inappropriate and unsanctioned conduct was made without my knowledge." In the course of damage control, however, his staff continues to make ill-advised decisions without his knowledge. From Politico's check-in this afternoon with Christie's "mood": "The memo from Gov. Chris Christie’s office attacking former appointee David Wildstein’s credibility landed with a thud. It was a striking and deeply personal broadside coming from a chief executive of a state, and even his allies called it a mistake."

But, according to two people who claim to know, the governor didn't see the "5 Things You Should Know About The Bombshell That's Not A Bombshell," memo ahead of time.

And yet, Politico reports, "Christie's aides did not run the document ... by the governor before they sent it out, according to two people familiar with the matter. Instead, someone tucked the high school lines into a daily briefing email to the governor's supporters, and blasted it out earlier than planned. Another round of unflattering news coverage ensued." Why are Christie's people so intent on continuing to make him look bad? If only the governor could get his rogue staff under control enough to ask.

This is yet another example of a Governor in way over his head, with too many distractions to stay focused on the important work. Yet, he continues to make weekly forays to other states to fund raise, through back doors, for the RGA when no politicians in any state, so far, want to be seen with him. Or, more likely, a sign of how deep of a hole Christie has dug for himself as he tries to lie his way out of a dead end, and criminal indictment.  Time will tell.

In another funny New York Magazine piece, Benjamin Wallace-Wells asks, Is David Wildstein Chris Christie’s Sworn Enemy, or His Mini-Me?

But the anti-Wildstein memo reads as a hasty oppo-research dump against a man who just recently had been a Christie loyalist and ally. In an effort to find damning material on Wildstein, the Christie memo collated a few nasty quotes from political opponents over the years (Wildstein, in the words of these opponents, had been a "political animal" who "frightened people") and some testimony about his "tumultuous" persona and self-promoting tendencies, and then, strangely, threw in the note that "[Wildstein] was publicly accused by his high-school social-studies teacher of deceptive behavior." All of this seemed like pretty tame stuff. More importantly, every incident on the Christie team's list fell into one of two categories: Either Christie himself knew about it before he appointed Wildstein to be his man at the Port Authority, or Wildstein had done it on Christie's behalf. The memo mentioned that Wildstein had been an pseudonymous gadfly blogger named Wally Edge, as if this were a damning revelation — but it turned out that Christie himself, as U.S. Attorney, had been one of Wally Edge's most frequent sources. The whole memo was "goofy," in the judgment of Slate. It was goofy. But it also revealed a paradox. In its efforts to make David Wildstein the plausible source of the whole Bridgegate episode (the Christie memo at one point, almost in passing, suggested the entire plot had been "David Wildstein's scheme"), Christie's advisors had to present evidence that Wildstein was an ambitious and aggressive political infighter. But nearly all the evidence of Wildstein's deviousness that Christie's aides could supply had either been implicitly endorsed by the governor's office (in its nomination of Wildstein) or explicitly approved by its senior figures. The more Christie's camp tried to prove that Wildstein was a nefarious actor and a lone ranger, the more it sounded like he had done his job in exactly the way the governor wanted, and the more he came to seem like a Christie mini-me.

On a more personal note, may I call your attention to the celebratory post for my comment number 25,000 here at Daily Kos. If you want to read the whole post, or take the "Messasge to HoundDog poll please check this out. U.S. Attorney Paul Fishman indicts former Manalapan mayor on 11 counts
If you just want to tip my 25,000 th comment here's a link to HoundDog's Comment Number 25,000!
Heavens to Mergatroid, how embarrassing that I have to mojo pander my own celebration. But, I'm used to being treated like a dog around here.  Woof, woof!
Happy 25,000 th Comment, HoundDog
3:09 PM PT: There were a lot of cool graphics over in my celebration post this morning that so many of you missed. Whatever... here's one of them for the convenience of those who are too busy to go take my "Message to HoundDog" on his 25,000 comment poll.
Happy 25,000 HoundDog -- CC
3:33 PM PT: Corrected New Yorker to New York Magazine. Thanks to paulitics for the catch. I come from a town only big enough to have one magazine, so my brain must have jumped to the New Yorker idea on remote control. I need to go to the same "slow down" rehab as Chris Christie, where I'm sure we're going to both look back on these days and just laugh, once we're better.

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