Amidst the recent uproar over the bridgegate scandal plaguing the Christie administration there is one overwhelming theme and that is the Governor's bombastic, combative style. While the Governor and his administration would like his constituents and presumably the nation (if you believe the Christie 2016 rumors) to believe he is a firm but fair, tell it like it is candidate that is willing to cross the isle. But that simply isn't the case. Despite Christie's un-charastically apologetic speech (although elements of sorry i'm not sorry were present).
The first of many examples of the Governor using his political power to punish anyone that dare not obey his wishes is the case of the late Alan Rosenthal, a Political Science professor at Rutgers University. Rosenthal was selected to be a member of a committee to redistrict the state. Christie had pushed hard for Rosenthal to select the plan that would benefit the GOP over the Democrat's proposed plan. When Rosenthal refused to select the plan the Governor wanted, Christie responded by cutting $169,000 to two programs at Rutgers that Rosenthal had founded.
Further research into the Christie's political past only reveal further examples of revenge and clear steps that Christie took to eliminate any competition. Even members of Christie's own party are not safe from serious consequences for making the slightest critique of the Governor. When New Jersey Senator Sean Kean (R) claimed that in 2010 the Governor should have declared a state of emergency sooner to keep motorists off the road and safe sooner the Senator quickly found himself in hot water. When Christie returned from his vacation in Disney (conveniently missing the snow) he held a conference in the Senator's district and specifically instructed him not to attend. If that wasn't a clear enough message, Kean's district was redrawn and his seat was eliminated the next year.
What is so damming about this recent event is that it calls into question the true nature of Chris Christie. Even if the Governor truly did not know of his staff's actions they felt as their actions were acceptable due to the example the Governor had set for them in the past.
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