US Sen. Frank Lautenberg dies at 89

North NJ com ^ | BY HERB JACKSON

[Perdogg]

Sen. Frank Lautenberg died this morning of viral pneumonia at age 89, his office said

[AuH2ORepublican]

I just realized who would be the perfect Senate appointment for Christie: Rabbi Schmuley Boteach. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rabbi_Shmuley_Boteach Added bonus: Boteach is very good friends with Cory Booker, and the two have worked together on a few things, so perhaps Booker will forgo running in the special election if it’s against Boteach.

[mellow velo]

Even if only temporary, Christie should appoint a Republican (preferably a Conservative, but let's be real, this is NJ - remember how Christine Todd Whitman was supposed to be a Conservative?)

It won't make up for the way Lautenberg made it to the Senate on his 2nd go-round -- Toricelli -- or the other Senatorial elections that were stolen -- Franken, et al -- but it'd be a small consolation to this resident of the Garden State.

[AuH2ORepublican]

No one has ever tried, and such appointment would be, in my view at least, unconstitutional (the U.S. Senate would get to decide the question). What several governors have done, and Christie would do if he wasn’t on his way to a landslide reelection as governor, would be to step down as governor and have the Lt. Gov. become governor and appoint her old boss to the Senate.

[hal ogen]

This lautenberg mess was very destructive to our Freedoms. he was relentless in pursuing his distorted view of America. While it is unfortunate that anyone dies, his death makes Constitutional Free America more safe.

[GOPsterinMA]

Nice!

[Elle Bee]

Now we know why Obama walked the boardwalk with RINO Christy last week ... they were cutting a deal on Lautenberg's replacement

.

[MasterGunner01]

Sen. Frank Lautenberg always reminded me of a Brontosaurus — the 80-foot lizard that had a fat body, stumpy legs, a long tail, and a giraffe-like neck. The Bronto was a rather passive creature that spent its days munching on plants and being dinner for carnivores like the T-rex. For all its massive size and bulk, the Bronto was blessed with the brain of a walnut. A Bronto could be disemboweled by a predator T-rex and it took the creatures brain 15 minutes to know it was dead.

Why Lautenberg came out of retirement to replace “Torch” Torricelli is a puzzle. His second career in the Senate was marked by ill health and the associated problems of old age. He was also responsible for horrible votes that still impact the country in many ways. He won't be missed. Maybe Christie will do better with the appointment, but it's hard to pick a replacement as bad as Frank Lautenberg.

[fieldmarshaldj]

RIP.

[ken5050]

The election will be this November, when Christie is on the ballot...realistically, he could drag whomever he appoints to a win..

[Drawn7979]

RIP.

[Red in Blue PA]

Ditto.

[taildragger]

Christie will satisfy himself

Thank you for needing eye and mind bleach with that Jocelyn Elders moment..

[fwdude]

I guess he’ll just have to decide which party he’s going to run for president with before he appoints the replacement.

Good point. Christie CANNOT remain a Republican and survive.

[AuH2ORepublican]

Well, as I quipped to a friend of mine, I’m not sure if his coattails will be as large as his coat. I think that Booker would start off as at least a slight favorite, even with Christie winning a landslide atop the ticket. But maybe Booker won’t run against his good friend Rabbi Shmuley.

[AuH2ORepublican]

“Christie CANNOT remain a Republican and survive.”

---

If Christie names a Republican here and moves a little to the right in his second term as governor, he would certainly have a chance at the GOP presidential nomination: heck, he’d be far more conservative than either of the two most recent GOP presidential nominees. Just because we’d prefer someone more conservative doesn’t mean that his candidacy would be a non-starter.

But what would be a non-starter is Christie running as a Democrat for president. Christie is pro-life, and cut grants to pro-abortion groups; he’s pro-marriage, and stopped a same-sex-marriage bill from becoming law in NJ; and he’s the bete noir of public-sector unions. There’s no possible way that Chris Christie could win the Democrat presidential nomination in 2016—I mean, you’re talking about a party whose base thinks that Hillary Clinton is “too conservative.”

[BO Stinkss]

We are currently in a struggle to keep America from falling into the grips of a left-wing ideology that will impact freedom for every future generation.. Frank Lautenberg was the enemy in every sense of the word.

And please don’t start with the “it’s common decency” yammering.

[reaganaut]

Good

[Hillarys Gate Cult]

I think that’s the most likely path he’ll take but there still exists the possibility of him appointing at least a RINO as he needs to set up his future fake Republican Presidential run. That could shift what we think will happen as his supporters can then then try to claim “see, he is a Republican.”

Only bright spot it will be hard for them to find a replacement who is just as or more leftist than Lautenberg.

[reaganaut]

I like Klingon better, they at least have honor and like weapons.

[fwdude]

...he’s pro-marriage, and stopped a same-sex-marriage bill from becoming law in NJ

That was before his love affair with Obama the Sodomite. Watch Christie change his stance on this issue, just like Schwarzenegger.

Christie is for de facto same-sex "marriage" in the form of civil unions. He has stated, in very threatening terms after he vetoed the marriage bill, that he would come down hard on anyone NOT treating same-sex couples as married.

There is no substantive difference between these legally binding, legally obligative, laws and real marriage. Civil unions used to imply some of the legal rights of married people; for the past several years it has by default meant ALL the legal rights and incidences of real marriage.

So, Christie is actually in favor of fake "marriage."