One of Governor-elect Chris Christie's first decisions as Governor will be to decide who will join him in his administration and he's not ruling out some names that garnered attention during the election:
Gov.-elect Christopher Christie told the Star-Ledger that he would not rule out appointments for Ralph Marra and Michele Brown, two of his top colleagues at the U.S. Attorney's office.
"People who have real problems won't be in the administration. People who have problems that are contrived for attempted political advantage won't be hurt by that. That doesn't necessary mean they're going to be in, but if they're not in, that won't be the reason why they're not," Christie told the Star-Ledger's Claire Heininger.
Christie could also be talking about former Morris County Freeholder John Inglesino, who stepped out of the spotlight after he became a campaign issue during the primary election.
You know, we're going to ferret out waste and fraud and abuse in the government. I think you know I'll do that better than anybody. I've got a group of assistant U.S. attorneys sitting down in Newark still doing their job. But let me tell you, they are watching the newspapers. And after we win this election, I'm going to take a whole group of them to Trenton with me and put them in every one of the departments because they saw a lot of waste and abuse being investigated while we were in the U.S. Attorney's office that didn't rise to the level of a crime. So I told them, the good news is, when we get to Trenton we don't have to worry about beyond a reasonable doubt anymore.
We'll have to see how the Governor-elect defines people with real problems and which people have been watching the newspapers.
With someone as big of an ethical hypocrite as Chris Christie is, it is difficult to talk in simple terms about all of the ways his actions are precisely the opposite of what he says and how far too many have portrayed him to be.
And what it really boils down to is that he is just another sleazy lawyer - no offense to the many very good attorneys I know (including my wife). But the fact is, there is a stereotype for certain lawyers because the type of lawyer that Christie is exists. Says one thing, does another, for example. Or:
Buys his position with hundreds of thousands in donations;
Abuses that office to give friends millions of dollars in no bid deals;
Abuses that office by targeting political enemies time and time again;
Gives jobs to friends' family members; and
Talks about cleaning up corruption and ethics reform - all while doing the very things he talks about changing.
Those are just for starters.
And with that, I figured that the best way to show it is to give a very simple visual explanation of how Christie and his fellow lawyer buddies look out for each other - and not for the people of New Jersey. New Jerseyans really need to ask themselves if they trust this sleazy lawyer to run their state in a manner that looks out for them:
Rick Merkt doesn't like being called a liar. He says that that John Inglesino, a fundraiser and benefactor who Christie swears is just a volunteer tried to offer him a job to get out of the campaign. At the time, they said this:
Inglesino denied offering Merkt any kind of position.
"That's a bold-faced lie," he said, adding that the Christie campaign didn't officially launch until months later.
Christie also said no offer was made.
"I know for sure it's a lie," he said.
So he didn't officially launch his campaign til months later, but he knew for sure there was no offer from his non existent campaign and that the claim by Merkt was a bald face lie. At the time, huntsu questioned Christie saying he wasn't campaigning, when he was sending his brother Todd and a delegation to represent him:
And staying home from the Republican National Convention while sending a team to represent your interests is more of the same. Sure, he's not violating the law but he is surely supporting a shadow campaign team and effort in his name while being the sitting US Attorney for NJ.
Merkt said the pressure intensified when he attended the Republican National Convention in Minnesota over the summer. In the hallway outside of the ballroom where the state Republicans held most of their events, he said he met with Christie confidante Bill Palatucci, who was even more direct.
"Palatucci absolutely went up one side and down the other, pretty much screaming at me about three inches from my space, saying I couldn't run, I had no support, nobody liked me, nobody would ever talk to me again," he said. "In 40 seconds Bill Palatucci convinced me that I had to run for governor, because nobody with that kind of personality should be permitted anywhere near the Executive Office. I can tell you, bystanders were amazed by Bill's meltdown."
But of course Chris Christie had no idea of this situation either, because as he said he didn't officially launch his campaign until November, months later. And if you believe that, Sarah Palin has a bridge to nowhere she wants to see if you're interested in. Perhaps the most damning part is this exchange, where we find out that there really was a shadow effort going on as huntsu speculated:
Merkt said that Inglesino started off the conversation warm and cajoling, noting that two candidates running out of Morris County could help Christie rival Steve Lonegan in the primary. Merkt said he responded that Christie was not even an announced candidate yet, to which Inglesino replied that he was indeed going to run but could not announce at the time because he was still U.S. Attorney.
So Christie was running, but couldn't talk about it. He just had other people do his dirty work. And exactly when into his term as non-partisan US Attorney did he decide to seek partisan office? At what point does the smell become so bad that people start asking more questions?
Chris Christie has made quite a habit of playing fast and loose with the truth. Whether it's claiming he wants to crack down on the exact brand of cronyism he supports or creating a budget that has as much to do with reality as a fried unicorn sandwich, for some reason, Chris Christie just can't stop lying.
When discussing senior campaign adviser John Inglesino, Christie's lies just seem to get more and more baldfaced. Inglesino has been taking some fire after reports revealed he is exactly the kind of chummy, no-show, patronage appointee Christie has vowed to crack down on. Trying to minimize the damage to his campaign, Christie reacted to this news with lies that would make your head spin, claiming Inglesino wasn't, in fact, a major campaign adviser.
You'll remember Christie already peddled this particular lie on NJ 101.5, saying Inglesino was nothing more than a volunteer phone banker for his campaign when asked about Inglesino's shady pension-padding job. But merely lying to the media isn't enough for Christie. As the following video and transcript show, he's also lying to voters about Inglesino out on the campaign trail:
Woman: "[...] on 101.5, about Mr. Inglesino, that he was just a volunteer. Didn't he raise $100,000 at Herb Stern's office?
Christie: "No he didn't. No he didn't."
Woman: "He didn't?"
Christie: "No he did not. Never raised any money."
But if John Inglesino never raised any money for Christie, then why does Inglesino's name appear on invitations to a fundraiser where donors are asked to give between $500 and $3400 per person? Chris, the invite doesn't lie!
Unless, maybe volunteer phone bankers often host major fundraisers for candidates?
It doesn't get much more black and white than this. Chris Christie is lying left, right, and center. It's time for the media to stop giving him the benefit of the doubt and start calling him out as a liar with no substantive plans to fix New Jersey's problems.
I'll keep this brief, because I'm tired and want to go to bed, but I thought this would be of interest.
In Morris County, the GOP had its open primary for Freeholder. An elderly frequent candidate, James "Jim" Murray decided to run, and was initially kicked off the ballot by County GOP boss John Sette. Murray was successful in getting back on the ballot, however. Now, he has his revenge. With 97% of the vote in, he's ousted Freeholder John Inglesino from his seat! Results in the extended entry...
John Inglesino became a campaign issue 
