Susan Wigenton: A judge reaching for a bridge too far.

Christie and Bridget Anne Kelly.  (Screen Grab on 01/09/2014)

The drama continues and the band plays on as some of the blood-seeking, revenge-toting politicians, as well as a few in the press continue to pursue their on-the-record speculation that “Christie had to know” about vehicular lane closures leading from Fort Lee to the George Washington Bridge.

If our governor had to satisfy all the demands of those who dislike him (despise him is a more accurate verb), he would have to turn himself into a pretzel.  Yet, even that wouldn’t be acceptable.

The characterization in the aggregate of what his detractors want him to do is unbalanced and contradictory:  It is a schizophrenic conflation of bipolar thinking that evokes a “Can’t live with him, can’t live without him” syndrome.  Impossible!

Governor Christopher Christie is a tough personality and can be very abrasive in his interactions, no matter with whom – no news to anyone.

His I-am-what-I-am behavior does not sit very well with political opponents, even, lately, among some of those in his own party where he has kept a tight rein.

As to the print media, it is abundantly clear that Christie is completely out of favor with the editorial page guru of New Jersey’s largest newspaper, The Star-Ledger.

If my recollection is correct, Christie was once assailed in a long-ago column 

appearing in the pages of that newspaper as having a “character defect.”  Or was the admonition“character flaw?”  And that’s just a sampling of the continuous barrage of such tripes.

Yet not all of Christie’s political opponents are unable to deal effectively with him.  Outstanding among those is Stephen Sweeney, Democrat, and New Jersey Senate President.

Sweeney is one of several high-profile Democratic power-brokers who knows how to come to terms with someone outside of his party. Together with Christie, he was a major player in carving out an interim, though imperfect, solution to New Jersey’s public pension plans.

Furthermore, he was the only high-profile Democrat with the guts to put into perspective the early Bridgegate attacks on Christie.

For expressing that introspection, he was quickly excoriated by his own colleagues after his comments on that topic during a Star-Ledger editorial board meeting  were released to the public: (See minutes 3:22 to 3:40 on that YouTube recording).

WHAT TO WATCH FOR NEXT:

On Saturday “John Doe” had asked the Third Circuit Court of Appeals to nullify a court order by U.S. District Judge Susan Wigenton to release his and other names of persons who were never indicted, or who may or may not have had tangential knowledge of the GWB lane closures.

Today, a consortium of news media, including The Star-Ledger, filed its own motion to deny “John Doe’s” petition.

Tomorrow or shortly thereafter, the piranhas could get another chance at feasting on Christie’s character when, as they eagerly hope, they could get access to that information which previously had been ordered sealed by Paul J. Fishman, U.S. Attorney for the State of New Jersey.

 What do you think?  Will the piranhas go hungry?  Or will they get their pound of flesh?

As Richard North Patterson, a distinguished attorney, and a person who eventually became a best-selling author wrote in Silent Witness, “. . .  speculation is not proof.” 

 

Nor, might I add, does speculation lead to wisdom: “A fool takes no pleasure in understanding, but only in expressing personal opinion.”  (Proverbs 18:2)

Thanks for checking in once more.  Remember to honor those you love, and be grateful for what you have.

(Click on the image for an enhanced view.)