For Chris Christie, now is clearly a time for leaving
Chris Christie has clearly abandoned his job as governor of New Jersey. It's time for him to resign.
When you're a state trooper, you take enormous risks in the name of public safety. New Jersey residents have lived through a sad reminder of that in recent months as three troopers have lost their lives while on the job, all due to vehicle-related mishaps. Last week, it was 31-year-old South Jersey Trooper Sean Cullen, who was struck and killed by a driver as he was assisting another motorist on the roadside in Deptford Township. Hundreds of officers attended Cullen's funeral this morning.
But Gov. Chris Christie couldn't make it. In fact, the failed White House wannabe and Donald Trump endorser wasn't around for the funerals of any of the Garden State's three lost troopers.
He simply couldn't be bothered. In fact, he was hundreds of miles away in a place called Hickory, N.C., conducting a faux "interview" with his new BFF, Trump:
Chris Burgos, president of the State Police Fraternal Association, said State Police "didn't really expect" Christie to be in attendance. "We are focused on honoring our fallen brother today, and quite frankly we did not expect someone who has consistently shown disdain for law enforcement to pay his respects to the Cullen and (the) State Police family. May Sean rest in peace," Burgos said in a statement sent to New Jersey 101.5 Monday.
A couple of weeks ago, when Christie initially surprised the pundits (that's not very hard to do!) by endorsing The Donald, a number of New Jersey newspaper called on Christie -- who has about 21 months remaining on his second term -- to resign. Frankly, I was a little surprised at first by the calls for Christie to step down. The Trump campaign is ripping America apart, and the governor's move to support Trump showed monumentally bad judgment. But was it really worse than his administration's actions in the web of scandal known as Bridgegate, or in the fact that New Jersey's economic performance under Christie is worse than abysmal.
But in the days that have followed, Chris Christie has shown New Jersey in his actions that he has zero interest in governing their state. He's much rather serve as adoring Robin to Trump's potty-mouthed Batman, gobbling up Trump Steaks and sipping Trump Vodka at Mar-a-Lago or standing by his man, no matter how mortifying. Losing in New Hampshire was Christie's signal to take defeat like a man, to return to Trenton and re-group. Instead, he'd rather be anywhere but here.
In a perfect world, Christie's bizarre disappearing act would merit impeachment. Isn't not caring about the job, on some level, worse than high crimes and misdemeanors? Even Sarah Palin, of all people, was smart enough to resign when she realized it was more fun, and worth a lot more money, to be a TV celebrity than to be governor of a small state.
A half-century ago, a rising politician named Ronald Reagan gave a famous speech that he called, "A Time for Choosing." For a flailing politician named Chris Christie. now is clearly a time for leaving. Please resign, Chris Christie, and let New Jersey get on with the rest of its life.
