By Scott LaBove ’11, News Columnist

Though our precious days at Newark Academy were spared during the blizzard over Winter Break, New Jersey unfortunately was not. And guess who wasn’t here to pick up the slack—Chris Christie, our governor, nor his second-in-command—Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno. Christie was busy vacationing in Disneyland, while Guadagno was in Mexico. Thus, the task of cleaning up the mess went to NJ State Senator Stephen Sweeney. This task not only made Sweeney’s Christmas less joyous, but also further angered many Democrats who had not been happy with Christie from the start.

Many words were exchanged among state legislators regarding the fiasco, and many New Jersey residents were not too happy with the poor execution of snow removal following the storm. Yet, one must question if it really pays to make this particular issue one of cross-party politics.

The issue essentially rested in the power of each community in New Jersey. After all, the governor can only survey the state. Certainly the governor could have better overseen how effectively each community dealt with snow removal, yet his presence in New Jersey at the time would not have made much of a logistical difference. 

We can consider that while Christie’s presence, or lack of, did not make a quantifiable difference, the simple fact that he was not present just speaks to his lack of responsibility; it reflects poorly on our state. However, we cannot forget  that every leader deserves a little break. Even Obama was in Hawaii over Christmas, and he actually needed to be in Washington much more than Christie needed to be in New Jersey.

It is true that almost all leaders take vacations at some points of the year, so is it a blatant attack from Democrats to slam Christie so harshly for doing what almost all other leaders do? Plus, Mayor Bloomberg, who is a Democrat, was strongly critized for his city’s passive response to the blizzard, but the Democrats themselves did not seem to use politics to cite his below-average response. Yet, when a Republican exhibits the same type of response, it suddenly becomes a political issue.

The actual pertinence of Christie’s presence cannot be fully agreed upon, as, in general, Republicans tend to be more forgiving for those in their own party, and Democrats the opposite. We must remember, however, that whatever the issue, when one party slams another, it will inevitably create more heat and tension. Though these altercations are sometimes merited, we must always keep in mind which battle is worth instigating, especially after what happened earlier in January in Tucson. Even if political polarization was not responsible for the attack, it still is overly present in our society. No argument is a worthwhile argument unless it moves some issue forward, and starting cross-party nonsense for a snowstorm that already passed and is already cleaned up does not make much sense.