Via Twitter buddy @AstroKatie, I find this:
Now, I’m not actually going to pony up five Benjamins for a rumba dancing robot spider, but the idea that it exists does make me smile.
All hail our robot arachnid overlords!
More thread.
This post is in: Open Threads
Via Twitter buddy @AstroKatie, I find this:
Now, I’m not actually going to pony up five Benjamins for a rumba dancing robot spider, but the idea that it exists does make me smile.
All hail our robot arachnid overlords!
More thread.
Comments are closed.
Violet
Hi, Tom! Didn’t get to comment on your thread yesterday with the photos of your kitty, but wanted to say your kitty reminds me of Bagheera from “The Jungle Book.” He looks like a black panther, except for the white nose. Sort of a cross between Bagheera in looks and Shere Khan in attitude. Gorgeous.
MattF
I’m stuck between CUTE! and EWWWW!. Not for the arachnophobic.
IowaOldLady
I just got around to watching the Rachel Maddow Show from last night. My goodness, the woman enjoyed herself nearly as much as we did.
Rosalita
Love it! Needed some fun this morning. Going to share with my ballroom dance buddies.
SpaceSquid
I still say these things are threatening the livelihoods of chitin-and-ichor Spanish dancing spiders. Arachnids are people too!
Jeffro
So Eric Cantor wants to take a shot at Bill DeBlasio over NYC turning away from school choice & vouchers? That ain’t gonna turn out so well for Cantor: DeBlasio isn’t one to shrink from a fight, and he has the facts on his side to boot. This can only help accelerate the turning tide against the privatization movement.
Please proceed, Rep Cantor.
Violet
Ezra Klein has an interesting take on Christie:
deep
It’s going to be so cool to be run down by one of those things during the food riots of 2025.
Fuzzy
What a huge waste of time, talent and resources. A toy spider instead of a useful new limb or even a set of wheels for a lame dog. I bet it tastes like chicken.
Cyan
Spider robot. So cute. So deadly.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QR7vwRC6SFE
piratedan
let me guess, it’s a new product from Zin Electronics?
Knight of Nothing
Terrifying and awesome at the same time. Why did it have to be a spider?!?
cleek
i didn’t think TPM could go any more crazy over a topic than when they were wall-to-wall Rob Ford. but the Christie stuff has almost completely taken over their front page.
little kids and a soccer ball
scav
Programmers having fun . . .
if this didn’t originally start late at night with competitive cries of Comhere, look at this, I Said cumere, nonono now watch this arising from cube farms of individuals working late with entirely different deadlines, well then, I will be very very very sad and about as wrong as I usually am.
kdaug
When does Skynet go live?
Poopyman
I am highly impressed with the software development involved in that.
Felonius Monk
How soon before the drones start dropping these things on al-Q wedding parties?
MattF
@cleek: It’s worth making the point, at least one time, that Sokolich was plainly right not to endorse Christie.
dmsilev
Huh. NYT breaking news alert: “U.S. Attorney in New Jersey to Open Inquiry Into Lane Closures “.
Wonder whether any reporters will ask Christie about that in his press conference in a few minutes.
Violet
@cleek: Yeah, but then TPM has good stuff like this:
geg6
Re-posting from previous thread:
FYI, for anyone interested in applying for a good job in post-secondary academic administration. I was just at the spring campus town meeting and the search for our new campus DAA (Director of Academic Affairs) has been extended due a low number of applications. If you’re interested in being in charge of faculty, both tenured/tenure track and adjunct, and academic programs, if you think you might like living in the Pittsburgh area and would like to work at a small campus of a major research university that has a wonderful campus climate and excellent campus leadership, I highly recommend applying. From what I can see, the posting has not yet been re-posted, but if you keep watching this link (http://psu.jobs/Search/Opportunities.html) and then put in “Beaver” for the campus job listings.
lamh36
Ok, just on my break but I’m going back now.
I just want to know. ..did Joey Scat cry on Morning Ho over Bridgegate. He has been riding Christie’ s jock for a while now.
Idk I don’t see Christie resigning. He is a bully and seems like the type who will hold on and refuse to be bullied put of office. I see him staying but wounded and just throwing ‘bows at everyone in his path.
Basically I expect bluster all the way.
geg6
@cleek:
Can’t blame Josh, really. Most political news is depressing and infuriating. The Ford and Christie stuff is just a damn lot of fun. At least, I’ve been having fun with it.
beth
We’re going to need a bigger fly swatter!
geg6
@lamh36:
Yeah, today was probably the only morning ever (with the exception of the day after the last two presidential elections) that I wanted to watch Squint just to see how he spins this. But then I decided I was already having too much fun with this that I didn’t need that extra measure.
maya
Just call Christe “Colonel Bogie” and start whistling every time he makes an appearance. Should be the final wooden stake.
Comrade Dread
It’s all fun and games until Skynet puts a hypo full of toxin or a bomb on it.
Violet
CNN is on and they’re on full Christie Watch. Camera in the Trenton press conference room just waiting for him to show up and Wolfie is covering it with others in the studio. Sorry Ashleigh Banfield, your show gets bumped.
Corner Stone
@Felonius Monk: Sorry, but we’re already handling that pretty well. No further assistance needed.
The Wedding That a U.S. Drone Strike Turned Into a Funeral
dmsilev
TPM live-stream of Christie conference. They’re waiting for him to show up now, should be starting momentarily.
Corner Stone
@Violet: MSNBC has about 6 people all talking heading while waiting for Tha Guvna.
Violet
@dmsilev: John King on CNN said the room is packed with NJ media and national media.
geg6
Heh:
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/u-s-attorney-chris-christie-bridge-probe
dmsilev
@Violet: Room is definitely full, but my Field Guide to Northeastern Media Personalities sadly doesn’t have details on back-of-head plumage, so I can’t really tell who is who.
mike with a mic
Looking at their kits, for 500 that’s not all that outrageous. Less so than the 300 I threw at an oculus VR and the several hundred after that at various motion sensors and controllers all to scare the piss out of people.
Corner Stone
He’s going with the, “Hoocoodaknown” defense.
dmsilev
Christie is very very sorry.
Bridget Kelley has been thrown under the bridge.
Corner Stone
Bye Bye Bridgie!
Belafon
@Comrade Dread: The Matrix we are in will lead us to build robots that will ultimately create a Matrix that we will be attached to, where we will design robots that will create a Matrix..
In other words, no matter how far you back out, you are still in the Matrix.
Edited to sound a little better.
dmsilev
“Emails I saw for the first time yesterday”.
Now taking bets on how long it will be before emails sent to Christie surface.
Elizabelle
Mppph. He wouldn’t even skeer a teacher with that demeanor.
Mild Chris Christie. The sincere governor(TM).
JPL
Christie’s campaign ad, vote for me or your state gets it. There are several names blacked out, so terminating one person is not gonna cut it.
Elizabelle
Family yes.
But can you prove you are not “The Sopranos”?
And the woman goes under the bus …. badda bing.
JPL
Now he wipes a tear from his eye. Well not yet, but it’s a good idea.
Corner Stone
@dmsilev:
There can’t be. Not after this press conf he’s performing. If there are then he’s the stupidest politician of recent vintage.
Corner Stone
I wonder what kind of wingnut welfare job Bridget will be moving on to quietly in the next few months?
Villago Delenda Est
@Corner Stone:
Someone is going to find a smoking gun that directly links him to all this, and when they do…well, we know Christie is toast already, but the next step is to bring him up, personally, on charges. Depraved indifference, methinks.
kc
BRIDGET KELLY BRIDGET KELLY BRIDGET KELLY!!!
Corner Stone
You were disturbed by their attitude?!
Fuck you, asshole!
kc
Bitch set me up!
Corner Stone
Man, this bus better have monster truck tires on it because they’ll all need some extra headroom underneath it.
Violet
@Elizabelle: Yeah, no kidding. He’s totally going with the “Poor widdle me, my staffers let me down” defense.
JPL
@Corner Stone: It depends on what the U. S. Attorney finds out.
Corner Stone
Sad Christie. Don’t be Sad Christie. So sad. Sad Christie.
dmsilev
So basically, Christie is saying “my closest advisers have spent the last couple of months blatantly lying to me”. Anyone believe him?
Elizabelle
It’s heartwarming to see someone who was taped screaming at a teacher talking about “lack of judgment.”
And campaign manager Bill goes under the bus. No Chief Bottlewasher of the NJ Republican party for you! No soup for you, Bill.
Violet
@Corner Stone: Fox News anchor. But not for a year. And she’s got legal trouble.
rikyrah
Thu Jan 09, 2014 at 05:02 AM PST.
Kornacki & Maddow: Christie was trying to run out clock on Assembly subpoena power.
by hungrycoyote
Last night Rachel Maddow dedicated her entire show to the New Jersey Bridge scandal, and who could blame her? When other cable news outlets scarcely mentioned it, Rachel Maddow has covered this story numerous times over the last several months. Below the orange squiggly, I have embedded the video for each segment of last night’s show, except the final one which is just below.
All the cable news channels had been covering the scandal all day long when the 22 pages of documents were released that linked the scandal to the office of Governor Chris Christie now that there was definitive proof that a member of Christie’s staff gave the order to close three lanes to the George Washington Bridge.
It was seven hours after the release of the documents that Chris Christie put out a statement. My reaction was, “It’s been hours since the emails broke … this all he could come up with?” Since Chris Christie wasn’t appearing before cameras yesterday, the news stations kept playing clips of previous comments he made about the brewing scandal and how there was nothing to see here. I saw clips of him saying that he had interviewed everybody on his staff, and knew every thing there was to know about the closing of the lanes, and this was what he decided to go with?
………………………………………….
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2014/01/09/1268299/-Kornacki-Maddow-Christie-was-trying-to-run-out-clock-on-Assembly-subpoena-power#
kc
Wait, his workout??
Violet
Ha! Christie mentions his workout! “Young, fit Governor!” (TM)
dmsilev
Christie was “done with his workout” yesterday.
Must. Resist. Cheap. Shot.
Corner Stone
@JPL: Somebody is paying her to stay quiet. If the US Atty gets to her, this could really get fun.
Elizabelle
Incidentally: not fat-bashing, but does CC look any more trim to you guys?
He just mentioned finishing a workout. I assume that was exercise.
Roger Moore
@Belafon:
Shorter: it’s
turtlesMatrices all the way down.the Conster
It doesn’t matter whether there is a smoking gun email – no one believes that anyone on his staff would have done this without him telling them. That’s the problem with this scandal – it confirms all the other stories about him and reinforces the narrative of him being a bully, and now he’s looking like cowardly asshole who throws his pretty young aide under the bus. It’s a terrible look for him.
Corner Stone
I hope Christie takes his helicopter to Ft. Lee. That would be epic.
Corner Stone
Bullshit. You’re a fucking bully and were celebrated for it. You set this tone, loud and freakin’ clear Bully Boy.
kc
“This is not the tone I’ve set”
Good god!
Roger Moore
@Corner Stone:
There’s some stiff competition for that title, including plenty of other politicians who claimed not to be involved in things when there was documentary evidence to the contrary. You have to remember that he’s clutching at straws right now.
dmsilev
@Corner Stone: Just to show empathy, he should drive and get stuck in bridge traffic for an hour or so.
Violet
@Elizabelle: He doesn’t look any more trim since the last time I saw him. Don’t think this scandal will be good for his diet. Stress eating.
Elizabelle
@Corner Stone:
You beat me to it! I was wondering if we’d see an OJ type motorcade. Although “The Compassionate Governor (TM)” is in Jersey, right? So there’s no bridge involved?
Violet
“Mistakes are made!”
Gin & Tonic
@Elizabelle: He had lap-band surgery. He’s definitely well below what he was in the Sandy pix.
Corner Stone
@dmsilev: I was thinking he could walk down the bridge, carrying the cross on his back.
Corner Stone
@Roger Moore: Yeah, I agree. I thought I was showing masterful restraint on the hyperbole by limiting it to “recent vintage”.
Violet
Question time. Note to self: stock up on popcorn.
Elizabelle
“Callous. Not the way this administration has handled itself over the past four years, and not the way it will handle itself in the next four.”
Well. Governor Christie has taken a huge step toward finishing his term, has he not?
Amir Khalid
I know what this retired journo would ask Creos Creosote, if he were only there: “Governor, you say that all this was going on among your senior aides, right under your nose. And that you’ve only just found out about it and took action, after months of denial. What does that say about your ability to serve as a chief executive?”
Violet
What’s the box Christie is standing in? Weird look. Is it a courtroom?
Higgs Boson's Mate
Even if Christie didn’t know the details of the bridge closure then that’s proof that he’s an incompetent manager with poor judgement in hiring. And, as others have already pointed out, it also means that he created a toxic culture in the governor’s office.
That said, I’ll believe that he’s washed up when he lumbers off to obscurity.
Roger Moore
@kc:
BRIDGETGHAZI!!!
Elizabelle
@Gin & Tonic:
Thanks.
And not like he’d look any svelter standing on a tarmac with PBO, who is a human greyhound.
srv
Cry, Christie, Cry.
It’s necessary, dude.
Corner Stone
I hope someone asks him about all the acts of bullying he has on video and YouTube.
Elizabelle
NYTimes Breaking News Alert:
U.S. Attorney in New Jersey to Open Inquiry Into Lane Closures
Comrade Mary
It’s not a bully press conference unless reporter are jammed into a room too small for them (so that they look like the bullies), a non-apology apology is made at the front of the room with a carefully posed wife exactly 1 metre away from the lectern, and if the bully chooses to exit through the crowd of reporters through the door on the opposite side of the room, dragging his wife, instead of leaving by the door steps away from the lectern.
Violet
“I am not a bully!” sounds a lot like “I am not a crook!”
Elizabelle
“I yam what I yam, but I am not a bully.”
Uh huh.
dmsilev
Does he really want to bring up Democrats who endorsed him? Because that was kind of the triggering event for this whole mess.
kc
@dmsilev:
I almost do believe him because I think he’d be crazy to lie about it now. Unless some third party has set up big fat Cayman bank accounts for Bridget Kelly et al.
It would be irresponsible not to speculate!
Corner Stone
I wonder if his interviewing all senior staff will count as interfering with the AUSA’s investigation?
scav
Fucker’s campaigning with sincere widdle wide eyes, (but totally not beanbag!)
YellowJournalism
Best comment:
Roger Moore
@Elizabelle:
Yeah, with his workout buddy Joey Chestnut.
Elizabelle
@dmsilev:
Actually, now you’ve got Jerseyites wondering if the Democratic endorsers endorsed to keep their infrastructure OK and bridges open?
You get to wonder which of the Democratic endorsers is a coward.
Villago Delenda Est
@kc:
The raw evidence, that everyone can interpret, tells a different story, Governor.
The leader sets the tone. Everyone knows this.
You have a whale of a problem on your hands. You’ve gone a bridge too far.
Belafon
@dmsilev: He could take his limo, stop it in the middle of the road for a few hours and show people that he can handle a traffic jam better than they can.
Higgs Boson's Mate
@dmsilev:
He may want to bring them up. I imagine that they would prefer that he not do so. And, WTF kind of Democrat endorses a Republican bully boy for governor?
Violet
@Villago Delenda Est: A bridge too fat.
Comrade Mary
Wait — workout? Seriously? Hey, maybe Rob Ford can recommend a personal trainer.
(Yeah, he may have just been bragging and had no professional connection with Ford, but this is still so delicious.)
YellowJournalism
@Elizabelle: Bluto is stealing Popeye’s catch phrase now?
Corner Stone
@kc: He probably spent all day yesterday triple confirming that there was no solid link to him. That’s why the delay.
He absolutely is not stupid enough to say these things and not be confident he can’t be linked with hard evidence.
Elizabelle
He was told it was a traffic study. But wasn’t that debunked weeks and weeks ago?
Why only the housecleaning once the emails surfaced?
ie. no emails, no story, no bye bye Bridget.
kc
@rikyrah:
But she was just playing us all for rubes, according to Bob Somerby.
Highway Rob
Surely consultants for all other 2016 GOP prez contenders have already scripted ads based on “We’ve already had eight years of Chicago-style thug politics. America can’t handle four more.”
(Apologies if this idea has been beaten to death (as though by Chris Christi aides) elsewhere, it seems obvious, but I haven’t seen it mentioned.)
dmsilev
“Governor, are you lying or are you an incompetent manager?”
Elizabelle
he delegates enormous authority. Enormous authority.
(sip of coffee. We could make a drinking game.)
JPL
@Higgs Boson’s Mate: Endorse me or else. What he did to Ft. Lee, was just one example. How long before a democratic mayor comes out and says the endorsement was made in order to get
additional funding for his community.
Violet
@dmsilev: “I can’t know everything my staff does! I’m not a micro-manager!”
Corner Stone
With every word he says, Bridget’s wallet gets fatter and fatter.
MazeDancer
Christie, The Apology Tour, with him bowing and begging for forgiveness in liberal Fort Lee going to be excellent side-by-side pics for wingnuts with hugging President pics.
While Christie’s friends might take the fall for him and turn down money, they aren’t going to prison for him. Either NJ Legislature or US Attorney going to pardon Wildstein or Bridget to roll on Gov.
JPL
@dmsilev: Oh no! He has to take care of so many issues. It was not a lower level employee. It was a deputy chief of staff.
Gin & Tonic
@dmsilev: Little Chuckie Todd looks like he’s broken up with Christie, tweeting: “Taking Christie at his word, he is now admitting that he is a hands OFF manager. Totally opposite of image he has sold for 5 years”
Violet
@Corner Stone: I wonder if he fired Bridget personally or had someone else do it.
dmsilev
Christie is shocked, shocked that
gamblingpolitical retribution is taking place in this administration.Elizabelle
@Roger Moore:
Joseph Christian “Jaws” Chestnut
That’s funny. Sounds like a porn name.
Corner Stone
@dmsilev: “Governor, were you a corrupt politician this whole time, or did you only become a corrupt bully after being touched by President Obama?”
MattF
@Violet: I don’t think Nixon was a crook. Psychopath, yes. Crook… I don’t see that.
Violet
@Gin & Tonic: Saw Chuckie on NBC this morning. He seemed personally affronted that Christie was so dumb as to do this and have a paper trail.
Good job, Christie–say Mayor Sokolich is so unmemorable he couldn’t pick him out of a lineup.
Villago Delenda Est
@Corner Stone:
Bridget might very well react to being tossed under the bus by firing a harpoon at him (easy target) and reeling him in after her.
He is fucked. Totally and completely fucked.
The Ancient Randonneur
“I didn’t think he did any too us.” — Governor Christie
Whoa.
Comrade Mary
Heh.
Elizabelle
@Gin & Tonic:
back atcha Chuckie Todd:
Chuck, sit down. The smart kids didn’t buy the image he was selling.
srv
“I’m just like George Bush, with all the swagger and incuriousity, but without the cowboy hat”
Sounds like a winning formula to me.
Mike E
@Roger Moore: Shorter:
Heh, I read that as “mattresses”, a la The Godfather.
dmsilev
Someone brought up the “will no one rid me of this troublesome priest” view of the scandal.
rikyrah
john miller @deaconmill
Follow
Christie loses either way. Either he is lying has butt off and did know or he is incompetent at picking staff. Both disqualify him.
10:23 AM – 9 Jan 2014
Elizabelle
HE’S sick over this?
Villago Delenda Est
@MattF:
I’m going to have to ask:
Where you alive when Nixon said “I am not a crook” and the nation just about choked while laughing?
Violet
@The Ancient Randonneur: ?? Don’t understand.
JPL
He lost sleep the last two nights? He didn’t know about this until after his workout yesterday. hmmmm
Elizabelle
@dmsilev:
uh huh. yet another overweight, overbearing monarch. why did that situation come to mind?
Villago Delenda Est
@Elizabelle:
Chuckles the Toddler is anything BUT a smart kid.
Elizabelle
@JPL:
Thank you. I was wondering about the “two nights.” I think he and staff got wind of the story before it was published. Someone was probably asked for a comment.
dmsilev
Mwah. “Here’s this other case of you blatantly politically retaliating against a different mayor. Care to comment?”
Violet
Ooh, local media just asked about another situation where projects were canceled when Mayor of Jersey City wouldn’t endorse him. Heh.
dmsilev
@Elizabelle: Sheer utter coincidence, I assure you.
geg6
@Corner Stone:
Okay, where can I send your internets? And my monitor that is now sprayed with Pepsi.
Corner Stone
@Villago Delenda Est: He is really and truly fucking her. Not just casually tossing her under the bus.
This is a career ender for her. She absolutely either was the stupidest person on the planet and thought the bully her boss was gave her the power to also be the big bully, or she’s doing an epic job of taking this hit for him.
If she really can’t link him then she is beyond mentally deficient.
If she can link him, he’s praying to the FSM the AUSA doesn’t get enough dirt to give her immunity, and she stays bought.
srv
@Violet:
kc
@Villago Delenda Est:
Unless she won’t, because [insert wild speculation of your choice], or can’t, because he really was out of the loop.
dmsilev
Josh Marshall made an interesting point:
JPL
OMG.. My ex would tell the truth as he saw it. That’s not the best line.
Corner Stone
He didn’t even fire Bridget himself!
Violet
He’s had no conversation with Bridget Kelly, so he didn’t fire her himself then.
Violet
@dmsilev: Lots of people picking up on that. It’s going to be an interesting avenue for investigation. Christie will try to say something like, “It felt like two nights even though it was only one.”
MattF
@Villago Delenda Est: Yes, I was. As an adult, even. And I’ll add that the anniversary of Nixon’s resignation happens to be my birthday.
Corner Stone
“I am not a bully” is now the MSNBC chyron.
HAHAHAHAHA
Villago Delenda Est
@kc:
This whole thing is such a mess. It can’t end well for Christie. Having to plead ignorance due to incompetence doesn’t help him at all.
Violet
@Corner Stone: Hilarious. Like I said, it sounds a lot like “I am not a crook.” Whether you think Nixon was or wasn’t a crook, that’s who it links Christie too. Which isn’t really a good comparison for him.
Corner Stone
Gov Christie “I have no knowledge about anything that happens regarding the function or operation of my state. The state I am the governor of.”
Violet
Heh. Badgering him about what his “soul searching” entails. Specifically focusing on the kinds of people he hires.
kc
@Villago Delenda Est:
Yeah, it’s bad for him either way.
Corner Stone
“Mistakes were made”
Also not a good line to go with.
Violet
WTF? He claims they’ve hired ethical people, overwhelmingly. WTF? WTF? WTF? I guess he’s going with the “a few bad apples” claim. Uh huh.
Elizabelle
Reporter: “Governor: I’m wondering if you’re soul searching about the kind of people you hire, or the kind of people who run your campaigns, or the kind of people [ who run the GOP party in NJ ….]”
Impassioned “we hire the best” response by Christie.
But didn’t he hire Wildenstein and Bridget Kelly?
And passive voice — by 9:00 am Bridget Kelly was fired. (By whom?)
Raven
Nice Jersey/USA flag pin.
Belafon
@Violet: You never want to have to say “I am not a” anything because all people will hear is the last word.
Elizabelle
He’s “hired a lot of human beings” during his career.
Job creator! Lookie here: job creator, I sayz.
Violet
Overall I think Christie is doing about the best he can with it, since he’s deciding to stick it out. Going with the “my staff lied to me” defense is probably his best option. Unless there’s a smoking gun that links him.
If you like Christie you might buy his sad puppy press conference.
Raven
How long will she get unemployment?
dmsilev
@Violet: I think it means he’s searching for his soul.
Higgs Boson's Mate
@JPL:
That should have happened already. The Dems who helped pave the way for Christie’s electoral victory are cowards, collaborators, or both.
Violet
God the press is dumb. Press guy just asks about the “two nights not sleeping” statement and answers the question for Christie by saying, “was that just a mistake?” and Christie just says, “Yeah. I’m sorry.” UGH.
dmsilev
THERE WAS NO TRAFFIC STUDY
Asshole.
Raven
@Violet: I agree, specially the “I am not a blow-dried focus group tested politician”.
Elizabelle
Christie’s done a good job of keeping his voice level and maintaining his good guy wronged persona. Points for that.
Come on, local reporters. This is your Sochi Olympics!
Villago Delenda Est
If an email comes to you from the governor’s office, and says “Time for some traffic problems in Ft. Lee”, and you’ve known the governor all your life, and you jump right on creating those traffic problems, it’s one of those things where you know, even if a deputy chief of staff sent the email, that the command came from his largeness himself.
This ain’t no party, this ain’t no disco. This ain’t no foolin’ around.
maya
Chuckie Todd:
Buyer’s remorse.
Elizabelle
MSNBC chyron:
Why did I see that as broadsided?
Violet
He’s not taking any questions from national media is he?
Villago Delenda Est
@Elizabelle:
But…his career has been in government? How can he possibly create jobs? That’s unpossible!
geg6
@dmsilev:
He’s so fucked. So fucked. BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
Corner Stone
Well, what is your area of expertise?
Certainly isn’t personnel management.
Corner Stone
It’s not true because you denied the story?
Raven
@Violet: He might be negligent but he ain’t stupid.
kc
I think Christie is smarter and quicker on his feet than all the other GOPer up-and-comers put together.
Too bad he’s such a colossal dick . . .
Elizabelle
@Villago Delenda Est:
He’s a government EXECUTIVE.
Not one of those worthless weasels like teachers, municipal workers, bus drivers. Them slackers.
Corner Stone
Just what the hell does the governor of NJ actually do, anyway?
Christie is making the case that they do two things – jack & squat.
Violet
I DON’T KNOW, I DIDN’T KNOW, I DON’T KNOW, I DIDN’T KNOW, THEY LIED TO ME, I DON’T KNOW, I DIDN’T KNOW, NO ONE TOLD ME, THEY LIED TO ME, I’M SO SAD, THEY LIED TO ME, I DON’T KNOW.
Corner Stone
Man, this incompetence dodge is just not the best thing in the world.
Elizabelle
@kc:
tee heeing. OTOne H, I agree. So true.
On the other: we just can’t help ourselves with going with big, big adjectives and historic precedents …
Villago Delenda Est
@kc:
The hush money she’s being paid is probably now in seven figures.
Because she can terminate his career in a heartbeat now. All she has to do is say “Governor Christie told me to do it.”
Corner Stone
Ha ha, someone just texted me and said, “if you look up the definition of bully you find a picture of Christie eating a donut and smirking.”
Violet
The local media are his buddies. They don’t know how to question him with any toughness. His body language has now changed. He’s no longer the sad, sad puppy he was. He’s still got a bit of that, but he’s got a more aggressive stance and the bullying attitude is coming out a bit. The media is used to being bullied by him and they’re assuming their usual stance.
hoodie
Looks like Christie’s going full Nixon stonewall. Can’t wait to hear him say he’s not a crook and talk about his poor sanctified mother. If you look solely from the perspective of political survival (in other words, excluding any considerations of humanity), throwing his staff under the bus like this is his only option. Since they operate like a criminal gang, maybe he can keep omerta. However, there are indictments to dodge and/or book deals to sign. Probably a lot of juicy dirt about Christie that would keep the Villagers babbling for weeks. Sitting silent in NJ and depending on Christie’s beneficience is not all that an attractive prospect.
Corner Stone
“I am enormously fattered”
Uh..he may have said “flattered”.
Elizabelle
Anybody monitoring Fox on this one? What are they putting up as chyrons?
dmsilev
He’s sad.
That’s sad.
Violet
Ohhhh! Now he’s throwing his childhood friend under the bus! Nice!
Elizabelle
@dmsilev:
He’s sad. Working up to anger.
Which is not a natural state for him, no?
And now: he didn’t even know Wildenstein in high school …
Suffern ACE
@Corner Stone: What’s odd is that the various authorities involved here aren’t supposed to be influenced this way. That’s why they were created – to provide revenues to bondholders free of the influence peddling of an individual governor or local potician who might be beholden to a machine.
Well, at least the authority makes its bond payments.
Corner Stone
@Villago Delenda Est: At this point I don’t think she even has to have any proof at all.
If she says it out loud he will spend the next indefinite amount of time denying it and that will be that. And the more sarcastic he becomes trying to escape it, the worse it will get for him.
Raven
@Violet: We wasn’t no friends, got dat?
Corner Stone
David Wildstein! Welcome to Under The Monster Truck Bus!!
dmsilev
@hoodie:
Does Christie have a little dog named Checkers?
Raven
@Elizabelle: And we wasn’t fishing buddies neither.
Violet
@Corner Stone: According to something I read yesterday, Bridget Anne Kelly made $140,000 a year. They’re going to have a spend a lot to buy her off.
Man, is he throwing Wildstein under the bus. Amazing.
Elizabelle
Thomas Kean for governor campaign.
Now I’m sad, remembering how there used to be good, moderate GOP northeastern politicians. Kean was a good guy.
He wouldn’t be in this clown calvacade the conservatives have forced on their party.
(and now Chris Christie is angry. he’s angry. about the tone of those emails. and those sentiments.)
Jim, Foolish Literalist
At the press conference? Cool.
So we’ll spend the next few weeks going over email, memo and communication, and if everything isn’t bright and shiny and pure, I think he’s fucked.
Elizabelle
Wait. When did he hear about the emails? And when did he speak to them (his disappointing staff)? Weeks ago? Two days ago?
Villago Delenda Est
@dmsilev:
Christie Agonistes!
Violet
Ha! He’s being all hands off with the ones who are being asked to testify.
John Johnson
I’d hate to be the Weissfrau who gets handed those dress shields tonight.
Maybe now some fearless reporter will look into why the NYPD looked the other way when a motorcycle gang took over the West Side highway. Everyone wants to focus on the mayhem that ensued. But where were the NYPD after the reported multiple 911 calls? How in this era of terrorism prevention could this have happened?
Violet
He’s not Superman! He can’t reverse time!
shelly
I’m just still flummoxed that whoever was directly involved in the Bridge closure thought that emails are somehow sacrosanct and are forever sealed away from prying eyes, like in a vault from a Harry Potter novel.
Elizabelle
Now they’re talking about the 91 year old lady.
Assume that’s what he meant about “cause of death.”
Although, this is Joisey.
Corner Stone
@Suffern ACE: I understand not knowing all the things going on, but he’s basically saying he knows nothing about nothing going on.
I don’t mean influencing outcomes, I mean basic awareness.
dmsilev
@Violet: It’s a big bus.
Roger Moore
@Violet:
It’s a very small target, so I can imagine that searching for it would be hard. Did he look between the couch cushions?
kc
Wait, did I hear that right-he’s surprised by the tone of the emails but not the content?
Violet
@Roger Moore: He said the soul searching was “already done”. Heh.
Raven
@dmsilev: That was one funny movie.
elmo
@Elizabelle:
He’s got binders full of them!
J R in WV
@Raven:
Fired for cause, no UI for her!
Elizabelle
DougJ’s put up a new thread, but this one is more fun.
kc
@Elizabelle:
Fox already cut away from it.
Corner Stone
Now it’s Condescending Christie!
He’s really hitting all the charm points today!
Elizabelle
Reporter: “How did you fail to get the truth from them?”
I like that question.
Starts out with fail. She aspires to being a White House reporter, baiting Obama.
Elizabelle
@kc:
Quelle surprise. Fox has already cut away …
geg6
@Elizabelle:
Hmmm, I know I saw a yearbook photo or something somewhere on the tubes of him and Wildstein in high school, hangin’ out like best buds.
Raven
@J R in WV: That’s what Cruise said in Risky Business!
Risky Business – Looks like the U of I
elmo
@Villago Delenda Est:
That right there is the key. The guy who has known the Governor the longest is the one who jumped right away to do this. If his old friend Chris Christie, who he has known for years, would have been unhappy or upset by this? He would have been the guy who would know that, and who would have said “Whoa there. Guv isn’t going to like this at all.”
Corner Stone
This is an all time epic version of:
“The bitch set me up!”
I mean, it’s going to be really hard for someone to top this vulgar display.
gogol's wife
Great thread!
Corner Stone
@elmo: Exactly why he threw Wildstein so far under the bus. As far from himself as he could.
Corner Stone
Is it wrong for me to be aroused by the picture of Bridget Anne Kelly?
/asking for a friend
Violet
@Corner Stone: It really is. And she’s not just any bitch, she’s an attractive blonde. It’s epic.
Raven
Anybody read the Gates book? hahahahahaha
Roger Moore
@Violet:
I never liked somebody who gives up that easily. He probably hasn’t looked behind the curtains or in the night table.
Roger Moore
@Elizabelle:
So, when does he unzip his forehead and reveal that he’s actually a Raxacoricofallapatorian?
Higgs Boson's Mate
@Roger Moore:
The phrase “hired a lot of human beings” suggests that Christie the Hut has also hired some inhuman beings as well.
Villago Delenda Est
@Raven:
Poor Booby Woodward. Villager insiders upstaged by that large fuck in New Joisey. Oh, the humanity!
Elizabelle
@Higgs Boson’s Mate:
Suspect that went to “fallible human beings, with failings.” (And now they’ve failed me!)
But funny.
=====
“I am a very sad person today. A person I was close to betrayed me. … I probably will get angry at some point but I have to tell you the truth. I am sad. I am a sad guy standing here ….”
uh huh
Villago Delenda Est
@Higgs Boson’s Mate:
“Jabba, you’re a wonderful human being!”
Elizabelle
I’m glad he proved to us he can raise his voice. I had my doubts. Didn’t you?
Elizabelle
@Villago Delenda Est:
Who is Troutmouth? Is it Woodward? (I vote yes.) Or is it Gates?
Villago Delenda Est
@Elizabelle:
Woodward, methinks. He certainly looks that way, and he’s got a history of being hooked into pure bullshit.
Elizabelle
@Villago Delenda Est:
Troutmouth Woodward? Works for me.
Sounds like Foghorn Leghorn’s dumber brother.