"Time for some traffic problems in Fort Lee."

[paft.livejournal.com]

From NorthJersy.com:
In one exchange of text messages on the second day of the lane closures, Wildstein alludes to messages the Fort Lee mayor had left complaining that school buses were having trouble getting through the traffic.

“Is it wrong that I’m smiling,” the recipient of the text message responded to Wildstein. The person’s identity is not clear because the documents are partially redacted for unknown reasons.

“No,” Wildstein wrote in response.

“I feel badly about the kids,” the person replied to Wildstein. “I guess.”

“They are the children of Buono voters,” Wildstein wrote, making a reference to Barbara Buono, the Democratic candidate for governor, who lost to Christie in a landslide in November.

The whole thing is pretty appalling, but for me, the above exchange is the true money shot. So school buses full of kids are stuck in the traffic mess?

Hey, no biggie. Their parents didn’t vote the way we like.



For those who aren’t familiar with the ongoing saga of New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, and his reputation for irresponsible vindictiveness, what happened is this:

The Mayor of Fort Lee, NJ, Mark Sokolich, declined to endorse Chris Christie for re-election.

Apparently the Christie administration decided to retaliate a few months ago. On August 13th, Bridget Kelly, Governor Christie’s deputy chief of staff for legislative and intergovernmental affairs sent a bright little personal email to Port Authority Christie appointee, David Wildstein, “Time for some traffic problems in Fort Lee.”

On September 9th, the day school opened, two lanes from Fort Lee to the Washington Bridge were closed without warning. Mayor Sokolich phoned Christie appointee Bill Baroni (deputy executive director of the Port Authority.) Baroni’s assistant then emailed Baroni saying that Sokolich had called describing “an urgent matter of public safety in Fort Lee.” In subsequent phone-calls, Sokolich practically pleaded “Help please. It’s maddening.”

The response, as one of the merry pranksters at the Port Authority put it?

“Radio silence.”

From September 9th until September 12th, Fort Lee’s access to the Washington Bridge was reduced from three lanes to one. Emergency vehicles were blocked. Some of those kids Wildstein was chortling about apparently sat in their school buses for hours. I very much hope that, during those three days, people in need of emergency assistance didn’t end up dying because of the time lost getting them help.

What this reveals is the bizarre notion of “civil servant” apparently embraced by, if not the Christie administration, than his appointees. A civil servant is supposed to ensure things go well for citizens, whether those citizens voted for the current administration or not – not mete out punishment in the form of dangerous traffic blockage. It's especially striking to note what comes across as a sort of gleeful impunity. I'm reminded of the famous Enron recordings in which traders laughed about the California customers left in the dark through outages they'd engineered.

This may put paid to Christie's hopes for a presidential run. Let's hope so.

*

Comments

[soliloquy76.livejournal.com]

Someone needs to go to prison for this.

[yes-justice.livejournal.com]

Who cares if emergency vehicles can get around?

[badlydrawnjeff.livejournal.com]

This may put paid to Christie's hopes for a presidential run. Let's hope so.

No, a traffic snarl put in play by a member of his staff is not going to impact Christie's presidential hopes.

Should this person be fired? Absolutely.

[soliloquy76.livejournal.com]

Unless, of course, new evidence down the road shows that he knew about it and/or was involved in making it happen. Either way, it's a stain on his reputation simply due to his proximity and will have an effect on any future campaigns.

[paft.livejournal.com]

bdj: No, a traffic snarl put in play by a member of his staff is not going to impact Christie's presidential hopes

This was a bit more than a mere "traffic snarl." Closing all but one lanes, with no warning and little explanation, caused gridlock that lasted for yours. Emergency services were impacted, and I would not be at all surprised to learn people may have died as a result. At the least, lives were put at risk.

These kinds of strongman tactics, in which political leaders and voters are punished for voting the "wrong" way, puts democracy itself at risk. People should cast their ballot for someone because they truly believe that person is the better choice -- not because they're afraid of what the candidate will do to areas he didn't carry if he does get elected.

[dreadfulpenny81.livejournal.com]

I think if it comes out that Christie was involved in this, there should be consequences, and more than just a slap on the wrist. People's lives were put at risk. However, if it was the action of the aide and Christie had no knowledge of the incident, he did the right thing by firing them now.

[underlankers.livejournal.com]

Just like a break-in into a hotel, right?

[existentme.livejournal.com]

You state this "is not going to impact" as fact, apparently believing that somehow the electorate votes rationally or the media, which you've steadfastly maintained has a liberal bias, reports and sensationalizes and panders to that irrational electorate only upon the things that actually should impact a candidate's presidential hopes.

[dexeron.livejournal.com]

Aw. I was kind of hoping Christie would get the nomination, and then only afterwards would this story truly break (with real revelations that he was in the loop the whole time.) :)

Seriously, though, yea, pretty disgusting. People need to be fired and/or prosecuted, and someone needs to investigate to see how high this went.

Gee, where's Darrell Issa when you really need him?

[sandwichwarrior.livejournal.com]

I fail to understand how one city's traffic problems are worthy of national attention when arms trafficking and siccing the IRS on one's political opponents isn't.

:P

[badlydrawnjeff.livejournal.com]

[anfalicious.livejournal.com]

There's some language in there that will look bad if it comes out he had something to do with it.

[dexeron.livejournal.com]

Here's where we run into the conflict of perception vs. reality.

Christie may, or may not, have been a part of this. That's not really my concern in this comment. What's important here is how long it took him to come out with this statement. The perception of the public is sometimes more important, electorally, than reality, because for most people, that perception is the only reality they have on which to base a vote.

We had a similar problem here at "local university at which I work." We had, as at all places from time to time, a series of pretty bad things happen: a donation by a company whose actions many in the public found questionable, some actions by a professor that, while on later examination ended up being a non-story, were at the time thought very controversial, and a couple of other incidents - and in each case, the president of the University failed to respond in any meaningful way. Lower-down folks sent out messages a week afterwards, and eventually, MUCH later, she'd make a comment on it. Whether or not the perception was true, her seeming failure to act decisively in a timely manner created the perception among far too many that she was not an effective leader, that she was "asleep at the switch," and most damning, might not be a good fund-raiser (or worse, might drive donors away.) It didn't help that her failure to act led many in the student body to start hounding her and gathering in protests - and as she drove away from one of these, she accidentally clipped a student with the side mirror of her car. The "perception" people had only worsened from then on. She ended up resigning in the wake of all of it - and all of the positive things she accomplished (and there were some) seem to be forgotten completely.

If Christie really is interested in higher office, he has got to remember these issues of perception. It's not about right or wrong, or what is or isn't justified. It's about managing perceptions, and this is something he should have gotten out in front of on day one.

Assuming, of course, that he wasn't involved all along. ;)

[policraticus.livejournal.com]

Pretty bad.

Next thing you know he'll be setting the IRS loose on his ideological adversaries.

[paft.livejournal.com]

And this pertains to...what?

You mean that IRS "scandal" in which it turned out progressive groups were being investigated by the IRS too?

This is the best you can do?

Pathetic.

[telemann.livejournal.com]

Christie reminds me of Nixon with his vengeful streak, with a pretty bad temper that sneaks out in public, despite his best efforts to just play it off as New Jersey styled politics or he's just being an honest guy. And Rachel Maddow was talking about this story some time ago and wondered when the national press would pick up on it.

[oportet.livejournal.com]

It doesn't reflect well on him either way - he either knew about it or his team is out of control. I couldn't see this sinking a strong campaign already up and running, but he doesn't have that yet.

I would expect even our most corrupt leaders to choose their battles a little more wisely than this.

[dukexmachismo.livejournal.com]

You have to think about the overall story arc. This incident will help explain why the Republicans run some pre-ordained loser in 2016. Otherwise, Hillary Clinton's election would strain our suspension of disbelief, and we'd tune in a different soap opera.

[mikeyxw.livejournal.com]

"The Mayor of Fort Lee, NJ, Mark Sokolich, declined to endorse Chris Christie for re-election.

Apparently the Christie administration decided to retaliate a few months ago."

Is there any evidence that this was retaliation for the lack of endorsement? From what I've seen, this looks like speculation with nothing to back it up. As far as scandals go, causing a traffic jam is pretty minor. Unless some pretty sinister motives can be shown by Mr. Christie or those close to him (i.e. someone closer than an appointee) I can't see this having a lasting effect unless he really bungles things.

[dexeron.livejournal.com]

You mean apart from the actual documentation of the conversations by the people who perpetrated this?

[paft.livejournal.com]

I would be surprised if this were the only example of the Christie administration engaging in this kind of political retribution. The very tenor of those email conversations give the distinct impression that, for Kelly, Wildstein, etc., this was business as usual.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/25/nyregion/accounts-of-petty-retribution-reinforce-christies-bullying-image.html?pagewanted=1&_r=0

[yes-justice.livejournal.com]

Indeed. I mean, if I got an email that said "Time for traffic problems", I wouldn't know what that should mean.

[sophia-sadek.livejournal.com]

I lived in North Jersey during the Reagan years. It was fascinating to see the Cuban mafia come out in support the Gipper. The Sopranos was not situated in Jersey by coincidence. Christie has the air of a Family man, if you know what I mean.

[paft.livejournal.com]

Jon Stewart just did a very funny riff on this very topic.

[merig00.livejournal.com]

[rowsdowerisms.livejournal.com]

A scenic highway in South Dakota is just like a bridge with 300,000 daily commuters!

[cheezyfish.livejournal.com]

This all sounds pretty bad, but the narrative presented here just doesn't make all that much sense. Christie heavily solicited Democratic endorsements, and I'm sure for every one that said "yes", many, many more said "no." What is so special about this Mayor that said no? What is the retribution for the hundred or so others? It isn't like they faced a loss of their positions or support from their party, unlike the Democrats who endorsed Christie (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/19/chris-christie-democrats_n_3624821.html) (apparently, that doesn't count as bullying). And a couple of closed toll booths for four days is political retribution? Give some points for creativity I suppose. And what's up with these emails? They literally start out with "Time for some traffic problems in Fort Lee." Little bit of context please? Nothing important was exchanged before that? Hmm... sounds pretty bad, but I guess you can say I'm a bit old school and like a little context.

[paft.livejournal.com]

ch: This all sounds pretty bad, but the narrative presented here just doesn't make all that much sense.

What do you mean the "narrative?" This isn't a work of fiction. The emails are not made up by some screenwriter.

ch: Christie heavily solicited Democratic endorsements, and I'm sure for every one that said "yes", many, many more said "no."

And that means...?

Christie has a reputation for exacting political retribution for perceived slights.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/25/nyregion/accounts-of-petty-retribution-reinforce-christies-bullying-image.html?pagewanted=1&_r=0

ch: And a couple of closed toll booths for four days is political retribution?

I'm going to be charitable here and assume you did not bother to actually read the article or follow this story. Yes, it is nasty political retribution when you choke off a major traffic artery for several days (starting on the first day of school) so that access to one of the busiest bridges in the country is reduced to one lane and one tollbooth. This resulted in backups lasting as along as four hours, kids being stuck on school buses and emergency vehicles facing significant delays. One woman may have died because help didn't get to her as quickly is it usually would.

Ch: And what's up with these emails? They literally start out with "Time for some traffic problems in Fort Lee." Little bit of context please? Nothing important was exchanged before that?

I think most people would find those emails pretty straightforward.

[underlankers.livejournal.com]

Limited government in Nixonian style.

[fizzyland.livejournal.com]

Isn't it cute the way self-proclaimed Independents/Libertarians/Conservatives keep dragging out Republican talking points?

"Gretchen, stop trying to make Benghazi happen! It's not going to happen!"

[sandwichwarrior.livejournal.com]

Its cute in much the same way that those who claim to abhor bullying only abhor it when the perp is someone from an opposing ideology.

That the so called free thinkers come down far harder on those who deviate from the accepted norm than the supposed fundementalists

[yes-justice.livejournal.com]

New theory:

http://www.salon.com/2014/01/10/rachel_maddow_unveils_riveting_christie_theory/