| First, Mr Snowflack wrote that "Democrats said clips of the debate were available on a Democratic Web site, Blue Jersey." Bluejersey is not a "Democratic web site". Bluejersey is a progressive web log and is critical of Democrats, where appropriate. If bloggers at Bluejersey are Democrats, it's only because there is no progressive element in the Republican Party. If there were a progressive Republican candidate running against a less progressive Democrat, you might see Bluejersey's bloggers supporting that Republican. It is wrong for Mr Snowflack to assign the web log a party affiliation when we aren't about party, but platform. I chalk that up to Mr Snowflack being unfamiliar with Bluejersey. He ought to drop by some time.
Second, "clips" are not available at the web log. The entire video, unedited, is available at the web log. This isn't a matter of sound bites or things being taken out of contect to embarrass one candidate or the other. Just as the League of Women Voters claimed they wanted, which is for any recordings be posted in full so as to avoid partisanship, so has the recording been posted. You can watch and listen to what was done and said at the debate and make up your own mind about the candidates. The end of the debate was lost because the recording was stopped at the insistence of Frelinghuysen.
With respect to Congressman Frelinghuysen, he complained that somehow the Wyka campaign failed to police its "own people" because they didn't prevent the recording. Given that the person who made the recording was not associated with the Wyka campaign and Wyka's people had no prior knowledge that he would be making the recording, what exactly did Frelinghuysen want them to do? I am still not convinced that the guy who made the recording was with the Wyka campaign. All I know about him is that he goes by the handle "eagle" at Blip.TV. He could have been a Frelinghuysen supporter.
Two important questions arise from this nonsense "issue": why is Congressman Frelinghuysen so upset about having the debate available to the people in his district and doesn't he have anything better to worry about than whether a debate that was held in a public place is recorded?
More than one hundred United States service men and women were killed in Iraq this month. The situation in Iraq continues to deteriorate, with Iraqi citizens being murdered steadily by dead squads. Frelinguysen supports a "stay the course' policy in Iraq, a policy that is failing. At home, the defense budget is still bloated beyond all sense, the cost of medical care continues to rise at an outrageous rate, the job market continues to be strengthened only by low-paying, service sector jobs while manufacturing jobs continue to flee overseas and professional jobs are "offshored". In Congress, more revelations come out all the time about corrupt associations with Jack Abramoff's lobbying firm and inappropriate contact between members of the House and House pages. The president wants to eliminate our Social Security program with the assent and agreement of many in the Republican-controlled Congress. Global Warming threatens to do enormous harm to human life on the planet. We have no solution for our dwindling supply of energy. And Rodeny Frelinghuysen, who represents the 11th District of New Jersey in the House of Representatives, if hopping mad because someone recorded his debate against his opponent and it became available on the Internet.
He ought to be glad it didn't show him behaving inappropriately with a sixteen year old page instead of throwing around bogus accusations against his opponent. He ought to prove he wasn't associated with that recording himself. I am not convinced that the guy who made the recording wasn't an operative from Frelinghuysen's campaign. Why didn't Frelinghuysen police his own people?
In the end, this is a distraction from the real issues. Not to be rude about it, but Frelinghuysen should first prove he wasn't behind that recording being made, and then he should shut the hell up about it and pay some attention to the real issues. He's running for re-election to the House of Representatives, for crying out loud, not Secretary Treasurer of the Student Council. Tom Wyka, during the debate, made excellent points about the real issues facing us. If Frelinghuysen really wants to address the voters before they vote, let him address the voters on those issues. |
