So what went wrong and who is at fault?

 It snowed too much too fast.  That’s what went wrong in New Jersey this week.  New York too.

It wasn’t a personal snowstorm, yet naturally many, if not most, people relate to the aftermath of a storm out of their personal concerns.   The numb minded media, especially the Asbury Park Press editorial board, who is once again is living up to their Neptune Nudniks moniker, granted a full page in the print edition to selfish rants, 12 pages on their website, contributing to an online frenzy of wind-bagging. 

The Nudniks are contributing to directly to the frenzy with yet another editorial premised on inaccurate information and assumptions.  They say the storm was predicted days in advance.  Hogwash.  Forecasts as late as Saturday night were predicting snow falls in Central Jersey in the 12-18 inch range.  It wasn’t until just a few hours before the storm hit that any forecaster was talking about accumulations of 25-30 inches with 55 mph winds.   Folks in Buffalo or Syracuse might be expected to be prepared for the type of storm we got, but the truth of the matter is that New Jersey’s various governments don’t have the equipment or the personnell to handle the this type of weather quickly.   That is why the clean up is continuing now, 48 hours after the snow stopped falling.

The Nudniks started their editorial rant accusing road crews of “surrendering” to the storm.  

I was out Sunday night to plow my properties.  The DOT crews were out.  The visablity was terrible.  It was dangerous to be plowing.  It was snowing too hard too fast.

If they were not still out there cleaning up, I would suggest those crews dump truck loads of snow that they surrendered to at APP headquarters in Neptune.  Cancelled subscriptions should suffice for cooler heads. 

It snowed too much to fast.  That is what happened.  There have been lots of rumors and comments that there have been job actions and sick outs in some towns and maybe the state.  Given how well Monmouth County’s crews performed vis-a-vis many towns and the DOT, you have to wonder.  Investigations should take place and corrective action taken where appropriate.   However the APP should be tracking down the validity of those rumors rather than wind-bagging that road crews “seem to have” quit on the storm.

The media driven brouhaha over Governor Christie and Lt. Governor Guadagno being out of state at the same time is as absurd and insulting as the Nudniks’ assumption that road crews quit.

As published elsewhere and confirmed by MMM, Guadagno and her brothers are spending what is most likely their last Christmas holiday with their father who is suffering from Stage 4 prostate cancer.  The trip was planned and booked months ago with Christie’s approval.  Shame on the pundits and politicians who have been trying to score points over Guadagno’s absence.

Once the news about why Guadagno is “on vacation” at the same time as the Governor gets around, watch he feeding frenzy on Christie step up.   I’m looking forward to his first press conference back.  I hope he shames the mindless numbskulls of the press.

There’s little going on in Trenton this week.  That’s why it was a good week for the Governor to take his family to Disney World.   Guadango’s situation made the decision to take a vacation delicate.  Senate President Steve Sweeney’s good character made the vacation doable.  But various pundits and political hacks won’t care.  Let the Christie kids give up one more thing because their Dad is tough to lay a political glove on.

Does anyone really doubt that Christie would have returned to New Jersey given the “state of emergency” if it was possible?  The airports were closed. They are just opening today.

Christie’s presence would not have made a difference in how the snow was cleaned up, or not cleaned up.   His leadership from the bully pulpit would have made a difference though.   He would have told the media the truth. It snowed too much too fast.  We’re doing the very best that we can and we’re working about the clock, he would have said.  He would have done a much better job than New York Mayor Mike Bloomberg did when he told NY that everything is OK and that they should go shopping.  Christie would have told people to remain calm and safe; to look out for the elderly and disabled.   And the media would have had something responsible to write about, rather than create a frenzy over the fact that it snowed too much too fast.

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Mulshine: It’s Guadagno’s fault if his cat poops on the rug

By Art Gallagher

Paul Mulshine says he will blame Lt. Governor Kim Guadagno if his cat poops on the rug.  Really, he said that.

Mulshine’s cat usually poops outdoors, but the usual spot, probably on a neighbor’s property, is snow covered and the pussy won’t go where it usually goes.  Mulshine wasn’t prepared for the storm.  He couldn’t navigate the snow covered roads to get kitty litter so his pussy would have a warm place to do it.

Guadagno is at fault because she’s on vacation out of state at the same time Governor Christie is out of state, leaving Senate President Steve Sweeney in charge as Acting Governor.

Mulshine speculates that Guadagno vacationing at the same time as Christie could be the end of her political career.  He quotes Rick Shaftan as saying that “nothing will screw up your poll numbers more than snow.”  Shaftan, who is famous for talking to Mulshine and for running Steve Lonegan’s 2009 gubernatorial primary, noted that former New York Mayor John Lindsay lost the 1969 GOP primary due to mishandling a snow storm.  Lindsay was reelected on a third party line. 

If Shaftan, Lonegan, Mulshine and the ideologues were in charge of the NJ GOP, like they want to be, a third party candidate could get elected in New Jersey too.

Mulshine and Shaftan speculate that Guadagno wants the GOP nomination to run against U.S. Senator Bob Menendez in 2012.  Yet another example of ideologues who can’t count. 

If the NJ GOP mounts a top tier talent challenge to Menendez in 2012 we’re in deep trouble as a nation.  Barack Obama will be on the top of the Democratic ticket in 2012.  The only way a Republican is going to win a state wide race in 2012 is if Obama is unelectable in New Jersey.  If that is the political environment in 2012 the economy will be in worse shape than it is now.  Obama’s poll numbers are over 50% in NJ now, as bad as things are.

Mulshine and Shaftan have a strange bedfellow in windbag Senator Ray Lesniak who called in from Florida to criticise Guadagno and Christie for leaving Sweeney in charge of cleaning up the snow.

Sweeney assured Christie he wouldn’t create mischief while keeping the Governor’s seat warm.  If Christie didn’t trust Sweeney to keep his word, other arrangements would have been made.  If Sweeney breaks his word, other arrangements will be made in the future.  

The constitutional purpose of the Lt. Governor’s office is to prevent one person from controlling two-thirds of the state government, as was the case when Dick Codey was Governor and Senate President after Jim McGreevey’s resignation and when Don DiFrancesco held both offices after Christine Whitman’s resignation.  The current banter is nonsense.

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Anna Little Rally With Governor Chris Christie

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