tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8611810694571930415.post6698702739186099402..comments2024-03-28T20:08:17.629-04:00Comments on the daily howler: The Times bears down on the Christie machine!<b>bob somerby</b>http://www.blogger.com/profile/02963464534685954436noreply@blogger.comBlogger38125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8611810694571930415.post-1308283370376176242014-02-02T10:57:37.920-05:002014-02-02T10:57:37.920-05:00Speaking of "making shit up," don't ...Speaking of "making shit up," don't "make shit up" and imagine things about a governor stuffing bribes in his pocket, or a governor's deputy chief of staff in charge of intergovernmental affairs ordering "traffic problems" just to fit your meme that every scandal is "massively ginned-up" and the product of a "scandal culture."<br /><br />Yes, there are phony scandals. And yes, there are real ones. The inability to tell the difference doesn't speak highly of one's intellectual abilities or analytical skills.<br /><br /><br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8611810694571930415.post-88171195567270657402014-02-01T20:20:52.062-05:002014-02-01T20:20:52.062-05:00Confused,
First, thanks for your kind words. My ...Confused,<br /><br />First, thanks for your kind words. My nuance is indeed keen and highly cultivated, and if you don't believe me you an ask …. Well, never mind whom you can ask.<br /><br />Yours is a common theme here -- TDH operates on a different plane, a Harvard plane, if you will, and plain folks, who can trust their gut instincts, can't follow his city-slicker sophistry.<br /><br />I'll make it easy for you to understand TDH, and it won't take any of my world-famous nuance to do it: Don't Make Shit Up. That's it. Don't make shit up.<br /><br />If Finland really isn't the exemplar of a country raising itself from mediocrity to excellence in educating children, then don't proclaim otherwise. If direct discrimination is not the reason that the median income for women is 77% that of men, don't pretend otherwise. If you don't know why Wildstein ordered the lane closings, don't write that it was done to punish the mayor of Fort Lee.<br /><br />What's more this doesn't mean that you or anybody else has to abandon hunches or investigations.<br /><br />That's all there is to it. It's not complicated. So why are you confused?<br /><br />I know you're proud of your rude and unsophisticated talent for seeing what's in front of your nose. But you're the guy who has no "inherent problem" and would have voted for a petulant blowhard and bully.deadratnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8611810694571930415.post-37434171420661259492014-02-01T15:01:21.304-05:002014-02-01T15:01:21.304-05:00I'd like to note, though, perhaps a bit of nua...I'd like to note, though, perhaps a bit of nuance of my own. I'm a liberal Democrat who would have voted for Christie in the last election. I thought there was and is much to recommend him. In fact, I'd secretly hoped that he might switch parties.<br /><br />I have no inherent problem with him. That said, I thought from the start that he probably knew what went on with the bridge and seemed guilty as sin. I've observed many real scandals in my 50 years ---- and many fake ones too. This one smelled real to me from Day 1, and this seems to be confirmed daily. TDH's purpose of late seems to be to overcomplicate and confuse, in the service of an unclear or incoherent agenda. <br /><br />But then its author did go to Harvard. Perhaps he just plays at a higher level than us lower orders.Confusednoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8611810694571930415.post-5493577387238776082014-02-01T14:51:35.798-05:002014-02-01T14:51:35.798-05:00Would that I were blessed with your subtlety of mi...Would that I were blessed with your subtlety of mind, your probing insight, your keen --- and no doubt highly cultivated --- sense of nuance. Your are surely at home here in this rarified Harvard air; in a venue where all manner of insult is issued by the same who hails the gentle, forgiving spirit of Malala and MLK.<br /><br />I'll remain cursed with, well, the capacity at times to see rather clearly what's right in front of my nose.Confusednoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8611810694571930415.post-17870430369061349632014-02-01T14:24:18.336-05:002014-02-01T14:24:18.336-05:00Dear Confused,
And what an appropriate nym you...Dear Confused,<br /><br />And what an appropriate nym you've chosen.<br /><br />TDH thinks that many journalists are dumb and that people like you are thereby misled. But perhaps you're dumb as well. I hope I'm not riding the air, here.<br /><br />Nowhere does TDH claim that people shouldn't have hunches or that hunches never turn out to be correct. But often simple minds like yours have hunches not because they see things exactly as they are but exactly as they wish things to be. Sometimes these two converge.<br /><br />But it's TDH's contention that journalists shouldn't confuse the two. If you understand that, then you're not dumb.deadratnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8611810694571930415.post-8883285349064256912014-02-01T10:55:24.454-05:002014-02-01T10:55:24.454-05:00A guy from Harvard who knows more than anyone else...A guy from Harvard who knows more than anyone else and thinks everyone else is dumb --- what a shocker.<br /><br />One of the first times Bob posted about this, I said it would "inevitably" be linked back to Christie. I was, of course, chided by the fan club, they of far subtler and more discerning minds. The air was ride with the condescension of the intellectually superior.<br /><br />Hey, I didn't go to Harvard. I'm clearer a lesser order with a simple mind. But sometimes we simple, non Ivy folk don't complicate things either. Sometimes we have pretty good hunches. Sometimes, unlike our intellectual superiors, we manage to see things exactly as they are.Confusednoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8611810694571930415.post-3215268137922236572014-02-01T10:20:20.494-05:002014-02-01T10:20:20.494-05:00Just for the record, here is how Bob framed this &...Just for the record, here is how Bob framed this "massively ginned-up controversy" back on Dec. 13, AFTER the public, sworn testimonies of Baroni, Fulton, Durando and Foye were on the record, but before the "smoking gun" e-mail was released and Christie's "sad, humiliated, embarrassed" press conference:<br /><br />"Back in September, a minor New Jersey official had closed three lanes of traffic from Fort Lee onto the George Washington Bridge. This created a week-long traffic jam which crippled the town of Fort Lee.<br /><br />"The minor official was a high school friend of Christie’s. First, the minor official lied about why he had done this weird, stupid, dangerous thing. Last week, though, he resigned his post with the Port Authority.<br /><br />"How weird! It seems he may have done this to punish Fort Lee because its mayor wouldn’t agree to endorse Christie for re-election. But that remains pure speculation—and there is still no sign that Christie was involved in this ridiculous conduct.<br /><br />"Was Christie involved in this stupid conduct? Everything is possible! For ourselves, we’d be inclined to call it unlikely. Again, there has never been any evidence that he was involved."<br /><br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8611810694571930415.post-748127807268313412014-02-01T08:25:41.043-05:002014-02-01T08:25:41.043-05:00Look no further than the Friday Zernike article wh...Look no further than the Friday Zernike article where she says their high school baseball coach recalls them being on the same team...as I recall, the coach didn't say Wildstein was on the team--just around it all the time and well-known to the team. <br /><br />And further, Zernike calls the letter from Wildstein's lawyer an aggressive move against Christie, but is it? The guy needs someone to pay his legal bills. All he is seeking is the representation for defense of actions taken in his professional role at the Port Authority. The letter quoted by the NY Times is not so much an effort at whistleblowing, but a rebuttal of the grounds on which the PA is denying Wildstein his legal expenses. <br /><br />Christie looks to be in this up to his neck...but this blog is about niggling inaccuracies and clouds of uncertainty, right?<br />Oh, oh, I forgot....and also not paraphrasing in the way that Bob prefers. Trollmesnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8611810694571930415.post-70082527960920105582014-02-01T08:05:00.401-05:002014-02-01T08:05:00.401-05:00Whether they were buddies or not is a triviality, ...Whether they were buddies or not is a triviality, but monumental for bone-gnawer, since he used that club to bash inaccurate librulz in many a post.<br /><br />The next bout of crazed bone-gnawing is going to be about what evidence Wildstein claims exists - apparently it is only that Christie knew about the lane-closings AS THEY WERE HAPPENING.<br /><br />Christie is already claiming a victory of sorts that Wildstein is not alleging that evidence exists for Christie being involved PRIOR to when the "study" actually took place.<br /><br />Bone-gnawer is going to turn himself into a human pincushion by the time he is done with this story as new evidence keeps coming out. ("We have no way of knowing", "librulz couldn't have known what is known now when they reported it" ). What a tar baby this "ginned up" story from the sweating, moaning,self-stroking Maddow turned out to be for bone-gnawer.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8611810694571930415.post-26175226991272114662014-02-01T04:11:16.946-05:002014-02-01T04:11:16.946-05:00Yeah, I'm still round, er, around. You're...Yeah, I'm still round, er, <i>around</i>. You're on a streak of two so far, as I acknowledge again on the false facts/elite entrydeadratnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8611810694571930415.post-27466513551720777692014-02-01T01:04:01.471-05:002014-02-01T01:04:01.471-05:00hey deadrat, you still around? I answered you bac...hey deadrat, you still around? I answered you back<br />at the Obama/Maddow 77 cent flap.<br /><br />KZAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8611810694571930415.post-91808936481417070782014-02-01T00:54:20.850-05:002014-02-01T00:54:20.850-05:00deadrat, you sexy thing.
Circumspice was ok. But...deadrat, you sexy thing.<br /><br />Circumspice was ok. But Hot Chocolate rocked.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8611810694571930415.post-35831636841351753752014-02-01T00:09:13.609-05:002014-02-01T00:09:13.609-05:00I believe in willful ignorance.
Circumspice.I believe in willful ignorance.<br /><br />Circumspice.deadratnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8611810694571930415.post-80037316805372633912014-01-31T23:45:18.292-05:002014-01-31T23:45:18.292-05:00I didn't know there were lane closures after t...I didn't know there were lane closures after the first day of lane closures. Ain't I somebody?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8611810694571930415.post-14511628379430386002014-01-31T23:42:43.234-05:002014-01-31T23:42:43.234-05:00I believe in miracles. Where you from?I believe in miracles. Where you from?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8611810694571930415.post-48666637430681321992014-01-31T23:38:10.048-05:002014-01-31T23:38:10.048-05:00“Mr. Wildstein contests the accuracy of various st...“<strong>Mr. Wildstein</strong> contests the accuracy of various statements that the governor made about him, and he <strong> can prove the inaccuracy of some,”</strong> the letter added."<br /><br /><br />Speaking of prescience of mind if not spelling:<br /><br />"Anonymous January 13, 2014 at 3:22 PM<br /><br />Somebody subpoena Wilding's senior class yearbook before he destroys it. Let the world see what, if anything, Christie wrote in it"<br /><br />He;s hurt. He's gonna prove they were buddies.<br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8611810694571930415.post-54318688717519200612014-01-31T23:31:11.650-05:002014-01-31T23:31:11.650-05:00No, Somerby isn't saying the dirty ones haven&...No, Somerby isn't saying the dirty ones haven't been proven. He has said, quite repeatedly, that the innocent explanation hasn't been "disproved" "on a journalistic basis." Whatever that means. So all these damned kids need to get off his lawn.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8611810694571930415.post-67548086672489048952014-01-31T23:23:01.831-05:002014-01-31T23:23:01.831-05:00Sure. Christie doesn't know.
Do you also beli...Sure. Christie doesn't know.<br /><br />Do you also believe in Santa Claus? The Tooth Fairy? The Easter BunnyAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8611810694571930415.post-10592574532045303202014-01-31T23:10:22.119-05:002014-01-31T23:10:22.119-05:00It’s still kind of a hilarious story. But it is be...It’s still kind of a hilarious story. But it is becoming significantly less hilarious for Governor Chris Christie. <br /><br />How long can he go on before he actually explains what happened here?<br /><br />There is still is no explanation for what happened here that makes any sense and seems to be borne out by the facts. What happened, and when is the governor going to explain it?<br /><br />Just a thought:<br /><br />Christie can’t explain what happened if he doesn’t know what happened. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8611810694571930415.post-50996074107060301012014-01-31T23:02:57.097-05:002014-01-31T23:02:57.097-05:00Maman died today. Or yesterday maybe, I don’t know...Maman died today. Or yesterday maybe, I don’t know.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8611810694571930415.post-26711191914276814182014-01-31T22:34:08.372-05:002014-01-31T22:34:08.372-05:00I was disppointed there was nothing on her expose ...I was disppointed there was nothing on her expose of the NJ SPCA here today.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8611810694571930415.post-92210198074469894942014-01-31T22:33:11.037-05:002014-01-31T22:33:11.037-05:00Are you blaming Somerby for being imperfect in tel...Are you blaming Somerby for being imperfect in telling the future? That doesn't seem fair.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8611810694571930415.post-59518186138109569302014-01-31T22:33:02.035-05:002014-01-31T22:33:02.035-05:00I would be willing to bet Ms, Maddow even wears bi...I would be willing to bet Ms, Maddow even wears big orange clown shoes.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8611810694571930415.post-61206263614806147862014-01-31T22:23:19.829-05:002014-01-31T22:23:19.829-05:00You tell 'em 8:25. It reminds me of the sage ...You tell 'em 8:25. It reminds me of the sage advice he gave to antiwar types gloating about the lack of discovery of WMD in Iraq back in ought three. He warned them they would take a fall when those weapons were discovered, as he expected they would be.<br /><br />KZAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8611810694571930415.post-60106477865999999662014-01-31T21:50:40.865-05:002014-01-31T21:50:40.865-05:00Everything is possible in the land of False Dichot...Everything is possible in the land of False Dichotomy!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com