Do you want a sign of how debased New Jersey politics have become over the years? At the end of an article on whether or not Chairman of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey David Samson has earned his bipartisan reputation for integrity, the Senate President made the following observation:
As the state Legislature presses on with its investigation, Senate President Steve Sweeney (D-Gloucester) said Samson’s connections to the controversies raise questions about his judgment.
“When you get a guy like David Samson who is a former attorney general, that understands law, it’s pretty common sense — you step away from those things from one reason — if you are representing someone there is a direct financial benefit,” Sweeney said. “There is supposed to be a level of professional integrity. I know it’s New Jersey, but I still believe in that.”
“I know it’s New Jersey, but…”
But, what?
This is coming out of the mouth of the top Democrat in the Senate.
“I know it’s New Jersey, but…”
But, could we have the barest shred of ethics around here?
And Sweeney is a Christocrat.
channeling Chinatown:
“forget it, Boo. It’s Jersey”
Yes, you make a good point, Booman
It sounds like, Since it’s New Jersey nobody expects the govt to be honest and without conflicts of interest. Time for a change.
May as well go on up the ladder. As above, so below. Bet on it.
Of course, the higher you go the harder it is to prove malfeasance. There are many more layers of plausible deniability at the top, and many more laws passed the sole functions of which are to protect the very criminals who pass them.
But…
It’s the same game.
They re all doing steroids, and the bosses all know about it. They let it go because it’s good for business. Until of course it isn’t. Then they hang some set of jokers and figure out another scam. Just like baseball, only bigger.
It’s not “New jersey,” Booman.
It’s New America.
Bet on that as well.
And…WTFU.
Your DemRats are as deep into the take as their sworn (
frenemies)…errr, ahhh, enemies…the RatPubs. Trillion dollar lobbies own them all with the exception of a very few, and that few are non-personed by the equally corporate-owned media to such an effective degree that they never…almost never, anyway…have a chance to hold real power. However, that particular great game is fraying not just at the edges but increasingly right in the middle of its playing field because the greed of the owners is reaching critical mass. It’s gonna blow up sooner or later; it’s only a question of when.And when it does?
HOO boy!!!
What a mess it’s going to make!!!
Watch.
Wait…and watch.
Any day now.
Aaaany day now…
Christie is just the beginning.
I hope.
Watch.
Later…
AG
That statement is both sad and funny at the same time.
Samson seems to have at least been consistent in his poor judgment; every turn his name is on something that points towards making a choice in favor of financial gain.
And then there seems to be the growing ties towards the NJ Rep party.
Perhaps the single most competent thing the Romney campaign did was to come away from their VP vetting process with a pass over on Christie. And all the while everyone thought it was a no thank you on Christie’s part.
Christocrat…
so accurate
That’s what comes from a political culture glorying in its own bad reputation. New Jersey is not alone; there is Texas after all. But New Jersey has its own style that doesn’t involve cowboy boots and Stetsons.
Don’t forget Chicago, where following political corruption has long been the favorite spectator sport. People here look on in amusement and shrug, as they apparently do in Jersey. Wish they’d wake up to the fact that tolerating this nonsense means they pay a hefty corruption tax, with government services getting the crumbs only after the cronies have been paid.
I wasn’t providing a complete list. And yes, Chicago has gone from corruption that knows how to run a city to corruption that is destroying a city. Big cities in addition to their inherent corruption have the additional problem of the apartheid strangulation by the suburbs. And racial apartheid is transitioning to class apartheid.
I am very pleased to see another state assume the Crown of “Sleaziest and Most Corrupt State”. Thank you, Chris!! All of Chicago thanks you!! Obama thanks you!!
“There is supposed to be a level of professional integrity. I know it’s New Jersey, but I still believe in that.”
Translation: These guys have gone too far, even by New Jersey standards, which are really, really low.
Is anyone else having trouble posting on this site? I posted a comment last night that never showed up. The same thing happened to me just now, except that this time I copied the text and was successful at posting the comment the second time I tried.
I’ve had lots of problems. Sometimes my post never shows up, sometimes I see the screen go blank. What causes this? I’ve figured out only one cause, and that is when the subject is too long if I’ve replied to something with a long subject and it adds “Re: ….” makes it too long [sometimes there’s an error message explaining the problem]. but often my post disappears or the screen goes blank for no reason that I can figure out
Thanks much for the reply. Glad it is not just me! On the other hand, sorry that you are having issues, too.
Let me say the same; I’ve been wondering if anyone else had this problem, but sorry to hear you have the same. Janicket, on another thread, suggested activating adblock. I don’t like to block ads here because the ads bring revenue to the site, and I like to peruse them [not the nail fungus though, I can do without that one], but will see if adblock helps.
You have “Sweeney” and “shred of ethics” in the same sentence, there’s the problem
Wolff & Samson just lost a big client:
Hoboken Developer Fires Law Firm. That would be the NY Rockefeller Group that wanted that Hoboken development and team Christie is alleged to have leaned real hard on Hoboken Mayor Zimmer to facilitate the approval.
Relax. When it comes to corruption, New Jersey’s got nothing on Florida. Or Texas, for that matter.
Louisiana
Right you are. I actually was going to put in Louisiana, but then Texas came to my mind and I forgot.
NYT is reporting that Wildstein states that Christie knew about the lane closing and he has proof. The rats are jumping the ship.
“Hysterics: this MIGHT be the beginning of the end, but it is not the end. The man is a fighter.”
Guess who? The sad part is there are so many possibilities. And they all reside around Joe Scar’s table every damn morning it seems.
Here’s the letter itself:
http://t.co/IKzG02u4WT
I wondered how Christie survived the teabagger wave; in most other states, republicans like him (that is, the ones better at hiding how extremist they are) have gone down or are threatened. But perhaps Christie’s story tells us that the only way a non-nutbag republican can really hang on these days is through old-fashioned corruption.
Never seemed to me teabaggers have much of a presence in NJ – OTOH it’s a diverse state, they may have major presence in other parts of the state
but perhaps the reason is that the racketeers have it all locked up (or, rather, did). If christie goes down in flames, I’d look for the gop landscape there to shift right, as it has in california.
yes, could be. The Christine Whitman [Rockefeller Republican] wing seems to be just as obsolete as anywhere else,
for example one of our typical Dem congresscritters is an actual rocket scientist [just kidding that he’s typical though]; and he’s not involved in shady development deals, at least on on Earth as far as we know. haven’t checked the other planets
http://holt.house.gov/
I wondered how Christie survived the teabagger wave; in most other states, republicans like him (that is, the ones better at hiding how extremist they are) have gone down or are threatened.
Look up-thread. Halperin is already tire-swining after this afternoon’s latest allegations. Christie cultivated the national TradMed. The other guys didn’t. Of course Christie being on the Acela corridor helped too. Makes trips to DC or NYC very easy.
“tire-swining” is my new favorite word 🙂
The hits just keep coming on this Friday:
US Attorney subpoenas Hoboken in Hurricane Sandy Funding Investigation.
And Star-Ledger editorial Christie Should Resign if bombshell proves true.
Might be a bit awkward for the NFL on Sunday.
Bwhahaha
Guess the guy that discovered environmental issues late in the day and co-wrote This Moment On Earth has backtracked on this one too: Keystone XL pipeline closer to reality after State Department review. What an amoral, political opportunist!
Self-fulfilling prophecy:
McKibben’s response at 350.org
Doubt even ever-the-optimist McKibben has any remaining belief in the goodwill of Obama and Kerry.
○ Revealing Letter on Lane Closings for Gov. Christie
Waiting for someone to write a “6 Reasons Why Christie is Probably Innocent” reply. Would love to see if they can find 6…
Six Reasons Chris Christie Is Probably Guilty
By Jonathan Chait
what the Romney campaign uncovered was always on the backburner. also many were saying there was definitely a there there with the Sandy money situation. imo everyone was waiting for the primary until the GWB presented the opportunity well in advance.
Well Kornacki will be must see tv Sat am. CNN’s panel already assuming Christie has brought on a criminal attorney.
He’s so gonna miss the moments he’s had hanging out with the Kool Kidz (or thinking he has).
It’s come down to poll time:
Resign
Impeach
Prosecute-Convict
What’s in Chris Christie’s future?
If Watergate is the template – he resigns on the eve of being impeached had gets a pardon from his successor and not to appear partisan and hurt Hillary’s chances, Obama does the same at the federal level.
Follow-up. He has his “policy” book out. That means book promotion interviews. Watch out for Scott Walker to become the new media darling now that Christie has flamed out.
Notwithstanding the John Doe investigation going on against his tenure as Milwaukee County executive.
Two problems for Walker moving to the national stage: 1) He looks dumb 2) He didn’t graduate from college. (Even the Republican Redhot Mama from the wilds of AK passed that test.)
God I’ve never really thought about it before but yes, that man looks extremely stupid. I’m sure he is stupid, but he has that derpy look.