Great Way For Christie To Go Out (SECOND UPDATE)

The NY Times is reporting that indictments in the Bridgegate investigation are expected soon, perhaps as early as next week.

Commenters over at NJ.com are speculating on just who's going to get indicted.

Many are hopeful Christie himself will be indicted and one has a fantastic idea:

Wouldn't it be great if Christie were arrested in public at a town hall meeting. Probably won't happen, but would be a great "news" moment.

Indeed it would.

But it's probably not going to happen.

I'm not even that sure Christie got a real legal problem here.

If the indictments go as high as David Samson, then Christie's got serious problems, since Samson probably has enough on Christie to make a swell federal witness.

But anything less than a Samson indictment and Christie's got some political fallout to deal with but probably no legal problems.

In any case, it's very exciting and I must admit, I feel a little like a kid waiting for Christmas to see if Santa brought me what I wanted - a multiple count indictment for Chris Christie and a perp walk in handcuffs.

UPDATED - 9:30 PM: OK, it's starting to look like Samson's a goner:

This is from the Bergen Record tonight:

The Port Authority on Wednesday provided its most detailed accounting yet of what federal investigators are focused on in the 15-month probe that grew out of the George Washington Bridge lane closure scandal.

The disclosure, in a notice to potential buyers of Port Authority bonds, indicates that federal prosecutors have issued grand jury subpoenas demanding a wide range of documents related to a flight route United Airlines created between Newark and Columbia, South Carolina — close to a weekend home of Port Authority Chairman David Samson. The route, which Samson referred to as the “chairman’s flight,” according to one source, was cancelled three days after Samson resigned last year.

The Record reported in February that federal authorities had asked the Port Authority for Samson’s personal travel records and communications with United and its lobbyist. But the disclosure says authorities also asked for records of any travel by Samson’s family members or guests.

The subpoenas also demand information about several matters that were the subject of negotiations between the Port Authority and United while Samson was chairman, including United’s construction of a wide-body aircraft maintenance hangar and the airline’s lease of land to build the hangar.

The Port Authority also received a letter from federal authorities in New Jersey requesting that the agency preserve all records concerning the redevelopment of two terminals at the airport, Terminal A and Terminal C, as well as United’s lease of Terminal C. United operates most of its flights out of Terminal C.

Authorities also want the Port Authority to save documents related to the extension of the PATH train line to Newark Airport — a project that United had pushed for in recent years — and United’s flights out of Atlantic City. The airline’s service in Atlantic City was hailed by Governor Christie as part of the city’s rebirth, but it lasted less than a year.

The disclosure also lists subpoenas issued by other agencies investigating the Port Authority and its former officials. The Manhattan District Attorney’s Office, it states, has asked for records related to the observation deck at One World Trade Center.

The contract to manage the operation deck was won by Legends, a company partly owned by Dallas Cowboys Jerry Jones, who Christie has said was a friend. That relationship stirred controversy late last year when Jones flew Christie to a playoff football game and hosted him in the owner’s suite, raising questions about whether the personal relationship influenced the awarding of the observation deck contract. Christie has denied any connection.

Judging by what the feds are subpoenaing, Samson's got real problems.

And if Samson's got problems, well, Chris Christie's got them too.

SECOND UPDATE - 10:10 PM: Missed this story about David Samson yesterday that's further evidence he's going to be indicted:

A close political confidant and adviser to Governor Christie who has been the subject of an ongoing federal investigation arising out of the George Washington Bridge scandal said Tuesday that he is leaving the powerful law firm that he founded decades ago. And the firm, Wolff & Samson, is erasing David Samson’s name from the front door, a move that some see as an effort to protect the firm from any potential fallout that may lie ahead.

“For personal, professional and health reasons, I have made the decision to retire,” Samson, 75, said in a statement issued by his spokeswoman, Karen Kessler. “After my five decades practicing law, it was time for new leaders to transition the firm for the future.”

The name change — to Chiesa Shahinian & Giantomasi PC — erases any trace of Samson, a rare decision for a law firm that has built a recognizable brand over several decades.

 “If he is just going into retirement, it’s very unusual to change the name of an established firm out of the blue,” said Micah Buchdahl, a Moorestown attorney who works with law firms on business development and marketing strategy. “If you’re a well-known entity, as Wolff & Samson was, you don’t just throw it away without careful consideration.”

Yeah, okay, Samson's done, that's clear.

Now the only question is, does he turn on Christie?

Cuomo Puts A Criminal In Charge Of The State Democratic Party

From State of Politics:

Former Gov. David Paterson on Wednesday was formally installed by the state Democratic Committee as its next chairman, assuming the post from Harlem Assemblyman Keith Wright.

Paterson, addressing the delegates on the first day of the Democratic convention here in Melville, naturally opened with a joke.

“So you thought you were rid of me,” Paterson said.

A woman in the crowd yelled, “We love you David.”

Paterson, not missing a beat, said: “Give it a few minutes.”

It was only four years ago that Paterson declined to run for re-election as Democrats in the state coalesced around Attorney General Andrew Cuomo.

Now Paterson is assuming a more overtly political role for Cuomo, and his speech reflected that, hitting on similar themes the state party wants to get across at the convention.

What State of Politics fails to report is the reason why Paterson didn't run for re-election as governor himself - because he had engaged in witness tampering and perjury:

New York Governor David Paterson in 2010 was accused of witness tampering to protect an aide accused of abusing his girlfriend and lying under oath about whether he intended to pay for 2009 World Series tickets at Yankee Stadium. In the wake of the scandals there were calls for him to resign as governor. Paterson suspended his campaign for re-election. Five staff members have resigned. However no criminal charges have been brought against him although his aide has been charged in the abuse case.

The witness tampering claim came to light in February 2010 involving staffer David W. Johnson after New York State Police and his staffers talked to the woman to get her to drop the case. Paterson was accused of talking to the woman personally a day before the case was dropped.^[1] Paterson dropped his re-election bid on February 26 but has maintained his innocence and rejected calls for his resignation.

On March 3, 2010, charges were made he had lied under oath with regard to charges that he through Johnson had solicited free tickets from the Yankees for the World Series.

Timeline

• October 28, 2009 – Paterson and Johnson attend the opening game of the 2009 World Series at Yankee Stadium. Included in the party is Paterson's 15-year-old son, a friend of his son and another member of his staff, allegedly using free tickets provided by the Yankees. Paterson would be formally accused of improperly accepting the tickets by the New York State Commission on Public Integrity on March 3, 2010.^[2]
• October 31, 2009 – Johnson (born in 1972) who is six feet seven, upon finding his live-in girlfriend Sherr-una Booker and a female friend dressed in Halloween costumes he did not like is accused of choking Booker and throwing her against dresser and ripping off the costume. When she tried to call the police he took her phone and left. New York City Police who have jurisdiction in the case in the Bronx arrive at 9:50 p.m. Police reported there were no visible signs of injury but she later reported she had been bruised.^[3][4][5]
• November 1, 2009 – Johnson attempts to contact State Police superintendent Harry J. Corbitt to discuss the case. Failing that he contacts Charles Day, head of the governor's security unit, who gets permission from First Deputy Superintendent Pedro J. Perez to talk to Booker even though the state does not have jurisdiction in the case.^[6]
• November 2, 2009 – Booker gets an order of protection against Johnson and complains that the state police are harassing her. Police say they are just offering her counseling options. No charges are filed against Johnson.
• November 4, 2009 – Booker in court says that Johnson is avoiding being served on the order.
• December 17, 2009 – In court Johnson's lawyer refuses to accept the order on his client's behalf.^[7]
• Late January–Early February 2010 – Paterson asks press secretary Marissa Shorenstein and staffer Deneane Brown, who actually knew Booker, and arranged for Booker to call the governor.^[8]
• February 7 – Booker at Brown's request calls the governor. Paterson says he did not bring up the assault allegation in the conversation. He said he just offered her his help and said he wanted to check that the woman was all right.^[6]
• February 8 – Booker does not attend a hearing on the order and the case is dropped.
• February 9 – In another high-profile abuse case, the New York State Senate expels Hiram Monserrate, who was convicted of assaulting his girlfriend with a broken drinking glass.^[9]
• February 9 – Rumors circulate that the New York Times has a story that will force the governor to resign or drop out of the governor's race. Rumors speculated it would be about womanizing or drug use.^[10]
• February 16 – The New York Times runs a profile on Johnson and his rise to power from being Paterson's intern and chauffeur to being his closest adviser. The Times reports on the abuse case.
• February 17 – Paterson denounces the New York Times for reporting on Johnson and stands by his aide, saying as to Johnson's conduct, "I profoundly believe in this principle of redemption and giving young people a second chance." ^[11]
• February 20 – Paterson formally begins his bid for election in a speech at his former law school Hofstra.
• February 24 - The New York Times reports on the state police connection and Paterson's involvement. Paterson suspends Johnson and asks State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo to investigate.
• February 25 - Denise E. O’Donnell, deputy secretary for public safety which supervises the state police, resigns in protest saying that State Police superintendent, Harry J. Corbitt, had assured her that the state police were not involved in the case.^[12] Corbitt was quoted in the media saying state police visits were customary in episodes that might attract media attention—a comment that the Times "dismissed as false by many inside and outside the State Police." Corbitt denied that he misled O'Donnell.^[4]
• February 26 - Paterson withdraws in a speech in New York City during the Third North American blizzard of 2010. Paterson says "It hasn't been the latest distraction; it has been an accumulation of obstacles that has obfuscated me from bringing my message to the public...I give you this personal oath: I have never abused my office - not now, not ever - and I believe that when the facts are revealed the truth will prevail."^[13]
• March 2 – Gillibrand calls for Paterson to resign saying, "At the end of the day, if the allegations of abuse of power are true, then the governor will be unable to govern and he will have to step down,’’ ^[14]
• March 3 - Corbitt announces he is taking an early retirement Corbitt had earlier retired but came back at the request of Paterson. Corbitt said, “I'm not an elected official; I'm a public servant, I'm a cop. And a good cop. So to continue to face that pressure, and even pressure from my family, the media showing up in my driveway — that's unacceptable. So for my own health and for my own sanity it's the right thing to do.”^[15]
• March 3 - Long-term ally Charles B. Rangel resigns his chairmanship at least temporarily from the House Ways and Means Committee as he faces his own ethics issue. The local NBC station notes that Rangel's and Paterson's problems further indicate decline in power and influence for "Harlem's Gang of Four" (Rangel, Basil Paterson (the governor's father), David Dinkins, and Percy Sutton (who died in December 2009)).^[16]
• March 3 - The New York Commission on Public Integrity acting a complaint from the New York Public Interest Research Group issues a report saying Paterson lied under oath with regards to the five World Series tickets behind home plate that had a face value of $425 each. The Commission said that Paterson testified he intended to pay for them and that he backdated a check for them. The report said that Johnson had asked for the tickets because Paterson was to play a ceremonial role in the game but he did not participate in any formal way and was not introduced.^[17][18]
• March 4 - Communications director Peter Kauffmann, top spokesman for Gov. Paterson resigns saying, "Unfortunately as recent developments have come to light, I cannot in good conscience continue in my position." Kauffmann's email and testimony were taken in the World Series scandal.^[19]
• March 9 - Perez announces his early retirement, saying in his letter, "My retirement is not premised on the current investigation by the attorney general, as I know my decisions were honest and rightly motivated,”^[20]
• March 11 - One day after Paterson said he was recusing himself from decisions on the Aqueduct Racetrack "on the advice of his lawyers," his office announced that the office was no longer supporting Aqueduct Entertainment Group's bid and that the Division of Lottery will handle a new bidding process that is "transparent" and "apolitical."^[21]
• March 12 – Andrew Cuomo recuses himself from investigating the case saying, "I wish to avoid any possible appearance of any political interest or conflict whatsoever." Judith Kaye, who had sworn Paterson in as governor, was named independent counsel with powers to bring criminal charges in the cases.^[22]
• March 16 – Paterson’s new attorney Ted Wells released an email exchange between the Yankees on October 7–8 showing that the Yankees had invited Paterson to the playoffs. Paterson declined the tickets but said he would be interested in World Series tickets.^[23]
• March 17 – Shorenstein resigned, saying, “Due to the circumstances that have led to my unwitting involvement in recent news stories, I can no longer do my job effectively.”^[24]
• March 18 – WNYC releases a story detailing how New York governors have used the state police to meddle inappropriately dating back to George Pataki when he in meddled in the parole board.^[25]
• March 18 - Paterson told John Gambling of WOR (AM) that he was the person who leaked the information about the February 7 conversation with Booker saying "the individual who first made it clear that there had been a conversation was myself." The New York Times responded by saying the Administration (via Kauffman) only responded after the Times specifically asked about the conversation.^[26]
• March 24 - The New York Times reported that Paterson on February 16, 2010, instructed an assistant in office to send an email to Booker asking her to issue a statements to the press saying that Booker’s and Johnson’s breakup months earlier “had been unfriendly but not violent, and that any charges related to the altercation had been dropped.” Booker declined. The Times said Paterson and Booker spoke several times as the Times was preparing its February 24 article. The Times article also said that State Police Maj. Day spoke to Booker between the October 31 altercation and the arrival of the New York City police. Paterson’s attorney Wells was quoted in the story as saying “he will not comment on a piecemeal basis to incomplete and often factually inaccurate press reports.”^[27]
• July 28 - Judith Kaye in a 54-page report says Paterson showed "remarkable lack of judgment - but violated no criminal laws" and recommended against any prosecution although the final decision could be made by the Bronx District Attorney.^[28][29]
• August 12 - Johnson is formally charged with third-degree assault, three counts of criminal mischief, menacing and harassment. ^[30][31]
• August 17 – Kauffmann testifies before State Commission on Public Integrity that after being contacted by a New York Post report he advised the governor the “smartest thing to do was to pay for all the tickets” but the governor refused initially. Executives for the Yankees testified that they had not given the tickets to Paterson as a gift. The Commission could fine the governor $93,000 for the infraction. Paterson or any representative for him do not attend the hearing.^[32]
• August 26 - Kaye in a report on the World Series tickets issues says that Paterson may have lied under oath to members of the state Commission on Public Integrity investigating the matter. The report leaves it up to Albany District Attorney David Soares to decide whether charges would be filed.^[33]
• August 31 - Paterson says he plans no formal action against Clemmie Harris (an aide who had the earlier contact with Booker) or Johnson. Harris remains on the staff and Johnson has not been paid since February.^[34]
• December 20 - The Commission on Public Integrity says Paterson lied about the tickets and fines him $62,125.^[35]
• March 2, 2011, Johnson pleads guilty to misdemeanor second-degree harassment. If he stays out of trouble for a year it will be removed from his record.^[36]

David Paterson doesn't belong running the New York State Democratic Party for Andrew Cuomo.

He belongs in prison.

At the very least, he ought to be drummed out of politics for good.

But Cuomo has brought him back into the public sphere and made him the public face of the State Democratic Party.

Which I guess is pretty emblematic of circumstances these days.

Andy Coulson Detained By Police In Scotland Over Suspected Perjury

More quality behavior from the quality people in Rupert Murdoch's organization:

Andy Coulson, David Cameron's former director of communications, has been detained by police investigating alleged perjury at the trial of the Scottish socialist politician Tommy Sheridan.

Strathclyde police said Coulson was detained in London on Wednesday morning for questioning in connection with evidence the former News of the World editor gave during Sheridan's own trial for perjury in December 2010.

Coulson is currently travelling under escort with Strathclyde police officers and being taken to Govan police station in Glasgow, the base for Operation Rubicon, the inquiry set up to investigate alleged perjury at the trial. He will be questioned later on Wednesday.

Coulson, who was then serving as the prime minister's chief media adviser at 10 Downing Street, was called as a defence witness by Sheridan, who was on trial for lying in court when he won a £200,000 defamation action against the NoW.

The former NoW editor was questioned over two days at the high court in Glasgow by Sheridan, who conducted his own defence, about his knowledge of a hacking operation against Sheridan carried out by Glenn Mulcaire.

During the trial, Sheridan produced documentary evidence that he had been twice targeted by Mulcaire, a private detective hired by the NoW, in 2004.

It has since emerged that other close members of Sheridan's family and associates were also named and potentially targeted by Mulcaire, including the politician's mother, Alice Sheridan, and the Scottish politician Joan McAlpine, a former friend of his who co-wrote a book on Sheridan's anti-poll tax campaign in the early 1990s.

Strathclyde police, in tandem with senior prosecutors at the Crown Office, Scotland's prosecution authority, launched an inquiry into alleged perjury at Sheridan's trial and into hacking in Scotland last autumn. The investigation, Operation Rubicon, involved at least 50 detectives.

Under Scottish police procedure, Coulson has not been formally arrested as he has not yet been charged. This is the second time he has been detained in connection with the wider hacking affair: he has already been arrested by the Metropolitan police as part of its investigations into NI.

So it goes.

Does He Get His Job And Reputation Back?

The New York Daily News, a newspaper currently run by a man accused of covering up thousands of incidents of illegal phone hacking, bribery, extortion and other crimes when he was the editor for Rupert Murdoch's News of the World, is on a crusade.

The Daily News is out to get rid of all the "perverts" from the school system.

They've got a battery of reporters on the beat, meeting with DOE officials and reading through lots of Tweed-edited correspondence and half truths which they then publish verbatim in the News without checking on the validity or truthfulness of the DOE's claims.

This is of course in the public interest, since even people falsely accused of crimes should not work in the school system and must be weeded out by the crack team of Daily News "Perv Teacher" reporters on the case.

In today's News we learn about one of those "perverts" in the school system, a father of three who worked as a school and aide and was falsely accused of a crime:

An Upper West Side public school aide who was arrested for sex abuse and fired was freed Thursday after the charges proved unfounded.

Hany Abdalla, a paraprofessional at Public School 84 on W.92nd Street,St., was accused of touching an 8-year-old girl and arrested Wednesday.

But the 35-year-old married father of three, who has worked at PS 84 since 2007, was freed Thursday and all charges were dropped.

His lawyer, Virginia LoPreto, said the accuser’s account was contradicted by teachers and other students in the second-grade class.

“There were serious questions about the validity of the allegations,” LoPreto said. “We can only hope that the rumors that this was motivated by ethnic bias are untrue.”

At least seven city school workers have been arrested for sex crimes involving students in 2012.

Education officials said that Abdalla had no previous investigations by school authorities or police.

Arrested on Wednesday, fired on Wednesday, name splashed all over the papers Thursday morning as another one of those school perverts...but freed on Thursday when the police dropped all charges because the allegations were false and were contradicted by teachers and other students.

This man will get his reputation back?

No, not after his name was splashed all over the media as a "child molester" and "pervert."

This man will get his job back?

Probably not - because as we have learned from the Daily News' "Perv Teachers" series over the past few weeks, teachers or DOE employees who are falsely accused of crimes and exonerated are STILL guilty and not allowed to work in the schools system.

Once accused, always guilty.

Guilty even when proven innocent.

That's the motto of the NYCDOE, Chancellor Walcott and his crack team of Daily News, NY Post and other media stenographers who post his words for all to see in the papers.

Meanwhile Colin Myler, the Daily News editor who has admitted he lied to Parliament during a hacking inquiry and stands accused of covering up thousands of incidents of illegal phone hacking, bribery, extortion and other crimes when he was the editor for Rupert Murdoch's News of the World, not only STILL has his job, he's STILL on his crusade to root out real and imagined "perverts" from the NYC school system.

Funny how that works.

Actually, it's not funny at all.

Bloomberg Should Be Brought Up On Racketeering Charges

Juan Gonzalez shows how the DOE tech consultant stole $3.6 million from the city and how he was aided by DOE vendors IBM and Verizon:

Prosecutors say former Department of Education consultant Ross Lanham bilked more than $3.6 million from taxpayers. Lanham was the man in charge of a federally funded project to wire our public schools for Internet service - an effort that has already cost a whopping $1 billion.

Prosecutors claim Lanham directed subcontractors he supervised to hire the people supplied by his own company - among them his brother - then grossly inflated the billings of those people.

He pocketed the difference for himself.

They say he approved payments for no-show jobs, arranged kickbacks from contractors, and then hid all of this from Education officials by using layers of other phantom companies.

...

Take Lanham's brother, Robert, for example. His main job was working from home reviewing electronic files of school phone bills, according to a report released yesterday by Special Commissioner of Investigation Richard Condon.

For this Robert Lanham was paid a very healthy rate of $40 per hour.

Willard Lanham's company then charged a Verizon subcontractor $175 an hour for the brother's labor. The subcontractor, in turn, billed Verizon $192.50 for the same guy.

Verizon then marked up the final price to the DOE to $225 an hour.

Made mobsters and streetcorner hoods display more ethics than these clowns.

Gonzalez points out the connection to the CityTime scandal that had six people being arrested after they stole more than $85 million from the city:

Just as with CityTime - the huge computerized payroll project from which four consultants are accused of stealing more than $85 million - the alleged mastermind of the scheme was the very person the city had put in charge.

Just as with CityTime, city officials who were supposed to supervise Lanham were nowhere to be found. They allowed him to approve spending increases and claimed no knowledge of a scheme that went on for years.

And just like CityTime, big-name national firms involved in the project never alerted authorities to the apparently shady dealings. Instead, those companies - this time it was Verizon and IBM - like Lanham profited from excessive markups for the same consultants, then helped disguise their payments.

He wonders how it is nobody from Verizon or IBM got charged in this case:

No official from Verizon or IBM was accused of any wrongdoing. You have to wonder why.

It's pretty apparent that some executives from those companies knew much of what was going on.

"Verizon employees were unaware of any wrongdoing in connection with the project," company spokesman John Bonomo said.

"We have told DOE we are prepared to return any inappropriate profits," he added.

And finally he points out how much Bloomberg is going to spend on outside tech consultants next year (after already spending over $1 billion on tech upgrades) and calls it organized criminal activity:

Amazingly, Bloomberg's school budget for next year already includes an additional $500 million for Internet wiring. Meanwhile, teachers are being laid off and instructional budgets are being cut.

...

How many more of these cases will it take before someone realizes the Bloomberg administration has unleashed a whole new form of racketeering inside city agencies through its uncontrolled rush to computerize every aspect of government?

Indeed.

Even more importantly to me, how many more criminal cases involving outside tech consultants will it take before somebody cuts off Bloomberg's ability to unilaterally decide to spend $550 million next year on technology contracts while laying off 6,166 teachers in a move that will save $300 million?

Seriously - how many?

And when will Bloomberg himself be called to account for these crimes?

He's big on accountability for others, but when it comes to these crimes, there seems to be no accountability for the Bloomberg cronies doing the stealing or the Bloomberg administration officials who were supposed to be watching them - or for Bloomberg himself.

Carl Kruger Arrested

Time for a perp walk:

State Senator Carl Kruger is expected to turn himself into authorities Thursday on unspecified charges brought forth by the U.S. attorney's office, sources tell NY1.

The veteran Brooklyn lawmaker and the former finance chairman of the state Senate has been implicated in an FBI influence peddling probe since 2008.

Kruger's surrender comes a week after a Brooklyn restaurant owner pleaded guilty in federal court that he lied to an undercover FBI agent, who was investigating the lawmaker.

Michael Levitis had bureaucratic problems with his restaurant, and says the senator's longtime chief of staff encouraged him to give the senator a fundraiser a return.

It is unclear if additional cases are to be part of the charges the U.S. attorney will unseal against Kruger.

Neither Kruger nor his attorney returned a call for comment.

Kruger was part of the so-called "gang of four," the Democratic state senators who considered caucusing with Republicans even after fellow Democrats took over the chamber in 2008.

Ultimately, Kruger decided to stay put, even as two others bolted to the other side.

With his expected arrest, three of the four members will have faced criminal charges.

How emblematic is that last sentence - three of the four so-called Gang of Four sell-out Dems who were ready to caucus with Republicans in 2008 to keep power away from Dems are facing criminal charges?

I'd say pretty damned emblematic.

FOX's Roger Ailes To Be Indicted?

The NY Times reported that Ailes urged Judith Regan to lie to federal investigators about her relationship to Bernie Kerik when they were vetting him for DHS.

Barry Ritholtz says the scuttlebutt has Ailes getting indicted this week on that charge.

Apparently Ms. Regan taped her conversations with Ailes and this has the lie on tape.

One of the commenters at Barry's site notes:

This would just be so sweet, given Fox News’ war on women and minorities through (doctored) tape recordings!

They do tend to do that, don't they?

Well, maybe they'll claim this tape, if it really exists, is doctored too and show us just how they do the deed at FOX News every night...

Kucinich Calls For Obama To Face Primary

Here's some change I can believe in:

Dennis Kucinich wants to see someone challenge President Barack Obama in Democratic primary in 2012

"I think primaries can have the opportunity of raising the issues and make the Democratic candidate a stronger candidate," Kucinich, a Democratic candidate in 2008, said Thursday on C-SPAN. “I think it’s safe to predict that President Obama will continue to be the nominee of the Democratic primary, but he can be a stronger nominee if he receives a strong challenge in a primary.”

...

As for who the Democrat to challenge Obama might be, Kucinich said he's not sure.

"That is not up to me to say — I’m focusing on being reelected to the House of Representatives," he said.

Nonetheless, Kucinich did have some thoughts on the issues that a primary challenger might want to focus on.

“I’m very interested in making sure that creation of jobs, health care for all, protection of Social Security and Medicare, those things are fundamental — and education,” he said. “Those are issues that certainly should be brought up in primaries. And, finally, getting out of Iraq and Afghanistan. We have to stop roaming the world looking for dragons to slay — we’ve things to take care of right here at home.”

Frankly I'd like to see Corporate Whore Obama carted out of the White House in handcuffs with a raincoat thrown over his head.

But barring that, a primary to give Dems like myself the chance to show what we think of his corporate-friendly, endless war policies would be a good thing.

Doubtful he can be knocked off.

But I'd like a chance to vote for somebody who isn't for everlasting war in Afghanistan, GMO's in our food, expanded spying powers for the feds, bailouts for the banks, and shivs for teachers and public schools so that his EMO pals can make billions expanding the NCLB testing apparatus to every other subject.

So yeah, a primary challenge would be great.

A perp walk would be even better.