By Matt Rooney | The Save Jersey Blog
I was on vacation for the past ten days, Save Jerseyans, so you’ll have to bear with me as we sort through the stack of stuff that’s accumulated. One story nevertheless sticks out like a sore thumb and I’ve been looking forward to a healthy rant on it.
In fact, I’m willing to bet that most of you who weren’t tanning, grilling and playing beach bocce (sorry to rub it in) still missed this little gem: soon-to-be-demoted Jersey City Police Chief Robert Cowan has issued a letter alleging that Mayor Steven Fulop, a leading contender for the 2017 Democrat gubernatorial nomination, devised a plan “to snarl traffic outside of the Holland Tunnel the same month he announced plans to sue the Port Authority for $400 million.”
Chief Cowan says his disagreement with the plan is the reason why he’s getting the boot.
Whoa, right? Stop the presses! And here I thought New Jersey politics was a clean, orderly, ethically chaste universe before Chris Christie’s administration closed the George Washington Bridge?
The contents of the Chief’s letter released by The Jersey Journal are remarkable (if true). Again, the chief is being demoted, and Fulop is innocent until proven guilty. I only wish Governor Christie had been afforded the same courtesy from his lynch mob.
It didn’t start with the DRPA, folks, another bistate agency which the Democrat legislature is consistently refusing to investigate since it’s at the end of the state controlled by their own team; extending back to the days of another Jersey City mayor, Frank Hague, New Jersey politics has always been nothing short of notorious, and a majority of the most egregious offenders (with the notable exception of Enoch Johnson) had a “D” at the end of their names. Our politicians have been slashing car tires, punitively firing enemies, and redefining political brinkmanship and bad behavior for over 100 years. No spin, just facts. Read a book if you don’t believe me. I can make some recommendations but I’m not doing free advertising.
Suffice it to say, we’ve sat through thousands of recycled “news” articles, web videos, and TV segments for the G.W. Bridge lane closures since January 2014, pursuant to which no one was harmed or maimed, and there still isn’t one smoking gun in plain view of the public implicating Chris Christie in any crime whatsoever. Period, end or sentence.
Arguably the fate of Jersey City’s police force is much more serious than the G.W. incident following the fatal shooting of one of its officers over the weekend. The hypocrisy here would also be thick enough to choke a horse given Mayor Fulop’s claims of Christie strong-arming tactics in the wake of the Fort Lee story going national.
So is Steven Fulop playing politics with Jersey City’s safety? Is anyone with an audience asking besides yours truly?
Put another way, will our state’s media give this story anywhere near the same level of scrutiny afforded to the Christie scandal? Or can we finally admit, once and for all, that his primary offense was “succeeding while registered as a Republican” in a blue state?
I’m sitting on the edge of my seat…
Dunlop as evolved and completed his journey from refreshing change as a newcomer to JC, into typical Hudson County/JC pol.