Bill Kurth of Camden County at pro-gun rally in Trenton Saturday. Photo: Richard Cowen/NorthJersey.com
Washingtonia
Adam Davidson at The New Yorker sees in the FBI’s raid on Trump lawyer Michael Cohen the end stage of Trump’s presidency, and says most Americans know some things are wrong but haven’t grasped the full picture yet of a businessman who wasn’t a big success but rather “a small, sad operation mostly run by his two oldest children and Michael Cohen,” engaged in shady doings with shady people. And with now two investigations launched, Trump is now “raging and furious and terrified”.
Around New Jersey
They had MAGA hats, they trashed-talked progressives, and in the 3-word name of Saturday’s New Jersey gun rally, two of those words were America and America.
Twins John & Anna Rezk of Bayonne. John’s headed to Princeton. Anna was offered a full ride at all 8 Ivies, hasn’t picked yet. Photo: Steve Strunsky | NJ Advance Media
Her brother’s no slouch, either. All 8 Ivy League schools want this Bayonne girl. They’ll even foot the bill.
John Pallone is a no-show at first Long Branch debate. The brother of Rep. Frank Pallone, who is also the local Democratic chair, is challenging mayor Adam Schneider. None of the council candidates running with Pallone attended either
An attorney who fought for the rights of others – in New Jersey’s James Dale BoyScout case and the first NJ marriage equality case, and also in the Teena Brandon case that became the Oscar-winning film Boys Don’t Cry – set himself on fire Saturday morning in the park. He meant his suicide to be a warning.
Impaired by Trump yet buoyed by the twin life rafts, in their estimation, of Phil Murphy and Bob Menendez, New Jersey Republicans convened in Atlantic City for a summit organized by NJ GOP chair Doug Steinhardt.
Midterms
Conflicting polls on Democrats’ generic ballot advantage: NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll says it’s at 7 points and sliding down. ABC News/Washington Post poll puts Dems’ no–name advantage at 10.
- The pre-selection of Jeff Van Drew in CD2: How progressives got steamrolled in New Jersey(Politico)
- CD5: Gottheimer is a human fundraising machine(and yet the title of the mass email he sent me last night was: “not where we need to be”)
- Undeterred by rain and ridiculous April cold, a couple dozed activists came out to protest the Trump/MacArthur tax scam. To be Fair and Balanced™, we also have video of a MacArthur supporter.
Trentonia
Meet New Jersey’s newest state senator, Joseph Lagana, chosen by the Democratic Party insiders of his district to ascend to the Senate from the Assembly after the exit of Sen. Bob Gordon left an empty seat. District-mate Tim Eustace, passed over, has now also left the Assembly – and that leaves two empty chairs, both Assembly seats, to be filled
AG Gurbir Grewal this week vowed to do what Chris Christie’s AG and a local prosecutor would not: investigate how two innocent men spent nearly 25 years in prison for the killing of a Paterson store clerk, while the most likely murder suspect still walks free. And he wants to prevent this kind of mistake from ever happening again. (Star-Ledger editorial)
- Law says if Murphy raises sales tax, your 23-cent gas tax goes away. Don’t count on it.
- Wildstein on Christie: As prosecutor, Christie did exactly what he bashed Comey for doing. Somebody alert Hillary Clinton.
- Poster boy for the NRA: He says he became the face of those wrongly targeted by NJ gun laws
- Murphy shoots for new tax on gun purchases in NJ
- Where’s your Gov? 10:30am in Newark: Discuss his budget & NJ TRANSIT Bus Service, 12 noon in Newark: Hotel Trades Council rally
As regards the pro gun rally: when do we have the pro saber rally, the pro hand grenade rally, the pro flame thrower rally, the pro RPG rally, the pro 50 caliber sniper rifle rally, the pro manure bomb rally? Seriously, these people think we don’t have enough guns in this country? This country is saturated in guns and many of these massacres have occurred in states with very lax gun laws. These gun lovers have a totally distorted and skewed view of the 2nd amendment; it is NOT an absolute right and the amendment allows for regulations and restrictions, even Scalia made that point. These people value guns more than human life, more than the lives of children in schools. Sane countries like the UK and Australia, enacted strong gun laws after their mass shootings. We are not a sane country.