Thursday, January 09, 2014

 

Political Mayhem Thursday: Rodman in North Korea; Christie and His Bridge



Is this a good thing?  Or a bad thing?

Meanwhile, it appears that New Jersey Governor Chris Christie's top aides orchestrated a completely artificial traffic snarl by the George Washington Bridge to punish the mayor of Fort Lee for supporting Christie's opponent in the last election.

This completely changes my opinion of Christie and the people he chooses to delegate authority to.  It will impact his political future, as it should, and I don't think he has the guts to do the hard things (as Ron Fournier describes it) necessary to address this scandal.

It matters because a fake traffic jam is something that speaks to everyone's experiences-- it's the kind of bullying where we can feel the hurt.


Comments:
Dennis Rodman and his team of BB players, who like him are ex-NBA players who've struggled with addiction and relevancy, and will be performing for Kim Jong Un's 30th B'day, should read "The Orphan Master's Son" - generous parts North Korean reality disguised as fiction.

Channel surfing one evening recently in a hotel room, I came across a Dr. Drew show on which Dennis Rodman's brain scans were being discussed by various psychologists and neurologists. His brain shows a great deal of damage from alcohol, and he has been told he is headed towards early dementia if he doesn't take steps to improve his brain health. His scans also revealed he has poor emotional control, among several other issues. It struck me, Rodman and the seemingly highly impulsive "Un" (e.g., recent executions of his uncle and uncle's associates, as well as recent fax to So. Korea threatening a "merciless war") may share similar brain maps.

So is this a good thing? No. Two mentally unstable BFFs are not likely to improve world stability and Rodman could find himself in a re-education/starvation/work camp ... or worse, if he isn't careful.
 
Let's hope that Dennis Rodman and his team mates are smart enough to lose their BB Game during their visit. Given that Kim Jung Un had 80 N. Koreans executed simultaneously across his country last week. This is not someplace friend or foe should be visiting.

Not a good thing
 
But isn't some point of contact a good thing? Maybe it releases a little of the pressure, just enough to keep things from blowing up...

I do know this-- he wouldn't be there if some smart people in the State Department didn't think it had its advantages.

He probably shouldn't have sung "Happy Birthday," though.
 
Christie does NOT possess the integrity to do what he should. He's gonna do what all bullies do, when caught: Run away.

I sincerely hope this torpedoes any hopes he has for national office. Whether he knew about the lane closings or not, the people who ordered it knew he'd get a kick out of it, and that shows the kind of man he is.

And someone that vindictive, petty, and thin-skinned does is not the type of person I want in charge.
 
Christie doesn't and shouldn't care what Main Stream Media think. Neither the Prof nor Tall Tenor is going to be voting in a Republican Primary next year... Nor is our fraternity brother Prof. Culhane who posted a story about this on Facebook. His audience right now is GOP Activists... who sadly are a pretty vicious bunch these days.

Like all Presidential contenders he will be whipped unmercifully for the next two years, knocked down and built up. Remember McCain was considered dead and irrelevant in Fall 2007, yet ghe had the nomination sewed up by March 08. "NO ONE" wanted Romney until is was clear his opponents were even worse.

Non-issue. Gone in two weeks. (barring some sort of additional disclosures)
 
I don't know, IPLG-- Republicans and Democrats alike got stuck in that traffic. I think this stink will linger.
 
The people who got stuck in traffic do not live in Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina, etc.
 
Grand stance, bombastic rhetoric, demagoguery, bait and switch, retribution…a bag full of bullying nuances some more crass than others and all called politics, people! At the end of the day the electorate deserves what they are ready to put up with and like the Prof. points out, getting stuck in traffic is not a red/blue bone of contention. Messing with commuters is never good politics, but who knows? Look at our brilliant elected officials who nearly threw us into a tailspin…now, that’s what I call bullying!
 
If I may add to IPLawGuy’s comment “the people who got stuck in traffic do not live in Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina, etc”… they sure don’t. They are people who live in New Jersey or in New York and if they cross that bridge to go anywhere near the Cross Bronx Expressway they are not people , they are feral beasts who live in a country called Road Rage.
 
Perhaps they are sending Team Rodman (hopefully his friends are more mentally stable) to implant a tracking devise. Then we can fly a drone in there and take him out. Did you read how his uncle was killed? Barbaric...

Good Luck to Gov. Christie. He is now in CYA mode this should be fun to follow in the media.
 
I've actually found the rare glimpses of North Korea we've been able to see because of Rodman's presence there fascinating.
 
I think IPLG is right: This scandal that seems to be licking at Christie's heels isn't going to be something that voters in the early primaries and caucuses give a rip about. Heck - they may well think it's hilarious, that commuters got stuck in horrible NYC/GWB traffic.

But the tealiban people who think Christie's "just a RINO" are going to love this story as much as the Democrats do... And they're going to use it to grind him out of the race, perhaps even before it's begun.
 
Governor Christie is a smart NJ politician and his quick action staff person "execution" and two hour apology may play well to those who are not inclined to be cynical. I seem to remember a issue a few years ago when he used a government helicopter to get to a 12 year old son's football game at taxpayer expense. He operates in a tough players' environment (NJ) and I think he is probably a bit of a tough player himself, a little like Bill Clinton, maybe? Some cracks in his character. He's just never struck me as presidential.
 
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