Christie body-slammed!
I remember blogging about this way back in 2006 or 2007 -- whether the investigation of U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez by a politically ambitious federal prosecutor named Chris Christie was all politiical, and perhaps tied to the Bush administration U.S.attorney scandal.
Our support for Christie was based on his record of successful prosecutions and his own spotless ethics. But with the passage of time, we've changed our guess — based on two reasons.
One, the the investigation turned up nothing. We know now that this case was not so compelling that it justified warping the outcomes of a race for Senate.
And two, we have learned more about Christie. His ethics are selective. As governor, he has solicited secret donations from state contractors, a practice he used to consider a form of legalized bribery. When officials at the Passaic Valley Sewerage Authority were caught operating a sleazy, self-dealing patronage pit, he went ballistic in public; but when his friends on the Elizabeth Board of Education were caught behaving just as badly, he barely made a peep.
In other words, the emperor has no clothes -- a scary thought on several levels.