OKLA. CITY —
“America’s mayor” was a title bestowed upon New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani by Oprah Winfrey for the leadership he displayed in the aftermath of the destruction of the World Trade Center in 2001. Giuliani was on the site shortly after the twin towers collapsed in a show of support for the first responders who were there searching for survivors. He also assured New Yorkers that their city would survive the violence that was visited upon it and would remain the financial and cultural center of the nation. Giuliani served as a surrogate father in weddings for young women whose fathers had perished in the World Trade Center in the weeks and months following the bombing.
New Jersey Republican Gov. Chris Christie is being recognized in a similar manner by the media for the role he played in responding to Superstorm Sandy, an event that devastated the coastal area of much of the Eastern seaboard. Christie, who was a former federal prosecutor, had developed a reputation as New Jersey’s governor for making blunt statements in response to criticism. After the superstorm, he displayed sensitivity and compassion as he interacted with people on the Jersey shore whose homes had been washed into the Atlantic Ocean by the storm.
As documented in a recent biography of Christie by authors Bob Ingle and Michael Symons, the Garden State’s chief executive had confrontations in town hall meetings with members of the state’s public employees unions after he had reduced the benefits that they received as part of his successful efforts to balance the state’s budget.
Christie also had publicly feuded with several reporters and Democratic legislators. He also had been scornful of President Barack Obama’s leadership.
But Christie publicly praised Obama several weeks before the presidential election as they toured some of the hard-hit areas together. Christie praised Obama and his administration’s prompt response to the disaster.
More recently, the New Jersey governor attacked the U.S. Congress for its failure to enact into law an aid package proposed by the White House for the states devastated by Sandy, and called for a bipartisan effort in Washington to assist in rebuilding the coastal region. Christie now has high approval ratings in New Jersey despite the fact that the majority of voters in that state are registered Democrats.
Last week, Christie made a presentation to the New Jersey state Legislature in Trenton in which he spoke of the heroism displayed by several citizens as they sought to provide assistance to others in the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy. He said that he and the Democratic legislative leadership were working together in a bipartisan effort to serve the citizens of their state. Christie also said that bipartisanship could serve as a model for Washington.
It is possible that Chris Christie’s popularity will prompt him to enter the race for the Republican presidential nomination in 2016.
WILLIAM F. O’BRIEN is an Oklahoma City attorney.
Opinion
Gov. Christie surges ahead on national stage
- Opinion
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Excuses for data sweep sound hollow
Perhaps 2013 will go down as the year privacy and civil liberties became too inconvenient for government. Listening to assorted officials defend massive programs that scoop up vast amounts of data certainly gives that impression.
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I pay property taxes ... please fix my road
Imagine paying thousands of dollars every year in property taxes and at the same time watching your roads literally crumble under the strain of increasing traffic. Unfortunately, some won’t have to imagine this because I’ve just described your reality.
Maybe you have even asked your County Commissioner why property tax money isn’t being used to maintain your road. He probably responded, “Almost all of your property tax money goes to public schools. Only about 15 percent goes to the county and most of that is not for roads.” -
Vision 2020 conference loaded with speakers
I hope everyone is having a wonderful summer — playing in the water, grilling, enjoying time with family; maybe preparing for vacation. But for Oklahoma educators, I hope your plans include a trip to Oklahoma City, July 9-11 to attend the State Department of Education’s Vision 2020 professional development conference.
The conference is free to all Oklahoma educators. -
The Oklahoma Standard
The “Oklahoma Standard” was a term coined during our state’s response to the tragedy of April 19, 1995. The connotation has many layers: the standard of trained first responders, the standard of non-trained first responders (neighbors helping neighbors), the standard of our faith community, the standard of welcoming out of state relief workers that arrived to help. In short, meeting the need and answering the call without reservation or inhibition.
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The Mankato, Minn., Free Press: Stop gridlock on farm bill
The Mankato, Minn., Free Press: Stop gridlock
on farm bill
With a hopeful sound of gridlock cracking, U.S. House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, said Wednesday that he will vote for the House farm bill even though he has “concerns.” He reasons that “doing nothing means we get no changes in the nutrition programs.”
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Crazy Kim and the Tippy Twos
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Like Castro and Saddam, Kim Jong Un has made clear he’s dedicated to expanding his ability to harm America and her allies. The difference is, he has a nuclear capability, not a borrowed or boasted one. North Korea has a proven record of long-range missile development that could ultimately hit the American mainland. -
Don’t blame the President; it’s us
June 17 marks the 41st anniversary of the second Watergate break-in. This is a good time to take a look back and reflect on what can happen when a corrupt administration throws a protective cloak around the misbehavior of a gang of unscrupulous cheats, liars and crooks.
On the morning of June 18, 1972, millions of us were unaware of the festering corruption that would ultimately rot our confidence in the president. We did not know that his administration was using the FBI as a tool to wiretap telephones of reporters regarded as unfriendly to the White House. We were oblivious to the fact the administration encouraged the IRS to audit media representatives whose reporting criticized the president. -
2 bills aid Oklahoma students
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Time to roll back the Patriot Act
It’s time. It’s time for President Obama to live up to his own words. It’s time for Congress to do its job. It’s time to contract the ever-expanding national security state. And it’s time to roll back the Patriot Act. In Washington, elected officials are circling the wagons. The Obama administration claims that its Internet and telephone surveillance programs are legal; the ones we know about, indeed, are. But just because something is legal and can be done does that mean that it should remain so and continue to be done? No. Laws are made and unmade all the time. And the argument that vast, dragnet-style surveillance has stopped terrorists at the lamentable expense of privacy is exactly the same argument that the Bush administration made about torture: Better to sacrifice our principles and a few people in the hope of saving many.
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Time to roll back the Patriot Act
It’s time. It’s time for President Obama to live up to his own words. It’s time for Congress to do its job. It’s time to contract the ever-expanding national security state. And it’s time to roll back the Patriot Act.
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Excuses for data sweep sound hollow
