Today's NYT has a story that reminds me of GWB and all the time he spent out of Washington before 9/11; including the day he went fishing after he was warned about OBL's impending attack one month before the tragedy. Jon Corzine, the Democratic Governor of New Jersey and who is presently still recovering from a horrific high-speed accident, has been spending a lot of his time out of state since being elected in the fall of 2005; a total of 111 days out of 450.
To be frank, I've never liked Corzine to begin with. Like the Kennedys, he seems totally out of place within the Democratic Party -- fabulously and even snobbishly wealthy. When he ran for the US Senate some years ago, he refused to accept any federal campaign matching funds and spent like a madman -- some $50 million of his own money, as I recall -- in a state of just 8.4 million people to win an office that, at the time, paid only about $154,000 per year. He even put ads on in New York City -- out of state -- since the flagship stations of the networks beam into the Jersey 'burbs.
The fact he got involved in the gubernatorial election because of a scandal -- his predecessor carefully concealed the fact he was gay and had cheated on his wife -- was already going to taint whatever Corzine had planned for the state. The circumstances of the car accident are still very suspicious considering Corzine wasn't wearing his seat belt, in a state that strictly enforces that law.
But going AWOL 25% of the time calls into question Corzine's overall competence. Certainly he has a duty to try to get investors to come to his state. Spending time in the Hamptons, the EU and St. Bart's isn't exactly my idea of working for the state, any more than Benny Hinn or Kenneth Copeland using their respective private jets to go on "layovers" to and from crusades using their donors' well meaning contributions.
Yes ... I am comparing Corzine to Hinn and Copeland. Because it's well deserved. And if I was living in the States, I'd seriously be considering a third party option for President next year -- because sleaze like Corzine harm the Democrats. Most of us get two weeks vacation per year, unpaid. It would be nice to see Jon set an example and refuse to take any salary for his job at all. After all, he's a zillionaire from his years on Wall Street and he doesn't need the money anyway.
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