1. Yeah, he is as big of a bully as he’s been trying to duck being seen as, and he willfully tied up GWB traffic as revenge against a political opponent, which not only led to a lot of major inconvenience, but looks to have killed an old woman when emergency responders were delayed.
2. Same as above, except (a) he didn’t give the orders, but (b) encouraged an atmosphere of political retribution where a senior aide would think this was a fine thing to do. Because deputy chiefs of staff don’t just do this kind of crap without expecting that the boss, carefully given deniability, would be pleased.
Will this tank Christie? I don’t think it will get him out of the governor’s seat, but it may derail his 2016 presidential hopes (assuming he really was interested). On the other hand, that’s still a few years away, and news stories like these can be easily derailed themselves by some new news tidbit.
We’ll see.
N.J. Governor Christie says misled by staff in bridge scandal
I would say this would disqualify him as president, but I can't think of a nation with which making it making it harder for Americans to access their country wouldn't improve our international relations.
The interesting part – and again, it's unclear whether Christie encouraged this, or if it originated with his staffers – is that someone had a strong expectation that a mayor from the Democratic Party would endorse a Republican for governor. Cross-party endorsements obviously exist, but they are very rare and only occur in extreme cases.
Oddly enough, it would be more understandable if Christie or his aides dreamt up a scheme to retaliate against ALL cities that were headed by Democrats. That's "sore winner" politics, but at least it makes sense.
To punish a Democrat for not endorsing a Republican in an election is nonsensical.
Yeah, but all or most of the other dem mayors did. I wonder why.
+Rick Gary (1) Christie is popular. No harm jumping on a popular train. (2) Christie is governor. Useful to have the governor in some marginal debt to you. (3) Christie is a vengeful bully and governor. Useful to not have that turned on you.