Hank Kalet

The Huffington Post sums up the impact of the release today by the Christie administration of its internal investigation into Bridgegate with a headline/photo package that proves, once again, that you do not need a lot of words to make your point:

The governor’s press release called it a “Comprehensive and Exhaustive Report” based on “More Than 70 Interviews And 250,000 Documents (were) Reviewed Over Two Months, The Internal Review” and a “Thorough Investigation.” (The capitalization is from the press release).

The co-chairs of the Legislative Select Committee on Investigation Co-Chairs — Assemblyman John Wisniewski and Senate Majority Leader Loretta Weinberg — offered a slightly different assessment. They said the Christie review “has deficiencies that raise questions about a lack of objectivity and thoroughness.”

Lawyers hired by and paid by the Christie administration itself to investigate the governor’s office who then say the governor and most of his office did nothing wrong will not be the final word on this matter.

The select committee will continue its work, the pair said, as will a team from the U.S. Attorney’s office.

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With a hatred of war shaped in part by his firsthand accounts of U.S. military operations in Vietnam, Schell wrote for decades about the consequences of violence — real and potential — with a rage and idealism that never seemed to wane.

Of course, that rage and idealism was never given a chance to wane as wars both large and small continued to leave millions dead, wounded or without homes.

Here is a column I wrote in 2008 — Dispatches: We should do as we say — based on an interview I did with Schell before he was scheduled to speak to the Coalition for Peace Action. (It is behind the pay-wall for archives at The Princeton Packet site — sorry.)

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