Bill Maher HD Confronts Maddow over Christie Hysteria: It's Not Watergate

[Loaded Liberal Dem]

Straight Outta YouTube! (That was the name of the album, wasn't it?)

[Dawson Leery]

1. Maddow is a journalist who took out two strong contenders for the GOP nomination for POTUS.

Maher is a comedian.

[putitinD]

3. Maddow is a REAL journalist

[roguevalley]

38. given that everything in NJ was sold to the highest contributors we haven't

even scraped the surface. Bill Maher is funny and insightful but he's not infallible. He did date Anne Coulter after all.

[whathehell]

2. No, it's not Watergate and no one said it was..

I think Libertarian Maher is a tad upset that Christie's coming under fire -- Tough shit, Bill -- He deserves it,

and, oh yeah, some of us are find the coverage every bit as compelling as Rachel.

[tooeyeten]

24. Absolutely

Bill is wrong in misinterpreting the full impact of what goes on with governors and state houses and unsavory behavior.

[Rosa Luxemburg]

53. It's bridgegate though

[whathehell]

56. Yeah, whatever

I'm enjoying it myself.

[Cha]

4. That's right you silly goose it's not Nixon's Watergate.. it's

fucking Christie's BRIDGEGATE-SANDYGATE@INTH DEGREE!

Get over it, Maher.

[Spitfire of ATJ]

5. This isn't just ANY governor....

This is the guy the Beltway held up as the all new "straight talk express" that reached across the aisle and could get the parties to work together for the common good of the nation.

Then it turns out he and his entire team are a bunch of petty vindictive children who think nothing of actually HURTING the public and pinning it on someone who refused to play with them.

[ctsnowman]

20. Exactly!

[whathehell]

57. Exactly...Mr. Republican wannabe presidential nominee...Sorry, repukes!

Now, even more of your shitty union-busting governors seem to be going down too!

[NBachers]

6. I thought the album was named "Bat Out Of Hell"

I laugh with Bill, and often agree with his clever turns of phrase.

I respect Rachel Maddow; she is carrying our nation's journalistic obligations on her own shoulders.

[Stainless]

7. Sweep it under the rug

Let's just ignore the scandal and help Christie repair his image so he can run for President and fuck over the whole country with his cronyism and political machine politics.

Bill Maher is beginning to wear out his welcome IMHO. He should be thanking Rachel Maddow for her excellent work on this.

From what I've seen, Chris Christie is a liar and a bully and his administration is a cesspool.

BTW, who's the dim-witted Englishman?

[Blue_In_AK]

8. Not to be contrarian,

but I kind of agree with Bill. The damage to Christie has been done now, so the reporting can back off a little. MSNBC and most of the news media do tend to be a bit East Coast-centric. When/if indictments come down, I'll be happy to hear about them.

[LovingA2andMI]

9. Thank you!

For Sanity of not sounding like the folks who watch Faux News. When or if Christie's indicted, it is news again. Until then, there are bigger fish to fly...like for instance, the 2 Million Estimated Unemployed and BROKE Americans who lost their Federal Extended Jobless Benefits December 28.

But Maddow is too darn busy with Christie to talk about that, we guess.

[tomp]

14. completely disagree.

christie is a venal pig who should be nowhere near a position of responsibility. if some corporation wants to make him ceo, fine, but he should be out of elected office. he should be taken down, i.e., fully exposed. there certainly were crimes committed. these need to be investigated and prosecuted. to go easy on christie is to miss a monumental opportunity to expose the level of corruption in government in general, and in this case to punish an evil man.

[dsteve01]

17. Yeah, there's a lot more stories at the momment

I would much rather hear about things which are not highways 3,000m away. How about an investigation into that Cable merger, Rachel?

[A Simple Game]

18. Apparently Rachel hasn't done a very good job if people think this is a story about

a highway, 3000 miles away or even next door.

The only way corruption is going to be stopped is by exposure and punishment, and that means punishment of the proper people not just fall guys. This is more than about Christie, this is about the next corrupt official thinking he or she can get away with it because Christie did, or Bush did, or (place your own favorite corrupt official here) did, and got away with it. Like it or not, getting sick of it because it's too much coverage or not, this is important stuff! And no pun intended, it's bigger than just Christie.

So do you think this story about a highway 3000 miles away should be glossed over and we all accept Christie as our next President? Maybe then we will wish for some more coverage of that "highway"?

[tooeyeten]

25. This is not about Maddow

Maher is taking the entire MSNBC to task for targeting Christie, so what is Maher's agenda to go after her? Maybe he doesn't get state politics and their impact on the national? A question not a conclusion btw.

[A Simple Game]

32. I only mentioned Rachel because dsteve01 specifically mentioned her. n/t

[LovingA2andMI]

35. Maher asked a SIMPLE question....

Plenty of folks would LIKE to ask but will never be a position close enough to Rachel to do so. Why the heck is she hyper-focusing on Chris Christine when an estimated 2 million Americans lost their lifeline of income on December 28 when Congress refused to approve an extension of Federal Unemployment Benefits.

But, heck...those Americans are not important it appears. Only Chris Christie and his "Bridgescandal" 24.7.365 at MSNBC.

And they are suppose to be the "progressive" channel for news. Glad to see some folks understand MSNBC is propaganda as well as other so-called CORPORATE OWNED News Stations. About time!

[tooeyeten]

46. However

Christie is aiming for a POTUS run and if you've paid attention, he's the center of a shitstorm with unprecedented number of "pay for play" implications. If not for his aim for higher office, this all would remain a local issue. Btw the NYT raised questions before MSNBC.

[LovingA2andMI]

49. And I've no problems with the NYT riding this issue...

Until the cows come home. But MSNBC is a NATIONAL News Network, which should be reporting variety of NATIONAL News stories. Not Chris Christie day in, day out. That's the NYT job. Let them handle that. And as for Chris Christie Presidential chances, if the Man is NOT indicted, he's running for President, period.

What Democrats need to worry about is how to beat ANY Republican, not just hyper-focusing on Chris Christie-- that runs for President.

Now can we move on from New Jersey, please.

[LovingA2andMI]

33. If you are waiting on Rachel....

To report on the monopoly based mega-merger that will comprise over 54% of the cable TV marketplace and 100 million customers into Comcast hands....forget about it.

Chris Christie and his "Bridgegate" scandal is far too important than reporting on a possible monopoly of communication resources by her employer.

[stopbush]

34. I disagree for no other reason that the MSM interprets a dying down of coverage on a story to mean

that the story wasn't worth covering in the first place. We're talking about a media - MSNBC, fer chris sake - that interrupts an interview about the NSA with former CA Sen Jane Harmon to "break" the "news" that Justin Bieber got hauled into court.

I didn't see Bill Maher telling Faux News to get over Bengahzi 4 months into that "scandal." Why is he so quick to jump on MSNBC to get off Christie?

Let's remember, Rachel was doing yeoman's work covering this story for a couple of MONTHS before the MSM took any interest in it. Had she cooled her jets back in November, the scandal cover-up would have probably worked perfectly.

[BobbyBoring]

45. Bridgegate is the lefts Benghazi

Yes, Christie is a pig and deserves to be taken down, but beating the story to death won't do it.

[truebluegreen]

52. Um, no.

Benghazi was a fake scandal, Bridgegate is not...the issue is corruption, not traffic cones.

[pnwmom]

10. It's too early to know what it is yet. Watergate didn't become "Watergate" till much later.

[daybranch]

11. she should switch to the Comcast Time Warner fiasco.

Nuff said.

[LovingA2andMI]

36. That will never happen....

But would be a nice change of pace from Chris Christie "Bridgegate" 24.7.365.

[barbtries]

12. i'm glad she pushed back so hard.

this cannot go away and it goes so much deeper than the bridge closure. christie is corrupt! and now he's going to get caught. that is news.
i hope she leans just as hard on McRory here in NC. and i wish the rest of the news world would start reporting on it.

[Democracyinkind]

13. I can't stand libertarians.

[whathehell]

58. Neither can I. Libertarians = Repukes who want to smoke pot and get laid..Selfish shits. n/t

[markpkessinger]

15. I think Maher is totally wrong about this

I generally enjoy Bill Maher, but I think he is flat wrong about this. The scandal is now much wider than the question of whether Christie knew about or authorized the shutdown of three out of the four local access tollbooths to the George Washington Bridge. Christie's statements about when he found out about the closures have been contradictory, and the statement he made in his marathon press conference about his staff's lack of knowledge has been proven by documentary evidence to be outright false. Federal investigators appear now to be focusing in on the attempted cover-up of what happened as much as they are focused on the actual event. And in that respect, it seems to me this scandal very much parallels Watergate.

And also very much like Watergate, the investigation of one incident has led to uncovering evidence that seems to point to other scandals, some of which are potentially much more serious than the Bridge thing. We now have major questions concerning: (1) the Christie administration's alleged attempted shakedown of the Mayor of Hoboken over its much-needed share of Federal disaster relief moneys, of which Christie was the trustee, in order to extract approval of a development project proposed by a developer who was a client of of the law firm of David Samson, who was Christie's appointee to the chairmanship of the Port Authority; (2) of Christie's simultaneous redirection of $6 million in federal Sandy relief monies to the construction of an affordable housing complex for senior citizens in the town of Belleville, where there was relatively minor storm damage and whose Democratic mayor, unlike the mayor of Hoboken, agreed to endorse Chistie'e re-election bid; and (3) Christie's abuse of his influence at the Port Authority to create a position for his former ally David Wildstein, whose only function, according the Port Authority's Executive Director, was to serve as Christie's political operative, to name just three.

I'm sorry, but for a man who is (or was) a very likely prospect to be the GOP's 2016 nominee for President, scandals such as these, as well as the culture of corruption to which they point, are most definitely worthy of the kind of detailed reporting that Rachel Maddow, and also Steve Kornacki, have provided. Oh, and that reminds of of yet another parallel to Watergate. Those of us who are old enough to remember Watergate will also remember how many people, both among the media and the general public, said things like, "What's the big deal about a petty burglary?"

[mrchips]

16. Actually

It's uglier than Watergate. This involves extortion, bribery and sums of money in the billions.

[A Simple Game]

21. Not to mention the power of the Port Authority affects millions upon millions of people.

And the effects can ripple out well past New York and New Jersey into other states and even regions.

What Christie has done through the power of the Port Authority is larger than just New Jersey, this is not just a local story. That someone would use that power for petty vindictiveness is almost unbelievable and leads to the question, what else are they capable of?

It also looks like the hierarchy of the Port Authority needs to be re-examined.

[SummerSnow]

28. I live in NYC and my daughters' tutor lives in North Jersey..

she takes the GWB home. She told me it took her 4 hours to get home during the lane closures. She told me it takes her less that 30 minutes to get home on a normal day.

[heaven05]

19. Sometimes he so taken with himself

he doesn't realize that he needs to STFU. Yeah what if woodward and bernstein had stopped their delving into the facts. God! He pisses me off sometimes and yes, 90% of the time I can stand him. Rachel is a national treasure and a real reporter.

[rurallib]

22. The leading candidate to run as a republican for president is shown

to be a very corrupt, venal little almost mob boss and this is news that should fade?
I don't think so. Of course I remember so many wailing about Watergate being way overblown.

[90-percent]

23. Too much Christie coverage at MSNBC?

One really excellent thing about MSNBC's excessive coverage of Christie is that each revelation shows once again just how corrupt and venal the people that run things in America really are. He went from Top Presidential Contender to political capital punishment in what, about four months?

Think about the potential for ridding our political system of outright corruption and cronyism if the same journalistic scrutiny were applied to gov. Scott Walker, Gov. Reptilian Scott and Gov. Pat McCrory???????

Just to name a few, and there's plenty to name.

What I do not like about MSNBC blanket converage is that it's displacing a debate on the TPP, net neutrality, the actual cost of the recent wars and the new and alarming concept of the "DEEP STATE"* - the self perpetuating real government that does what it wants, will of the electorate be damned.

Christie is indeed a big big brick in the wall, but there's a lot of other things going on that are determining whether American Democracy will survive or be replaced by an Oligarchy?

All my education was geared towards an understanding of how precious our Democracy was, in the baby boom era where Democracy statistically really was hell of a lot fairer than it is now.

All we want is a level playing field. not the corporate authoritarian landmine riddled thing we all have to contend with now.

-90% Jimmy

*http://billmoyers.com/2014/02/21/anatomy-of-the-deep-state/#.UwnsWznVk8w.facebook

[tooeyeten]

27. You missed one

"One really excellent thing about MSNBC's excessive coverage of Christie is that each revelation shows once again just how corrupt and venal the people that run things in America really are"

Governor McDonnell.

Every state should be examined.

[Blue_In_AK]

39. Alaska's got one, too,

and, of course, most people don't even know our governor's name now that it's not Sarah, but I'm here to tell you that Sean Parnell and his oily cronies are doing far more harm to this state than Sarah ever thought of doing.

[LovingA2andMI]

41. Or Ohio, Michigan and a bunch of other States with GOPers in Charge...

But Rachel and the Crew at MSNBC is hyper-focused on Christie. Meanwhile, I find myself turning to CNN and Al Jazeera more, and liking it.

[tooeyeten]

47. Understood

You're disgusted with the coverage but the Jersey, NYC media market is gigantic compared to the rest of the country and with Christie's POTUS dream eventually there will be either indictments or resignation from the big guy.

[LovingA2andMI]

48. So we are on which market is bigger?

WOW! Thanks....I'll remember that when the telecommunications/cable market becomes bigger for one Mega-Corporation named Comcast that MSNBC happens to be owed by with buying out Time-Warner. And where are the stories about this possibly mega-merger on MSNBC? I mean this is HUGE NEWS impacting approximately 100 MILLION Subscribers. Much bigger than the Chris Christie scandal.

But MSNBC is died silent on it. Interesting....

[tooeyeten]

50. Media vs media

When have they ever gone after one another?

[LovingA2andMI]

55. Many times over....

The Mega-Merger is a story MSNBC refused to cover because they are owned lock, stock and barrel by Comcast. Deflection is not working in this case here...FYI.

[BeyondGeography]

26. Cuts both ways; Christie had received massively positive coverage from Morning Joe and the Gang

If Bridgegate isn't Watergate, neither was bullying teachers and common citizens at town hall meetings, a supposedly "refreshing" form of "leadership," worth the endless droolfests that built Christie up in the first place. The irony that appears to be lost on Maher (didn't see the clip or the show) is that the pro-Christie side of MSNBC made him into a target as much or more than anyone.

[SummerSnow]

29. Joe Scab-borough loves Christie.

[tooeyeten]

37. Joe loves himself n/t

[rocktivity]

30. Quoth Rachel: "I... will continue to be obsessed with... the Christie story...

Last edited Sun Feb 23, 2014, 05:30 PM - Edit history (1)

while amazing things continue to happen."

And that's the bottom line.

Unlike with Blago, who did only two or three lousy things, lousy things have been parading out of Bridge(t)-Gate by the dozens -- and that's MSNBC's fault?

As for that guy who accuses MSNBC of trying to take Christie down, does he also complain about the media outlets who have been trying to build him up? "Oooh, he's sooooo firm, but so fair! Democrats love him, too! He's the dreamiest thing out of New Jersey since Bon Jovi!" Now that it turns out that "Governor Soprano" has been building his "popularity" on a foundation of bullying, extortion and conflicts of interests, why isn't anyone asking why THEY missed the boat?

Watergate began with a 911 call about an office building break-in; Bridge(t)-Gate began with a local reporter wondering why a lane closure protocol hadn't been followed. Watergate eventually involved a U.S. President, Bridge(t)-Gate involves a governor who was shaping up for a presidential run (no matter what Maher says). Maher should be thanking Rachel for possibly stopping him in his tracks.

P.S. You'll find the dozens of lousy things at DU-er Laxman's Christie Crime Digest.


rocktivity

[DontTreadOnMe]

31. The Christie Scandal involves the entire NYC tri-state area

Can anyone tell me a larger area anywhere in the USA?

Of course it is a huge scandal and should be constantly discussed.

The Tunnel Project that was cancelled by Christie, he lied about the facts for cancelling, affects the commutes of millions of people to NYC for the next 20 years.

It also came at a time when Obama wanted to invest in infrastructure, and create jobs. Christie help nix both.

And now the story is moving into Federal Sandy funds... this is a MUCH BIGGER story than most people realize.

Did I mention this guy might want to run for President of the United States!

Now go back and rethink this.. WHAT COULD POSSIBLY BE A BIGGER STORY?

[stopbush]

40. You forgot to mention that Christie KEPT over $1-billion in Fed $ that was supposed to

build that tunnel and hijacked it into NJ coffers to be spent elsewhere.

Why isn't that being investigated?

[Enthusiast]

44. +1 a whole bunch!

[mountain grammy]

42. Love ya, Bill, but when you're wrong you're wrong..

I'm sending you a note.

[Enthusiast]

43. It sucks that you feel that way, Bill.

It is a huge story and it should be on every network, all the time, until Christie is driven from office.

[truebluegreen]

51. Watergate wasn't Watergate either, in the beginning.

It was a third-rate burglary that opened a can of worms that took more than 2 years to run its course.

[Blue Owl]

54. It's not water under the bridgegate

n/t