New York Post says Shays needs to button his lip
THIS COMMITTEE NEEDS
A NEW CHAIR
January 3, 2004 -- So exactly what was Rep. Chris Shays talking about when he essentially urged people to stay away from New York City on New Year's Eve?
"I wouldn't go to Times Square. That is my opinion. It is one based on the reality that the government has declared a Code Orange," Shays (R-Conn.) declared.
On top of that, he added: "I wouldn't be flying from Europe to the U.S. in an airplane."
Now, were Chris Shays your basic backbench member of Congress, no one would much care what he thought - about anything.
But Chris Shays isn't just anybody.
He's chairman of the Select Committee on Homeland Security's Subcommittee on Terrorism.
Whether he's up to it or not, he has a real job. And because of the nature of that job, people might - understandably - assume that he has some inside information on the nature, and immediacy, of the terrorist threat.
Generally, individuals in leadership positions should choose their words very carefully - so as not to alarm the average citizen needlessly.
Shays chose not to be so judicious.
On the morning of New Year's Eve, Mayor Bloomberg went on the morning TV shows to reassure New Yorkers, those visiting and those planning to do so that all possible preparations for a safe evening had been made.
That the city, to the extent possible, was safe.
Which, in the event, was quite true.
Whether Chicken Little Shays was feeling a little foolish yesterday is known but to him.
But he certainly should have been.
He wasn't alone in his concerns, for sure.
But he was the only congressional terrorism subcommittee chairman voicing them, and that adds up to an abuse of position.
Chris Shays can stay as far away from Times Square as his concerns for his personal safety dictate.
As for the rest of us, he needs to just button his lip.
