Tag: New Jersey

Poor Gov. Chris Christie has a sad.

Does anyone truly believe that a deputy assistant director would take it upon herself to send this e-mail, if the governor, himself, had not been aware of it? Especially, a control freak, like Chris Christie, who is well known for be a bully and for the misuse of the power of his office?  

What is even more puzzling, why would any voter in his right mind consider this man a contender for the presidency of the US, let alone the governorship of a state (Oh, wait, GWB, but that was Texas)? What was the Democratic leadership thinking when they backed this blowhard, abusive epitome of dirty politics?

Does anyone believe that he only just learned about this yesterday? And, as far as he knew, it was a traffic study? Where has he been the last few weeks, Mars?

As Charles Pierce, rather politely out it, “what a fking poltroon”

He was the only victim here. Reading the smoking-gun e-mails, he felt “sad and betrayed” in his pajamas yesterday. (And, again, governor, please do not ever put that image in my head again and how is it that he hadn’t slept in 36 hours if he only learned about this yesterday morning?) He doesn’t know how this disloyal brood of vipers that he hired got the idea that he would be open to some indiscreet political bullying, because he doesn’t think he’s created a climate of bullying in his administration, hasn’t given that much thought at all because he’s spent all the time thinking about how he had come to such a terrible pass, his trust betrayed by Bridget Kelly, the Machiavellette who blindsided the poor dear. Under the bus, acushla. There’s still plenty of room.

And he didn’t even know David Wildstein in high school! He was too busy being the BMOC.

The basic theme of the press conference was that Big Chicken was responsible for one thing and one thing only — of trusting people who preyed on his well-known innocence and his extensively documented and deeply held faith in his fellow human beings. Hell, he didn’t even know the mayor of Fort Lee’s name! He searched his soul and that’s what he came up with — he, Chris Christie, was sold down the river and, because he, Chris Christie was sold down the river, the people of New Jersey, embodied by him, were also betrayed. He was humiliated. He was deceived. What a world it is when a man cannot trust the hacks whom he appoints to serve him. Jesus H. Christ in the HOV lane, Nixon threw Haldeman and Ehrlichman out the windows with more compassion and fellow feeling than Christie demonstrated yesterday.

He apologized to the people in Fort Lee for allowing this passel of Judases to do these terrible things to him. How, he asked, could they possibly look at him berate schoolteachers and reporters and act like a general jackass throughout his political career and think he possibly could sit still for such obvious thuggery? He was a maverick. He works with both sides. He took an oath. Why is he the only honest man in this whole mess? It’s a heavy burden he carries, a lonely road he walks, but he will do it on behalf of the people of New Jersey for what he’s done to them by allowing such terrible, awful, horrible things to be done to him. “This was the job I asked for, and I gotta do it!” What a man is this. Stay under the damn bus, Bridget.

And just for laughs, in the midst of an ongoing investigation by state and federal authorities, Gov. Christie nominated his Chief of Staff, Kevin O’Dowd, to be the next state attorney general. If confirmed by the Democratic Senate, Mr. O’Dowd would be in charge of the investigation that may well involve himself. He is scheduled to appear before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday.

Even as the controversy over lane closures at the George Washington Bridge continues to roil the Trenton waters, one man who has so far not been implicated could find his future altered.

Kevin O’Dowd, who served as Gov. Chris Christie’s chief of staff as so called ‘bridgegate’ unfolded last fall was nominated last month as the state’s new attorney general.  He is due to go before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday.

The problem for O’Dowd is that Deputy Chief of Staff Bridget Kelly, who was implicated today as part of the investigation into the flap, worked for him. To date none of the emails that have surfaced implicate O’Dowd, even as several other administration members have found themselves caught up in the controversy.

But Judiciary Committee Chairman Sen. Nicholas Scutari said late last night he doesn’t know what effect Kelly’s role in the growing scandal will have on O’Dowd, adding that he’ll wait to see what comes out of today’s Assembly Transportation Committee hearing before deciding what’s next.

The side show continues.

The Great Philadelphia Textile Strike of 1903

The Central Textile Workers Union of Philadelphia held a meeting the evening of May 27, 1903. A vote was taken and a general strike call was issued. That general strike eventually caused 100,000 textile workers to go out on strike in the Philadelphia area. 16,000 of those were children under the age of 16, some as young as 8 or 9 years of age. The textile industry of the day employed children at a higher rate than any other industry. The number given from the 1900 census was 80,000. In cotton textiles, they made up 13.1% of the work force, and that rate reached 30% in the South.

The Central Textile Workers’ Union issued this statement:

Thirty-six trades, representing 90,000 people, ask the employers to reduce working hours from sixty to fifty-five hours a week. They are willing that wages be reduced accordingly. They strike for lower wages in an effort to get shorter hours.

Three trades, representing 10,000 people, ask for the same reduction in working hours, but, in addition, they ask for the same weekly wages or a slight increase, averaging ten per cent.

The request for shorter hours is made primarily for the sake of the children and women. For six years the organized textile workers of Philadelphia have been trying in vain to persuade the politician-controlled Legislature of Pennsylvania to pass a law which would reduce the working hours of children and women and stop them from doing night work.

Average  wages for adults for 60 hours of work were $13. Children working 60 hours(!) got $2.

On Monday June 1st, at least 90,000 textile workers went out on strike in the Philadelphia area. Of the 600 mills in the city, about 550 were idle. Philadelphia now had more workers out on strike than at any other time in her history. Several thousand workers had already been on strike before the textile strike began, including: the carriage and wagon builders, and the carpenters along with others working in the building trades. It appeared that the city would be in for a long hot summer.

By the next day, Tuesday, the strike spread to the hosiery mills, increasing the army of idle workers by  8,000  Most of these were women and children employed in the Kensington district. This class of workers was unorganized, but they decided to join the ranks of the unionist in other branches of the textile trade as they witnessed the magnitude of the fight for a shorter work week. The Manufacturers vowed they would not submit to the union demands even if they had to shut down their factories indefinitely.

Ed Schultz rails against the latest attack on the middles class, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie’s bill ending collective bargaining on health care for state employees and reducing their benefits.

This is an outrageous attack on state employees and unions that will hurt them for years. The bill will increase the costs of contributions to pension funds and limit access to health care at the same time it could increase subscriber costs by several hundred percent.  It removes the right to choose where they go for treatment unless they purchase an even more expensive plan. Most public employees have no collective bargaining rights except for health care, this bill ends that right.

It also freezes retirees cost of living adjustments (COLA) for the next 30 years. These raises have fluctuated and for the last two years have been 0%. Without some raises the elderly in New Jersey may well find themselves impoverished.

While the bill was opposed by many Democrats, it was the Democratic leadership, including Senate President Stephen Sweeney, Assembly Speaker Sheila Oliver and Assemblyman Lou Greenwald, who sold out betrayed the fundamental Democratic values. Any Democrat that voted for this horrendous bill should be primaried by a real Democrat.

Posted at DKos as “Just Looking.”

I have a few pleasant photography stories to tell from a week ago. Between the autumn color and the desperation of one last warm weather week, it was a good week for a photo buff. Now don’t go busting my bubble by just looking at the photos because you can learn a lot from a photographer. We see things.

Below you will find a Third Rock from the Sun brief encounter during an evening walk in the Village. I have several memories from a lecture I attended on photojournalism. There is a pleasant Veterans Day walk under the George Washington Bridge on the New Jersey side followed by a sunset from the New York side. Then a Friday afternoon walk in Central Park with some music videos I made and all day Saturday there too. There is even a little taste of Florence, Italy.