Watching the NJTV coverage of Governor Christie's State of the State Address was like watching a train wreck. It's no surprise that the station, run by Christie's Adubato clan, made this broadcast just the opening salvo in the governor's re-election campaign.
Of course, Christie is an excellent orator. That's part of his appeal to the average voter. But it's NJTV's job to inform the average voter, not to provide an unchecked platform for the governor. And the Democrats are just abettors in this process.
Today, Sunday Nov. 20, is the annual international Transgender Day of Remembrance. We just got word that Garden State Equality will observe the day with a virtual town hall meeting on its Facebook page.
Around the world, organizations are participating in events of all kinds to remember transgender sisters and brothers murdered because of their gender identity or expression. Transgender Day of Remembrance will be observed at Princeton University Chapel, and GSE's facebook page will carry a live post from there in real-time.
We have transgender people in our readership, and among our friends and neighbors. I encourage you to stop in to GSE's Facebook page and participate if you can, and leave a message of of friendship.
Once you see last night's demonstrations outside the Union High School Board meeting, which discussed the controversy swirling around comments made by UHS special education teacher Viki Knox, it's impossible not to notice the racial component.
Anti-Viki Knox protesters apparently primarily white - including Garden State Equality Chair Steven Goldstein, and Human Rights Campaign National Field Director Marty Rouse (who brought a petition signed by 75,000 HRC members). The only student on camera confirming that Knox's opinions made their way into a classroom, a Junior named Samantha, did not witness Knox doing so herself, instead quotes an unnamed fellow student as saying - word for word - what Knox wrote on facebook.
Pro-Knox forces apparently racially mixed, largely black - including a Pastor and father of a student, and a sophomore named William who says he 'loves' Knox and sees her as a 'spiritual mother'.
It has always bothered me how much of my tax dollar is being use to promote Chris Christie's image and his draconian agenda.
I decided to submit an OPRA request to learn how much of my money is going toward his self-aggrandizement. One of my friends has had limited success with OPRA and has told me that the office that handles these requests uses obfuscation as their default position. But after I attended an OPRA seminar, I was emboldened and decided to try out the system.
The response I received (which includes my original request) is here. It doesn't entirely answer my question, but it provides a window into the workings of the Christie communications machine. It shows that we are spending $55,000 of taxpayer money to promote the Christie agenda. Actually, the number is much higher because this figure does not include the costs of the benefits to the individual named, the cost of the IT infrastructure, and any travel expenses for the Governor's Twiterrer. And I inadvertently neglected to include the much larger YouTube expenses in my original request.
Certainly, the governor has the right - and the obligation - to use social media to communicate with his subjects. But a large amount of what his people post is political and should be funded by the State GOP, not the taxpayer.
If you're a regular reader of Blue Jersey, you are familiar with Marie Corfield, the Flemington school teacher who was treated disrespectfully by Governor Christie in a town hall meeting last year. You also know that Marie is running for State Assembly.
Tonight, along with former Governor Richard Codey, she appeared on Al Sharpton's MSNBC program, and although she was not given any time to speak about education - her passion - Sharpton did a good job of summarizing the harm that Christie has done to our state in his first two years.
Marie is smart and independent. She won't be under the influence of the power brokers of her own party as so many other Democrats have been. But she needs your help. You can contribute to her campaign through her website. You can also meet her in person this Saturday - details are also on her website.
Video of the Corfield/Codey interview is below the fold. (Disclosure: I'm proud to be a member of the campaign team that will send Marie to Trenton.)
In Sept. 2010, Newark Mayor Cory Booker, NJ Governor Chris Christie, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Oprah Winfrey announced an exciting step for education reform in America: Mark Zuckerberg would be donating $100 million to improve Newark public schools, a potentially transformative opportunity. This week, nearly a year later, the ACLU-NJ filed a lawsuit on behalf of a local parents' group to find out how that donation, and the plan for what to do with it to benefit their children, came about, since the City of Newark refused to share.
The city of Newark hasn't responded with details, but the mayor of Twitter has: @CoryBooker: All grants of Zuckerberg $ have been made public. New grant announcements coming in Sept RT @bluejersey Update public on Zuckerberg's gift
The next morning, he told the Newark Star-Ledger that he had disclosed everything, and that the records don't exist. Wait, what? Below, you'll find a detailed q+a to clear up as much as possible on our end.
You're suing over the Facebook money. What does that mean? The Secondary Parent Council, a 30-year-old group of parents and grandparents of Newark schoolchildren, requested records about Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg's gift to the Newark Public Schools using New Jersey's Open Public Records Act (that's OPRA - not to be confused with Oprah, who hosted Mayor Booker, Zuckerberg and Governor Christie on her TV show to announce the gift Sept. 24, 2010).
What information did the parents ask Newark for? In a nutshell, letters, emails, memos and any other documentation between June 1, 2010 and April 15, 2011 (the date the request was filed) related to Mark Zuckerberg's $100 million gift supporting the Newark Public Schools.
Shouldn't they just accept the money happily, no questions asked, since it's a gift? What Mark Zuckerberg has done for Newark is incredibly generous, and we don't want to take away from the potentially staggering implications of this donation. But part of what made this gift so extraordinary was the promise from all involved - Zuckerberg, Booker and Christie - to be completely transparent with the public, and many parents and grandparents now feel sidelined and disappointed.
But at the same time, this is a gift to a public institution.
There's more ...
UPDATE 6:10pm:@CoryBooker just answered @bluejersey's Tweet: "All grants of Zuckerberg $ have been made public. New grant announcements coming in Sept RT @bluejersey Update public on Zuckerberg's gift"
So, ACLU, want to dispute that? - - Rosi
Laura Baker, a grandmother of a Newark public school student and a member of the Secondary Parent Council (which sued Newark today), explained why she wanted to go to court for the details of Facebook's $100 million donation to Newark Public Schools.
"The city talks a lot about transparency, but we haven't seen a thing," said Baker.
I'm disappointed with the majority of the Democrats in New Jersey. There I said it.
The RWNJ tweet and facebook everything, even silly stuff like referring to their pizza delivery guy as the brother of a great Patriot fighting for freedom. But on the blue side social media is a once in while deal.
The GOP has learned that social media keeps them in touch with their constituents; each time a NJ soldier dies, all Dems in and running for office should tweet and FB condolences. Positive jobs news, credit the Obama administration, our Congressmen, or State Assembly. Heck, even retweet the traffic reports on Friday and Saturday regarding the Jersey Shore. (And why not RT the good and important posts of others in the party)
We saw how social media can motivate the younger people in London to do harm and do good; from my vantage point it seems that only the GOP has learned how to use it, and when they use it, it is never for good.
Seriously, the GOP is winning because they stay in touch. Our side has to do the same.
The Communications Workers of America (CWA) NJ offices is holding another stewards training to educate a new group of member activists for the fight against the attack on workers rights in New Jersey.
I was invited to present Blue Jersey and discuss the power of progressive blogging and activism through sharing stories and struggles from the offices and homes of working class families under attack by people like Chris Christie, Stephen Sweeney and George Norcross, III.
The last training brought about 80 members out of the dark and into the light of social media and activism. This new training is adding to the ranks and giving more power to the voice of workers in a fight for our very way of life and careers.
The training will focus on the many different avenues of communication available on the internet through Blue Jersey, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and personal blogs.
Oh, pesky facts. Why won't you just go away? As reported by Jeremy Rosen over at the Courier-Post, documents released by the Christie administration in the wake of Coptergate don't actually absolve the governor of any and all wrongdoing with respect to inappropriate use of state helicopters. The issue? Missing flight information; unnamed guests and passengers; contradictions between administration documents and other relevant records. Here's a taste:
Yet records show Christie's Aug. 28 Newark meeting with city Mayor Cory Booker and Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg was surrounded with helicopter flights to the governor's shore house. Further details of that flight were redacted, so it's unclear if Zuckerberg or Booker were on board.
Time for a Thought Bubble & Caption Contest. This shot is from Assemblyman Anthony Bucco's facebook page.
Here's how Asm Bucco (or his staff) captioned the picture: Working with Governor Christie in Trenton to cut spending, stop rising property taxes, and reform unsustainable pension and health benefits for public employees!
But maybe you can do better.
Bucco, by the way, is Chris Christie's assemblyman. Bucco's dad, former Assemblyman and now Senator Bucco, and Michael Patrick Carroll beat Christie and Rick Merkt in the 1995 GOP Assembly Primary in LD-25. Bucco and Bucco are the only parent-child legislative team in New Jersey. Maybe that's what they're celebrating?
Today, we kick off a 10-day Countdown to March 24th, the day we join progressives in New Jersey and across the nation to raise money for Jeff Gardner's campaign for the New Jersey Senate. March 24th is Money Bomb Day.
We've heard from all corners of NJ that Jeff's campaign is a statewide progressive priority. Here at Blue Jersey, we're proud Jeff's one of our own. Everyone here knows about Jeff Gardner. Rock solid progressive. A fighter. A leader.
Campaigns cost money. If Jeff's going to unseat a 30-year incumbent, he'll need our support. March 24th Money Bomb.
So - What's a Money Bomb?: A grassroots fundraising effort concentrated in a short time period. We're going to use it to support Jeff by dramatically ramping up, concentrating & publicizing his fundraising.
What you can do right now: Click "I'm Attending" on Jeff's Money Bomb page. Then come back March 24th and donate!
Every contribution counts - $5, $10, or $25 donations add up. If the progressive community shows our real strength - by making Jeff the next Senator from the 35th District - maybe Democrats in Trenton will think twice before they betray fundamental policies the Democratic Party stands for.
On Twitter: Tweet your support for Jeff! Use hash tag #GardnerMoneyBomb.
Until we step up and start electing better Democrats, we'll never get the representation we've been longing for. We'll never get the type of leadership a blue state like NJ deserves. We are going all-in for Jeff's campaign. And we need you. Money Bomb March 24th!
Chances are you're on Facebook by now. So why not click onto BlueJersey's Facebook page, click "LIKE" (because you like us) and join in all the link-trafficing fun.
We're currently hovering just beneath 1000 members which just feels a bit modest if I say so myself. So join up and COME PLAY!
First of all, what's Rick Shaftan, consultant/pollster to far-right candidates like Steve Lonegan, doing trolling at the NJ Against Chris Christie facebook group (43,000 members)? Check it out: (h/t ken bank)
Dude, what's up with the sneering? the name-calling?
Tomorrow's rally is going to be big. That's going to be bad for the conservatives, whose argument depends on pitting New Jerseyans against each other, and getting non-union workers to resent union workers. Wisconsin was evidence of a pendulum swing of ordinary people in defense of fair bargaining. That swing could happen here in Trenton tomorrow noon, even though our governor's spent a year making himself famous for propagandizing public workers. We'll see.
Don't let Shaftan plant the idea that tomorrow's rally will be anything but big, successful and peaceful. Madison was. The city-to-city rallies have been (counter-rallies, small). That's got to be a challenge for the right. They'd like nothing more than trouble to discredit us. That's why we now know from the recording made when Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker thought he was talking to his benefactor David Koch, that Walker considered infiltrating the peaceful rally with troublemakers, but ditched it because it might not work (not because it was wrong). The call, a prank, showed Walker up as an irresponsible, dangerous fool. In fact, Madison Police Chief Noble Wray had some serious questions for Governor Walker today. Wray:
I find it very unsettling and troubling that anyone would consider creating safety risks for our citizens and law enforcement officers. Our department works hard dialoging with those who are exercising their First Amendment right, those from both sides of the issue, to make sure we are doing everything we can to ensure they can demonstrate safely.
This is insidious, and in-bred. Koch brothers' money got Walker elected (why he jumped at the call). Chris Christie (out of the state again) backs Walker. The Kochs bankroll Americans for Prosperity (AFP); Steve Lonegan runs it in New Jersey. Shaftan was the strategist for Lonegan's GOP primary campaign against Christie. This is all in the family. It's a family that has a lot to lose if tomorrow's rally is big, successful and peaceful. Let's make it just that.
CWA activists have been meeting at the Rutgers Labor Center for the past two days. The goal is too learn how too use media to get out a unified message. Attendees were addressed by Les Leopold yesterday concerning getting out the truth about wall street gambling & the financial elitism that caused the demise of middle class America. A thinktank followed with Berlin Rosen to formulate ideas that need to be shared via social networking. Training classes are underway today for Facebook, You Tube and Blogging. Rosi Efthim has shared her knowledge of blogging and enhanced the activists awareness of online opportunities for information sharing. Be on the look out for increased presence and voice of union brothers and sisters as we stand firm for equality!
Now that Facebook has become a larger community than the entire United States of America, the meaning of "friend" has taken on some new meanings. Sure, we count close friends and family among our friends. And, with Facebook, we count our extended family too, and long-lost high school pals, and college classmates, co-workers, like-minded politicians and activists. Even the occasional stranger with enough mutual friends can suddenly seem like a friend.
But, one definition of friend never changes. A friend is someone you can rely on to stand with you in good times and tough times alike. It is someone who listens to what you say, and cares. And it's someone you can respect, and who you know will always respect you.
This weekend - which was otherwise marred by such tragic news affecting all of us - the progressive community had a great friend elected to the Assembly. Dan Benson, sworn in today, won a hotly contested county committee vote on Saturday morning to fill the seat vacated by Senator Linda Greenstein's elevation to the upper chamber. (Credit PolitickerNJ for excellent real-time coverage of the voting. In the end, it was a great lesson in grassroots politics and tireless campaigning as 7 candidates were narrowed to 3, then 2, before Dan finally prevailed by a vote of 112 to 102.
Dan will be representing the 14th Legislative District that includes Cranbury, Hamilton, Jamesburg, Monroe, Plainsboro, South Brunswick and West Windsor. But, he'll also be a progressive voice for everyone in New Jersey. A real friend to many issues we hold near and dear.
Congratulations Assemblyman Dan Benson - the progressive community has good reason to celebrate having one more friend in Trenton.
NJ Raymond Lesniak wants to reduce prison recidivism rates by offering a small fraction of now risk, non-violent drug offenders early release in exchange for entering a rigorous drug/alcohol treatment program.
Learn about how it'll pay for itself (+ an intriguing connection between former Gov. McGreevey & First Lady Mary Pat Christie) in this 2min. clip.
I have to admit. Up until about a year ago, I've been pretty apolitical. Sure, I got caught up in the Obamamania of 2008 and canvassed door-to-door both here in New Jersey and in Florida. And I vote in every election - usually Democratic - sometimes because I'm for the candidate, but most times because I can't stand the opponent. The only other time I really got involved was in the 1972 presidential campaign for George McGovern, because even then, I knew Nixon was a crook.
Almost a year ago, I started my own blog. After retiring from the military-industrial complex, I needed an outlet for my political rage that had been suppressed in the interest of career advancement. I attended one of Jim Dean's DFA workshops, met Rosi, started writing for Blue Jersey, and was honored when Rosi asked me to be a staff writer. Initially I was reluctant to sign on because I felt that I was not as connected to local politics as my fellow bloggers. But Rosi is persistent, and here I am.
Social media has attracted millions (billions?) of followers. With Twitter you can learn instantly what others are doing and saying and tell many people quickly what is on your mind. With Facebook you can add acquaintances, manage them, and efficiently stay in touch with them.
A group like Garden State Equality, for example, uses social media to increase participation, pass along news, solicit donors, and promote its issues. However, it is a hierarchical organization which operates with considerable precision. People who attended ME events at the State House in December and January were aware that there was a large staff to direct traffic, warn people against inadvertently passing on information to the opponents, provide T-shirts to make the cause visible, select specific individuals to meet with specific legislators, make last-minute phone calls to legislators, occupy as many seats as possible in meeting rooms, etc. GSE did a magnificent job of implementing its strategy through hierarchical planning, organization and control of events.
In another case, in late September Newark students set up a facebook page What's Wrong in Our Schools That $100 Mill Could Fix? This group describes itself as "created to bring awareness to the issues most fail to talk about when it comes to Newark NJ's education system. It is not JUST ABOUT MONEY it is about believing in the students of Newark and providing us with more opportunity." - a worthy mission. The page has 546 members. About 60 comments have been posted, and a lively discussion with divergent points-of-view has emerged. The site provides an important opportunity to air Newark student education concerns. However, it shows no signs of a specific agenda nor of leading a frontal attack on powerful entrenched city leaders. Berkley students did achieve change in their "Free Speech" more hierarchical movement.
Let's not oversell social media. As an unreconstructed activist, I appreciate social media, but I value committed, purposeful, hierarchical organizations even more. What are your thoughts on today's role of social media in politics?
(Our FaceBook "fan base" went up 11% (to 652 members) when this diary went up on Saturday. Let's keep it up! - promoted by Jay Lassiter)
Chances are you're wired in enough to be on Facebook by now. So why not take click onto BlueJersey's Facebook page, click "LIKE" (because you like us) and join in all the link-trafficing fun.
We're currently hovering just beneath 600 members which is a more modest community than we're aiming for. So join up and COME PLAY!
I decided to submit an OPRA request to learn how much of my money is going toward his self-aggrandizement. One of my friends has had limited success with OPRA and has told me that the office that handles these requests uses obfuscation as their default position. But after I attended an OPRA seminar, I was emboldened and decided to try out the system.
