Chris Christie Has Blood On His Hands....
that sounds harsh, doesn't it? But there is substance behind that claim. A horrendous commuter train accident took place this morning at Hoboken Terminal when a Pascack Valley line train came into the station, failed to stop, ran through the end-of-track bumper and into the structure of the historic terminal building, knocking down the steel supports and overhead canopy. One person is known dead so far and hundreds injured. The train was operated by NJ Transit, the state's public transit system. So how does the governor fit into this tragedy?
Maybe this isn't the time to place blame but it is time to call attention to the harm that Christie's administration has inflicted on the people of New Jersey. It's the culmination of 7 years of government mismanagement and purposeful hijacking of the workings of state government by Christie and his demented band of pirates that have appropriated the state for the promotion of this egotistical buffoon's personal well-being. These are people who view governing and policy as a game to be played with winners and losers determined by who moves ahead or who gets the spoils, not as a necessary function of a civilized society. The actual operation of the state is just an afterthought. Time and again they've demonstrated their disdain and disregard for the citizens of the state and this time there may have been some real consequences.
Consider this. Christie and his administration used state assets to promote his run for president. They regarded the power at their disposal as a tool for Christie's political advancement and collaterally their own promotion as they hitched a ride aboard the Christie train to the top. It's been established at the Bridgegate trial that they kept spread sheets for local leaders grading them on their support for Christie's policies and their potential for exploitation in advancing Christie's personal star. This administration also engaged in what can only be described as sociopathic behavior in punishing entire populations when local leaders didn't fall into line. The consequences to the populace were merely ancillary and inconsequential to them in the real power game that they were playing where only Christie's fortunes were important.
This is what Bridgegate is all about. The punishment of hundreds of thousands of people as secondary damage from the real aim, which was to send a political message to the mayor of a mid-sized suburban town who wouldn't play ball. That's sick, but also emblematic of the way the Christie administration operates and hardly the only example. Selling out the state to Exxon-Mobil. Withholding state aid for important road construction projects from an entire town if the mayor crossed Christie in any way. Using the assets of the Port Authority to woo supporters. Extorting benefits like the Chairman's Flight or campaign donations from corporations needing government investment in public facilities. Everything is transactional. Christie's welfare is always the selling price.
Now his gamesmanship with the state's Transportation Trust Fund may have played a substantial part in today's accident. New Jersey is the nation's most densely populated state with a complex and over-taxed system of roads, bridges and public transit-including one of the nation's largest commuter rail operations. It needs attention and investment to keep it functioning and to keep it safe. Put aside his cancellation of the construction of a new trans-Hudson rail tunnel, he has systematically starved NJ Transit of needed funds for his political posturing. He has refused to increase the gas tax (currently one of the lowest in the country) to re-charge the state's currently broke Transportation Trust Fund, that finances road and bridge construction, but also provides operating and capital funds for NJ Transit.
What could this mean? Well consider the following:
Amid these warnings, NJ Transit had cancelled every public board meeting since June 8.
Earlier this week, Martin Robins of the Voorhees Transportation Center at Rutgers – the éminence grise for transit matters in our state – said that he was startled that 222 NJ Transit projects remain on the shelf, suspended by Gov. Christie back in June.
Robins' prescience was almost chilling: "Maybe nothing catastrophic has happened, but maintenance cannot be deferred," he said. "It's absolutely wrong, when you're operating something as potentially dangerous as a rail system. So this lack of transparency is alarming."
Or, as Janna Chernetz of the Tri-State Transportation Campaign put it Thursday, "If it is determined that this tragedy resulted from mechanical failure and not human error, the question that will arise is whether NJT is adequately funded to keep infrastructure safe."
She added that NJ Transit's lack of transparency is "completely baffling" given all the unanswered questions created by its budgetary limitations.
After Hoboken, the funding issue is an anvil hovering over our entire state: How well is the country's third largest transit system operating, and what must its 955,000 daily riders – already irritated by strikes, fare hikes, chronic delays, audio surveillance, and now a deadly crash - brace for next?
Governing is not a game. It is a serious business with importance to all of us. When you put people in charge of this function of civilized society who just don't care about doing it right, bad things are bound to happen. Now ultimately this accident may prove to be human error, but if indeed it was the result of equipment failure or failure of maintenance or antiquated infrastructure that didn't get upgraded because our absentee governor was too worried about his national profile, then responsibility has to be laid at his feet.
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It'll hurt for a little while longer folks, but the pain will be worth it in the end.
It might not go down! 
I wish I could give it a rec and a half.
Just ask Chris Christie.
