Politics as usual

The controversy surrounding the governor of New Jersey looks like it won't go away anytime soon.  Certainly not soon enough for him to regain the national stature he needs to qualify for the presidential sweepstakes.   The revelations of tawdry political retribution and low grade extortion give Chris Christie the aura of a bully revealed as a cheap political manipulator caught with his hand in the cookie jar.   Anyone who thought he was ready for national leadership will be needing to rethink that conclusion.   Using government agencies as enforcers to punish political rivals and government funds to reward those who play ball are just the sort of behavior which causes people to loathe government.   It should not be that way.   We are the government.  It is our shared expression of a sacred covenant.  When it is abused by those we put in positions of authority the polity is diminished by those actions.  We the people are the losers.   The sooner Mr. Christie is shuffled of the national stage, the faster we can begin the process of repairing the damage he and his henchmen have done to our democracy.