LEAKS HELP PROTECT NATIONAL SECURITYDAVID WESTINTIMEEveryone seems to have gotten the message now that we have to rethink the lines when it comes to the government going after the press to curtail leaks. Even more important than where the lines are drawn may be who draws them. It’s understandable that government officials give primacy to its ability to keep things secret, but we need the news organizations at least to be able to make their case to a neutral judge who can consider national security (as well as constitutional values) in a broader context.
GOV. CHRISTIE’S QUICK, COSTLY DECISIONEDITORIALNEW YORK TIMESGovernor Christie’s assurances on Tuesday that his decision to hold a special election a mere three weeks before the general election is all about giving voters a “choice and a voice” sounded utterly hollow. The only reason to have a separate Senate election is to make certain that no well-known Democrat… will be on the November ballot… The special primary and election will cost New Jersey’s battered state budget about $24 million. The governor, who has highlighted his budget-cutting image in this campaign, scoffed at putting a price tag on such worries. He explained that “we’re not going to be penny-wise and pound-foolish” when it comes to this Senate seat. New Jersey voters would do well to suggest that he remember that phrase the next time he rejects a minimum-wage increase or tax break for low-income residents.
CHRISTIE’S SELF SERVING STUNTEDITORIALNJ STAR LEDGERGov. Chris Christie’s decision to hold the U.S. Senate election three weeks before the general election in November is a shameless move that will waste at least $12 million and risk the integrity of the vote. For him to present it as a high-minded attempt to empower voters shows what nerve the guy has…He calculates that more Democratic voters will show up and cast ballots against him if a popular Democratic candidate like Newark Mayor Cory Booker is on the ballot as well. Given the big lead the governor has already, the greed here is striking: He apparently wants to run up his margin of victory as a credential for his 2016 presidential campaign.
OBAMA’S INSPECTOR GENERAL NEGLIGENCE JOSEPH E. SCHMITZWALL STREET JOURNALFor years, President Obama has neglected his duty to fill vacant inspector-general posts at the departments of State, Interior, Labor, Homeland Security and Defense and at the Agency for International Development. At a time when American confidence in the integrity and transparency of the federal government has been shaken, inspectors general can help Washington get back to basic principles of accountability—but only if the IGs are properly appointed and allowed to do their jobs.
THE AMERICAS ASCENDANT JOE BIDENWALL STREET JOURNALHere at home, we need to reform our immigration system because it is the right thing to do for our own country. But it also will strengthen our standing in the hemisphere. Success in international relations, like any relationship, comes down to respect. And fully realizing the potential of these new relationships requires treating people from other nations living inside our borders with respect.
CUT THE STRINGS TO GEORGE IIIMAUREEN DOWDNEW YORK TIMESOn the Hill, the brass argued that they could not retain “cohesion” and “order” if commanders were not calling all the legal shots. But Nancy Parrish, the president of a victims’ rights group, told a chilling story about a young woman in a combat zone who had tried four times to report a soldier she says raped her. She saw him coming toward her truck as she got ready for a mission and recalled her feelings: “I shut down inside. I was lead driver in our convoy, and I kept hoping to hit an I.E.D. after that.” As Parrish sardonically asked, you call that “unit cohesion” and “good order and discipline”?