Saturday, December 21, 2013

Editors indulge in more Christie myth-making

A winter scene on the East Hill in Englewood.


By VICTOR E. SASSON
Editor

Despite all the evidence to the contrary, The Record continues to publish orgasmic descriptions of Governor Christie as the greatest politician on earth.

He's also the supposed "front-runner" in the desperate GOP scramble for a presidential contender in 2016.

On Page 1 today and Friday, a news story and column reprise the early September traffic delays caused when Port Authority officials closed two Fort Lee access lanes to the upper level of the George Washington Bridge.

Although drivers using Martha Washington, the lower level, and a fourth Fort Lee access lane experienced no delays, The Record continues to exaggerate the impact.

Columnist Charles Stile claimed on Friday's front page the lane closures "jeopardized the safety of one town."

What compromise?

In a long, poorly edited second paragraph, Stile described Christie in mythical terms as a "compromising, post-partisan leader of the new century who finds common ground with his political foes."

Where was the compromise when Christie vetoed numerous bills -- including a tax surcharge on millionaires -- during his first term or when he refused to approve a Democratic initiative giving financial aid to undocumented college students (A-3)?

That long-winded Stile paragraph and the first two tortured paragraphs of Friday's A-1 story on a security breach at Target are examples of how little editing occurs at The Record under Editor Marty Gottlieb, who came from The New York Times, where readers traditionally choke on overlong stories.

A correction on Friday's A-2 tried to fix two embarrassing errors in Thursday's front-page story on the closing of Farmland Dairies in Wallington.

Don't expect a correction of a production screw-up on today's Editorial Page, where a photo of the September GWB traffic jam in Fort Lee is used with a letter about two-hour upper-level delays on Tuesday (A-11).

Hackensack news

Debra Heck, the former city clerk in Hackensack, filed notice she may sue the city over her dismissal (L-1).

If she does, the suit will be another in a long line of litigation dating to the corrupt rule of Ken "I Am The Law" Zisa -- the former police chief and state assemblyman -- that has put a big dent in the city treasury and inflated property tax bills.

On Friday's L-1, city officials announced a developer plans to build apartments on the upper floors of 210 Main St., an 11-story former bank building that opened in 1927.


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