UPDATE: David Wildstein, once a pal of Chris Christie, drank the Kool-Aid but avoids prison, gets probation

Photo credit: TPM

Quoted in [print edition headline] At Sentencing, Ex-Allly of Christie Says, 'I Willingly Drank the Kool-Aid'.  (The New York Times, 7/12/2017)

See what happens.



Original 1/11/2014 post, "The George Washington Bridge Scandal: Let's Go Back to September 2013", starts here.

From Retiring Guy's postcard collection

Bridge Jam's Cause a Mystery. (The Wall Street Journal, 9/17/2013)

Here are the facts as they are set forth in this article.

1. Access lanes to the George Washington Bridge in Fort Lee, New Jersey (upper left section of postcard) reduced from 3 to 1.
2. Fort Lee police and elected officials were not notified of the lane closures.
3. No public announcement was made about the lane closures
4. The official explanation:  The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey is conducting a traffic study.
5. Some high-ranking Port Authority officials were not aware of this "study".
6. The lane closures were in place from Monday morning to Thursday morning, September 9-12. 2013.
7. Port Authority Executive Director Patrick Foye ordered the lanes reopened due to public safety concerns.
8. The lane closures resulted in "total gridlock", as described by Fort Lee Mayor Mark Sokolich.
9. Speculation arose that the lane closures might be retribution for Sokolich, a Democrat, not publicly endorsing Republican Governor Chris Christie in his re-elected bid.  (Quote:  Kevin Roberts, a spokesman for the Christie campaign, said that any notion that Mr. Sokolich faced retribution for not endorsing the governor was "crazy.")

What's missing from this list is any reaction from Governor Christie himself.

Don't you think, based on the traffic nightmare that resulted, that any engaged leader in his right mind would have interceded, ordering an immediate end to the "study" and offering an apology to everyone who was inconvenienced?

But Chris Christie, as we have learned, is a different kind of leader, and Kate Zernike counts the way.  ("Stories Add Up as Bully Image Trails Christie", The New York Times, 12/24/2013)

Related posts:
Chris Christie & the I/Me/My's (Appearing with Word of the Day).  (1/11/2014)
"Refreshing Forcefulness": A Euphemism for "Misguided Bullying".  (1/9/2014)
The Chris Christie option:  No October surprise here.  (6/5/2013)
New Jersey's Gov. Christie does not love and value libraries. (5/20/2010)