Irony: NJ Democrat Criticizes Christie for Being in Florida During Storm; Of Course That Democrat is Also in Florida

Naturally, it's uber-hack Ray Lesniak doing the whining. You can't make this stuff up.

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie's office is pushing back against complaints that both he and the lieutenant governor were vacationing during a blizzard that blanketed the state with snow.

The snowstorm paralyzed much of the Northeast on a busy holiday travel weekend but Christie (R), a darling of national Republicans, and Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno were traveling in Florida's Disney World and Mexico, respectively. State Senate President Stephen Sweeney (D) has been serving as acting governor in their absence and coordinated response efforts.

But that move earned the scorn of state Sen. Raymond Lesniak (D), who on Monday questioned "the purpose of the office" of lieutenant governor, which was created in 2005, saying it amounted to "wasted money" if both officials vacationed at the same time.

In a lengthy response Tuesday, Christie spokesman Michael Drewniak said the criticism of the new governor was "overblown."

"Yes, this was a big snow, but we are a northeastern state, and we get plenty of snow, including heavy hits like this," he wrote in an e-mail to The Hill. "But the sky really is not falling, and we'll get through this just as we always have, notwithstanding complaints from opportunistic partisans like Lesniak."

Even though New Jersey's snow is a home-state concern, national observers have eyed the criticism of Christie given his high national political profile.

Drewniak, who noted that Lesniak is "hurling his criticism from his vacation in Florida," pushed back against questions about Christie's management of the state. He stressed that Sweeney has been in close contact with senior administration officials, key agencies and Christie himself since the snow hit.

"All emergency services of the state are functioning as expected under the circumstances and as they normally would," he wrote.

Apparently Lesniak doesn't realize Christie is able to communicate from Florida, just like him. What a dope.

Something Doesn't Add Up Here

So here's a report stating New Jersey State Senate Democrat Ray Lesniak was the victim of a home invasion early Saturday, but some things just don't add up.

Alone in his ranch house, state Sen. Ray Lesniak (D-Union) said he was awakened in the early morning hours Saturday by a rustling noise.

He opened his eyes to two figures standing a few feet away in his darkened bedroom. The young men had appeared as surprised as he was, Lesniak said -- perhaps because they had expected the house in a quiet residential section of Elizabeth to be empty.

"Shoot him," one robber said. The other disagreed. "No, no, stay cool," Lesniak recalled him saying.

Lesniak, 62, who said he never saw a gun, lost cash, a cellular phone and the keys to his car, before the pair fled.

Police labeled the home invasion "highly unusual." Lesniak's neighborhood, consisting mostly of stately colonial homes near Kean University, is usually peaceful, although it borders a high-crime area around the Oakwood Plaza apartment complex.

So his home borders a high-crime area yet it's unusual to have break-ins nearby?

This isn't the only thing that doesn't make sense.

"We just want some money -- just don't do anything crazy," Lesniak recalled one saying, as he lay in bed. "We're good people, we're just in a bad place right now."

What, was he recording this conversation?

He said he offered his expensive Rolex watch, but they declined it. Taking the money, they told him not to "go calling the cops." Then they grabbed his BlackBerry and his house and car keys off the counter, and ran out. He later found they left his Lexus hybrid untouched in the garage.

He later found this out? Wouldn't he have realized this when he didn't hear the garage door open and his car starting and leaving the premises?

Now it gets weirder.

Lesniak, who doesn't have a home phone, said he waited to make sure the two were gone. Then he threw on sweat pants and a sweat shirt and walked a few blocks to the Elizabeth firehouse on Irvington Avenue. He rang the doorbell, and firefighters called police about 2:30 a.m., he said.

Now why doesn't a high-ranking state senator have a home phone? What, is he not available to his constituents in a time of need? Is he concerned the FBI would be wiretapping him? And why walk to a firehouse? Doesn't he have any neighbors?

Lesniak, who often spends weekends at the Jersey Shore, said he doesn't harbor animosity toward the robbers, but is annoyed with himself for not activating his home security system.

Now as someone in the comments to this story points out, you need a landline in order to have a home security system.

Something just doesn't add up here.

Curiously, there is no description of the suspects. How can people be on the lookout for these perps when we don't know who to look for?

Others find this unusual, to say the least.