Chopper Gate: Christie's "Mission Accomplished" Moment

    Few can forget the image of then president George W. Bush, dressed in full fighter pilot regalia, landing on an aircraft carrier conveying troops back from Iraq.  High atop the vessel was a large banner proclaiming "Mission Accomplished."


   Never mind that the mission in Iraq was far from over.  Or that there was absolutely no need for Bush to arrive by jet, since his flight actually delayed the homecoming of the fighting men and women.
   As the war dragged, and his hubris became more evident to the American public, his role playing and bragging sign (which the White House originally said was created by the Navy, yet another statement that proved false) became a symbol for all that was wrong with his administration.

  


   Fast forward to May 31, 2011, and we find that Gov. Christie, who has NO public events on his calendar that day, utilizes a fifty-five foot State Police helicopter to carry him from Trenton to Montvale, NJ, so he can watch his son play baseball.  Landing on an adjacent football field, he is then met by a fleet of state cars and his security detail, who drive him the final 100 yards to the grandstand.


   After five innings, the game is halted so he can make his exit, once again boarding the chopper en route to Princeton, NJ, where he has an important meeting.  With a group of Republican donors-- from the state of Iowa-- who urge him to enter the presidential race.


  N.B.  There has been virtually mention of the fact that at each end of the journey, Christie was met by his usual entourage of private car and a state security detail, who obviously had to drive the distance in order to carry their passenger between the landing pad and the grandstand in Montvale and his meeting with donors from Iowa in Princeton.

     The trip between Trenton and Montvale, where the game was held, would have been about 80 miles on the road. It would have been an additional 70 miles back to Princeton.


      The state Sierra Club said that a single turbine helicopter gets about 2.35 miles per gallon of gasoline, compared to a large SUV, like a Chevy Suburban, which gets 15 miles per gallon on the highway.

      According to Philly.com, "Christie and his wife, Mary Pat, flew in a brand-new $12.5 million state police helicopter Tuesday afternoon from Trenton to North Jersey to see their son play in a high school baseball playoff game. They took off after the fifth inning and flew on to the governor's mansion in Princeton, where Christie dined with presidential campaign fund-raisers from Iowa.

The images of the Christies landing on a field adjacent to the baseball diamond - and reportedly riding in a black car with tinted windows the final 300 feet to the bleachers - fit the caricature that political opponents have drawn of a budget-cutter with no sense of shared sacrifice in tough economic times.

Christie has built a national profile from an overarching message of fiscal conservatism by slashing funding for education, eliminating money for family-planning clinics, and, just last month, vetoing spending on two $800 dinners by officials of the quasi-public South Jersey Port Corp. in Camden."

   The national press got wind of this debacle and dubbed it Chopper Gate.  Initially on the day the story broke, Christie's spokesman Michael Drewniak said, "The use of air travel has been extremely limited and appropriate." 

   But as public criticism-- and ridicule-- continued to grow, a day later the Commander of the State Police was forced to issue a statement that said the expense did not cost the tax payers anything, since the pilots needed to log in a set number of hours.  Accordingly, both Drewniak and Christie still loudly proclaimed that no reimbursement would be forthcoming.


   Then, two days after the initial flight, the New York Times ran an editorial criticizing the "High Flying Governor" for "Taking New Jersey for a Ride."


    Later that same day, it was reported that the state Republican party would pay $1232.29 for the flight, with Christie also ponying up $1232.30.  In addition, after it became evident that Christie had similarly attended another game a few days earlier, so Christie also said he would pay $919.20 for that flight.


   In all, it was reported that Christie made use of the chopper on 33 occasions during his first year of office, many obvious state business, but a few certainly looking more suspect.


  This is not the first time Christie has received criticism for his apparent spendthrift ways when it comes to some aspects of the public funding, where he apparently has a sense of entitlement.  As a US Attorney, he consistently violated departmental guidelines for hotel expenses, at times staying in a $500 a night room when more inexpensive options were required.


   This also from a man who says the best part of his job as governor is that he gets to have the Lincoln Tunnel between New Jersey and Manhattan closed to all other traffic whenever he is driven beneath the Hudson River.   Never mind that his little thrill also inconveniences thousands of regular commuters whose daily trek is already lengthy and difficult.  But perhaps these commuters would be happy to know that on a few occasions, instead of closing the Tunnel, Christie has elected to chopper into the City That Never Sleeps. 


   The Editorial Pages from all points in New Jersey were uniformly critical.    


   Even those who would be expected to support the governor, such as Fox News' Greta Van Susteren, called out Christie on Wednesday.

She blogged: "Of course the car and even the helicopter are not huge costs compared to the billions the nation and states spend - but it is an example. Examples matter. Is it the example politicians want to be giving?"

   This may well be Christie's "Mission Accomplished" moment.   Even if he has now repaid the state.  But not apologized to the taxpayers or admitted that he may have been wrong.


   Uh oh, Big Guy.