All eyes on Sarlo

Marriage Equality and Sen. Sarlo (4.00 / 5)

I told several folks that Sen. Sarlo committed to me that he would post the bill and indeed he will.  The bill has bi-partisan support and we will see it move out of committee!

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by: Senator Loretta Weinberg @ Mon Nov 16, 2009 at 21:38:25 PM CST

Yaaaaaayyyyyyyyyyyyyy Loretta!!!!!!!!!! (0.00 / 0)

Step by step...

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by: Nick Lento @ Mon Nov 16, 2009 at 23:19:25 PM CST

[ Parent ]

maybe Thurman has the right idea (0.00 / 0)

If there are actually four Republican State Senators who are willing to stand up to the onslaught of the teabaggers in their own party in order to do the right thing and vote for marriage equality, then maybe we should all become Republicans.

Judiciary Committee (my guesses)

Sarlo, Paul A. - Chair (No)

Girgenti, John A. - Vice Chair (Yes, because Jeff Gardner will never forgive him if he votes No)

Baroni, Bill (Yes, because I want to believe that he is as decent as he seems)

Bateman, Christopher (Yes, see above)

Beck, Jennifer (Yes, see Baroni)

Cardinale, Gerald (HELL NO)

Gill, Nia H. (Yes)

Kyrillos, Joseph M. (No)

Lesniak, Raymond J. (Yes)

Scutari, Nicholas P. (Yes, because if he doesn't, he had better get Dunellen and Plainfield removed from his district by 2011)

Smith, Bob (Yes, see Girgenti)

Stack, Brian P. (Yes)

Weinberg, Loretta (HELL YES)

With Baroni, Bateman, and Beck, the count is now 10-3.  It would be amazing if Joe Kyrillos could somehow be convinced to vote Yes, so that Paul Sarlo would be standing side-by-side on the wrong side of history with Gerry Cardinale.

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by: rachael'sdad @ Mon Nov 16, 2009 at 22:28:46 PM CST

Is Paul Sarlo even a Democrat? (0.00 / 0)

I hate to have litmus tests, but can anyone give me ONE issue where Paul Sarlo was on the right side? Thank god we have Sen.Weinberg in Bergen County to keep him in line.  

I remember him pulling this same crap with Paid Family Leave.  

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by: Matthew Jordan @ Mon Nov 16, 2009 at 23:48:55 PM CST

[ Parent ]

death penalty (0.00 / 0)

He voted to end it in favor of life in prison w no parole.  He voted w/ the libs in committee and in the final vote.  And like this instance, he did rhetorical somersaults first, promising he had the right to change his committee vote in the final passage she he so decide.

IN the end it was much ado about not much.  He voted with his caucus and made history in the process.

So don't give up on Sarlo.  If the death penalty vote is any indication, he'll come around.  

activist for hire.

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by: Jay Lassiter @ Tue Nov 17, 2009 at 06:56:26 AM CST

[ Parent ]

why not give up on Sarlo? (0.00 / 0)

The death penalty is a far more complicated issue than marriage equality, which should be a no-brainer.

If it weren't for the possibility that an innocent person could be put to death, which is irreversible, I would probably be a proponent of the death penalty, primarily because someone convicted of a capital crime has more guaranteed appeals than someone who is facing life in prison without parole.

Thus, there is actually a much better chance that an innocent person could spend a significant amount of time in prison than there is that the same innocent person could be put to death.  Unfortunately, that better chance is a risk that we have to take because any chance that an innocent person could be put to death is too much of a chance.

I don't blame anybody for agonizing over a vote on the death penalty, but I am not nearly as open-minded when it comes to marriage equality.  It is a very simple issue and any decent person should be for it.  The fact that Sarlo has any personal issues to the contrary speaks volumes to the kind of person that he is.

I think that it is great that he is doing the right thing and allowing the marriage equality bill to be heard and voted on by the JC, but it seems like we are setting the bar for our gratitude very low when we thank someone for doing something that they should just have done in the first place without all of the sturm and drang.

Add to it that Sarlo had been one of Bossman Joe Ferriero's most loyal henchmen as they both rose up through the Bergen County power structure and I have no reason to think that he is anything but a corrupt DINO.

I'll take a Republican like Baroni, Bateman, Beck, and Kean anyday over a Democrat like Sarlo.  Maybe I should join Thurman and become a Republican after all.  It is probably better to be occasionally and pleasantly surprised than consistently and constantly disappointed.

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by: rachael'sdad @ Tue Nov 17, 2009 at 09:06:58 AM CST

[ Parent ]

A personal plea when discussing marriage equality (0.00 / 0)

Yes, a lot happened over the past 72 hours and no one is as tireless and as incredible a fighter as our Loretta Weinberg.  We love you, Loretta.

But to everyone, I am now going to post one of the more controversial things I've posted here - and it has nothing to do with substance but with blogging itself.  I say controversial because I've seen, over the years, that the topic of blogging is itself one of the bigger lightning rod topics among bloggers.  So please, bear with me on this one.  

Remember:  This is a public blog read by our right-wing opponents.  We happen to know that because we have heard them recommend Blue Jersey as a source for thinking and strategy from our side on the marriage equality issue.

This is not like having a private conversation among several of us who know each other who do, in fact, hang out together, discuss together, strategize together, vote count together, over a cup of coffee, a beer or a corned beef sandwich.

In no way do I want to be exclusionary - any of you can email me at Goldstein@GardenStateEquality.org if you want to know where  things stand.  

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by: Steven Goldstein, Garden State Equality chair @ Tue Nov 17, 2009 at 06:15:13 AM CST