That sound you’re hearing is the air going out of New Jersey Governor Chris Christie’s 2016 Republican Presidential aspirations, thanks to the scandal known as ‘bridgegate.’

To hate him is wrong, and maybe my ego got too caught up in, if I stood here maybe, maybe — just maybe — I could break this record of the man who tried to stop the rights upon which I stand. I’m not here, though, because of his speech. I’m here despite his speech. I’m here because as powerful as he was, the people were more powerful.

Too many in our party have lost their way and it’s time to wake the heck up.

The hour has come for a new generation to lead the Democratic Congress that I so deeply respect.

Voting whether or not to remove a sitting President has been a truly difficult decision, and after listening to the arguments presented by both sides, I have reached my conclusion reluctantly. For the reasons above I must vote yes on the articles of impeachment. I take no pleasure in these votes, and am saddened this is the legacy we leave our children and grandchildren. I have always wanted this President, and every President to succeed, but I deeply love our country and must do what I think is best for the nation.

Invention, discovery, and empires are built of chances taken with high degrees of failure.

We must cease being participants in our own oppression.

When we show up, act boldly, and practice the best ways to be wrong, we fail forward. No matter where we end up, we’ve grown from where we began.

When we show up, act boldly, and practice the best ways to be wrong, we fail forward. No matter where we end up, we’ve grown from where we began.