Baby Steps

New Jersey Gov. Corzine is finally walking around his hospital room, which is a major accomplishment since he was on a ventilator until earlier in the week. He's going to be on pain medication and antibiotics for some time to come because of the risk of infection and ongoing pain from his injuries and the few steps he did take were enough to tire him out:

With the assistance of a walker, Gov. Jon S. Corzine took his first steps on Wednesday since he was seriously injured in a car accident two weeks ago, administration officials said.

In his daily e-mail update on Mr. Corzine’s condition at Cooper University Hospital in Camden, Anthony Coley, Mr. Corzine’s communications director, also said that signs of the governor’s having suffered a possible infection to the trachea, or windpipe, had cleared.

Mr. Corzine is still receiving pain medication, and antibiotics to prevent any infection in his left leg, which was fractured in two places during the accident. But Tom Shea, Mr. Corzine’s chief of staff, said that the governor could be released from the hospital as soon as Monday.

Indeed, Mr. Corzine, a Democrat in his second year in office, was feeling strong enough on Wednesday to take a call from someone with whom he has disagreed vehemently over policy in recent years: President Bush.

“They spoke casually for a few minutes, and the governor thanked the president for his call and well wishes,” Mr. Coley said in the e-mail statement.

It's interesting that Gov. Codey has not called on Corzine and the governor's aides have not allowed anyone to photograph him since the accident:

governor’s aides have refused to allow reporters or photographers to see him, and it remains unclear when he will greet visitors beyond the small circle of family, friends and aides who have been in to see him so far.

UPDATE:
Corzine has been named in a complaint for not wearing his seat belt. We'll see just how far that really goes. It's more symbolic than anything else.

UPDATE:
The first photo of Corzine since the accident has been released and Corzine considers himself to be the most blessed person on the planet for surviving the accident.