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Why hasn't abusive bully Chris Christie been impeached yet?

Chris Christie isn't just a bully but an abuser who's lied repeatedly to the people of New Jersey. Why won't lawmakers impeach him?

I've said it, you've said it, we've all said it. While 2016 may be remembered by some folks — I'm looking at you, Chicago Cubs fans — as the best of times, when it comes to politics and a civil society it's arguably been the worst moment in nearly a half-century. I know we're all anticipating the arrival of Nov. 9 (and the presumed end of the Orange Peril) more right now than we're looking forward to the Dec. 25 odyssey of St. Nick. That said, it's possible that some permanent good will rise from the muck of 2016.

In his astounding awfulness, Donald Trump has forced America to start a national conversation it should have had decades — OK, actually centuries —ago, about how men abuse their power in their treatment of women, about rape culture, about the prevalence of sexual harassment, and about what constitutes consent. The shocking and yet also not shocking disclosure of how Trump viewed women and his ability — as a wealthy celebrity — to override their consent, which almost perfectly aligns with Trump's actual behavior as related by at least 11 different women with remarkably similar stories, maybe long be remembered as the turning point in America's sexual politics. It almost makes you want to say, thank you, Billy Bush! (Well, OK, let's not get carried away...)

This is nothing new. Everyone knows about our culture of gender abuse, has seen the abuse, has been on the receiving end of the horrific abuse, or — regardless of whether they can recognize it — been on the giving end. I think back more than 30 years ago to one of my all-time favorite movies, 1982's "The Verdict" with Paul Newman, and the "Perry Mason moment" near the end when a hospital nurse admits on the stand that she was ordered to falsify records and surrender her own career to cover up for an epic screw-up by the powerful, male surgeons. "Who are these men!" she blurts out. "I wanted to be a nurse!"

Who are these men?!

Here's a breakdown from Star-Ledger columnist Tom Moran, who's been something of a moral beacon for New Jersey during the moral darkness of the Christie years:

But the moment most of us will remember came when Bridget Anne Kelly broke down in tears as she described the monstrous behavior of our governor behind closed doors.

The worst of it, Kelly testified, came when the governor threw a bottle of water at her in a fury, hitting her on the arm as she tried to jump out of the way.

It wasn't clear what sparked this, but it came after the big fire in Seaside Heights in 2013. Kelly was in charge of the governor's relations with local governments, and she had been working non-stop, starting at 5 a.m. the day before and arriving home at 10 p.m.

The next day she was back in Seaside Heights, describing to the governor the logistics of a public meeting he was about to hold to discuss the fire. For some reason, he didn't like her plan.

"What do you think I am, a f...ing game-show host?" he screamed.

And then the bottle flew.

For Kelly, it was obviously traumatic, and she cried on the stand when she described it.

"Were you afraid of the governor?" asked her attorney, Michael Critchley.

"Yes," she replied.

"He was a big tough guy, eh?"

"Yes."

After roughly seven years of Christie fatigue, I doubted there could be something new about the New Jersey governor that could make me think even less of him, that could send a new shudder of complete moral revulsion like this testimony from Kelly. The man isn't just a bully. He's an abuser who — according to sworn testimony now — assaulted a staffer. For too long, we've been living in a fog where powerful men like Bill Cosby, Donald Trump and Chris Christie were getting away with stuff exactly because of what Trump said, that "when you're a star, they let you do it..." But in this brave new world of 2016, where it's all finally coming out in the open, isn't it time that this abusive bully got his official comeuppance?

Many will mention — and they should mention — that Bill Clinton was also a powerful man who has behaved terribly toward women. Yes, he was, and he was impeached by the House of Representatives for his actions, including lying about his conduct. But think in that context about Christie, who has clearly lied repeatedly to the citizens of New Jersey about his own behavior.

We now have two "Bridgegate" witnesses — Kelly and convicted-conspirator-turned-prosecution-witness David Wildstein — who said that Christie was clearly aware of the George Washington Bridge lane closures before they happened (says Kelly) or while they were causing paralyzing traffic jams in Fort Lee (says Wildstein). What's more, there's no doubt that whatever Christie knew, the governor was the mastermind of a culture of crude bullying and intimidation to get Democratic mayors of New Jersey's larger cities to endorse him or make other political concessions. And the administration clearly aimed to deceive state lawmakers about what it was doing.

And yet the only real bravery against Chris Christie has come from a political gadfly and a judge in  Bergen County who signed an official misconduct complaint against the governor for his role in the bridge plot. Prosecutors won't touch him, and the legislators who hold the ultimate power to sanction Christie for deceiving them have failed to act. Is it because — just like Bridget Anne Kelley — they are afraid of this abusive jerk?

Who are these men? It is it any surprise that the holy trinity of American misogyny —Trump, Christie, and Rudy Giuliani (honorable mention: Newt Gingrich) — have found each other as political soulmates in 2016? Trump and his offensive conduct is about to be massively rejected by the American people on Nov. 8, but what of Chris Christie? Yes, his political clock is running down — but does New Jersey really need another 14 months of this guy as its leader, acting as such a poor role model for the state's children? The case for impeaching Chris Christie and removing him from office was strong even before the "Bridgegate" trial started; today it's iron-clad, with an added opportunity to send a strong message about abuse. So what is the New Jersey Legislature waiting for?