Speech Of The Day: Chris Christie

The cynic in me wants to say that Conservatives only get involved in social issues when it affects them personally, when the issue hits home. And, well, I guess I just went out and said it.

Still, a lot of these politicians - in part through training sessions and in part because their former jobs as lawyers demanded it - have the speech aspect of being a leader down. And hate him or love him, I believe one thing that can be said about New Jersey Governor Chris Christie is that he isn't the type of schizophrenic liar Ben Carson can be - when Christie lies, it's because telling the truth will hurt him, but he doesn't make facts up, let alone two-thirds of his own autobiography.

Here he is delivering a moving speech about addiction:

Quote Of The Week: Chris Christie Edition

 New Jersey Governor Chris Christie is always quotable, whether he's saying Barack Obama can't do anything right, or a week later saying he's the best thing ever, or gushing on about Bruce Springsteen.

This time, he went and blasted John Boehner for neglecting to vote on Sandy relief. He might just bring the Republicans back towards the center, which would do wonders for his country and its citizens.

Chris Christie's Boss

Now that the photo ops have given way to relief efforts by out-of-energy first responders that are no longer photogenic enough to be on the evening news, politicians have gone back to giving speeches on podiums with as many people behind them as there were in front.

New Jersey Governor Chris Christie talked about the issues - housing for the homeless, talking to Bruce Springsteen:

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I know firsthand that in times of crisis, sometimes a small break with things or people you love - or both - rejuvenates you more and better than a full night's sleep, but I just think these things are taken care of in private, not for the press; I also think the mood shifted a little too quickly, that now that Christie knows he's a hero (and a shoe-in for the 2014 nomination unless he fucks up in a major way), he has less to do, and is content with ''leading''. I hope I'm wrong, but I rarely am.

Chris Christie: When Republicans Do Their Jobs Instead Of Merely Obstructing The System

This was Day 3 of the fallout from Hurricane Sandy, in what, for the Mitt Romney camp, has now become Hurricane Chris Christie. Indeed, Romney's opponent for the Republican nomination has been praising President Barack Obama for three days straight in regards to his help in providing relief for New Jersey, where Christie serves as governor.

Quotes such as these abound:

It's really important to have the President of the United States here.

In the meantime, Romney has to live up to his past statements about wanting to dismantle FEMA (the federal relief-effort program) and replacing it with State-run programs instead or, as he would prefer, the private sector (i.e. companies such as Halliburton), who would no doubt overcharge and leave many poor people hanging.

The problem with that line of thinking is trusting the ''humanity'' of corporations to do good, when all they are mandated to care about is their bottom line; an additional one would be to take the risk that not all states view prevention funds as an investment rather than an expenditure, and would likely kick it to the curb; or one state would provide better relief than its neighbour and compensation problems would inevitably occur for folks living at one state's border, particularly if they work in the other one.

Another question I asked myself was: now that Christie, a huge Obama critic and obstructor, has seen what The President can do when you work with him rather than against - he is, after all, the President who has tried the hardest to negotiate with his adversaries in a half century - will it incite other Republican superstars to tone down their rhetoric or - gasp! - start working for the American people?

Time will tell, but I'm liking this development.