October 22, 2016

Vanity Fair - The Inglorious End of Chris Christie

http://www.vanityfair.com/news/2016/10/chris-christie-donald-trump-campaign
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After dropping out of the Republican primary, Chris Christie emerged as one of Donald Trump’s most vocal, and arguably most effective, surrogates. But the unusual bromance between the New Jersey governor and the New York real-estate mogul has come at a steep political cost to Christie. Now, despite months of loyalty to the man he reportedly calls “Mr. Trump,” Christie appears to be fading into the background as the Trump campaign sinks under a wave of sexual harassment allegations, just as new developments in the “Bridgegate” scandal threaten to drown Christie’s own political legacy back home. With Christie’s gubernatorial approval rating hitting a new low, it’s looking increasingly clear that hitching his Beltway ambitions to Trump’s star was a career-ending mistake.

In recent weeks, Christie has struggled to defend his former rival. After Trump’s hot-mic scandal first broke two weeks ago, Christie characterized the Republican nominee’s remarks as “indefensible.” He pulled out of a scheduled CNN appearance the day after the recording first surfaced, and was conspicuously absent from the second presidential debate. On Monday, when asked if he was “proud” of the Trump campaign, the governor demurred. “For me, the person who needs most to be concerned about the kind of campaign they are running is the candidate. Because it’s the candidate’s campaign,” Christie told NBC News. “It’s not my campaign. It’s not Jeff Sessions’s campaign. It’s not Rudy Giuliani’s campaign. We’re surrogates. And I’m proud of everything I’ve said and that’s all I can control. The rest of it I can’t control.”

It was a telling admission of defeat after months of fervently defending any number of Trump’s indefensible political blunders on the campaign trail. As the head of Trump’s White House transition team—a consolation prize, and perhaps a stepping-stone to a Cabinet position, after Trump passed over him for vice president—Christie has as much invested as anybody in getting Trump across the finish line. Yet as The Washington Post reported Wednesday, Christie has effectively delegated his responsibilities to Rich Bagger, his former chief of staff, who is at the center of the potentially ill-fated effort to assemble a viable Trump administration. Christie, after all, has his own problems to deal with. Earlier this month, the prosecution’s star witness and former Christie ally David Wildstein testified in the ongoing “Bridgegate” case that the governor was not only aware of the 2013 scheme to engineer a politically-motivated traffic jam on the George Washington Bridge, but that he laughed about it (and allegedly colluded with New York governor Andrew Cuomo to cover up his involvement). Last week, a New Jersey judge issued a criminal summons against Christie after ruling that there was probable cause to launch a criminal investigation into his role in the lane-closure scandal. (Christie has maintained he had “no knowledge of the lane realignments either before they happened or while they were happening,” according to a spokesperson.)

Bridgegate isn’t the only reason that Christie’s political stock is tanking. New Jersey voters were peeved when he abandoned the state to campaign for president, putting his national ambitions ahead of the state’s interests. A 2015 survey of conservative New Jersey voters found that only 5 percent supported his decision to run. Christie’s fortunes sank further when he didn’t return to the Garden State after ending his bid, instead becoming a top surrogate and adviser to Donald Trump. As if to deliberately solidify his unpopularity, last week Christie signed a bill increasing the gas tax 23 cents—the first gas tax increase since 1988. According to a poll released Wednesday, Christie’s approval rating has since sunk to 21 percent, down from 26 percent in July. Or, put another way, a whopping four out of five people in New Jersey disapprove of the Republican governor.

October 22, 2016

Rachel just presented evidence that the Melania joke last night

was also plagiarized

October 22, 2016

You know the best blow last night

was from the people at the dinner - Boo followed by You.

That was the ultimate humiliation.

October 21, 2016

Can any DUer explain the point Groper Don the Con was trying to make

re the $64,000 Question. It made no fugging sense. OK he never makes any sense.

http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_slatest/2016/10/20/trump_promises_to_accept_election_result_if_i_win.html
<snip>

That would be cite Slate

October 21, 2016

That chemical spill in Kansas

Frightening

http://abcnews.go.com/Health/residents-shelter-place-chemical-spill-kansas/story?id=42968039
<snip>
"At 8:02 this morning two chemicals were inadvertently mixed together at MGP," said Trey Cocking, public information officer for the city of Atchinson. "That caused a gaseous plume to develop. That plume covered good portions of the city of Atchinson [and] we have 18 people being treated for respiratory discomfort."

MGP Ingredients is a supplier of premium distilled spirits and specialty wheat proteins and starches.

Of the 18 people who were treated in the hospital for respiratory issues, five are city employees.

"All injuries are minor, they are being kept for observation," Cocking told reporters at a press conference.

Chemicals were mixed together "inadvertently in the delivery process" when one chemical was put in the wrong holding tank, according to Cocker. It was not clear which two chemicals had been mixed. (one was sulfuric acid)

October 21, 2016

They're booing his ass

Good

October 20, 2016

For some levity - watch Dustin Brown's shot against Jack Sock

a short while ago. They're calling it the shot of the year..
This will be trending among the tennis fans of the world (and of course more than a few Jamaicans)

October 20, 2016

How to Rig an Election

&feature=youtu.be

October 20, 2016

Let's have some newspaper headlines for tomorrow please?

October 20, 2016

He ends by calling her a nasty woman

Good fucking grief, he is deplorable