My goodness, but this was sudden. Perhaps the Obamedia started to realize that Double-C could actually win the White House in 2016 and are pressing every big red button at once:
New Jersey emergency personnel faced huge delays in responding to four medical emergencies — including one involving an unconscious 91-year-old woman — because of major gridlock when lanes were closed on the George Washington Bridge in September.
The woman later died at a hospital in Fort Lee, N.J., the local news website NorthJersey.com reports.....
Paul Favia, the EMS coordinator for Fort Lee, told Mayor Mark Sokolich in a September 10th letter that response times doubled for responders in two of the four incidents, NorthJersey.com reports.
The delays occurred September 9th-13th, when the George Washington Bridge experienced massive gridlock because the access lanes had been closed for a traffic study. Thousands of commuters found themselves stuck in traffic for hours when lanes had been shut down without prior notice.
The spiraling controversy surrounding the closures grew on Wednesday when emails and text messages were published showing that a top aide to Christie had a critical role in the controversial closing of the bridge's lanes.
Critics have charged that the lanes were closed in retaliation because Sokolich, a Democrat, did not support Christie's re-election bid last year.
Though Christie has denied that he or any of his staff had any role in the closings, he said in a statement on Wednesday that he was outraged at the revelations in the emails and text messages and vowed that "people would be held responsible" for the closings.
"What I’ve seen today for the first time is unacceptable," Christie, considered a 2016 presidential candidate, said in a statement. "I am outraged and deeply saddened to learn that not only was I misled by a member of my staff, but this completely inappropriate and unsanctioned conduct was made without my knowledge."
Well, there's no question that the 91-year-old lady passing away because first responders couldn't get to her in time is the spark that ignited the figurative raging five-alarm fire. Lucky for the media that that spark was there, because otherwise I'm a bit baffled as to how this constitutes any kind of scandal. Sure, commuters in Fort Lee, NJ were massively inconvenienced, but if this was an unsanctioned attempt to screw over Mayor Sokolich for his refusal to back Governor Christie's re-election bid - which one wouldn't expect in any case unless he had pledged his support and was reneging at the last minute - deliberately creating a massive traffic jam on the George Washington Bridge doesn't rise above the level of obnoxious stunt. Apart from obstructing first responders, of course.
The course of action for the Big Man here seems clear - clean house. Terminate the aide in question with extreme prejudice and then move on. Recall that in any scandal, it's the cover-up that is most damaging. So don't cover this up. The controversy blows over and the problem is solved, right?
Not according to the New Jersey Star-Ledger, which appears to me to be ludicrously overplaying their hand in an effort to be, shall we say, opportunistic:
The Star-Ledger on Wednesday said New Jersey Governor Chris Christie is not fit for office regardless of his role in the burgeoning Bridge-gate scandal.
"His attempts to laugh this off now appear to be dishonest, though we can't yet be sure that he personally knew about the correspondence of one of his top aides," the Newark-based newspaper said in an editorial. "Still, Christie bears responsibility either way.
"If it turns out he did know, he is obviously lying and unfit for office — let alone a 2016 presidential run," the editorial continued. "And even if he did not, his officials are liars.
"If Christie can't control them, how can we trust him as a potential future leader of our country?"
This is overwrought nonsense. But I could excuse it if this same publication had had anything anywhere near this self-righteous to say about any of Barack Obama's scandals. I mean, if "Bridge-gate" is as big a deal as the Star-Ledger insists it is, then they should have been all over Solyndra-gate, IRS-gate, AP-gate, NSA-gate, Benghazi-gate, et al, yes? The worst you can say about Governor Christie's "scandal" is that an overzealous aide freelanced and did something stupid that had serious consequences. But Obama using the IRS to illegally suppress his political opposition? Rampant spying in flagrant violation of the Fourth Amendment? Watching avowed and declared enemies of the United States butcher three Navy SEALS and your own ambassador in real time and ordering military assets in the area that could have saved them to stand down? And yet, somehow, the Star-Ledger has never seen fit to cite any of these genuine scandals as the grounds for questioning Red Barry's fitness for office. Yet a traffic jam should destroy Chris Christie's political career? Really? And this could even be grounds for impeachment?
I'll say it again: Chris Christie was touted as the 2016 GOP presidential frontrunner by the Obamedia because they thought their other "toutee," Hillary Clinton, could and would easily defeat him. I think some people at the New Jersey Star-Ledger started worrying that Double-C might be a more formidable opponent for Secretary Saddlebags than the conventional wisdom thought and are seizing upon this PR blip to try and eliminate that possibility.
And I assert the above as a Scott Walker supporter.
I wonder what hysterical overreaction the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel has in store for him after his re-election.
UPDATE: Governor Christie cleans house:
Christie said Thursday he has taken the following action:
Kelly sent the email to former Port Authority official David Wildstein that apparently set off the scandal. “Time for some traffic problems in Fort Lee,” she wrote.
- Fired his deputy chief of staff Bridget Anne Kelly.
"I terminated her employment because she lied to me," Christie said on Thursday.
Christie said he has not had conversation with Kelly since the email came out, and she has not personally given him an explanation about why she lied abut her involvement. But, he said, he is "not interested" in hearing her explanation.
Christie also said Stepian will be lose his lucrative contract as a consultant to the Republican Governor's Association, of which Christie is chairman.
- Forced his two-time campaign manager Bill Stepian to take his name out of the running to lead New Jersey’s Republican party.
- Will meet personally with remaining members of his staff to determine if further action needs to be be taken.
- Will go to Fort Lee to apologize to the mayor and the city's residents.
In a sane world, that would be that.
But Chris Christie is considered a threat to take back the presidency in 2016. So, naturally, the Obama Regime is joining the fray:
Also on Thursday, the U.S. Attorney in New Jersey announced he will open an investigation into the bridge lane closings.
“The Port Authority Office of Inspector General has referred the matter to us, and our office is reviewing the matter to determine whether a federal law was implicated,” said Rebekah Carmichael, a spokeswoman for U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman, in a statement today.
It does not, in other words, matter what Chris Christie does. His wayward deputy chief of staff has handed the Dems the means to nibble him to death so as to preclude his even declaring a presidential candidacy, and they will nibble and bite and dismember until there's nothing left.
It might be time for the combative, pugilistic Chris Christie to reemerge. If he does harbor presidential ambitions, he'd better start fighting back against the burgeoning witch hunt, and sooner rather than later.
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