I grew up in New Jersey, and because I went to school in New York I spent many hours sitting on a bus on the Jersey side of one of the Hudson River crossings, often the George Washington Bridge. It's painful sitting there, not moving, watching the time advance to the inevitable late arrival at school and the punishment, "jug" (traditionally from the Latin word "jugum", which means "yoke") that was sure to follow.

Nevertheless, I'm pretty sure I never got delayed for hours because the governor ordered several lanes of traffic shut down because he wanted to punish the mayor of Fort Lee for not supporting his reelection bid. No, that particular instance of malfeasance had to wait for Chris Christie, who is obviously gearing up for a presidential candidacy.

At this point we don't have the facts one way or the other, but we do know two things:

First, the excuse being put forth by Christie's people, that it was done to carry out a "traffic study", seems transparently bogus, at least until they can present affirmative evidence of the planning for the study, the study design, testimony from traffic engineers, study results, and the like. Maybe evidence will be forthcoming, but I kind of doubt it.

Second, can anyone doubt Christie's capacity to carry out such a vindictive act?

The local newspaper, the (Bergen Evening) Record, is demanding answers: While partisan politics are certainly afoot here, Democrats are right to press the issue. We still need to know why average commuters were inconvenienced when two of the three approach lanes to the bridge from Fort Lee local streets were suddenly closed for five weekday mornings.

Recent testimony in Trenton by Bill Baroni, the authority's deputy executive director and a Christie appointee, vaguely attributed the lane closings to a traffic study. That served only to confuse things and to confirm the view that the Port Authority is unresponsive to public concerns.

What the public still deserves to know is why the lanes were closed, why no one was told about the closures in advance and what closing the lanes accomplished. Answers to these questions should not be state secrets.

Even if you don't follow North Jersey news (and I know I am far from the only person around here who grew up in the Garden State), this is worth paying attention to. Maybe if you shelled out to the Vermont Republican Part to hear Christie tomorrow night you’ll get the chance to ask him yourself.

5 thoughts on “What’s going on in New Jersey?”

Gov. Christie’s Vermont speech unlikely to be shared

Vermont Republicans banning media from event featuring New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie

Dec. 9, 2013

Written by

NANCY REMSEN

Free Press Staff Writer

Filed Under

News

Politics and Government

Interest was keen in this blue state to hear New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, keynote speaker at the Vermont Republican Party’s Winter Gala Wednesday at the Champlain Valley Expo. That’s why the event quickly sold out.

http://www.burlingtonfreepress…

If you don’t have a ticket but wish to hear the speech you’re sol — unless a spy emerges to record the festivities — no press/no cams allowed nor will VT GOP or apparantly anyone be recording the event … hmm:

The “host committee” for the event decided it would be closed to the media. No cameras except for the camera-enabled phones of 650-plus attendees and a hired photographer. No scribbling journalists with audio recorders, although guests will be free to tweet.

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5 thoughts on “What’s going on in New Jersey?”