Trying to straddle a political fence, Chris Christie refuses to criticize parents who don’t vaccinate their kids:
“Christie said that he and his wife had vaccinated their children, describing that decision as ‘the best expression I can give you of my opinion.’ He said they believe doing so is an ‘important part of making sure we protect their health and the public health. But,’ Christie added,‘I also understand that parents need to have some measure of choice in things as well. So that’s the balance that the government has to decide.’ … Christie’s comments stand in contrast to those of President Barack Obama, who said in an interview with NBC News that all parents should get their kids vaccinated. Those children who are not, he said, put infants and those who can’t get vaccinations at risk.”
Now let’s compare this with what happened in the fall of 2008 when Lehman Brothers collapsed, the global financial system was on the brink, and the two parties’ presidential candidates flew to Washington D.C. to participate in a White House meeting on what to do about it:
“President Bush, who had finally addressed the nation the night before on the crisis, … opened the September 25 meeting in the Cabinet Room by conjuring a global depression. ‘If money isn’t loosened up,’ he said, ‘this sucker could be going down. He showed almost no knowledge of the specifics of the crisis and quickly turned the floor over the Paulson, who said little but urged that a deal to save the banking system be approved quickly. When recognized by the president, Pelosi and Reid designated Senator Obama to speak for the Democrats. Obama gave a lengthy and well-informed overview explaining the Democrats were close to a deal with Paulson … and agreed with Paulson that speed was essential. …
“[Obama] boldly turned to McCain and said, “What do you think, John?” … But McCain wasn’t ready to talk. He said he … would go last. … ‘I’ll just listen,’ McCain said, which didn’t go over well with anyone in the room. He was supposed to lead, not listen. That was the whole point of postponing the debate, flying back to Washington, and getting everyone together in the Cabinet Room to confront the grave crisis. Instead McCain was ‘mute,’ as Obama later put it. [McCain] deferred to … Boehner, who began retreating from TARP. He proposed an alternative under which Wall Street firms would create a fund to insure mortgages. This was an idea out of right field that Paulson thought irrelevant to the current crisis. …
“Paulson had already indiscreetly told a few people in the room that he thought Obama had a stronger grasp of the crisis than McCain did …. By this time the molecules of power in American politics were in a rapid state of realignment. McCain’s absence from the discussion was stark. Bush, who was supposed to be leading the meeting, was poorly informed and detached. ‘He’s already in Crawford,’ whispered one Republican. That left the skinny African American guy …. He was the only one of the big dogs who seemed to know what he was talking about. Obama was taking charge of the meeting and the crisis ….
“Finally, forty-three minutes into the meeting, McCain took the floor. He slouched back in his chair and spoke in a monotone, which those who knew him recognized as a sign that he was going through the motions. … [He] was lost at sea. Members of both parties were astonished by his performance. He was the one who had brought them all here — and for what? McCain, holding a single notecard, mentioned almost no specifics at all. The self-styled straight-talking maverick was reduced to a series of platitudes about how House Republicans had ‘legitimate concerns’ and everyone needed to ‘work together’ and ‘move forward’ until they reached an acceptable compromise. When he was asked explicitly what he thought of Paulson’s plan, he said he hadn’t read it. This was astonishing. He hadn’t read a three-page plan to spend $700 billion …. A Republican … whispered to a pair of Democratic senators, ‘Everyone here is ready to vote for Obama, including the Republicans.’ …
“Bush’s expressive face said it all. When Obama spoke, he paid careful attention, as if he knew that here was his successor. When McCain spoke, Bush’s face was quizzical and unconvinced …. From there the meeting spiraled out of control. … Cross talk rang through the Cabinet Room. Bush tried to bring some order before standing and announcing, ‘Well, I’ve clearly lost control of this meeting. It’s over.’ …
“‘That as surreal,’ Obama said on the speakerphone from the car on the short ride back to the hotel, with several campaign aides on the call. ‘Guys, what I just saw in there made me realize, we have got to win. It was crazy in there. Maybe I shouldn’t be president,’ he said in his familiar wry tone, only with more amazement than usual. ‘But he definitely shouldn’t be.’ Obama was struck by how disengaged both Bush and McCain seemed. All day the [Obama] campaign had been convinced that McCain and Bush were in cahoots to sandbag Obama. But now it was clear that there was no strategy and McCain was just freelancing …. Obama … was incredulous. ‘I’ve never seen a meeting like that in my entire life.’ Nor had any of the older and much more experienced politicians in the room. … ‘We can’t lose this election,’ Obama said[,] ‘Because these guys can’t run the country.’ …
“‘In the ten days between the Lehman collapse and the first debate, everyone suddenly saw him as the next president,’ said Anita Dunn, his campaign communications director. … The Obama administration wouldn’t occupy the White House for another four months. But what the Chinese for centuries have called the ‘mandate of heaven’ — the legitimacy mysteriously but unmistakably bestowed upon a leader — had shifted. Barack Obama’s first year in power had already begun.”
Quoted from The Promise, President Obama, Year One, by veteran journalist Jonathan Alter, pp. 9-13 (2010)
Comment: Do you want a guy who can’t take a stand on vaccinations being the “decider guy” in a major crisis? Christie has just demonstrated he doesn’t have what it takes to be president. (This excerpt from Alter’s book also makes it clear who saved the world in 2008 and hints at what would have happened if voters had chosen the wrong candidate. Elections matter.
) Of course, I realize Obama isn’t running in 2016, but the essential principle of how we should choose our nation’s leader will be the same.
Chris Christie, the indecisive guy. He’s also the dummy who slapped Hero Nurse Kaci Wilcox into quarantine, contrary to CDC guidelines. Presidents not only have to be decisive, they have to be right. Christie doesn’t look like a president.
Update: Meanwhile, this is what Paul Ryan, another GOP presidential aspirant, said about Obama’s success in saving the U.S. and world from a replay of the 1930s. Watch the video below, then ask yourself whether you want someone like Ryan making the big decisions. “Negative Nellies” — people whose only skill is tearing down others’ accomplishments — are bad news, too.