Christie scandal sets poor example
The scandal involving Chris Christie continues to deepen, and the news becomes bleaker with each passing day.
The quicksand of new information has been pulling the New Jersey governor down for months, and it appears as if his chances of climbing out have finally been dashed.
Only the most naive would believe that Christie had no knowledge of the bridge shutdown. In truth, everyone seems to be on the same page except Christie, who continues to deny his involvement in the scandal despite his aides claiming he had direct knowledge of the incident.
A recent New York Times article titled, “For Christie, Politics Team Kept a Focus on Two Races” by Kate Zernike and David Chen, revealed the New Jersey governor kept close tabs on his political allies and enemies:
“Staff members in the governor’s office created tabbed and color-coded dossiers on the mayors of each town — who their friends and enemies were, the policies and projects that were dear to them — that were bound in notebooks for the governor to review.”
This is not surprising. In fact, some might call it good politics. However, I call it sinister and believe that it only hurts his claims of innocence.
It simply seems unlikely that such a detail-oriented governor would be so ignorant to the goings-on of his staff, especially when thousands of documents chronicling the process of the shutdown have been released.
For example, those who worked below Bill Stepien, Christie’s former campaign manager, indicated that his actions were tied directly to Christie himself.
“If ‘Step’ were to bark an order at somebody, the assumption would be — unless otherwise stated — that it was coming from the governor,” the article claimed.
Aide Bridget Kelly’s job was to work with towns devastated by Hurricane Sandy. It seems quite strange that Christie’s political adversary, Hoboken mayor Dawn Zimmer, received a pitiful $342,000 in relief, when she had initially requested $100 million.
Does this sound suspicious? It should.
This is how politics work in the United States, and it can be extremely detrimental to all American citizens.
Think of what were to happen if the governor of South Dakota decided to enact political retribution against Vermillion mayor John Powell by refusing to give relief funds to Vermillion devastated by a natural disaster.
What if the highways connecting Sioux Falls to Vermillion were closed or restricted for several days, causing traffic that may inhibit the use of emergency vehicles or students and teachers coming to class on weekdays?
This is politics taken to the extreme. University of South Dakota students would suffer just as horridly as regular Vermillion citizens, perhaps more so, when our academic careers could be put in jeopardy.
How would we fare if our town was shut down or damaged by a political foe intent on revenge? I can only imagine the chaos.
Reach columnist Dee Rife at [email protected]
