I made a bet with a friend a few weeks back that Governor Chris Christie of New Jersey would not get the republican nomination for president in 2016 because of the unfolding scandal of political revenge, dubbed “Bridgegate.” With all that has unfolded since then, including accusations made by the mayor of Hoboken of withholding federal Hurricane Sandy relief money to leverage political favor to developers, AND, with this week’s release of a New Jersey tax payer funded 1 million dollar public relations scam put out by Christie’s chosen lawyers, I would like to make my prediction officially public:  Governor Chris Christie’s political aspirations to be President of the United States will never be realized, and his remaining future as governor of New Jersey in his second term is in real jeopardy.

A quick recap:  Last September 9th, a Christie appointed friend at the Port Authority, David Wildstein, ordered the closing of two of three access lanes on our country’s busiest bridge, the George Washington, that connects New Jersey to Manhattan.  The closing of the lanes resulted in a massive traffic jam that gridlocked the town of Fort Lee, New Jersey, particularly hard.  This went on for four days, and accusations emerged that this was some sort of act of political revenge against Fort Lee’s mayor, Democrat Mark Sokolich, for not endorsing Governor Christie for re-election – the Christie campaign aggressively sought democratic endorsements to bolster his image as a bi-partisan politician for his future 2016 presidential bid.  Governor Christie responded to these accusations with mockery at a press conference, joking that he had actually worked the cones himself, suggesting that such accusations were the ridiculous fantasies of political enemies.  This is against the backdrop of increasing reports, including in the New York Times, of Christie’s petty revenge and bullying tactics in political circles. To make a long story short, it turns out the traffic jam was deliberately caused by David Wildstein and Governor Christie’s then deputy chief of staff, Bridgette Kelly, as revealed in now made public emails of the investigation.  Kelly and Wildstein were caught red-handed, and the fallout began.  Governor Christie fired Bridgette Kelly (Wildstein had already resigned) and held a bizarre, extra long press conference in which he denied having any knowledge of the affair, even though it was carried out by his innermost circle.

In the aftermath that followed, both a bipartisan state legislature investigation and a federal investigation have been enacted.  Piling on to this scandal, even more serious accusations were soon leveled by the mayor of Hoboken, New Jersey, Dawn Zimmer, that Governor Christie’s lieutenant governor, Kim Guadagno, told her in a private conversation that federal relief money from Hurricane Sandy would be released to Hoboken as soon as the mayor agreed to a real estate development deal that the Christie wanted.  Hoboken was one of the hardest hit communities in New Jersey from the hurricane.  Of course the governor’s office denied this, and now federal investigators are looking into that claim as well.  Subsequent reporting in the press showing where Sandy relief money has gone paints a disturbing picture of communities with very little damage receiving large chunks of relief money for special, private real estate development, while communities such as Hoboken, who actually suffered severe damage, receiving very little in comparison.

When the shit originally hit the fan, Governor Christie said he had ordered an internal investigation into his administration to find out who knew what.  This week, the public learned the details of that internal “investigation.”

The internal “investigation” was conducted by the law firm Gibson Dunn & Crutcher, who charged $650 an hour for their services, for a total bill of 1 million, that was billed to the tax-payers of New Jersey.  The law firm has close ties to the Christie administration, both political, and having done work for it in the past.  Also, one of the firm’s senior partners, Debra Wong Yang, is reportedly close friends with Governor Christie.  And, surprise! The law firm released what they call a “comprehensive and exhaustive”  report that clears Governor Christie of any wrong doing.  The law firm boasts that it conducted over 70 interviews related to the case, and does this with a straight face, admitting that they did NOT interview the four key players most directly involved: Bridgette Kelly, David Wildstein, Bill Stepien, and Mayor Dawn Zimnmer.

The law firm’s lead lawyer, Randy M. Mastro, defended the “findings” of his law firm’s “investigation” with a narrative that says that poor Governor Christie was blindsided by his staff and new nothing of it.  It concludes that almost all the blame lies with Wildstein and Kelly, and goes so far as to speculate that the motive of what they characterize as a “lane re-alignment” incident is Bridgette Kelly’s disappointment at being dumped in a romantic relationship by Christie’s campaign manager at the time, Bill Stepien.  Even though neither of these people were interviewed by the law firm, they have concluded that the wrath of a scorned woman is to blame.  This is interesting, given that the revenge was taken out on the town and mayor of Fort Lee, not Bill Stepien.  As for Mayor Zimmer’s accusations that are still being investigated by federal prosecutors, they are dismissed as completely false, without providing clear evidence as to why, and even though she of course was not interviewed either by Gibson, Dunn and Crutcher.

The million dollar report, conducted by close friends of Governor Christie, and paid for by the citizens of New Jersey, is less than a thinly veiled preview of Governor Christie’s future defense.  It is an absolute farce, and a terribly executed public relations stunt that is guaranteed to blow up in Mr. Christie’s face and make his huge mess even more of a mess before it is over.  We already know that his close staff deliberately closed lanes on the George Washington Bridge to punish the town of Fort Lee, stranding millions of commuters in the process for a long, four day period.  We also know that Sandy relief money has not been directed to the communities most devastated, especially Hoboken who got shafted the most.  The mayor of Hoboken appears to be a very credible witness who we will hear from again once the real investigations draw to a conclusion.  The real legal process and investigations being conducted will take longer than the sham report of a publicly funded investigation/opening defense arguments of Governor Christie’s cronies, but by the time they are complete, Governor Christie will have been completely discredited, if not impeached or prosecuted.  I only hope that the public will become as informed and as outraged as I am at the newest scandal from the governor, which is the transfer of tax-payer funds into the pockets of his lawyer friends, attempting to cover up the Christie administration’s crimes.

The following is a link to a detailed timeline for the Bridgegate scandal:

http://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/Timeline-George-Washington-Bridge-Scandal-Chris-Christie-Fort-Lee-Bridgegate-239431091.html

 

 

Well, it’s apparently official now:  just as most of us suspected, Speaker of the House of Clowns, John Boehner, is going to shit on the long term unemployed in this country by not bringing the Senate bill to re-institute emergency federal unemployment benefits to the House floor for a vote.  It’s not that the bill would not pass in the House if it is brought to a vote; most Democrats would support it and enough Republicans would support it to for it to pass.  But Mr. Boehner, forever a despicable, undeserving of his post, selfish, greedy, asshole scumbag, is more concerned about pissing off the crazy tea baggers in his caucus, and thus jeopardizing his position as Speaker, which he clearly holds more dear than the American families suffering under our anemic economy.

There are currently 2 million Americans that lost their long term unemployment benefits.  Traditionally, when the unemployment rate in this country is as high as it is now, and the economy as weak, extension of long term benefits was a bi-partisan affair.  Not anymore.  Not only has our current Republican congress been shamefully unwilling to work with the President Obama on almost anything, including supporting programs they previously supported before Mr. Obama became the president – the new flock of Republicans and conservatives (tea baggers especially) display a callousness and contempt for the poor and unfortunate that I  do not recall seeing in politics in my lifetime.  Even more disturbing, I hear these prejudices and suspicions of the poor and unemployed voiced with more frequency in the general public than in previous years.  It’s as if properly directed anger at the financial institutions that caused the Great Recession has been skillfully re-directed towards the most vulnerable victims.  A friend and colleague of mine recently observed on Facebook that getting the poor to turn on each other and engage in infighting was one of the best ideas the rich have come up with.  I couldn’t agree more.  Divide and conquer is the oligarchy way.

 

The smiling asshole in the above picture is Richard B. Berman, a professional business propagandist who heads his for profit advertising firm, Berman and Company, as well as the “nonprofit” Employment Policies Institute, which as been engaged in a recent full throttle campaign to derail passage of a minimum wage increase in Congress.

As I’ve said before, conservative propagandists are masters at naming advocacy think tanks and legislation the opposite of what they are, and giving them harmless or even noble sounding names that do not reflect their true intentions.  The so-called nonprofit Employment Policies Institute is a legal entity with no employees to speak of, that shares the same address as Mr. Berman’s advertising firm.  The Employment Policies Institute accepts donations from groups like the restaurant industry, who openly lobby to not raise the minimum wage, and who have who a special, legal, sub-minimum wage that they can apply to their tipped employees to allow them to pay their employees even less.  Mr. Berman, acting as the director of this “nonprofit” entity with no employees, then pays his for profit advertising firm for it’s services, which involve industry massaged and funded “research” and the advertisement of their “findings.”  Not surprisingly, the Employment Policies Institute has concluded that raising the minimum wage will hurt employment.  And, like magic, “poof!” the nonprofit “donations” turn into profit from the hands of the director of the “institute” into the hands of the same man, the owner of Berman and Company.

The EPI has recently taken out ads in newspapers such as The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times (the source of the information in this blog), including an attack ad against the left leaning Economic Policy Institute for it’s recent letter to the White House and Congress that had over 600 signatures from legitimate economists, including 7 Nobel laureates, all urging that the minimum wage be raised to $10.10 an hour by 2016. Here is the letter: ( http://www.epi.org/minimum-wage-statement/ )  There is an abundance of studies in recent years on the effects of raising the minimum wage, in part thanks to individual states that have raised it on their own, providing real world evidence.  And the majority of economic studies say that raising the minimum wage is good for the workers and the economy. The Employment Policies Institute then took out a full page ad in The New York Times that singled out 8 of the economists out of the 600, using quotes taken out of context to basically use the typical battle cry of the filthy rich to quell us peasants from wanting better wage and benefits by portraying them as socialist, Marxists, communists, etc.  Those eight economists that were singled out wrote a response to The Times.  ( http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/14/opinion/economists-hit-back-in-the-minimum-wage-wars.html?action=click&contentCollection=Asia%20Pacific&region=Footer&module=Recommendation&src=recg&pgtype=article )

Mr. Berman’s ad agency also placed a large photograph of Representative Nancy Pellosi, a Democrat advocate for raising the minimum wage, in the Metro Station in Washington that read: “Teens Who Can’t Find a Job Should Blame Her.”

I think we should all post giant pictures of the smiling asshole above, Richard B. Berman, with a caption that reads: “Tired of Your Shit Pay?  Thank this Asshole and Others Like Him.”

The full article about this worth reading.  It gives you a more clear view of how the sophisticated propaganda system in this country works for the rich and powerful.  My opinions on raising the minimum wage are well documented in past blogs, so I won’t rehash them all here.  But this story is a little gem showing the corruption of our political system, a system that produces two business chosen candidates to chose from for President every four years, with this last election offering  the multi-millionaire,  offshore hidden wealth, tax evading dirt bag, Mitt Romney, who proudly, with a smile and a straight face, said, “Corporations are people too, my friend.”  He was the other “choice” given voters in contrast to the supposedly liberal tyrant, President Obama.  This story displays the ingenuity of the American capitalist system, where a nonprofit group can take in millions of dollars in donations from wealthy heads of industry, for the purpose of bribing our politicians into serving their needs instead of the rest of the people in the country, the other 99.99 percent – and, in turn, make the head of that nonprofit group (and only employee) rich, through the “nonprofit donations” to pay for the propaganda that is then cited and echoed again and again in the pathetic mainstream media’s talking heads, and of course through the megaphones of the right wing ass-wipes at Fox Propaganda News Outlets and others.  Here is the full article to copy and paste into your browser:

( http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/10/us/politics/fight-over-minimum-wage-illustrates-web-of-industry-ties.html )

All of the geopolitical forces playing a part in the situation in Ukraine right now are a complex mix of economics and politics, and in our main stream media the coverage we get is a mix of propaganda and facts, and omission of facts.  But a general understanding is possible, if we are willing to take off our “go U.S.A.!” patriotic beer goggles and acknowledge some basic truths. This time that task is made easy by a couple of things.  First,  the hypocrisy of the United States foreign policy becomes so obvious at times with the ridiculous statements of our leaders that they cannot even escape television comedy or commentary from television pundits in the mainstream.  Secondly, Senate Republicans made an absolute mockery of their voters out there who proudly display bumper stickers supporting Republican candidates, along side the famous bumper sticker that proclaims: “Support the Troops.”  The Senate G.O.P. defeated, through a procedural trick similar to a fillibuster that required 60 votes for passage, a veteran’s benefits bill that would have significantly expanded services such as health care and education for our troops.

First, on the Ukraine and U.S. hypocrisy.  Secretary of State John Kerry last Sunday on NBC’s “Meet the Press” said this, regarding Russia’s move into Crimea: ”You just don’t invade another country on phony pretext in order to assert your interests.”   On “Face the Nation” the same day, on the audacity of Prime Minister Vladimir Putin’s decision: “It is really a stunning, willful choice by President Putin to invade another country.”  Yes, truly shocking.  Nothing the United States would do.  Certainly not our former President of Peace, George W. Bush.

The United States, since World War II, has intervened in more than 70 countries world wide, bombed over 30 countries, tried to overthrow more than 50 foreign governments, attempted to assassinate more than 50 foreign leaders, among other atrocities, according to the historical records, and documented extensively by historian and U.S. foreign policy expert and critic William Blum.  I recommend you take the time to read some of the information on the author’s website if you are unfamiliar with the ugly truth of our government’s murderous empire building these past six decades, or as our leaders like to call it, “democracy building.”  Here is a link to his website:  http://williamblum.org/

Since the fall of the Soviet Union, the U.S. and it’s allies in Western Europe have steadily attempted to spread their borders and influence eastward towards Russia, expanding N.A.T.O. and attempting to pick off countries that are former members of the Soviet Union.  Ukraine is now the latest country in this tug of war between the West and Russia.  The recently deposed President of Ukraine was democratically elected, but his troubles began when he decided to take a 15 billion dollar bailout from Russia over a trade deal offered with the European Union.  Pro-western forces in the country then began massive protests, met with apparent government violence, and now we have the current mess.  The eastern portion of Ukraine in Crimea, primarily Russian speaking, and home to Russia’s Black Sea Fleet naval base in Sevastopol, is considered an important strategic port for Russia, and it is appearing more likely now that Russia intends to keep it for themselves.  Russian parliament and Putin have already voted and expressed support for Crimea’s referendum, to be held on March 16th, to basically secede from Ukraine and rejoin Russia.  Of course, President Obama has said that this will not be legitimate, will violate the Ukraine constitution, and international law, etc.  Given the U.S.’s regular and consistent disregard for international law when it applies to us, this is falling on deaf Russian ears.

At home, President Obama is with his advisers, and working with his European counterparts, trying to figure out how to best squeeze Russian and pressure them to relent.  His options appear limited, as far as I can tell.  The U.S. does have many economic weapons at it’s disposal, as it’s economic warfare tactics have devastated less powerful countries over the years, such as former President Bill Clinton’s United Nations sanctions against Iraq that are estimated to have killed over 500 thousand civilians, through starvation and other effects of devastating trade embargoes. ( http://www.nytimes.com/2003/07/27/magazine/were-sanctions-right.html ).  But Obama’s hands are more limited, as Western Europe does a lot of trade with Russia and depends on Russia as a large source of oil and gas.  These realities don’t stop the blabberings and outbursts from Senator Sore Loser John McCain, who has yet to find a conflict he doesn’t want to bomb.  Senator Lindsay Grahm, McCain’s partner in the bomb Iran crowd and cheerleader for hawkish, warmongering Israeli rehtoric, has said also blamed Obama’s “weakness” for Putin’s action.  According to these jackass blowhards, it’s lack of toughness on Obama’s part for not bombing Syria (although the congress wouldn’t support him on that nor the American people.)  Former Mayor of New York City, and record holder for answering the most republican primary questions with “911, I remember 911”, was on television admiring Putin’s leadership skills, on how quickly he decided to move into Crimea and get his rubber stamp parliament’s approval, and complaining that Obama always had to “think” about it and consult experts first.

But, when it comes to hypocrisy, what seems more offensive and most obvious to me, is how Republicans in congress and the White House, have the nerve to say “Support the Troops.”  The only thing these scumbags support are aggressive U.S. military action abroad.  They never want to pay for post war care for the troops once they come home.  An alarming rate of veterans end up on food stamps, suffering from mental and physical wounds, and seemingly disregarded as an unimportant part of a military budget.  The Obama Administration and Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel’s recent recommendations to cuts in the military budget are met with cries of making us less safe, etc. because they cut down on the number of troops and phase out costly and unneeded military hardware.  Take away a congressman’s military hardware, especially if it is manufactured in his state or by his corporate sponsors, and you’ll hear pleas of no, but ask that Republican congressman to steer that budget money to support the troops that have served, and he is not interested.  In this way, the Republicans treat the troops the same as they do children:  before going off to war, they are all about support, just as the un-born fetus is revered, until the child is born and then abandoned by the Republicans, should they need food or healthcare.

Recently, on February 27, a veteran’s benefits bill, sponsored by Independent Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont, was defeated by a vote of 56 to 41.  41 were against it, 56 for it.  Now that may sound like a typo error, how could the bill lose if it had the majority of senators voting for it?  The usual slime ball, Republican way of ruling by minority.  Like the fillibuster that requires a super majority of 60, the minority of Republicans in the Senate used a procedural maneuver to require 60 votes.  Only two Republicans joined the Democrats in voting to expand heath care, job training and education for veterans.  The minority of Republicans defeated the veterans bill.  Support the troops, yeah right.

From Senator Sander’s website:

“The cost of war does not end once the last shots are fired and the last battles are fought,” Sanders said.  “When members of the military lose arms, legs and eyesight fighting in wars that Congress authorized, we have a moral obligation to make sure that those Americans receive all of the benefits that they have earned and deserve.  When American soldiers die in combat, we have a moral obligation to make sure that the spouses and children they leave behind are taken care of and do not live in abject poverty.”  ( http://www.sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/senate-republicans-block-veterans-bill )

In other words, if you have a sticker of a ribbon on your car that reads “Support the Troops” and you vote Republican, you might as well take that sticker off your car and wipe your ass with it, because that’s what your minority of Republican Senators essentially did, and they go their way.  All they are interested in is war all the time.  They could care less about our people fighting them, or the millions of lives that are destroyed by war.