Bridge Over Troubled Politics

JAN. 8, 2014

Gail Collins, NYT

We have been through a lot of political scandals. But never before has the nation been roiled by a conspiracy to create a traffic jam.

There’s barely been time to get used to the idea that Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey is a Republican presidential contender. Now we’re going to have to wonder if he’s a Republican presidential contender who would deliberately create a monster four-day-long backup on the George Washington Bridge to punish a Democratic mayor for not endorsing his re-election.

“Time for some traffic problems in Fort Lee,” emailed a Christie deputy chief of staff last summer. Suddenly, commuters were seeing two, three, four hours added to their drive times.

This is very big. Voters have been known to overlook financial chicanery or stuffed ballot boxes. They might continue to love a guy who screwed up the local bond rating or got evicted from the governor’s mansion by an irate wife. But could you ever trust a politician who was implicated in a deliberate effort to ruin rush hour?

(More here.)