Chris Christie's Schoolboy Boast

Christie Studies Global Affairs for a 2016 Test.  (The New York Times, 9/1/2014)

I think the reporter meant to write 'oratorical bombast'.  But Mr. Christie, usually known for his oratorical sure-footedness, offered a wobbly reply, displaying little grasp of the facts and claiming that if he were in charge, Vladimir V. Putin, the Russian president, would know better than to mess with him.