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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsFor Chris Christie's minions, the anniversary of [9/11] was "time for a traffic jam in Fort Lee."
by Jon Perr
While the digging into Chris Christie's "BridgeGate" is far from over, this much we do know. The Christie administration jeopardized the lives and livelihoods of tens of thousands of New Jersey residents by shutting access lanes to the George Washington Bridge, all in the service of a still to-be-determined political vendetta. But that's not all we know that threat to public safety. Of all days, Christie's hatchet men and women chose the 12th anniversary of the September 11 attacks in New York City. And among the region's likely terror targets before and after the carnage of 9/11 was the George Washington Bridge.
Just ask Rudy Giuliani, the former New York City mayor who defended Governor Christie this week by brushing off September's traffic hellscape on the bridge as a "stupid political prank." But in an interview with Steve Forbes to mark the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 slaughter, Giuliani told a different story:
New York City is not just the World Trade Center.
I didn't know, that morning, that there'd be only two planes. There could've been three, could've been four. Could've been seven. What could've happened were follow-up suicide attacks. We had plenty of intelligence that Islamic extremist terrorists, who would get arrested, would have plans for the Lincoln Tunnel, the Holland Tunnel, the George Washington Bridge, the subways, the PATH train.
New York City is also Times Square, which was the site of a failed 2010 bomb plot. And on the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, it was just one area on concern. As CBS New York reported on September 9, 2011:
Just two days before the 10th anniversary, New York City is on high alert.
Federal and local authorities have beefed up security after receiving intelligence about a credible threat. The alleged plot by al Qaeda involves detonating car bombs on bridges and in tunnels in New York and Washington D.C. to coincide with the anniversary of 9/11.
In response, police on both sides of the Hudson River erected security checkpoints at bridges, tunnels and other sensitive locations. But Christie's New York counterpart Andrew Cuomo urged residents not to panic while explaining, "All New Yorkers should be cautious and aware as we prepare to commemorate the 9/11 anniversary."
As it turns out, the targeting of the GWB began long before Al Qaeda's devastating attacks in Manhattan and Washington, DC. As CNN recalled, the busiest bridge in the world was also at risk during the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center carried out by Ramzi Youssef and Omar Abdul Rahman that killed six and wounded over 1,000 people:
June 1993: Rahman and others were charged in a plot to bomb New York landmarks including the Lincoln Tunnel, George Washington Bridge and the FBI's New York office.
In a nutshell, for two decades national, state and local authorities have worried that the George Washington Bridge and the tens of thousands of drivers who cross it daily could be in the crosshairs of terrorists hoping to unleash the maximum damage on the United States. Nevertheless, Team Christie apparently didn't think twice about converting it into a parking lot. For Chris Christie's minions, the anniversary of the September 11 bloodbath was "time for a traffic jam in Fort Lee."
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2014/01/11/1268951/-George-Washington-Bridge-was-a-terror-target
That's worth repeating:
Patrick Foye: Hero (More Bridgegate Stuff)
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10024314942
New documents reveal Bridgegate PA appointees ignored danger warnings
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10024311870
Note:
Squinch
(50,949 posts)The other thing that someone just pointed out to me was that it was Yom Kippur. They were messing with the ability of Jewish people to get home in time for a very holy observance.
He better not slide on this.
ProSense
(116,464 posts)petty revenge. People's lives, literally, don't matter.
Rex
(65,616 posts)GOPukers are evil inside and out. I so hope they end up in prison.
Kber
(5,043 posts)Perfect time for a traffic jam.
The fact that it was a Jewish holiday and Sept 11 wasn't important to them.
ProgressSaves
(123 posts)Cha
(297,188 posts)Lunacee_2013
(529 posts)Of all the days to bully someone who crossed him! I always had a feeling that he was petty, especially after he yelled at that teacher, but everyone kept saying he was "charismatic". Now I see why, apparently he goes after anyone he thinks wronged him. I really hope this ruins his chances in 2016, because someone that thin-skinned does not belong in the White House.
A little off topic, but if you want to see something both funny and sad, just look at the fox "news" message boards. Every story about this is usually followed by cries of "but, but, Benghazi, IRS, Obamacare!" etc, etc....
Kingofalldems
(38,454 posts)Laxman
(2,419 posts)one of the complaints registered with the Port Authority on the first day of the "traffic study'' was from a woman saying it was her husbands first day of work after having gone more than a year unemployed? He was 45 minutes late for his first day back because of the traffic.
This story is about way more than the traffic, but the inconvenience and callousness to people's lives is just so incredibly disgusting.
ProSense
(116,464 posts)Internal emails released Friday reveal that top officials were bombarded with complaints from local residents about how the politically-charged closure of lanes on the George Washington Bridge was harming their lives.
One email from an official at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey dated Sept. 9 to the bridge's general manager, Robert Durando, says a woman called to discuss her hardship.
The email reads: "I just got another call from a patron... she says that the Port Authority 'doesn't care about their customers and they are playing God with people's jobs'. Her husband was 40 minutes late to a job that he just got after being out of work for over a year. She said a lot of other things, but I will spare you her rant!"
Another email from a different official, dated Sept. 12, to Durando said there "have been several complaint calls coming to Bob's line." The official said that the one individual was "complaining about the traffic change and saying he has a $1M home in Fort Lee and bought this home to be close to the bridge/work and pays a lot of taxes why this change?"
- more -
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/christie-bridge-emails-hardship
Bridge Scandal Documents Indicate Effort to Hide Political Motive
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10024312727
Warren DeMontague
(80,708 posts)Seems to me, this crossed the line into criminal behavior.
ProSense
(116,464 posts)"Seems to me, this crossed the line into criminal behavior."
...they were warned.
NJ Port Authority Chief Warned That Bridge Lane Closures Were Illegal
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10024311993
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10024311993#post1
ProSense
(116,464 posts)By Zack Beauchamp
Some of the nations most prominent conservatives sought to downplay New Jersey Governor Chris Christies bridge scandal on the Sunday morning political talk shows, suggesting it paled in comparison to purported Obama Administration perfidies like Benghazi or the IRS targeting of conservative groups.
Chris Christie has been totally open here, Reince Priebus, Chairman of the Republican National Committee (RNC), said, dismissing any notion that Christie had something to do with the political closing of the George Washington Bridge.
- more -
http://thinkprogress.org/home/2014/01/12/3151261/christie-republicans-benghazi/
Steve Kornacki's theory on the Christie scandal
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10024319407