Even if no crime, it's time for Christie to bow out

Federal and state investigators are trying to determine if a crime was committed when members of Governor Christie's inner circle closed two of three access lanes to the upper level tollbooths of the George Washington Bridge, above, causing four days of gridlock in Democratic Fort Lee, The Record reports today.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
Editor

Can we really believe a governor who claims he was kept out of the loop when his lieutenant governor, members of his inner circle in Trenton and his Port Authority cronies engaged in a pattern of political retribution against Democrats who didn't support him (The Record's A-1 today)?

Do we really want a governor who has been unable to deliver federal aid to shore residents who were driven from their homes by Superstorm Sandy nearly 17 months ago (A-3)?

Even if no federal or state crime was committed when lane closures caused four days of gridlock at the Fort Lee end of the George Washington Bridge, Governor Christie shouldn't survive the prolonged crisis over the Bridgegate scandal.

Narrow focus

Today's Page 1 story by Staff Writer Stephanie Akin, one of the paper's stars, focuses narrowly on what laws may have been broken by all of the political machinations in the Governor's Office and at the Port Authority, the bi-state transportation agency and patronage mill.

Akin omits any discussion of how the majority of state residents have lost confidence in their governor, and would like to see him resign. 

Drugs and guns

Is there a story today about the full-page ad from the Bergen County prosecutor, warning residents that he won't hesitate to go after anyone who gives even one Oxycodone pill to a friend of a friend with a drug problem (A-7)?

A letter to the editor today states clearly how some gun-rights advocates believe local police cannot protect them from crime (A-10). 

"We are in a war," claims Don White of tiny Prospect Park, which shares a border with Paterson, the city that is often demonized by The Record as a drug bazaar.

More flawed reporting

On the Local front today, Road Warrior John Cichowski wrings his hands over the failure of a non-profit car service that could help "non-driving seniors and ambulatory disabled people navigate inexpensively" (L-1).

Of course, Cichowski makes the problem even more dramatic by omitting any mention of NJ Transit's Access Link service, which takes thousands of people to supermarkets, and to and from doctors and hospitals every month.

In his last paragraph, the confused reporter asks "how many fewer deaths, injuries and crashes" would there be "if seniors and disabled people had convenient, inexpensive travel options"?

But they already have that with NJ Transit's Access Link minibuses. 

This story smells

Another L-1 story says Hackensack residents complained that uncollected trash "attracted vermin and gave off a bad smell in the sweltering heat" of summer.

So, why did city officials start twice-a-week pickup on March 17, when it is still wintry, and ignore how a recycling-education campaign and compost pickups could have accomplished the same goals?

Gondolas on River Street?

A Business page story finally identifies multimillionaire developer Fred Daibes as a partner in a deal to buy The Record's former headquarters on about 20 acres of land along River Street in Hackensack (L-8).

The story doesn't say whether Daibes and partner James Demetrakis plan to provide gondolas to residents of the luxury apartments they intend to build in one of the city's worst flood zones.

My gun is bigger than your gun

The Heart Attack Grill in Las Vegas serves Flatliner Fries, and a Quadruple Bypass Burger that contains 9,982 calories. A promoter of the restaurant died of a heart attack at 52, The Record reported today.  (Wikipedia)

Gun owners are feeling inadequate under an assault of gun-control bills in New Jersey, the latest wave of new proposals and laws after the massacre of innocent children in Newtown, Conn.

A Page 1 story in The Record today declares:

Crowd

jeers call 

for gun 

control  

These putzes somehow have duped the media and the courts into believing the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution guarantees the individual right to bear arms, when nothing could be farther from the truth.

They defend the personal ownership of assault rifles, shotguns and other obvious phallic symbols out of some feeling of male inadequacy, and in the process indict the police for not being able to protect us from violence.

'Pay to play'

In other news, The Record today continues to add up all the "pay to play" contributions by New Jersey companies to the Republican Governors Association, a big booster of Governor Christie (A-1).

Christie was jeered by relatives of the developmentally disabled who oppose the closing of two state institutions in North Jersey -- in another sign of the GOP bully's commitment to the common man (A-1).

Queen of Errors

Two more long corrections appear on A-2 today -- the tip of the iceberg under the six-figure Queen of Errors, Liz Houlton, the paper's so-called production editor.

On A-6, the latest story in unprecedented coverage of mass transit reports Sandy damage to rail cars and locomotives (A-6) was underestimated, but readers have seen little about crowding and the overall quality of bus and train service.

Seizure Shake

A 52-year-old man who dressed as a hospital patient to promote the Heart Attack Grill in Las Vegas died of -- you guessed it -- a heart attack (A-15).

"It's a dark, cautionary tale," the American Heart Association says. "Heart disease is still the No. 1 cause of death in the U.S. Nutrition and what we put into our bodies [play a] significant role in the heart health of an individual."

When was the last time you read anything resembling that message in The Record's food pages?

Seat belts, naps

On A-18, an editorial takes Sen. Barbara Buono -- the Democratic gubernatorial candidate -- to task for not using a seat belt without mentioning that Christie doesn't need one: 

He's wedged into the back seat of his massive state police SUV, and his body fat serves as a natural air bag in the event of an accident.

I had a hard time following the message from Columnist Leonard Pitts Jr., but I'm sure Christie's morbid obesity says nothing about me or the tens of millions of fit people who go to the gym regularly and watch what they eat (A-19).

From the looks of today's Local section, head Assignment Editor Deirdre Sykes and her deputy, Dan Sforza, never awoke from their afternoon naps.

Setting Record straight

A concerned reader found errors in the Pulaski Skyway press release that formed the basis of a Road Warrior column on Jan. 13.

The reader got the state Department of Transporation to correct the mistakes, and then made sure Wikipedia's entry on the skyway was linked to the corrected release, not the Road Warrior column.

He alerted The Record as well:

"The enormous NJDOT organization had enough decency and integrity to listen to me and correct 2 mistakes it made in a Jan. 10 press release about the Pulaski Skyway.

"I updated the Wikipedia page for the Pulaski Skyway that, unfortunately, had one of these mistakes referenced by the Road Warrior Jan. 13 article.  I removed all Road Warrior article references and changed it to the Jan. 10 NJDOT press release.

"Road Warrior mistakes are confusing Record readers.  Wikipedia readers should not be confused by the same unsubstantiated or senseless mistakes.

"It would be helpful if The Record and Road Warrior had enough decency and integrity to start correcting and preventing Road Warrior mistakes that I bring to your attention.

"It could start with 6 mistakes I mentioned with his Jan. 13 column about Pulaski Skyway."

Read the full e-mail on the Facebook page for Road Warrior Bloopers:

Another Polish joke from John Cichowski 

Boxing in reporter John Brennan

Image by jimmywayne via Flickr

The long-delayed sentencing of former Nets star Jayson Williams is all over the front page of The Record of Woodland Park today: Eight years of "partying all the time" and being "treated like a king" since the 2002 killing of his limo driver. Persistent problems with alcohol and guns. Up to five years in prison for the shooting and attempted cover-up.

All this under the byline of Staff Writer John Brennan, who had to give up his public relations effort for Williams and could no longer peddle half-truths for the ex-athlete he once covered as as sports reporter. He could no longer omit a crucial fact as he had in several past stories: The shooting occurred after a night of drinking.

This time, Brennan was boxed in -- forced to report what was said in court by the prosecutor and the dead limo driver's distraught sister. But the reporter didn't give up until today, deliberately or inadvertently reporting incorrectly just yesterday that the potential sentence was 18 months, not up to five years. (Photo: Somerset County Courthouse.)



In the big Page 1 photo, Williams towers over his attorneys and sheriff's officers, but the look of consternation on his face as he was bring handcuffed is priceless. He seems to get it -- finally. I wonder if Brennan will ever get it.