Chris Hedges--Exposing Why Chris Christie Shouldn't get Anywhere Near the White House...

[KoKo]

It's an eye opening read for those of us who live outside New Jersey and didn't know this guy's background before he was elected Governor. (Actually, it's frightening)

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http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/the_trouble_with_chris_christie_20140112

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie has been Wall Street’s anointed son for the presidency. He is backed by the most ruthless and corrupt figures in New Jersey politics, including the New Jersey multimillionaire and hard-line Democratic boss George Norcross III. Among his other supporters are many hedge fund managers and corporate executives and some of the nation’s most retrograde billionaires, including the Koch brothers. The brewing scandal over the closing of traffic lanes on the George Washington Bridge apparently in retaliation for the Fort Lee mayor’s refusal to support the governor’s 2013 re-election is a window into how federal agencies and the security and surveillance apparatus would be routinely employed in a Christie presidency to punish anyone who challenged this tiny cabal’s grip on power.

Christie is the caricature of a Third World despot. He has a vicious temper, a propensity to bully and belittle those weaker than himself, an insatiable thirst for revenge against real or perceived enemies, and little respect for the law and, as recent events have made clear, for the truth. He is gripped by a bottomless hedonism that includes a demand for private jets, huge entourages, exclusive hotels and lavish meals. Wall Street and the security and surveillance apparatus want a real son of a bitch in power, someone with the moral compass of Al Capone, in order to ruthlessly silence and crush those of us who are working to overthrow the corporate state. They have had enough of what they perceive to be Barack Obama’s softness. Christie fits the profile and he is drooling for the opportunity.

Activists, Democratic and Republican rivals for power, liberals, reformers and environmentalists will, if Christie becomes president, see the vast forces of the security state surge into overdrive to stymie and reverse reform, gut our tepid financial and environmental regulations, further enrich the corporate elite who are pillaging the country, and savagely shut down all dissent. The corporate state’s repression, now on the brink of totalitarianism, would with the help of Christie, his corporate backers and his tea party loyalists become a full-blown corporate fascism.

Wall Street was unable to mask Mitt Romney’s cloying sense of entitlement and elitism, along with his Mr. Rogers blandness. But Wall Street sees in the profane, union-busting New Jersey governor the perfect Trojan horse for unfettered corporate power. Christie, eyeing a bid for the presidency in the 2016 election, has been promised massive financial backing by the Koch brothers; hedge fund titans such as Stanley Druckenmiller, Kenneth C. Griffin, Daniel S. Loeb, Paul E. Singer, Paul Tudor Jones II and David Tepper; financiers such as Charles Schwab and Stephen A. Schwarzman; real estate magnate Mort Zuckerman; former New York Stock Exchange Chairman Richard Grasso; former AIG head Maurice “Hank” Greenberg; former Morgan Stanley CEO John J. Mack; former GE Chairman Jack Welch; and Home Depot founder Kenneth Langone. David Koch has called Christie “a true political hero” and said he is “inspired by this man.” Rupert Murdoch, whose ethics seem to align with Christie’s, is similarly besotted with the governor.

Christie is pitched to the public, as was George W. Bush, as a regular guy, someone who speaks bluntly and candidly, someone you would want to have a beer with. But this is public relations crap. He is and has long been a hatchet man for corporate firms and big banks. He began his career as a corporate lobbyist in Trenton, N.J., working for clients such as the Securities Industry Association. He has done their bidding ever since. His wife, Mary Pat Christie, is a bond trader who has worked at JPMorgan Chase, Fleet Securities and Cantor Fitzgerald and is currently a managing director at Angelo Gordon, an investment firm in New York.

MORE AT:

http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/the_trouble_with_chris_christie_20140112

Sorry for all the edits...computer problems..

[polichick]

1. Just the kind of guy that followers fall for. k&r

[MattSh]

2. And this, precisely, is why...

no one should count him out of the presidential race 2016.

He's a bastard who'll do all the bastardly things the other bastards demand. Perfect for them. But hell for everybody else.

[rurallib]

5. it's not like he has a conscience or cares about law.

[MyOwnPeace]

3. Many, many people

need to take the time to read this!

[rustydog]

4. once again, when these guys say: "The American People..."

They are NOT referring to us.
They are referring to their monied masters.

[KoKo]

6. Bloomberg Business had a discussion about how he used "Me, Me...I...I.."

in his Friday Press Conference about closing down the bridge. Given that it was Bloomberg Business I was surprised they would pick up what many DU'ers pointed out about that Presser.

Some on the panel pointed out Christie made it all about "Him" and how he was all about how his reputation was affected rather than the people whose lives were disrupted for days by what looks like either his Personal Orders or Rogue Staff.

They then showed clips of the Sunday Talk Shows mentioning all the Republicans who were on defending Christie. John McCain was featured...I wondered does McCain have some special place that he's always on the Sunday Shows defending his Republican icronies no matter what evil things they get up to?

[malaise]

7. Just heard Richard Codey saying some of those Democratic Operatives

are trying to derail the hearings even now.

[ChiciB1]

11. Sorry, But Not Sure Who Richard Codey Is...

but don't doubt that you're comment is incorrect. Too many Dems have rolled when it comes to this man!

I'll look him up.

[malaise]

12. former governor of the State and current

legislator.
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/ex-gov-codey-victim-christie-pettiness-article-1.1571833

[ChiciB1]

13. Whoops! How Did I Ever Miss This???

WOW! Thanks for the info even if I have egg on my face!

[adirondacker]

8. +1000. Excellent read. nt

[G_j]

9. K&R!

[ChiciB1]

10. Haven't Read The Whole Article, Just You're List

of names here. But one name I don't think I saw was Andrew Cuomo. Of course, not sure if he qualifies as a Corporate Powerhouse such as the above named.

Still, A. Cuomo has made my stomach turn on more than one occasion. AND, since he HAS had some interaction with Christie regarding the bridge scandal, I feel he should be speaking out about exactly what went on with him. He's certainly an apple that has fallen quite away from his father's tree!

[KoKo]

15. Cuomo isn't listed but the rest of the long article is worth the read

for Christie's background as to how he got where he did and his brother Todd (a trader) who swindled people and settled for a fine.. And, the videotapes made for You Tube to show him bullying teachers that helped get him elected. As I said...when you have time read the rest of the article... He should not get near the White House...or Congress.

a little more of Christies "connections"...

“There was the fact that Christie worked as a lobbyist on behalf of the Securities Industry Association at a time when Bernie Madoff was a senior SIA official—and sought an exemption from New Jersey’s Consumer Fraud Act,” Halperin and Heilemann wrote. “There [also] was Christie’s decision to steer hefty government contracts to donors and political allies such as former attorney general John Ashcroft, which sparked a congressional hearing.

[ChiciB1]

16. Yes, I Plan To Read It All... Thanks! n/t

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

14. He was appointed by "Dumbya" Bush. That's all I need to know. To the Jersey Cowards who call

themselves Democrats and continue to back and defend this guy, especially after supporting and/or voting for him, you do not deserve to ever be Democrats again. You are a disgrace to the Democratic Party! You disgust me.

[Auntie Bush]

17. Funny, I just finished reading that a couple minutes ago.

I'm still shaking and scared to death he'd ever become president. Every Democrat
should rad this. ReThugs should read it too.,,maybe they would change their minds about ever wanting him as their candidate. The Koch's Love him too! Now that's scary. I had no idea he was such a thug! How come so many Dems voted for this monster...didn't they know his background and those that supported him?

[KoKo]

18. Hope the "Night Crowd" on East Coast and Newcomers from West Coast will Read

Chris Hedges Article. It's a wealth of information...

Thanks! for reading......!

And indeed he is a person that causes Me and Others like You to be

Those of us who don't live in New Jersey needed to know about him...and I'm glad that Chris Hedges put this article out there.

He's reminding me (an older DU'er) of Mussolini..... How a Fascist captured Italy and allied with Hitler.

Let's hope we don't go down that Road here in the US...but, we are getting closer..

[chervilant]

19. Wasn't it Christie who used a police helicopter and a limo to attend his son's ball game?

Didn't he get a lot of bad press over this?

[KoKo]

20. Yes...here's from NJ Newspaper..but MSM reported it also:

Gov. Christie arrives at son's high school baseball game in State Police helicopter

ATEST UPDATE: Democratic Assemblyman John Wisniewski says Christie 'crossed the line'

TRENTON — Gov. Chris Christie arrived at his son's baseball game this afternoon aboard a State Police helicopter.

Right before the lineup cards were being exchanged on the field, a noise from above distracted the spectators as the 55-foot long helicopter buzzed over trees in left field, circled the outfield and landed in an adjacent football field. Christie disembarked from the helicopter and got into a black car with tinted windows that drove him about a 100 yards to the baseball field.

During the 5th inning, Christie and First Lady Mary Pat Christie got into the car, rode back to the helicopter and left the game. During a pitching change, play was stopped for a couple of minutes while the helicopter took off.

Christie's eldest son, Andrew, was the starting catcher for Delbarton High School, in Morris Township. The governor played the same position of catcher when he was in high school.

The game was being held at St. Joseph Regional High School in Montvale in Bergen County. Christie watched the game from the stands, flanked by State Police security guards.

"It is a means of transportation that is occasionally used as the schedule demands," said Christie spokesman Michael Drewniak in an email. "This has historically been the case in prior administrations as well, and we continue to be judicious in limiting its use."

The governor had no public events on his schedule, offering no insight to where he might have been traveling from. He had a private meeting at 6:30 p.m. at Drumthwacket, the governor's mansion, in Princeton. He is meeting with a group of Iowa donors who have publically expressed a desire to persuade him to run for president in 2012.

Christie was ferried to the field in a brand-new AugustaWestland helicopter, purchased at a cost to taxpayers of $12.5 million.

The State Police has received two of the five helicopters purchased so far, according to testimony from Attorney General Paula Dow during a May budget hearing. They were purchased to replace aging Sikorsky helicopters that the State Police have flown for about two decades.

The helicopters, which can reach nearly 200 miles per hour with its twin turbo-shaft engines, are designed for homeland security duties and transporting critically injured patients.


http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2011/05/gov_christie_arrives_at_sons_h.html

[rhett o rick]

21. Looks like the Powers To Be are going to again hammer us with horrible Republican choices

so we are thankful to get the lesser, corporatist puppets.

If you are fed up with the status quo, dont nominate Clinton-Sachs.

[rhett o rick]

22. Oh yes, thanks KoKo for posting nm