We're no closer to unmasking Christie's lies in GWB mess

Nearly 20 months after the gridlock caused by the Christie administration's political vendetta against the mayor of Fort Lee and other Democrats, all eyes in the borough are focused on Hudson Lights, the massive residential and retail project near the George Washington Bridge.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

The most tantalizing headline on The Record's front page today is a partial quote from Bridget Anne Kelly, Governor Christie's former aide, whose email -- "Time for some traffic problems in Fort Lee -- triggered a scandal that may yet bring down the GOP bully.

"Former aide says

she'll no longer

allow the lies"

If you turn to the continuation page, Kelly says, "I will no longer allow the lies that have been said about me or my role in the George Washington Bridge issue to go unchallenged" (A-11).

She also says, "I have remained quiet while many of the people whom I believed in, trusted and respected have attempted to publicly discredit and even humiliate me."

Is she referring to Christie, who fired her when that infamous email came to light and whose sexist legal team called her "stupid," "weepy" and "unqualified," among other pejoratives?

I guess we'll have to wait for her trial.

Christie's role

Despite two federal indictments and a guilty plea from David Wildstein, the former Port Authority official who put the lane closures into motion in September 2013, Christie's role remains unclear.

The GOP bully would have us believe that without his knowledge or consent, Kelly conspired with Wildstein and others to exact political retribution against the Democratic mayor of Fort Lee for refusing to endorse the governor for reelection.

C'mon. We weren't born yesterday. That sounds like a whopper of a lie.

Today's coverage

I am not about to wade through all of the stories, sidebars and even three columns on the criminal charges unveiled by U.S. Attorney Paul Fishman in Newark (A-1, A-8, A-9, A-10, A-11 and L-1).

"They callously victimized the people of Fort Lee, who were just trying to get to school, go to work," Fishman said of the defendants.

But I winced at the front-page description of Bridget Anne Kelly standing "on a purple Fisher-Price step stool in hot pink pumps," especially because none of the male prosecutors, lawyers or defendants are described in any similar way (A-1).

For example, no mention is made of all the weight Wildstein has lost since he left the Port Authority.

Questions

And the nearly 20 months after the four days of gridlock in Fort Lee, The Record has never reported why Christie tried so hard during his reelection campaign to get endorsements from Democrats.

The Woodland Park daily, more than any other newspaper, had published story after story and column after column since he took office in early 2010 on what a great "compromiser" he was, and how he had "reformed" the state pension system -- swallowing whole Christie's own public relations. 

The sad truth, which finally emerged this year, is that Christie has executed more than 350 vetoes to get his way.

Local columns

Don't bother with the tedious columns from Road Warrior John Cichowski and Mike Kelly (L-1).

The brain-damaged Cichowski actually compares the lane closures in Fort Lee to a Russian snowstorm that trapped 10,000 vehicles in January 2012.

Kelly has the nerve to focus an entire column on Fort Lee Mayor Mark Sokolich, a politician, calling him a victim of the GWB scandal.

The reporter forgets the "people" are the ones who suffered most.

Martha Washington

And the traffic jams that resulted from the closure of two of three access lanes were confined to the upper level of the bridge.

Access lanes to the lower level -- called Martha Washington -- remained open and traffic flowed across the span.

The Record rarely asks the public for their opinion about even the most compelling issues -- such as Christie's inept governance of New Jersey.

So, Cichowski and two reporters getting reaction to the federal charges, as well as recollections of the gridlock, prove irrelevant (L-1).

The only opinions that matter are those of the federal jurors who will hear the charges against Bridget Anne Kelly and Bill Baroni, former executive director of the Port Authority, should they decide to go to trial.

We're tired of the annual tears, anguish and bathos

Passaic Street and Maywood Avenue in Maywood. Passaic, an antiquated, heavily traveled, two-lane street, was clogged on Saturday with drivers heading for Westfield Garden State Plaza, the Paramus mall invaded by a gunman on Nov. 4. Today, The Record carries a wire-service story with the first serious discussion since then of security at shopping centers.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
Editor

Twenty-five years after the bombing of Pan Am 103, readers still have to bear the burden of knowing 38 of the 270 victims were from New Jersey.

That's all the Woodland Park daily and Mike Kelly, one of its tired columnists, needs to unleash thousands of meaningless words marking the passing of another year since the terrorist act on Dec. 21, 1988 (A-1).

The Record loves anniversaries, even though most of them have little meaning for most readers, because they fill space the editors couldn't fill with real news.

How does Kelly begin today's column?

"They came to the stone memorial like old soldiers returning to the battlefield.

"Only these were not soldiers at all."

OK. If they aren't "soldiers," why even use that word?

The reason is simple: After writing columns for more than 20 years, words fail this untalented hack. 

Mall execution

Along with a front-page story on the arrest of 4 in the fatal carjacking at an upscale mall in Millburn last Sunday, The Record runs its first serious discussion of shopping center security (A-4).

North Jersey shoppers learn they are left out in the cold: 

The Mall of America in far-off Minnesota "touts on its website a security force of more than 100 officers."

However, in New Jersey, the owners of Westfield Garden State Plaza in Paramus and the Mall at Short Hills refuse to discuss security.

Check out the long correction on A-2 today and ask yourself why the editors even ran it. Isn't PSE&G the major utility in the state?

Bridge to boredom

There may be relatively few words about mall security, but The Record continues to give unprecedented coverage to politically inspired traffic delays on the George Washington Bridge (L-1 and O-1).

It's as if traffic isn't a nightmare nearly every day, at the Hudson River crossings as well as on major highways, including Route 80.

One car, one driver

Road Warrior John Cichowski today indulges another one of those morons who ignore mass transit and drive to and from Manhattan alone.

One of his readers, Larry Finch of Maywood, complains about a purported "five hours" it took his wife to get home from Manhattan on Tuesday because of emergency construction on the upper level of the GWB (L-1).

Hey, Larry, what does your wife have against Martha Washington, the lower level?

Crash news

A fatal crash on Route 80 in Totowa on Saturday morning caused another traffic nightmare, killing the driver of a 17-year-old Toyota (L-1 and L-3).

As usual, there isn't a single clue in the story about whether speed was a factor. 

The driver, Cesar Castello III, 31, of Wayne was "ejected" and run over by another car. 

Was he wearing a seat belt? The editors included the name of a state trooper and expect readers to call him to get the answer.

Who was Castello? A husband or father or just someone who couldn't afford a new car?

Mixed messages

Your Money's Worth Columnist Kevin DeMarrais lists healthy eating as one of the big issues of 2013 (B-1).

But he continues to omit organic and other naturally raised or grown food in his monthly North Jersey Marketplace Survey of supermarket prices (B-2).

Let them eat cake

The Record has some of the wealthiest newspaper readers in the nation, so why is Staff Writer Elisa Ung reporting on a celebrity chef's "rules for flavorful cooking on a budget" (BL-1).

Thanks, but no thanks. Who wants to eat the "cheapest chicken parts" -- likely pumped up with harmful animal antibiotics -- from the A&P?

I'm sure Chef David Burke doesn't eat them or serve them in his restaurant.

High entree prices

Wouldn't we rather see Burke and other restaurant owners lower their ridiculously high entree prices?

On Friday, Ung gave a rave review to Chakra in Paramus, despite a greasy schnitzel ($29) she called "a depressing ripoff," and a "tough" filet mignon ($38).

Doesn't the paper's chief restaurant reviewer ever send back food? And what did she spend on three visits to Chakra, $400 or more?

She touts the "thoughtful" wine-by-the-glass list, but doesn't give prices, which would likely shock readers, even well-heeled ones.

What's on top?

The Better Living cover on Friday was filled with a large photo of Chakra's crispy trout topped with cauliflower puree and Marcona almonds, but on BL-18, Ung said her fish was served on top of the puree.

Kelly's surprise

Just when I have written off Kelly as having no redeeming social value, he surprises me with a second column today on the Opinion front.

Read that first paragraph for a clear statement of what the column is about and a rare opinion from a columnist who expresses few of them (O-1):

"Chris Christie wants to be a bridge builder who can unite the Republican Party and capture the White House.

"Funny how he can't seem to find his way across the mess at the George Washington Bridge."

A rare good job by Kelly. 

But will he please ask Production Editor Liz Houlton to run an updated column photo of him and get rid of the one with his signature shit-eating grin.

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.