Thursday, October 3, 2013

The Real Chris Christie

I've spoken to a lot of people who seem to believe that Chris Christie is a moderate, or generally have a favorable opinion of the guy.  Mostly this is due to his back-slapping, just one of the guys public persona.  His a gregarious guy with a surprising amount of personal charisma.  He's also loyal Bushie and Karl Rove acolyte, and it would not surprise me at all if this story proves true:
The closure of the lanes was seen by some in Fort Lee and Bergen County as retribution from surrogates of Republican Gov. Chris Christie—who shares control of the authority and its bridges with New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo—at Fort Lee Mayor Mark Sokolich, a Democrat who hasn't endorsed Mr. Christie for re-election.
Mr. Christie's campaign has denied the suggestion, and called the notion "crazy." The governor's appointees at the authority have said that the lanes were closed to conduct a traffic study, though they have declined to provide any supporting materials or findings.
Mr. Christie's spokesman referred questions to the Port Authority, where a spokesman declined to comment.
Mr. Foye, an appointee of Mr. Cuomo, wrote that the lane closures were made without informing numerous interested parties, including himself, local and Port Authority police, Mr. Sokolich, and commuters.
His email also throws into question the Port Authority's prior explanation for the shutdown: that the lanes were closed so the authority could perform the traffic study.
In the email, Mr. Foye listed the divisions within the authority that weren't consulted before the traffic pattern was changed, including the police department, and the Traffic and Engineering division.
The authority's public response has described the lane closures as part of "a week of study at the George Washington Bridge of traffic safety patterns."
People familiar with the matter disputed that. "There was no study," one of them said.
The guy is an asshole.  A surprisingly likable asshole, but an asshole nonetheless, and one who should be kept far from positions of power.

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