Thank you Thank you Thank you

by: carolh

Wed Jan 31, 2007 at 10:21:58 PM EST

(A major victory - promoted by Hopeful)

It appears sanity won out. This time. We arrived early to pass out homemade posters to our fellow CC members, and we stood in the cold till our feet and hands froze, then we went in and voted NO on the bylaws and then went back outside to implore our fellow committee members to Vote NO, and asked them not to dilute our votes.
We chanted "Say NO to Joe" and gave detailed interviews to the press who, thankfully were present and trying to get exit interviews with the folks coming out of the building.

Inside, it was the first time I saw the Chairman not smiling broadly at an election. His attorney Dennis Oury stepped outside later only to try to shoo us CC members away from the door with the excuse that in another hour some children would be leaving the school to be picked up by their parents.

When the children finally left the building at 6 they seemed thoroughly thrilled by the whole affair and asked lots of questions about what was going on. I told them we were all Democrats and that they were witnessing democracy. One little girl of 11 told me that Hillary is her hero. Some of them asked if they could hold up our signs for us. Michael Wildes poked his head out the door, sensing a photo op, then quickly ducked back inside when he saw what our signs said. It was rather funny.....

We didn't need too many protesters there, the CC members themselves wound up taking up signs after voting and standing on the steps to plead with those entering to Vote NO. We had big stickers that simply said NO on them. Although the sign holding went on outside in the cold, many CC members proudly wore their NO stickers into the voting room.

Apparently Ferriero's friends needed to do the kind of arm-twisting the Republican Congress used to do when they would hold a vote open for hours while pressuring the last few fence sitters that it would in their best interest to vote with the party.

The next bylaws vote will probably try to change the notice to about an hour, because giving us a week was clearly enough time to rally the grassroots.

So, thank you for helping us spread the word. An informed electorate is the only way to go.

carolh :: Thank you Thank you Thank you

Tags: Gordon Johnson, Valerie Vainieri Huttle, Loretta Weinberg, Bergen County, bergen county democratic committee, BCDO, Bylaws, Joe Ferriero, vote, (All Tags)

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Thank you Thank you Thank you | 18 comments

Sorry I Somehow Missed You... (0.00 / 0)

As of 5:40 there wasn't any action in front and I had to leave at that point. I guess y'all must have come out just after I left :-(

Between the massive show of support at last weeks rally and the kind of gutsy public advocacy that Carol has been doing we have achieved a minor miracle!!!

As I've been saying all along, the one thing this kind of bossism can't stand is to have LIGHT shed on it.

Let us not rest. This is just a skirmish in an ongoing battle, that is part of a much larger war.

by: Nick Lento @ Thu Feb 01, 2007 at 04:18:18 AM UTC

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Congratulations. (0.00 / 0)

Sure wish we could get something going like that going out here. Alas.
But it sure is good to know that my friends in Bergen(And yes, I have some. You likely know them ;-) got something going.
Please, keep it up.

The nom de plume has a long and distinguished history.

by: Tandalayo Scheisskopf @ Thu Feb 01, 2007 at 05:31:16 AM UTC

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P.S. (0.00 / 0)

The press was there, but although the Record mentioned "protesters" they did not mention that most of them were actual County Committee members from the 37th district. People who voted for and are represented by Weinberg, Johnson and Huttle. The very targets of this legal maneuver.

One Vote. Yours. It really does matter.

by: carolh @ Thu Feb 01, 2007 at 15:22:26 PM UTC

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Don't Understimate the Power of a Few People Picketing/Protesting (0.00 / 0)

The committee people are human beings who, in their heart of hearts are still DEMOCRATS!
Even some of the folks who may feel obligated to or intimidated by Boss Joe will change their minds if their Consciences can be awakened a wee bit.
There probably is a hard core of "support" for the bossism that consists of utterly amoral greedy self serving beneficiaries/sycophants of the status quo...but I suspect they are in the minority.
Again, if/when enough LIGHT is shed upon these nefarious practices; they will melt away like the wicked witch in the Wizard of Oz.....or be consumed like a vampire exposed to the rays of the sun....or...............choose your own metaphor.
;-)

by: Nick Lento @ Thu Feb 01, 2007 at 18:40:37 PM UTC

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Did anyone get a copy... (0.00 / 0)

...of the yellow flier being handed out just inside the doors last night? It was something about an inflammatory statement being made by a Weinberg staffer. Just curious to know if anyone has the exact text, or the source of the piece.

by: Bill W @ Thu Feb 01, 2007 at 16:11:33 PM UTC

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this? (4.00 / 1)

http://www.bluejerse...

The Rhetoric is Flying...
They Accuse YOU of Playing Insider Baseball and Manipulating the Convention
YET THEIR Words Speak for Themselves.
"Create as Much Tumult 'Violent Commotion' as Possible." - Debbie Francica, paid staffer to Sen. Weinberg.
Don't Let Their Scare Tactics Deter You.
KEEP OUR Party United!!

by: Juan Melli @ Thu Feb 01, 2007 at 17:10:17 PM UTC

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or this? (0.00 / 0)

I too got a flier on my way in the door. Mine wasn't yellow as described earlier but it did come with an additional sheet which supposedly substantiates the quote. I'd post for all to see but I don't know how to attach it. Tips?

by: bianca @ Thu Feb 01, 2007 at 21:51:51 PM UTC

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how to post (0.00 / 0)

if you have a scan of it you could post the image on flickr.com - you'll need to create an account first. or, send the file to contact bluejersey net and we can post it for you.

by: Juan Melli @ Thu Feb 01, 2007 at 22:09:55 PM UTC

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Telling words indeed (0.00 / 0)

Notice the words "OUR party" in the wording of the Ferriero propaganda. Well he may not have invited us to his party, but we crashed the party anyway. :)
The 11 year olds that thought our sign holding looked like fun, tells a different story about our actions and our behaviour towards our fellow CC members than Joe's flyers.
Aside from saying "No to Joe" and "Don't Dilute your vote" - We implored our fellow dems to do he right thing.
The atmosphere was charged, yes, Violent? No way.
For years we had vacancies on our County Committees all over Bergen County because it was virtually a well kept secret that these are the folks that choose your candidates. For years it was a "party" the insiders were throwing for themselves. Now we have full County Committees all over Bergen because now the rank and file Dems know the value of the County Committee seats to local government.
No turning back now.

One Vote. Yours. It really does matter.

by: carolh @ Thu Feb 01, 2007 at 18:55:44 PM UTC

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From the Point of View of Oppressors... (0.00 / 0)

...any attempt by the oppressed to fight back is portrayed as "violent" or illegitimate.
What people like Boss Joe (and his core supporters) don't understand is why people would want to do the right thing when there's no immediate short term "payoff".
Bossism sees ordinary people as "sheep" to be led and shorn...and eventually eaten.
Bossism sees human decency and the capacity to empathize as weakness.
Ferierro is no mystery...we all know the call of temptation and the dark side.
Politics can be the ugliest and most corrupt of human pursuits...or it can be the most noble; we have the possibility of making a choice as to how we organize our communal governance.

by: Nick Lento @ Thu Feb 01, 2007 at 19:08:11 PM UTC

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Thank you Thank you Thank you | 18 comments