The Real Story on NJ Gov. Christie and Bridgegate – Because the Press Gets It Wrong

As Usual

This Forum has tried to refrain from major commentary on the, what’s the adjective, ridiculous, stupid, moronic, etc. scandal involving New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, his staff and the George Washington Bridge.  The Press is having a field day, focusing primarily on whether a potential Presidential run by Mr. Christie is fatally damaged.  Of course such a run was already fatally damaged because as far as nominating a northeastern Governor the Republicans have been there, done that.

So what is the real story?  Well it is the story the Press has missed, namely the following.

1. Stupidity seems to be the common factor among the actors here.  These people left evidence of what they had done on e-mails.  This is the equivalent of bank robbers filming the crime then posting it on You Tube and wondering why they got caught.

2. What exactly was the purpose here?  Tying up the traffic on the Fort Lee approach to the GW Bridge was not going to punish the mayor of Fort Lee, it was not going to increase votes for Mr. Christie, it wasn’t going to do anything politically.  A person robs a bank for the money.  A person ties up traffic because . . .

3. While there is no evidence that Mr. Christie approved what happened, or even knew what was going on, he obviously created a climate in his administration and political circles where this sort of thing was thought to be a good idea.  That, absent his direct involvement, is his real culpability.

4. If you have to publically announce that you are not a bully, then you probably are a bully.

5. Mr. Christie fired people because as he said, they lied to him.  Apparently the act of disrupting and endangering the lives of thousands was not a problem for him, the problem was they just didn’t tell him about it.

6. The Governor went to Fort Lee to apologize and created a massive traffic jam.  The guy is just plain clueless.

So these are the real stories here, and maybe one day when the Press gets some energy and ethics it will cover stories like this correctly.