Bridge To Nowhere

I haven't written about the affair surrounding the lane closures on the New Jersey approach to the George Washington Bridge - a vital link between New Jersey and New York and part of three major highways (Interstate 95, U.S. Routes 1 and 9) - this past September, even though I'm from New Jersey, because it was at best an embarrassment for New Jersey Governor Chris Christie.  Even though it looked like a punitive action against the mayor of Fort Lee - the town in which the New Jersey end of the bridge is situated - for not supporting Christie in the 2013 gubernatorial election, charges of such political punishment were mostly conjecture.

No more.  The Bergen County Record blew the lid wide open on the issue - now quickly becoming a scandal - by reporting that a top Christie aide and a Christie appointee to the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey used the closures as a scheme to get back at Democratic Fort Lee Mayor Mark Sokolich, who would not back Governor Christie's re-election bid - as many Democratic mayors and Democratic state and county leaders had done.  The e-mails between Kelly and Wildstein spell it out.

Roughly three weeks before the lane closures, Christie aide Bridget Anne Kelly sent an e-mail to Wildstein, which read, "Time for some traffic problems in Fort Lee," when it became apparent that Sokolich would not play ball with the administration.

"Got it," Wildstein wrote back.  

Also an unidentified person sent Wildstein a text message saying he he felt bad for the children in the cars caught in traffic.  Wildstein replied, referring to State Senator Barbara Buono, Christie's Democratic opponent in the gubernatorial election, "They are the children of Buono voters."

Wildstein resigned his Port Authority post . . . in December.  Back then, the lane closures smacked of incompetence.  Now it appears that these two top Christie loyalists knew what they were doing.

Did I happen to mention the U.S. Senate Commerce Committee is planning to look into all of this?

Christie, a top contender for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination, said he knew nothing about it - an implausible reaction, as there's little if anything in the Christie administration that the governor doesn't know anything about.  If this is how he handles political adversaries in Trenton, imagine how he might handle international adversaries as President of the United States.  As a resident of New Jersey, I would be very scared if Christie ends up taking the presidential oath of office on January 20, 2017.

On the other hand, he hasn't even been sworn in for a second term as governor of New Jersey yet, and his White House hopes may already have been sunk.  Let's hope so.  Let's hope that his road to the White House has a bridge out.