A Traffic Jam?

By Todd Starnes, CP Op-Ed Contributor Monday, January 13, 2014

The Mainstream Media is hyperventilating over a traffic jam? If only they were as concerned about the gridlock in the halls of Congress in Washington, D.C. as they are about the gridlock on the George Washington Bridge.

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie endured a public flogging by reporters on Thursday – over the admission that his aides may have closed lanes on the George Washington Bridge to exact political retribution.

Christie announced he had fired his deputy chief of staff after the Associated Press obtained documents showing she had arranged traffic jams to punish the mayor of Fort Lee, N.J. for not endorsing his re-election campaign.

Christie said he was "embarrassed and humiliated" and profusely apologized to his constituents. He also vowed to travel to Fort Lee to apologize to the mayor in person.

"I come out here to apologize to the people of New Jersey," he said. "I am embarrassed and humiliated." The governor said he was also "stunned by the abject stupidity that was shown here."

The political chattering class has already set their sights on Christie – like contestants in "Death Race 2000" targeting octogenarians in wheelchairs. They wonder whether the "scandal" might upend a potential run for the White House in 2016.

It really seems to be a bit ridiculous. I understand that the George Washington Bridge is supposed to be the busiest in the world. But have you ever tried getting across Spaghetti Junction in Atlanta or the 405 in Los Angeles?

Traffic, like politics, is local.

I am not a fan of Gov. Christie. He's not exactly a friend of conservatives and he's been way too chummy with his BFF President Obama. But give credit where credit is due.

Gov. Christie stood before the cameras and took his lumps like a man. He did so without the use of a TelePrompter. The buck stopped with Christie. In the Obama White House, the buck stops with his newly bearded spokesman.

The governor seemed genuinely contrite and remorseful. He did not stand before the reporters defiantly shrieking, "What difference does it make?"

He took immediate action and fired the person responsible for the political payback.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but to my knowledge, no one has been fired for Fast & Furious, the Benghazi terrorist attack, the IRS scandal, the NSA scandal or the ObamaCare debacle. No one.

But by golly, the Mainstream Media and Democrats are getting their pound of flesh over bumper-to-bumper traffic over the Hudson River.

Democratic National Committee chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz told the Associated Press the "revelations are troubling for any public official." But she said: "They also indicate what we've come to expect from Gov. Christie – when people oppose him, he exacts retribution."

That's almost farcical coming from a presidential administration that launched Internal Revenue Service investigations against Tea Party organizations and pro-life organizations.

Rep. Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-N.J.) called the actions by Christie's administration "the worst type of political retaliation and abuse of public trust."

I respectfully disagree. An Internal Revue Service audit of Billy Graham and ordering a church to turn over its membership roles is the worst type of political retaliation and abuse of the public trust.

To our knowledge, Gov. Christie did not secretly spy on traffic reporters or threaten to throw them in jail for suggesting alternative routes to avoid congestion.

No one lost their automobile insurance.

He did not blame the lane closures on a YouTube video. Terrorists did not blow up the bridge nor did they did they harm the head of the Port Authority on the streets of Fort Lee.

He did not order the New Jersey State Police to spy on motorists to determine whether they were using the left lane or the right.

Last summer President Obama took Republicans to task for what he called an "endless parade of distractions and political posturing and phony scandals."

Yet he remains noticeably silent when his own party piles into a pickup truck and tries to run down Christie like he's a possum crossing a Southern highway.

The scandal is not the closing of the George Washington Bridge. The real scandal is a Mainstream Media that somehow thinks getting home late for Hamburger Helper is akin to terrorists attacking an American consulate in Benghazi.

In the face of such absurdity, Christie was shockingly calm and measured. Had he been a lesser man, I suspect the governor would've told those reporters to blow it out their tail pipes.

Todd Starnes is the host of Fox News & Commentary – heard daily on 250+ radio stations. He's also the author of Dispatches From Bitter America. To check out all of his work you can visit his website or follow him on Twitter @toddstarnes. In his spare time, Todd is active in his church, plays golf, follows SEC football, and eats barbecue. He lives in New York City.