Breaking: American Driver Doesn’t Wear Seatbelt

In case you haven’t heard, New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine would have been in better condition today but he wasn’t wearing a seatbelt. (New Jersey has already rolled out a new ad campaign, at right.) The guv is expected to be okay, though he’s going to be in a wheelchair for about six months. Corzine is having two more surgeries, but he should be able to walk normally in several months.

But maybe this isn’t some sort of seatbelt-related mishap. As CBS 3 reported earlier today, the previous two elected governors, Christine Whitman and Jim McGreevey, also broke their leg while in office:

The injury to Corzine’s left leg means that the last three people elected to serve as New Jersey governor have all broken a leg while in office. Fellow Democrat James E. McGreevey broke his left leg during a nighttime beach walk, while Republican Christie Whitman broke her right leg while skiing in the Swiss Alps.

Only Richard Codey, again the acting governor, was spared the fate due to assuming the position, not campaigning for it. He better just continue as Senate president, only filling in as governor due to mishaps.

Update: Bruce Gordon, on the Fox 5 O’Clock News — with KLH, natch — just said: “In the short term, Codey must deal with a major storm, a nor’easter, bearing down on the Garden State this weekend.”

Report: Gov. Corzine Was Not Wearing Seatbeat [CBS 3]

Dick Codey Looking To Shore Up Idiot Vote

Congratulations, New Jersey residents: You will soon be able to officially vote!

Although the law has been unenforced for, ah, years and years, the New Jersey state constitution still reads: “No idiot or insane person shall enjoy the right of suffrage.” Obviously, it’s unenforced — or else nobody could vote in Jersey! Bada-bing rimshot hooting and hollering a la Married with Children sigh etc. — but state senate prez. Richard Codey wants to get it ouf of the constitution.

Codey, who you may remember as the former governor too, is an ardent advocate for the rights of the mentally ill. He even threatened to beat up a radio host making fun of his wife’s postpartum depression! “This is yet another big step toward removing the stigma of mental illness,” says Codey, and hot damn, I feel better already. Soon, nobody will be able to legally stop me from voting for Jon Corzine! (Well, okay, except I don’t live in Jerz.)

The constitution has to be amended, and Codey has proposed to replace the “idiots and insane” language with something barring voting by “person who has been adjudicated by a court of competent jurisdiction to lack the capacity to understand the act of voting.” That seems like a lot of words to just say the idiots and the insane can’t vote.

But I digress. The Associated Press article reminds us that New Jersey’s state constitution — the language was inserted in 1844, just after the state’s victory over the idiots — is not alone in its mental illness-slamming ways. Six other state constitutions use the term “idiots and insane.” (Oddly enough, Ohio just inserted those words into its constitution last week!)

The amendment proposed by Codey, who certainly doesn’t deserve to see 45 easy jokes lobbied at his sincere proposal in the paragraphs above, will become state law if both houses of the legislature approve it and it is passed by voters in November. Now there’s a way to get people to the polls in an off-year. Best ballot question ever!

Bill Would Remove ‘Idiots,’ ‘Insane’ From N.J. Constitution [NBC 10]