Mort Klein, President of the Zionist Organization of America, a close confidant of Sheldon Adelson, Adelson will no be endorsing Chris Christie for the Republican 2016 presidential race election, reports Eytan Sosnovich in Sheldon Adelson Confidant Says He Won’t be Endorsing Christie After Governor Belittled ‘Occupied Territories’ Remark Concerns, in a day that might be title "Chris Christie's Bad Day." AnnetteK's Top Rec'd post reports this morning that David Wildstein spend spent several days with Federal Prosecutors late last week, The New Yorker has a hilarious satire "Crossing Chris Christie," (see update), a major New Jersey figure says he will not endorse, etc.
Last week, Governor Christie gave a speech to the Republican Jewish Coalition whose members prefer to refer to the Occupied Territories as Judea and Samaria, or at best "disputed territories because many hope Israel will annex these lands as part of their vision of a "Greater Israel" they believed is promised to them in the Bible. Please check out my humorous post, Christie apologizes for calling the West Bank "Occupied Territories," tells Adelson he misspoke for an account of this incident.
“The term occupied territories is a false term used by the enemies of Israel to make it sound like Israel has stolen Arab land,” Klein said he told Christie. “To be occupied you have to have taken over someone’s legal sovereign area … the only two countries that the world recognizes in this area are Jordan and Israel.”
When Klein asked Christie if he would instead use the term “disputed territory” in the future, Klein says that Christie dismissed his remarks saying condescendingly “I saw you shaking your head when I used that term.”
Later, after being informed of Sheldon's Adelson's displeasure Christie rushed down and apologized. Reports are not clear if Governor Christie go down on one knee and just kissed Adelson ring, or kissed his ass as well, but many Christie supporters hoped Adelson would take this as a symbolic gesture that Christie accepted Adelson view of the correct posture for an American president with respect to foreign policy concerning Israel.
Mort Klein makes it clear he does not accept Christie's apology and appears to believe a candidate for President of the United States should already know such basic foundational knowledge about his place in foreign affairs. .
“He is worried about Sheldon supporting him financially, so we can’t trust [what he said to Sheldon] on Israel or what his real beliefs are. You got the real answer with me because there was no ulterior motive there. I don’t believe his apology for one second.”
When asked by The Algemeiner if he would specifically advise Adelson not to support Christie, Klein said that he didn’t see it as appropriate to do so, but said that as ZOA president he would make his views on Christie’s positions known. “Governor Christie either has no understanding of the truth of the issues effecting Israel, or he is hostile to Israel, either way I am very uncomfortable,” Klein, who has led the ZOA for 20 years went on to say, “when I gave him the opportunity to respond to me after I explained to him the truth about Judea and Sumaria, the fact the he was dismissive and even caustic toward me tells me that he has no interest in understanding the truth of what is beneficial for Israel.”
Just minute ago, Susan Livi, conducted a Live blog at the Star-Ledger for hard-core Bridgegate addicts, who can not seem to get enough information about fast breaking stories. Please check hundreds of comments there for interactions between SL reporters and their reader's questions. One thing we learn, that was asked here yesterday, is that the Grand Jury that Drewniak testified before was empaneled by U.S. Attorney Fishman on Friday exclusively for this investigation. Fishman has added 7 prosecutors to his team bringing the total to 10.
But it's not clear how successful the governor has been distancing himself from the scandal. His poll numbers have stabilized but one poll showed many people don't believe the report's findings absolving him.
The dual investigations into the Sept 9-13 lane closures are moving ahead. Christie's press secretary, Michael Drewniak, testified before a federal grand jury empaneled by the U,.S. Attorney's Office Friday. The leaders of the legislative committee investigating the matter discussed the latest round of subpoenas they intend to serve soon.
Check back here at 12 p.m. today for an online discussion between Star-Ledger Statehouse reporters who will recap what happened and what's to come in the biggest political story this year. If there are questions you'd like us to answer, you can post them here or email them to me directly at slivio@starledger.com.
Jason Grant of the Star-Ledgeer writes
David Wildstein met for several days with federal prosecutors in Newark, report says"
David Wildstein, the former Port Authority official at the center of the George Washington Bridge lane-closings scandal, spent several days meeting with federal prosecutors in Newark last week, according to a report posted online by a Washington-based publication that says it covers “insider news” about the U.S. Department of Justice.
The publication, called “Main Justice,” is also reporting that Charlie McKenna, former chief legal counsel to Gov. Chris Christie, met secretly in mid-January with investigators in the office of New Jersey U.S. Attorney Paul Fishman. ... In recent months, Zegas has said publicly on several occasions that his client would cooperate with investigators if he were to be granted immunity from prosecution.
The Main Justice report says that Fishman’s group of prosecutors working the bridge-scandal case has grown beyond its original three people. Fishman had assigned senior litigator J. Fortier Imbert and federal prosecutors Lee Cortes and Vikas Khanna, leaving for himself the job of making final decisions in the case, the report says. Fishman will consult with Thomas Eicher, head of his office's Criminal Division, first assistant William Fitzpatrick, executive assistant Sabrina Comizzoli and counsel John Fietkiewicz, the report says. ... What began as a preliminary inquiry when U.S. Attorney Paul Fishman announced in January that he would try to determine whether any federal laws have been “implicated” has now morphed into a deepening criminal probe to decide whether federal laws have been broken.
Defense lawyer Miles Feinstein said, “There have been questions as to whether or not there is federal jurisdiction.” Now, he said, “I would have to think that if they now have a grand jury to investigate Bridgegate and perhaps other allegations that, at the very least, it’s been determined that there are federal statutes that may or may not have been violated.”
I will put a link an short review of the New Yorker's Satire "Crossing Chris Christie" in an update, and a poll up soon. Please check back.
The worn turns.
Gush, gush, gush ....
11:20 AM PT: This New Yorker Satire is a bit confusing. My suspicious is that the author originally wrote it as an historical essay on Chris Christie and some busy senior editor at the New Yorker saw more potential as a satire and grafted on some jokes in a rewrite. Maybe I just haven't had my coffee.
Decades ago my consulting work took me to London for an extended engagement. My Sundays were spend reading all the papers which are diverse and excellent there. (Before the days of internet -- it was a treat.) One left-wing paper, had an outraged headline of the worst indignity of abrogation of water rights since some 10th century Lord of something or other. -- Talk about flame war. It was hot and scathing for about 10 paragraphs. I had extra popcorn and was ready to move to England forever, to get this kind of hot conflict every week, then I turned the front page to follow the 4 page story and it turned out to be the dullest report of a two year junior journalist report of the most boring details of some zoning commission battle.
Apparently, this papers senior editor was a brilliant writer "from the old school," who was famous for being drunk all the time. Saw this dreadful 4 Newpaper page long report on zoning commission slop representing 2 years of this junior reporters work, and decided to spice it up by framing it as piece of the eternal battle of centralization versus decentralization and did a spectacular job rewriting the front paragraphs until he passed out 30 minutes later.
Sorry, this is a tangent. To be honest I only skimmed passed page 5, but this piece reminded me a little of it. Perhaps, I just need my morning coffee, as I'm just waking up. My sleep cycles are totally out of whack as I discovered that over this last month is seems easier to get recs and comments in the evenings and night than daytime. Some of us think this is due to the Mobile App bypassing "Recents" and taking Readers to Community when you select it. So I've given up trying to write in the mornings.
I woke up "early" today to try to review an LA Times editorial on our
increasingly dire antibiotic resistant super bug situation for the "sweet spot" of about 3:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m so we get the day shift as they check out, and then people coming home and checking their home "real computers" where those of us who only show up on the "Recent Diaries" get our first real chance of the day.
The LA Times is demanding our remaining precious last line of defense antibiotics be reserved for humans and not be used to fatten animals for profit of agribusiness. Please watch for it.
Ryan Lizza Crossing Chris Christie
What the bridge scandal says about the Governor’s political style, and his future.
Chris Christie’s mentor, former Governor Thomas Kean, says that one of Christie’s flaws “is that he makes enemies and keeps them.”
The Newark roast wasn’t going well, either. The speakers aimed much of their fire at Christie. “You knew whose ass to kiss,” Stone said, referring to Christie’s trip to Vegas. “ ‘Whatever you say, Sheldon! Whatever you say!’ ” Vince August, a New Jersey judge turned comedian, noted, “It really is an honor to be standing next to what could be the next President of the—.” He shuffled some papers on the lectern. “I’m sorry, these are the wrong notes. I’m doing a roast next week with Jeb Bush.” Even Byrne got in a dig, about Christie’s waistline. “Somebody referred to that bronze statue of me that’s in the courthouse,” he said. “Actually, that was supposed to be Governor Christie, but they didn’t have enough money to pay for all that bronze.”
If I thought more people would read it I could write a satire of these two article, or do a poll compare which seem like a funnier satire this real Sheldon Adelson episode, or this Satire which has a lot of apparent history in it. I hope I'm not making a fool of myself. I'll come back and see after coffee if my brain turns on.