Gail Collins, "Presidential! Season! Soonish!": Collins Aims Her Snotgun at Christie

Given Gail Collins's girth, you might think that she would be a bit more sympathetic to Chris Christie, but this is not the case. With nothing to write about as is often the case, Collins, in her latest New York Times op-ed entitled "Presidential! Season! Soonish!" (http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/07/opinion/collins-presidential-season-soonish.html?_r=0), is training her snotgun (it doesn't require a license) on the Republican governor from New Jersey. Collins writes:

"Could Christie survive a presidential race when he couldn’t even get past the Mitt Romney vice presidential vetting process? There’s all that stuff about exploding expense accounts and his prior career as a lobbyist for the securities industry. True, the people of New Jersey have looked into his past and come away satisfied. But, really, in New Jersey you’re just happy to know a candidate is not currently under indictment."

Hmm, Christie was a lobbyist for the securities industry? How awful! But what about Hillary's highly successful commodities gambit? As reported by The Washington Post in 1994 (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/special/whitewater/stories/wwtr940527.htm):

"Hillary Rodham Clinton was allowed to order 10 cattle futures contracts, normally a $12,000 investment, in her first commodity trade in 1978 although she had only $1,000 in her account at the time, according to trade records the White House released yesterday.

The computerized records of her trades, which the White House obtained from the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, show for the first time how she was able to turn her initial investment into $6,300 overnight. In about 10 months of trading, she made nearly $100,000, relying heavily on advice from her friend James B. Blair, an experienced futures trader.

The new records also raise the possibility that some of her profits -- as much as $40,000 – came from larger trades ordered by someone else and then shifted to her account, Leo Melamed, a former chairman of the Merc who reviewed the records for the White House, said in an interview. He said the discrepancies in Clinton's records also could have been caused by human error."

Permitted to make a $12,000 investment with only $1,000 in her account?

Trades shifted to her account?

Profits of $100,000 in 10 months of trading? Yeah, I know, beginner's luck in a market heavily weighted against those who dare dabble in this very risky field.

And Collins is upset that Christie was a lobbyist for the securities industry? Spare me.