As Dems convene, Christie delivers Excedrin headache

'Sammy Rivera Mayor of Passaic	Assemblylman Mims Hackett Mayor of Orange

As New Jersey Democrats prepared for their annual gathering, Chris Christie stole the headlines by arresting a choice bunch of Democratic pols for bribery and conspiracy.

Among the 'tools' Christie used was a fake insurance agency, Coastal Solutions. I was able to capture a cached view of the fake firm's website (see here), even though the FBI took it down yesterday.

Some pretty powerful people got to do the classic 'perp walk', among them Assemblyman Mims Hackett, who is also mayor of Orange; Sammy Rivera, the legendary mayor of Passaic; and Keith O. Reid, chief of staff to Newark's Council president, Mildred Crump.

Christie has some pretty impressive sound bites, indicating wires were worn. One of the best is reported in the NY Times, where Crump's chief of staff is quoted as telling undercover agents that he was the 'offensive coordinator' in Newark and could make even 'the quarterbacks' get in line --

"So, therefore, I get to say, 'That's not the play we're running,' Mr. Reid told the agents, according to court records. "This is the play we're running."

You may be sure there are more pols stocking up on Depends^® today.

I reported the breaking news yesterday here, and you can find complete links to the Ledger, NY Times, Bergen Record/Herald News and Asbury Park Press coverage here.

The thing that puzzles me is how cheaply these pols were bought.

Hadn't any of them heard of 'Boss' Tweed? If you're gonna do it, why do it for what is basically chump change?

Maybe Marx was right and history DOES repeat itself, the first time as tragedy and the second time as farce.

-- Dan Damon

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