Sunday, July 28, 2013

The great debate: Chris Christie: Rand Paul ‘dangerous’

7 comments:

  1. New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie is ripping libertarians — including Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) — for challenging government surveillance programs and failing to understand the dangers of terrorism.

    “This strain of libertarianism that’s going through parties right now and making big headlines I think is a very dangerous thought,” the New Jersey GOP governor said on Thursday at a Republican governors forum in Aspen, Colo. “You can name any number of people and (Paul is) one of them.”

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    Christie, a potential 2016 candidate who appeared on the panel with Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, Indiana Gov. Mike Pence and Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, said lawmakers who are questioning government surveillance programs should hear from the families affected by the Sept. 11 attacks.

    (PHOTOS: Rand Paul’s career)

    “These esoteric, intellectual debates — I want them to come to New Jersey and sit across from the widows and the orphans and have that conversation. And they won’t, because that’s a much tougher conversation to have,” Christie said.

    “The next attack that comes, that kills thousands of Americans as a result, people are going to be looking back on the people having this intellectual debate and wondering whether they put …” Christie said before trailing off.

    Paul’s office shot back on Friday, saying Christie may need a “new dictionary.”

    “If Gov. Christie believes the constitutional rights and the privacy of all Americans is ‘esoteric’, he either needs a new dictionary, or he needs to talk to more Americans, because a great number of them are concerned about the dramatic overreach of our government in recent years,” Doug Stafford, a senior adviser to Paul, said in a statement to POLITICO. “Defending America and fighting terrorism is the concern of all Americans, especially Sen. Paul. But it can and must be done in keeping with our Constitution and while protecting the freedoms that make America exceptional.”

    (PHOTOS: Chris Christie’s career)

    “In the words of the governor’s favorite lyricist, ‘You know that flag flying over the courthouse, Means certain things are set in stone. Who we are, what we’ll do and what we won’t,’” Stafford added, citing Bruce Springsteen lyrics.

    Paul continued the attacks on Twitter, tweeting from his official Senate account on Friday “Christie worries about the dangers of freedom. I worry about the danger of losing that freedom. Spying without warrants is unconstitutional.”

    Paul’s campaign account took the jabs a step further on Friday, writing Christie’s last name as (Crist)ie, perhaps as a suggestion that the New Jersey governor is a party switcher, like former Florida Gov. Charlie Crist who switched from the Republican to Democratic party in 2012.

    “Chris (Crist)ie thinks freedom is dangerous. Dangerous is borrowing money from China to send to people who burn our flag,” one tweet read.

    “Chris (Crist)ie should hear from more Americans who value both security and privacy,” said another.

    At the forum in Aspen, Christie also praised President Barack Obama’s and George W. Bush’s policies used to fight terrorism.

    “President Obama has done nothing to change the policies of the Bush administration in the war on terrorism. And I mean practically nothing,” he said. “And you know why? Cause they work.”

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  2. Rand Paul Hits Back At Chris Christie Over Surveillance
    By ERIK SCHELZIG 07/28/13 09:43 PM ET EDT



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    FRANKLIN, Tenn. — Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul hit back at New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie in the two Republicans' ongoing spat over national security.

    Christie last weak criticized Paul's opposition to warrantless federal surveillance programs, saying it harmed efforts to prevent terrorism. Paul told reporters after speaking at a fundraiser outside Nashville on Sunday that Christie's position hurts GOP chances in national elections, and that spending priorities of critics like the governor and Rep. Peter King of New York do more to harm national security.

    "They're precisely the same people who are unwilling to cut the spending, and their `Gimme, gimme, gimme – give me all my Sandy money now.'" Paul said, referring to federal funding after the hurricane last year. "Those are the people who are bankrupting the government and not letting enough money be left over for national defense."

    King in a phone interview late Sunday called Paul's criticism of Sandy aid "indefensible."

    "This was absolutely life or death money that was essential to New York and New Jersey," King said.

    Christie, at a forum in Colorado on Thursday, pointed to a "strain of libertarianism" coursing through both parties as a "very dangerous thought" more than a decade after the Sept. 11 attacks. Christie was asked whether he was referring to Paul, a fellow potential Republican presidential candidate who has been at the forefront of the party's libertarian wing.

    "You can name any number of people and he's one of them," said Christie. "These esoteric, intellectual debates – I want them to come to New Jersey and sit across from the widows and the orphans and have that conversation. And they won't, because that's a much tougher conversation to have."

    Paul on Sunday rejected arguments that the National Security Agency's collection of hundreds of millions of U.S. phone and Internet records are necessary to prevent terrorism.

    "I don't mind spying on terrorists," he said. "I just don't like spying on all Americans."


    Paul said the issue resonates particularly with young people, a key demographic Republicans need to attract in order to succeed in national elections.

    "If you talk about some privacy issues like that, I think you will find youth coming to you," said Paul, who said his own decision on whether to run for president won't come until next year.

    King called that argument misguided.

    "When it comes to natural defense, we shouldn't be pandering to any demographic," he said. "We need to do what's best for the country."

    Messages left with Christie's office late Sunday were not immediately returned.

    As for the back-and-forth with Christie, Paul said he wasn't the one itching for a fight.

    "I didn't start this one and I don't plan on starting things by criticizing other Republicans," he said. "But if they want to make me the target, they will get it back in spades."

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    Replies
    1. Rep. Peter King (R-N.Y.) said Sunday that the libertarian wing of the Republican party is damaging the GOP's reputation on national security.
      King criticized Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), a potential 2016 presidential candidate, for supporting Edward Snowden, who leaked information about the National Security Agency's extensive domestic surveillance programs.
      "When you have Rand Paul actually comparing Snowden to Martin Luther King or Henry David Thoreau, this is madness," King said.
      "This is the anti-war, left-wing Democrats of the 1960s that nominated George McGovern and destroyed their party for almost 20 years. I don't want that to happen to our party."


      Read more: http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/313919-rep-peter-king-rand-paul-destroying-gop-reputation-on-national-security-#ixzz2aSyppQHy
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    2. Mick, Peter King and Chris Christie are part and parcel of the long failing northeastern GOP. Both come from states that will never overturn their union lords.

      No doubt Christie will be the New York money candidate in 2016. Not a chance in he'll that he can beat Hillary. A good chance that Hillary would even defeat him in his own state.

      Rand Paul may or may not have a presidential candidate future but he does represent the movement. As I have said many times before on these boards, we will go to our graves to restore our country.

      1773-2009

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  3. In principle, I get why you are posting this. Paul's stance on this has earned him quite a bit of support, even from liberals. However, the Paul camp eventually falls into the trap of overplaying their hand. Paul has a philosophical point and legal point IMO when it comes to the collection of data. Christie has the political point by invoking 9/11 and the hurricane relief effort. All politics is local.

    When Paul pivots from the message of freedom through privacy and says they are all part of the gimme gimme gimme crowd, he sounds like a bitch. You need to pick your battles a little better and to put out a statement where you call him (Crist)ie is clever, but looks pretty childish. Cristie has a point that is distasteful to people like Paul which is that you eventually need to get things done. My gut feeling is that that message resonates a little better then Paul's taunt of calling everyone in NY and NJ the gimme gimme gimme crowd.

    From what I saw of that clip, Cristie was not up on that stage with an agenda to attack Paul or the Tea Party, he was asked a question and the person asking the question was the one who interjected Paul's name.

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  4. Im thinking Christie is getting ready to bail and play grabass with the Dems.

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