July 21, 2014 at 1:07 P.M. Current events in Gaza defy rational comprehension or analysis. The front page of today's Times features a medical doctor in a room filled with the corpses of murdered Palestinian children in a scene out of Dante's "Divine Comedy."
U.S. complaints about alleged Russian participation in the downing of a passenger plane over Eukraine seem irrelevant when we, mostly, ignore the crimes of -- or fail to call for sanctions against -- the nation responsible for the Gaza horrors.
There must be something that the U.S. can do in this crisis.
A "Survey" calling for personal information -- allegedly from the New York Public Library -- appeared on the computer screen as I signed-in to computer #5, Morningside Heights branch. It is never certain whether I will be able to continue writing. I will certainly try to write every day.
Shawn Boburg, "PA Gave Old Christie Firm a Big Contract: Sources Say Agency Was Pressed to Fast-Track Deal for Legal Work," The Record, July 8, 2014, p. A-1.
Matt Arco, "Christie Hits the Road: Governor Leaves Hometown Critics Behind as He Launches Summer Tour in the GOP Spotlight," The Star Ledger, July 8, 2014, p. 1.
Shawn Boburg, "Law Firm With Ties to Gov. Got P.A. Work: Lawyers Earned $6.3 MILLION Since 2010," The Star Ledger, July 8, 2014, p. 13.
"'Joe D.' Gets a Free Pass: Dem's Case Shows New Jersey's Election Watchdog Needs a Makeover," (Editorial) The Star Ledger, July 8, 2014, p. 14. ("Three years ago, Essex County Executive JOE DI VINCENZO was credibly accused of using campaign funds for personal expenses -- everything from flights to Puerto Rico to routine dining at local restaurants -- with people he refuses to identify." The OAE thinks this is hunky-dory: "Joe D Knows How to Eat!")
Frank Askin, "The Supreme Court's Winners and Losers," The Star Ledger, July 8, 2014, p. 15. ("It's time to add up the score for this year's [N.J.] Supreme Court term: winners -- corporations, fat cats, employers, the 1 percent, religious fanatics and free riders.")
Joe Moesynski, "Criminal Charges Dismissed Against Prosecutor, Attorney," The Star Ledger, July 8, 2014, p. 17. (Crooked sheriff as well as prosecutor and defense attorney protected by the system.)
Christopher Baxter, "Officer Gets Seven years For Conspiring," The Star Ledger, July 8, 2014, p. 17. (Corrections officer conspired to bring in cash and phone cards for inmates as part of a network in New Jersey prisons.)
AP, "Morris Man Admits $500,000 Scam," The Record, July 9, 2014, p. A-3. (Peter Lareau, 77, of Mountain Lakes pleaded guilty to wire fraud, but allegedly claimed friendship with Joe Di Vincenzo and Bob Menendez. Lawyers assisting in these transactions have not been accused of wrongdoing.)
Joe C. Ensslin, "Suit Faults Contract Award: Builder Says Rival's Winning Bid On Justice Center is Flawed," The Record, July 9, 2014, p. L-1. (Allegation that $66 MILLION project was awarded to a 'bidder" who is not qualified -- except for BRIBING officials in New Jersey government -- will not go to prosecutors and/or civil courts.)
Stephen Castle, "Limits to Books in Prison," The New York Times, July 2, 2014, p. A9. (Her Majesty's prisons limiting access to books produced protest among authors. Politicians chuckled, until polls began reflecting the effects of literary hostilities against Mr. Cameron's government. Increased numbers of books for inmates are on their way to UK prisons. The goal is for Britain to boast of the best educated criminals in the world. This will be true not only in Parliament, but also in prisons.)
"More PA Deals: Christie's Former Firm Won Contract," (Editorial) The Record, July 9, 2014, p. A-10. (Christie sees the PA as his personal "cookie jar." He is sharing the cookies with his friends.)
"In his first two years in office Chris Christie larded the Port Authority [emphasis added] with more than 50 patronage appointments. Now, it is reported that his former law firm was fast-tracked to receive a large contract from the Port Authority." ("New Jersey is the Home of the Living Dead.")
Mr. Christie has decided that his former law firm -- cosy colleagues from that firm -- requires socialistic assistance, or fees, from public funds. ("Christie Gives Contributor $1 Million of N.J. Money.")
Once again, Christie is turning to persons he has appointed at the PA to obtain money for his intended beneficiaries, that is, to enrich his friends, often the same persons that he has appointed to PA positions in the first place:
" ... the Christie administration pushed the Port Authority to hire the law firm Dughie & Hewit (now Dughie, Hewit and Domaleski, Esqs.). The firm has very close ties to the governor -- Christie was a partner in the firm before being appointed U.S. Attorney for New Jersey." ("U.S. Attorney Calls New Jersey a Culture of Corruption.")
Mr. Christie was once "outraged" by law firms connected to the Democratic party that specialized in "public work" protected by politicians to whom they contributed, legally and illegally.
Evidently, his own "generosity" as New Jersey Governor benefitting his former law partners -- who are bound to remember Christie at election time! -- is just fine. ("New Jersey's Politically-Connected Lawyers On the Tit" and "Corrupt Law Firms, Senator Bob, and New Jersey Ethics" then "New Jersey Lawyers' Ethics Farce" and "Have you no shame, Mr. Rabner?")
It is curious that Mr. Christie's firm was awarded the contract paid for by N.Y. and N.J. taxpayers "without having to go through a competitive selection process." ("Senator Bob Loves Xanadu!" and "Law and Ethics in the Soprano State.")
Legal ethics should preclude such mutual back-scratching and pay-to-play politics. There should be ethics investigations into these matters.
The Office of Attorney Ethics (OAE) is corrupt and cowardly, however, while the state's legal ethics committee is drawn from the very crooked law firms that are most in need of regulation. ("New Jersey's Office of Attorney Ethics" and "John McGill, Esq., the OAE, and New Jersey Corruption.")
Mr. Christie's firm is a good example of the hypocrisy and dual standards afflicting the system. Prominent law firms have no incentive to change things as long as they are getting fat, as it were, from the people's wealth. ("New Jersey's 'Ethical' Legal System" and "Is America's Legal Ethics a Lie?")
The lie that is legal ethics in New Jersey makes the state more of a farce than it already is in global perceptions and renders it "unlikely" that Mr. Christie will charm voters in Iowa to look away from his faults, despite his elegant and beautiful personal appearance, to endorse his presidential bid:
"Chris Christie was going to be someone different. That is what he has been telling the people of New Jersey as far back as his days as a Morris County 'Freeholder.' ..."
Mr. Christie's tactics in the G.W.B. crisis, additional evidence of his lies, cover-ups, and now dipping into the public treasury to enrich friends insuring future support -- all of this "business as usual" -- has made Mr. Christie seem no different from his predecessors whom he charged, tried, (and often succeeded) in imprisoning for doing exactly what he is doing now, or for much less than what he is doing in office:
"Dughie and Hewit was hired to to handle litigation resulting from the Port Authority's purchase of waterfront land in Bayonne at a price that The New York Times reported was far greater than the appraised value."
The law firm's real mission will be to protect Christie in connection with this transaction in order to prevent another public scandal from interfering with Christie's presidential bid. ("Christie's Bridge of Sighs" and "The Teflon Governor.")
The firm represents Christie, not the PA. This blatant conflict of interest will also be ignored by the OAE with utter disdain for New Jersey's public that is without protection from "unethical lawyering" in this matter. ("New Jersey's Office of Attorney Ethics.")
Shame on the OAE and New Jersey's Supreme Court, yet again. ("New Jersey's Judges Disgrace America" and "New Jersey's Failed Judiciary" then "New Jersey Supreme Court's Implosion.")
