New Jersey Politics Daily Dish

Corzine's health condition wasn't as rosy as they were initially reporting. Jammie Wearing Fool was right to be skeptical over the condition.

So far, the doctors - and the governor's staff - have erred on the side of vagueness and optimism.

A week ago, Gov. Corzine's aide Anthony Coley said the governor would be able to resume his duties in "a week or so" - despite multiple and serious fractures suffered in the accident. Cooper trauma chief Steve Ross said he hoped the governor could be weaned from the ventilator "over the course of the next few days."

But today, the governor remains on a ventilator, his chest cavity full of tubes. Two drain blood and other body fluids; two more drip in an anesthetic to reduce his need for intravenous narcotic painkillers.

So how scary is the governor's condition? It's clearly not as rosy as the public was told last week.

In answer to a reporter's question, Ross acknowledged that Corzine may have a "flail chest." This occurs when multiple ribs and sometimes the breastbone are so badly fractured that part of the chest cage is separated from the chest wall. This broken section can't help with lung expansion during breathing.

A flail chest also indicates that the lungs have been badly bruised. The extent of lung injury largely determines the need for a ventilator.

Then, there's the separate inquiry into the driver of the SUV that was transporting the governor. Seems that he'd better get a good attorney considering the direction things are heading. State Trooper Robert Rasinski was driving 91 mph just moments before the crash and an internal review of his conduct is underway.

While Corzine recovers, the State Police Motor Vehicle Accident and Vehicular Pursuit Review Board will be reviewing the crash to determine if Trooper Robert J. Rasinski was at fault, or if the accident was "non-preventable."

The panel usually features six state police officers who are experts in accident investigations and state police training. The panel's findings are then sent to the superintendent, said state police Capt. Al Della Fave. Col. Rick Fuentes, the state police superintendent, is given broad discretion. He can write a disciplinary letter, require a trooper to attend more training, or order harsher penalties, such as suspensions or dismissal.

"It all comes down to the colonel," Della Fave said. "He has carte blanche in terms of his decisions."

Della Fave declined to offer details of disciplinary actions stemming from a board review of the trooper accidents.

While state troopers have leeway to determine whether they can go above the speed limit or use flashing lights, the incident and the way it was initially described to the public has changed significantly:

At first, state police said it was the driver of a red pickup truck that caused last week's crash and that speed played no part in the wreck. Then came word that Rasinski was using the SUV's emergency lights to move traffic out of the way as Corzine headed to Princeton to broker a meeting between disgraced radio star Don Imus and the Rutgers women's basketball team.

On Tuesday, Fuentes said crash data showed Rasinski was going at least 91 mph seconds before the crash. The highway's posted speed limit is 65 mph.

Now police believe that the driver of the red pickup was trying to avoid Corzine's car, believing there was an accident or other emergency. That truck driver moved to the highway's shoulder but lost control and swerved back into traffic. The driver of a white Dodge Ram moved to avoid the red Ford and then struck Corzine's SUV.

Meanwhile, disgraced former New Jersey Governor Jim McGreevey, who just signed up to be an ethics professor at Kean University has some issues left over from his divorce with his wife, and which further undermine his credibility as someone who can or should lecture students about ethics. She's accusing him of some quite nasty stuff:

The nation's first openly gay governor exposed his preschooler to erotic and inappropriate artwork, showing that he is a poor judge of what a 5-year-old should see, his estranged wife said yesterday.

Dina Matos McGreevey fired back at former Gov. James E. McGreevey in a harshly worded, 18-page response to his recent divorce filing in Union County Superior Court.

Here's the thing. McGreevey didn't out himself as an openly gay governor because he wanted to. He did so to deflect attention from the fact that he was a corrupt governor who treated pay to play like it was an EZ-Pass lane. He also had no problem putting a supremely unqualified person, Golan Cipel, as head of the state's homeland security department. Cipel was also cited as McGreevey's partner.

Then again, this is New Jersey, so politics and corruption are perfect together.