In November, during the peak of Republican bellicosity toward, sigh, war refugees, New Jersey governor and traffic manager Chris Christie declared himself entirely unwilling to subject his state to the dangers presented by preschool Syrian war orphans. He composed a very public and very cranky letter to President Obama declaring that he would not "accept" any Syrian refugees directed to his state, telling Obama he would be directing his state's Department of Human Services "not to participate" in resettlement efforts.
The good news is that he and his staff appear to be incompetent.
[T]he highly publicized letter appears to have been the extent of his action in terms of that direction. Several requests filed through the state’s Open Public Records Act indicate that Christie never filed a written directive to the department. [...]
A second OPRA custodian for the Governor's office suggested that the directive was in the letter, despite the fact that no state agencies were copied on the letter.
State agencies were apparently supposed to revise their operations based on a letter they never got? That seems unlikely. Please tell us, spokesman for the governor, that there's more to it than that.
Kevin Roberts, a spokesman for the governor, said in an email that from Christie’s letter and public comments it is “explicitly clear that he has indeed given a directive.”
All right then. Just the letter wouldn't have been enough, but saying the same thing to television cameras cinches the deal. If the various state agencies in New Jersey aren't watching Chris Christie promotional materials to glean what government functions they should be doing today—and they should be, given that it's likely the only communication they'll be getting from Christie, who has never been the stay at home type—then it's their own damn fault.
So which do you think it is? Do you think New Jersey agencies indeed were supposed to have stopped accepting immigrants because Chris Christie said it on the campaign trail, or do you think Chris Christie has been going around saying he's issued a directive that he hasn't actually issued? I'm going to believe him on this one, because I know Chris Christie is very, very, very frightened of Syrian war orphans and he would definitely do all he could to make sure none of the unpleasant little snots got a safe new home if he had anything to do with it.