Chris Christie. The name itself could bring many adults to immediate rage but, let’s face it, most of us don’t even care about what’s going on in politics. Chris Christie, governor of New Jersey, apparently found a way to close two of the three lanes leading to the George Washington Bridge. Why exactly should we care about this? Well, for one, this bridge is considered one of the busiest bridges in the country, which is why this small issue led to a big scandal. The closing of the bridge led to delays in paramedic responses, a rumored death, car wrecks, and much more. The death alone, if proven true, could easily put Christie in a deep, deep hole.
Chris Christie managed to close the two lanes of the G.W. Bridge with the help of many people. This included David Wildstein, who ordered the closure, a Chris Christie confidant and appointee to the Port Authority. Wildstein has recently claimed he can prove Christie gave the order for the closures. Just FYI, the Port Authority controls the busy bridge. Another person rumored to have ordered the closure of the lanes was Bridget Anne Kelly, Christie’s Deputy Chief of Staff.  She was fired recently, because of this scandal. Many others were involved including Bill Baroni, Michael Drewniak, David Samson, and many, many, many (trust me) more. This scandal is just a big mess of dumb choices.
The “whole doing” was rumored to be a targeted against the mayor of Fort Lee, Mark Sokolich.  The mayor of Fort Lee is a Democrat,while Chris Christie is a Republican, leading to many conflicts between the two.   Traffic was practically halted and went all the way through Fort Lee. New York commuters also were forced to leave their homes four hours early.
How did it all get discovered so fast? They surely didn’t even bother coming up with a good cover up. Around mid-August, the aforementioned Bridget Kelly e-mailed Port Authority’s Wildstein saying, “Time for some traffic problems in Fort Lee.” After this leaked out, Port Authority tried to cover up by saying they were conducting a “traffic study.” As if anyone would believe that.  Then e-mails from Chris Christie himself were released, showing Kelly ordered the Port Authority to find a way to mess with Fort Lee’s traffic. Further documents show all of Christie’s appointees basically gloating about their great work against Fort Lee. Chris Christie tried to fix everything by setting up a silly press conference to fire Kelly.  Even after the whole thing blew up in his face, Chris Christie was “gracious and apologetic.”  Classic politician.
Although the issue has started so much drama, Chris Christie still has not admitted to knowing anything. Either Christie honestly had no knowledge of the issue, or he just wants to keep a good image for himself (especially since he is a possible presidential contender for 2016). Wildstein also pleaded the fifth during a state senate hearing. Legal experts aren’t entirely convinced that serious charges will be brought to Christie, however, civil prosecution is a completely different story. As of right now, the issue could eventually blow over, unless Christie is found to be a big “fat” liar. In that case, the previously mentioned press conference he held, will dig him into a deeper hole that will ruin his rising career.  As for 2016, you really want this man being your next president?  What is worse?  A leader who has no clue what the people under him are doing, or a typical lying and vindictive politician; neither sound good to me!