OPINION:
The glittering Manhattan event with Republican mega-donor Sheldon Adelson is over. New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie’s promising press reviews about his keynote speech at the gathering continue. He struck a fierce, presidential and emotionally charged pose before a very influential audience, speaking out about America’s role in the world, now and in the future.
“There was a time in this world that America’s government was something to emulate. No one can realistically believe today, when we have Democrats and Republicans in Washington, D.C., that not only don’t govern but barely speak to each other, that we’re any longer a model for the world,” Mr. Christie told his audience at the Champions of Jewish Values International Awards Gala on Sunday night.
“No one understands any longer who America stands with or against,” he argued. “No one really understands exactly what we’ll stand for - and what we are willing to sacrifice to stand up for it.”
The governor did not lash out directly at the Obama administration, but made his disappointment known. He is also in touch with his inner hawkish side.
“Here’s something that should not be up for debate, that once you draw that red line, you enforce it, because if you don’t, America’s credibility will be at stake and will be at risk all over the world,” he said.
Mr. Christie got specific about the threats abroad as well.
“We see Russian activism once again rearing its head in the world, we see an America that backed away from a commitment made by the president of the United States in Syria, we see a country, our country, permitting even a thought of a terrorist state like Iran having nuclear capability,” he said.
“It’s unthinkable that the America that has led in the way that it has always led this world would permit that to happen. Yet we are sitting in a world, we are watching the vacuum that the lack of American leadership has created being filled and it is almost never filled by virtue, it is almost always filled by evil,” Mr. Christie observed.
He met privately with Mr. Adelson when the soiree was over.
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