It must be nice to always be blameless

by: Adam L

Mon Jan 03, 2011 at 03:15:00 PM EST

The "admitting a mistake is a sign of weakness" view is really one that has a much more sinister meaning.  It shows a fatal flaw - one that was shown by Christie's mentor, George W. Bush - in that one is never wrong, even when they are wrong, and is too immature to ever take responsibility for one's own actions.

We have seen it with the Race to the Top Application that Christie hijacked, changed and ended up costing the state $400 million.  That wasn't his fault - it was Obama's, then others in the federal government, then Bret Schundler's - but never his, despite the fact that the application that was to have been submitted before Christie got his hands on it had the correct information.

When it came to killing the ARC tunnel project, Christie blamed it on his wife after it surfaced that not only was the project on budget through August, but Christie knew this at the time he said that it would run over budget by billions.  Instead of facing up to being called on yet another lie, the story changed.

And of course now, when he left for Disney World as a horrible snowstorm was crippling much of the state he is supposed to govern, he blames his wife ("you better not cancel this vacation"), the mayors in the towns that were snowed in - forgetting the fact that the STATE roads were the ones that were decimated, and anyone who dared to criticize his decision as partisan.  Except that (1) it was bipartisan criticism and (2) he lied again - saying that he was in contact with acting Governor Steve Sweeney, when this too was  denied by Sweeney himself.

This, from the person who talks tough about accountability when it comes to other people's actions.  But when it is for himself, , he has long since lost the benefit of the doubt.