Now Central New Jersey's Largest Newspapers endorse Marriage Equality

by: Rosi Efthim

Wed Dec 09, 2009 at 02:47:48 PM EST

So this is a call for all of our state senators to show some leadership and courage, do the right thing and support gay marriage, even if that vote stands in opposition to the majority of your constituency.

That last part is crucial, because we recognize the enduring strong public resistance to the concept of gay marriage. For some it's a religious issue, a belief that a same-sex union doesn't fit God's view of marriage. For others it conflicts with long-accepted societal mores. And for others it's strictly a lack of acceptance of gays.

They deal head-on with those calling for a public referendum. This is not, they say, an issue to be left in the hands of the public to decide directly, not because it might fail, but because that's the easy way out for legislators, a mistake other states made that we shouldn't repeat. The comparison to racial inequality is inescapable. They  remind us that we look back on indefensible Jim Crow laws. And it was legislative and judicial action that made it right, when a public vote would have failed. Quoting: Simply put, the public isn't always right. And nor should it always be granted the opportunity to make the decision, not on something this fundamental to America's core values of freedom and equality.

These are the hometown papers that Sen. Chris "Kip" Bateman reads.  And Bateman, a Republican, still hopes for a way to "fix" civil unions, which we know does not exist. But what's important about him is that he's clearly struggling to find an answer that is right and fair. If you want to alert him to this editorial, and let him know you hope he votes yes, Bateman's District Office is (908) 526-3600. As always, of course, be polite and brief. Bateman's remarks at Monday's hearing were intelligent and searching. We can see he believes in equality. There's only one way to get there now.

The editorial urges us to remember we'll look back one day on  "foolish biases" this issue raises. That it's "frankly embarrassing that we're still arguing this issue." Here's how they leave it:

Society shouldn't be drawing a line in the sand where sexual orientation fails to receive the same protections against discrimination as race or religion or gender. Gay marriage is, at its heart, about equality. And that is something that always deserves support.

We urge lawmakers to ignore all of the noise and the inflammatory rhetoric, the biblical interpretations and lessons in legal history, and look into their own hearts before casting their votes. If they do that, gay marriage will soon be legal in New Jersey, as it should be.

Courier News says for Christie, "the buck stops there"

by: Jason Springer

Mon Oct 19, 2009 at 10:15:00 AM EDT

Earlier in the year Christie appeared a potential shoo-in for victory. He had built a reputation as a corruption-busting U.S. attorney, a resume that resonated with New Jerseyans terribly weary of dirty politicians in their midst. He also carried with him the promise of a cost-cutting Republican who could rein in the Trenton Democratic spending machine devouring the state.

But that message has gotten lost. A few minor skeletons tumbled out of his closet - a poor driving record, an undisclosed loan to a co-worker. But the overriding negative perception of Christie is also entirely unfair, that he's a would-be tax cutter without a plan. Blame a poorly constructed campaign for that, not Christie.

We've had leaders in the history of our country who have said, "the buck stops here." Unfortunately now, even the media is buying into Christie's buck stops there mentality. Throughout this campaign, Christie has:

blamed a motorcyclist for hitting him when he caused the accident

said it was a tow truck operator identified him as US Attorney during a separate traffic incident

blamed his secretary for his lavish expenditures

said he had no knowledge when a long time associate, who he claimed to be just a volunteer, bribed Rick Merkt to get out of the primary

Hypocrisy Watch: Lance Edition

by: bytheshore73

Thu Apr 30, 2009 at 07:27:32 AM EDT

The stop-and-go work of the borough's portion of the Green Brook Flood Control Project got a major boost Tuesday with the announcement that $13 million in federal stimulus money has been approved to finish the job.
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In making the announcement, Rep. Leonard Lance, R-Clinton Township, also said that an additional $20 million in stimulus money will go to the overall project, which spans 12 municipalities in three counties.

The $13 million will be used to finish the South Main Street Closure Gate Contract and the NJ Transit Closure Gate Contract.

For Lance, this isn't an unexpected move. Quite a few Republicans across the country shouted up and down that the stimulus bill was a trough of socialist pork, then turned around and took credit for the stimulus funding in their districts. Lance is just another hypocrite in this regard.

Shame on the Courier News for their selective amnesia about Lance's opposition to the stimulus.

Daily newspapers in north and central NJ call for marriage equality - plus a quick action item

by: Rosi Efthim

Fri Apr 24, 2009 at 10:25:43 AM EDT

The Courier News, part of the Gannett chain of daily newspapers, takes the position today that the state's delays in crafting a workable solution to the need for equal rights in marriage have actually allowed for enough time to pass that New Jerseyans are increasingly comfortable with marriage equality. That's a development that independent polling has reflected, too.

Courier News, today:

New Jersey officials have for years taken the safe and sensible approach to addressing the gay-marriage question by, in effect, not addressing it at all.

The state has acknowledged the need for fairer treatment of same-sex couples. Lawmakers have taken several steps to increase the legal rights of gay couples, beginning with domestic partnerships legislation and progressing to the acknowledgment of civil unions that provide nearly all of the same rights as marriage.

And through it all, they've managed to duck answering the most emotional and controversial core of the issue - whether or not to grant same-sex couples full marriage status [snip]

[snip]The state Legislature is expected to consider a legalization bill later this year.

That's the point at which New Jersey should take the plunge and do the right thing. The state's patience - or perhaps reluctance - before taking this final step has allowed public understanding and acceptance to develop and grow.[snip]

And the windup:

But in the end, legalization should be inevitable. The marriage terminology and the sexuality and sensitivity of the topic shouldn't divert lawmakers' attention from the root issue, which is a basic question of equal rights. Gay couples deserve those equal rights. And that includes full marriage recognition.

A few days ago, the Bergen Record, - taking note of marriage equality decisions in Iowa and Vermont -  came to a similar conclusion. Their emphasis is on the separate and unequal status for gay couples that civil unions have left us with. Jump for their argument.

Leonard Lance Goes Hypocrite Again

by: vmars

Wed Apr 08, 2009 at 07:14:32 PM EDT

Leonard Lance is at it again, trying to garner stimulus funding and the credit associated with it even though he voted against it.  Heck, he went so far as to write an op-ed piece lambasting Obama and the Democrats for putting it together.

Then there's this:

In the letter written on Monday, Lance said he was concerned about the delay in delivering the funds for the "shovel-ready" project available in the stimulus package, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, passed by Congress earlier this year and signed into law by Obama.

Congress passed it, yeah, but of the hundreds of Republicans in Congress only two voted for it.  And Lance wasn't one of them.

UPDATE: BTW, you can call Lance out on the hypocrisy the papers won't mention in the comments section of the MyCentralNJ article.   Just register and remind the reporters to get more than one view of the issue.

It's The Quality, Stupid!

by: huntsu

Mon Jun 09, 2008 at 05:51:54 PM EDT

From the Wall Street Journal:

Gannett Co. Inc will take pretax write-downs of as much as $3 billion in the second quarter, as the publisher of USA Today contends with a slumping newspaper market.

The MyCentralJersey.com site (owned by Gannett, publishing the "reporting" from the Home News Tribune and Courier News) had this headline today (emphasis added):

Update: No relief as heat wave continues

Followed two paragraphs later by this sentence:

And while similar conditions are expected Tuesday, there is some relief in sight.

Gee, I wonder why that chain is losing billions?  It couldn't be that they've gutted their local news staffs so badly that their headline writers can't even read the articles?  

What's happened to local media in New Jersey and this country is a shame.  Media consolidation is a disaster.

Blog Fun in Flemington

by: the pollster

Fri Dec 14, 2007 at 12:16:54 PM EST

Joan Greiner, the wife of defeated Flemington Borough Councilman Phil Greiner, has got herself a blog.  And, boy is she using it to paint an interesting picture of Flemington.

Her husband lost the election to me.  Close-I won by about 4 votes.  And now the Council has a Democratic majority.  Mrs. Greiner feels that, somehow, I have ruined the whole temperament of Council, since 2007 was a productive and fairly cooperative year.  She labors under the delusion that the three Republicans who were up for re-election were somehow entitled to their seats, and that I got in the way of that lovely peace by seeking to disturb the beauty of a 3-3 even split.

We won the poll!

by: DottieG

Tue Oct 09, 2007 at 03:31:34 PM EDT

Here's the question:
Which nation's policies do you believe represent the biggest threat to our homeland security?

954 people responded. Here's how the answers broke down:

Iran:  35.3 per cent
North Korea:  9.5 percent
Our own government:  55.1 per cent

The Courier News' readership is mostly in Somerset and Hunterdon counties--a lot of which are in the 7th CD--and mostly Republican and non-affiliated.  Watch out, soon-to-be former Congressman Ferguson!

Holy Contributions, Batman! We've Almost Raised $10K!

by: huntsu

Sun Oct 29, 2006 at 07:00:00 AM EST

This is a bit out of turn, since we usually do this on Fridays.  But we are just nine days out from election day and time is getting short.

Blue Jersey has been working to help Democratic challengers for House seats this year by raising money through our Act Blue page, an excellent free service that lets campaigns with few resources collect contributions online.

We began $5 Fridays where we asked our readers to contribute just $5 each to create a combined strength.  We thought we could raise a little money and do a little good with our group efforts.

And now all we need is $578.18 in contributions to get our 2006 General Election Collections to an amazing $10,000!

So if you can contribute just $5 or $500 (or $580?) please do so on our Act Blue page soon enough to get the cash to the campaigns!