New Jersey Governor Chris Christie is in big demand this week, big...huge demand. A meeting just yesterday with big GOP political donors who want him to run for POTUS in 2012 to follow attending his eldest son's baseball game. He sure couldn't miss that ball game, his son was playing the same position - catcher - as Christie did when he was in high school.
But, wait! Oh, shit! The ball game, it's nearly an hour and a half drive away...what to do? Well, if your the Governor of New Jersey, you grab a new $12.5 million State Police helicopter(along with pilot, naturally.) and you fly to the game in less than half the time, and then have a driver meet you on the ground to chauffeur you the final 100 yards to the baseball field.
NJ.com:
Gov. Chris Christie arrived at his son's baseball game this afternoon aboard a State Police helicopter.
Right before the lineup cards were being exchanged on the field, a noise from above distracted the spectators as the 55-foot long helicopter buzzed over trees in left field, circled the outfield and landed in an adjacent football field. Christie disembarked from the helicopter and got into a black car with tinted windows that drove him about a 100 yards to the baseball field.
During the 5th inning, Christie and First Lady Mary Pat Christie got into the car, rode back to the helicopter and left the game. During a pitching change, play was stopped for a couple of minutes while the helicopter took off.
...
The State Police has received two of the five helicopters purchased so far, according to testimony from Attorney General Paula Dow during a May budget hearing. They were purchased to replace aging Sikorsky helicopters that the State Police have flown for about two decades.
The helicopters, which can reach nearly 200 miles per hour with its twin turbo-shaft engines, are designed for homeland security duties and transporting critically injured patients.
Then home to the Governor's mansion to meet with those rich, GOP donors to talk 2012, and ending Medicare...kicking Grandma to the curb. Fun stuff like that.
No doubt that landing at the mansion made him look especially GOP-presidential-ish for the donors, too.
6:57 AM PT: Update: A Chrisite spokesman tells ABC News that there was nothing inappropriate about the Governor's use of the State helicopter. Well, I guess that settles that...
Original diary edited to include mention of video report.