FP: What inspired you to write your book?
Christie: I was inspired to write it because I was moved by my positive and memorable experiences while serving on the staff of the Vice President and President of the United States at the White House. Traveling around the country while in the White House, I was often asked what it was like to work with the President, Vice President, Andy Card, Karl Rove and others. I wanted to share my positive experiences and impressions I had formed while serving in the first term of the Bush Administration.
Once I left the President’s staff in 2004, I was appalled by the negative tone of media accounts of the President’s intellect, policies, and Administration. I was further motivated by disingenuous criticism from the liberal Black establishment who claimed that the President was indifferent or worse to the conditions and concerns of African Americans.
I felt I could put pen to paper in a way few other White House advisors could to discuss not only the positive aspects of the Bush Administration, but to also rebut the impressions cast about in the media that the President cared little about persons of color. Both of these factors served as a strong motivator and inspiration for me to share my story with others.
FP: One of the manifestations of this “Bush doesn’t care about Black people” song surfaced during the Katrina crisis. Can you talk a bit about your angle on that?
For instance, the media and many black and liberal politicians indulged in divisive and inflammatory rhetoric about Katrina, painting it as some kind of moral lesson about white racism. What do you think of the Black leaders such as Jackson and Sharpton who exploited this tragedy to spin their racial politics? Or do you not see it that way?
Christie: It is quite clear to me that many in the Black liberal establishment have absolutely no ideas or no agenda to move this country forward. How else to explain comments that the President has singled out persons of color as people he doesn’t like when the record proves otherwise?
At a press conference earlier this year the President was asked point blank to react to statements that he didn’t like Black people. The President responded that such comments hurt him and he felt he needed to do a better job to reach out – an answer I reject entirely.
Rather than criticize the President for a painfully slow local, state and Federal response for the Hurricane Katrina devastation, I only wish the liberal media and certain Black politicians would turn their sights on those who have impeded, rather than brought about tangible results for persons of color in America. Without question, the response by all levels of government was unacceptable.
At the same time, singling out the President for the slow recovery in New Orleans ignores a painful reality: the citizens of the overwhelmingly 9th Ward were ignored by the City of New Orleans – with a majority African-American population and headed by a Black Mayor. Did it take Hurricane Katrina for New Orleans and Louisiana politicians to realize there were poor Black people who needed new skills, jobs and a solid education to compete in the 21st Century? Perhaps those who sought to exploit this disaster for their own partisan, political advantage should first look in the mirror to see what actions they have taken over the years to assist those less fortunate than themselves before pointing fingers at others.
Meanwhile, the President’s actions in helping Americans help themselves speak louder than words. For one, the President has signed into law legislation that has strengthened the American economy, brought real reform to our schools, raised the level of minority homeownership and provided a prescription drug benefit for America’s seniors for the first time in the Medicare program. Far from disliking people of color, the President has repeatedly fought against the soft bigotry of low expectations for Black people – low expectations, I might add, that are perpetuated in images and words in the main stream media that Blacks can’t succeed without the government propping them up.
Next, if liberal and Black politicians truly cared about the plight of persons of color, how can they explain their disdain of school vouchers and testing of our students in our schools to hold teachers accountable for results? For too long, schools have shuffled students from grade to grade without holding them or their teachers accountable for progress. The President challenged this status quo notion when he successfully pressed the Congress to sign the No Child Left Behind legislation into law. Requiring that students in grades 3-8 be tested for progress has resulted in remarkable results: today more Black and Hispanic students are reading at or near grade level than ever before.
Actions truly speak louder than words and I only wish the President’s critics would articulate an agenda rather than vocalize their displeasure with those who are taking concrete steps to make America a stronger country as demonstrated by the strengths and talents of her citizens.
FP: Tell us how certain individuals are not at all how liberal groups and the media portray them. For instance, with Libby under indictment and Rove’s name still popping-up by the special prosecutor, how do you think these two individuals have been treated by the liberal press?
Christie: I was offended and remain disappointed by the media’s treatment of Mr. Libby and Mr. Rove. The media has apparently forgotten that all individuals are presumed innocent under the law in the United States until proven otherwise. The media appears to have adopted a different standard.
Special Counsel Patrick Fitzgerald was tasked with determining whether a federal official improperly disclosed the name of a CIA operative. Fitzgerald failed to return one single indictment on the question of whether a federal official revealed the identity of a covert operative. If one were to believe the accounts of these two men in the mainstream media outlets, one would be left with the impression that Libby and Rove not only outed a CIA operative, but were part of a larger White House effort to discredit Valerie Plame.
Ironically, the media continues to ignore former Ambassador Wilson’s contradictions and apparent fabrications while under oath regarding his role and instead clings to the notion that the President his White House were out to settle a political score. Given the volume and tenor of the coverage of Mr. Rove and Mr. Libby to date, it appears there those in the media who have used their position of authority to settle a political score of their own rather than search for truth.
Even worse, the mainstream media publishes misleading accounts regarding the President’s directive to the National Security Agency (NSA) to eavesdrop on certain electronic communications without a search warrant. Never mind that the President acted lawfully both under the Constitution and authority provided to him by the Congress to carry out such activities to protect the American people from another terrorist attack. Instead, The New York Times published classified information regarding a classified program to protect the American people but failed to mention that former Presidents Carter and Clinton exercised similar authority to monitor foreign intelligence activity without prior judicial warrant.
FP: The Republicans are often caricatured as being anti-Black. Can you illuminate for us your experience of being an African American in the White House and the work you did with the President and others on policies for African Americans?
Christie: From my earliest days in the White House it was clear that we had our work cut out for us to change long held perceptions about the Republican Party and African Americans. In the 2000 Presidential election, President Bush received just 9% of the African American vote – hardly an electoral landslide.
Rather than write off a sizable portion of the American population that failed to cast their ballot for the Bush/Cheney ticket, the Administration instead sought to advance and advocate policies that would benefit all Americans in general and persons of color in particular. Rather than oppose efforts to make significant inroads in communities of color, the President and Vice President fostered a culture in the White House in which the diversity of thoughts and opinions were welcome – particularly as it related to making inroads to persons of color.
First, the President believed that it was and remains a moral obligation for all of our children to receive a strong education. Without the benefits of such an education, our children would remain unable to compete in the highly competitive 21st Century. The President has repeatedly maintained that shuffling children through schools without teaching them anything only perpetuates the soft bigotry of low expectations. The No Child Left Behind act for the first time ensured that the federal government would test and hold schools accountable for results for students in grades 3-8. Four years after passage of this landmark legislation, African American and Hispanic American students are at record highs for performance in reading and math achievement.
Next, on a direct and personal level, I worked to fulfill one of the President’s State of the Union commitments to place mentors and tutors in the lives of disadvantaged children around the country. Rather than cast off some of our most at risk population, the President recognized that children from single parent households or homes with one or more parents in prison need love, compassion and a hand up, rather than a hand out.
Finally, I witnessed numerous acts of kindness and decency on behalf of the President while in the company of African American audiences whether in or outside of the White House. During the Christmas season of 2003, the President and First Lady paid a visit to the Shiloh Baptist Church in Alexandria Virginia to participate in an Angel Tree event with local children – children with one or more parent who had been incarcerated.
Rather than arrive, briefly deliver remarks and depart immediately thereafter, the President and First Lady had other plans. They stood before the group of proud mothers and fathers, aunts and uncles, grandfathers and grandmothers and dispensed gifts to each and every child in the room. Just watching the children with eyes as wide as saucers reach up to receive a Christmas gift from the President and Mrs. Bush was an experience that nearly brought tears to my eyes. The President and the First lady handed out more than gifts that afternoon – they had also handed out a little bit of themselves and a lot of love in the process.
For those who say that this President or this Administration is uncaring towards persons of color, I only wish they had the opportunity to view the policies and actions of George W. Bush through a prism that was unclouded by partisan political rancor. With a clear lens and an honest appraisal, history will demonstrate that the Presidency of George W. Bush and his philosophy of compassionate conservatism did more to bridge the gap and seriously advance polices that helped Americans achieve their dreams based on the content of their character and hard work ethic rather than the color of their skin.
FP: How do you think the Republicans can build their base in the Black community?
Christie: Real inroads in the Black community will come about once Republican politicians treat Black folks as Americans rather than people of color. In other words, Black folks are as interested in tax reform, strong schools, fighting and winning the war on terrorism and owning a piece of the American dream as anyone else in the country. Rather than campaign on so-called Black issues (welfare reform, crime and labor issues come to mind), Republicans will continue to gain traction by discussing how their vision of economic reform, technological advances to compete in the 21st Century and insisting that teachers and schools be held accountable for results in educating our children. President Bush has been very successful in stressing that Americans as a people are united by their strengths and diversity rather than focusing on the color of one’s skin and blaming others for the lack of their success.
FP: Ron Christie, thanks for joining Frontpage Interview on a day that we officially remember and celebrate the life and legacy of a noble and courageous soldier for racial equality. He was truly, as you said, a remarkable man.
Christie: Thank you very much for having me.
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