“Jokes and fairytales”

The Start-Leger weighs in on Ft. Lee. Yes, Baroni ought to testify under oath. But why not Christie? “Never talk to the monkey if the organ-grinder is available.”

The Newark Star-Ledger wants to know howsa bout the Ft. Lee affair. I agree that Baroni ought to testify under oath. But why not Christie? “Never talk to the monkey if the organ-grinder is available.”

Author: Mark Kleiman

Professor of Public Policy at the NYU Marron Institute for Urban Management and editor of the Journal of Drug Policy Analysis. Teaches about the methods of policy analysis about drug abuse control and crime control policy, working out the implications of two principles: that swift and certain sanctions don't have to be severe to be effective, and that well-designed threats usually don't have to be carried out. Books: Drugs and Drug Policy: What Everyone Needs to Know (with Jonathan Caulkins and Angela Hawken) When Brute Force Fails: How to Have Less Crime and Less Punishment (Princeton, 2009; named one of the "books of the year" by The Economist Against Excess: Drug Policy for Results (Basic, 1993) Marijuana: Costs of Abuse, Costs of Control (Greenwood, 1989) UCLA Homepage Curriculum Vitae Contact: Markarkleiman-at-gmail.com

7 thoughts on ““Jokes and fairytales””

  1. I think the theory is that loyalty to Christie was the motivator, but Christie was not the requestor.

    So if you think the monkey outside was acting on his own, while the organ grinder was inside the Starbucks getting his coffee, you grill the monkey.

    2. If the monkey was acting on his own, the organ grinder will fire him for cause and will do so at once, with a strong disavowal of what the monkey did. Within a few days, we will find out if this occurs.

      1. Good point. On the other hand, the organ grinder always sends the monkey out to do his dirty work (like pick the pockets of the crowd), so I don’t assign a whole lot of weight to the “monkey acting on his own” theory. Of course, once the monkey is caught in the act, the organ grinder is compelled to blame the monkey either way.

  3. It’s somewhat premature to call CC. There’s a reason that prosecutions move on witnesses in a conspiracy from the bottom up: Small fry are not nearly as invested in a conspiracy and can be offered relatively “cheap” concessions to get them to roll over on those in superior positions in the conspiracy. Offer the small fry immunity from prosecution and they begin to rat on their superiors.

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