I mentioned earlier this week how conservative pundits seemed to have suddenly gone quiet in terms of their never-ending cheerleading for NJ's GOP Gov., Chris Christie in the wake of his recent proposal to take control of struggling Atlantic City; a massive takeover that would include the state government running private businesses, such as the casinos.

Christie's big-government (socialist???) plan presented an awkward problem for right-wingers who had been championing him as the symbol of Reagan-like small government. Because I'm guessing if a Democrat had proposed similar type of Atlantic City rescue, people like Glenn Beck would be urging protests in the streets. (They're seizing control of everything!) But it's the GOP's newest poster boy, so what are pundits supposed to do, actually endorse the idea of state bureaucrats seizing private businesses?

Awkward.

But today, the WSJ's Peggy Noonan stepped forward and dealt with the conundrum straight-on. She praised Christie's bold risk-taking, fiscal responsibility, and predicted a bright future for him in the Republican Party [emphasis added]:

The most promising leader in that respect is Mr. Christie, the New Jersey governor, who just closed an $11 billion budget gap without raising taxes. He is famously blunt and doesn't speak in those talking points that make you wonder, “Should I kill myself now with rude stabs to the chest, or should I just jump screaming from the window?”

...

Mr. Christie was direct, unadorned: You can't tax your way out of a spending problem, you've got to stop spending. Governors have budgets for which they're held accountable, so he had to move. But Mr. Christie's way is also closer than most national Republicans have come—or Democrats will come—to satisfying the public desire that someone step forward, define the problem, apply common sense, devise a way through, do what's needed.

He's going to break through in a big way. The answer to our political problems lies in clarity, competence and courage, not a visit to crazy town. And he knows how to put out his hand. “As much as I love teachers.” That's good.

Oh, and what about the massive government take-over Christie wants to roll out? That was easy. Noonan just completely ignored the issue while praising Christie's small-government rhetoric.

Nifty trick, right?