More tough talk. More bluster. This little slice of video, paid for with your tax dollars, but pitched to increase your governor's profile, isn't marked as to time and place but it looks like the NJ Alliance for Action's Transportation Conference where he spoke this morning. Christie wants you to frame Lou Greenwald and Paul Sarlo, Assembly Majority Leader and Senate Budget chair respectively, as the "representatives of Washington, D.C. politics in Trenton"[snip] They want to be obstructionists, they want to be pessimists, they want to talk down our state. I'm not going to let them do it. [snip] I'm not going to let them talk down the comeback the state's in the middle of."
This is just more of what we've already had from Christie, who talks about Washington politics as though obstruction isn't the middle name of his GOP brethren in the House, as though he can make it be because he says it. And who can't really answer the questions of the Greenwalds and Sarlos of NJ's legislative branch. So he just dials up the bombast.
Watch the video, and then for a more adult and reality-based antidote, read the statement from New Jersey Policy Perspective's new president - both after the jump.
No matter where you are on yesterday's sentencing of Dharun Ravi, one fact is clear: Bullying creates unpredictable outcomes. You don't know when you watch a kid getting punched on the bus every day, or humiliated in the locker room, or spied on with a webcam, who won't be able to take it.
Bully follows 5 kids facing abuse from their peers every day, and their parents, and tracks two boys who took their own lives. It's a labor of love, and some heartbreak, to the film's director Lee Hirsch, who was bullied as a kid.
Assemblywoman Valerie Vainieri Huttle, prime sponsor of NJ's anti-bullying bill, and her husband Englewood mayor Frank Huttle, arranged for the film to be shown, free. Garden State Equality is getting out the word. The film, rated R for language, was the subject of a widely-circulated change.org petition to change that rating, which would have restricted most kids from seeing it and kept it out of schools. When the MPAA refused to change it, the producers released it unrated. Because so many chain theaters won't screen unrated films, only art houses and some independents showed it. And I think it's worth seeing:
"Bully" screening & RSVP details below the trailer. You can skip past the ad by clicking the link in the video's right side.
Bully screening Wednesday, May 30 - 6pm
Discussion follows film
Bergen Performing Arts Center,30 North Van Brunt Street, Englewood
Tickets/RSVP's aren't necessary to attend, but priority seating is through the RSVP, so it's recommended, given that turnout may me large for this free film. Email your name(s) and phone number(s) to AswHuttle@njleg.org.
If Chris Christie had a theme song for his time as Governor, there certainly could be plenty of options. With all his time spent outside the state he actually leads, I think this has to be in the running:
This is the Governor's own video (you paid for it) of his press conference 6 days ago. The meat of it starts at the 43-minute mark, with the actual challenge coming at 45:48:
James O'Keefe is from Bergen County, and Rutgers Class of 2006. Alicia, of course, is a Jersey girl, NBC Latino contributor & founder of DailyGrito.com. For the conclusion of Alicia's story, read the rest at NBCLatino. - promoted by Rosi Cross-posted with NBCLatino.
On Tuesday, April 3rd, a guy named James O'Keefe tried to steal my vote. His organization, Project Veritas, sent a woman into my Washington, DC polling place, seemingly claiming to be Alicia Menendez. Then, he taped it so that I could watch.
In the video, my stand-in -- who was not brave enough to show her face on camera -- has already given the poll workers my name. Perhaps their first indication that something was awry was that I had already gone to the polls earlier that morning to cast my vote. The poll workers ask the faux Alicia Menendez to furnish identification. She claims it's in the car, and never returns.
Watching this on video took me back to when I was eight years old, when my mother and my brother and I walked into our home and found two robbers there. I remember watching one escape through the kitchen window. Though they took very little, just seeing our clothing in heaps on the carpet and knowing that they had gone through our stuff terrified us for months. Not since then have I felt the level of violation that I feel watching this video.
That's what O'Keefe wants. He and his team want me and you to feel fearful, that we might come to believe that imposters are out to steal our votes. As a target of voter fraud, the logic goes, I should now become a proponent of legislation being proposed across the country that mandates photo identification at the polling place.
Only that's not quite right. The brazen acts being committed in the video are shocking, but you won't see them in the real world. For starters, there are already systems in place to assure that this type of thing can't happen.
Read why that is, and the rest of this post, atNBCLatino.
It's Tax Day, and if you're still bent over the kitchen table clutching your 43rd cup of coffee too tightly and resisting the urge to shriek, consider how much more complicated this is if the family relationship you devote yourself to, but isn't recognized where you actually life, makes filling out those confounding forms even more confounding. Today, there's plenty of resentment going around.
Here's Blue Jersey's take on the Tax Day complications for the civil unionized, circa 2006. It's our #2 ad in Blue Jersey's 4-ad series, Think Equal:
All credit for these ads go to Blue Jerseyans Jack Bohrer, and founder Juan Melli. And the delightful actresses, director and crew, most of whom donated their services to forward the recognition of marriage rights.
We've had to lower our expectations of our Governor's behavior to the degree that witnessing him not actually flipping the bird at a teacher is lauded, instead of assumed. And this, the Ledger misses. Dutifully, they recount Christie stinkbombs - the Navy SEAL "idiot", and Weinberg "bat" remarks, cop to his rep as a bully, and his thin skin. True, true & true. But then they come to the teacher's time before Christie's (literal) bully pulpit:
Christie spent a few minutes recounting his history with the state teachers union, and teachers in general, blaming the NJEA's political attacks on him as a candidate and as governor as the source of the animosity. He conceded that he began fighting back as a means toward self-preservation against the union's anti-Christie message.
Of the teacher herself, her part of the exchange is completely respectful, decent and blameless. We're at the point where (with the press excusing Christie's failures with endless personality journalism) it can take some intestinal fortitude to address him in public. Good for her. More of us should be that willing.
But would this exchange have gone differently if the teacher had not approached Christie as a supplicant, clearly nervous, acknowledging she was "scared to death"? Think about it. We have so much evidence of how Christie treats people (particularly women) who aren't the trembling type.
Excuse me, who do you think should help us save Rutgers-Camden?
The Boss!
Uh, no, they don't mean you, Gov. Christie. You're not always the Boss. Sometimes, particularly in Jersey, there's a higher authority.
Some of the folks in the Rutgers-Camden community coalition of students, faculty, staff and community have produced a video they're hoping Bruce Springsteen sees. They want him to speak out, or sing out, against the merger Chris Christie and Donald Norcross intend between Rutgers-Camden and Rowan Universities; a merger they say would cannibalize highly-rated Rutgers' southern outpost and reduce the value of its degrees.
Enjoy, and if you know Bruce, send this his way, and take action below:
Against the Ru-Ro merger? There's a petition at the R2RMERGE website, against the merger, and portals to the effort's Twitter, Facebook, blog (currently featuring "Who's an idiot now?") and press and info links, and contact info for New Jersey legislators, set up so you can make a lobbying call directly from your computer.
I know all the arguments that the second time around is considerably less compelling, than the first Fired Up! round of campaigning and activism for Barack Obama. Hell, I've made some of those arguments. There are a string of disappointments after a year of promise of hope and change that the President's first term wasn't quite as much hope and change as we thought we were getting.
But I've been to local Obama meetings, even in crimson Hunterdon County, that have been high-energy, and with good people. And I've seen the Republican clown car, and it's full of clowns. And then there is the bumpersticker pictured above, pulled off the internet and snapped I know not where. But it could have been in New Jersey and it could have been in Hunterdon County. This is what we're up against. This is what the other side has to offer to the intellectual discourse and direction of our country.
Barack Obama for President.Fired up.
Tonight, there's a doc celebrating the President's work product thus far. I haven't seen it yet, but for those who want to take a peep it will be showing in just a few minutes - tonight at 8pm on line. It's private, but you should be able to get it by clicking here. Note: Until 8pm, the link will show a message: This video is private.
Right after the film, senior strategist David Axelrod will be answering questions. You can submit yours on Twitter using this hashtag: #RoadTraveled.
At a hearing today, Sen. Frank Lautenberg questioned Attorney General Eric Holder about the NYPD surveillance of New Jersey's Muslim communities and university groups. The Attorney General responded that reports of the NYPD investigation were "disturbing" and are under review at the Justice Department.
This is eye-opening. In plain language, Lautenberg calls what's been going on "spying". Lautenberg asks, "How can a law enforcement agency spy on another state's residents without notifying the authorities, without the governor or the mayor even knowing about it?"
In the looming 2012 presidential contest, I admit most of my attention has been captured by the neverending Commedia dell'Arte that is the GOP primary road show. Especially because Chris Christie's positioned himself as chief saver-of-bacon for his man Mitt, a near-antidote to Mittens' cult-video observations on tree height and undisciplined speechifying style with its substitution of patriotic song lyrics (that he might want to study more carefully) for meat and substance. Yes, the Republicans are ever more amusing, up to the point you are forced to consider that one of them might actually pave a road to the White House (not that any of them want to spend on infrastructure to put Americans to work).
And that brings me to Barack Obama. The almost inevitable story of incumbents seeking a second lease on 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue is that the themes of the first campaign lead to inevitable questions of whether promises made were promises kept (unless the incumbent can steer voters towards shiny objects like wars on terror). Hope and change sometimes gives way to frustration and ennui for voters, but that's the game, and that's the work. And, as a friend of mine described last night, I'm a believer in lesser-of-two-evil-ism.
Around New Jersey, there have already been some local meetings, but tonight's the grand opening of the state Obama HQ. So, if you're ready to get your Barack on, the door's open for tonight's open house:
What:Obama for America New Jersey HQ Opening Meet state director Jackie Cornell-Bechelli and staff and find out how you can hook in to local campaign activities. Where: 542 Georges Road (2nd Floor), North Brunswick 08902
When: Wednesday, February 29th at 6:00 PM
And here's the New Jersey state director for the Obama campaign, Jackie Cornell-Bechelli, with her own invitation for Blue Jersey:
Romney, a rich guy who made his money by plundering companies and firing workers, grew up rich in the same place I grew up: Bloomfield Hills, Michigan. Romney's father George was governor when we moved there; his son Mitt a subject of social chatter in the Detroit papers. Mitt graduated from Cranbrook Schools, the tony, park-like (and architecturally significant) private school campus I lived right near, where he met his wife Ann. He hung out at the Mormon Temple on Woodward Avenue (where his father was President), I hung with the anti-war Unitarians half a mile down the road. He's older, but he would have bored me anyway.
You'd think Michigan would be easy pickings for Romney. Hometown boy. Son of the father. But Michigan culture, even its Republican culture, is deeply rooted in the working class that built the place, that fell when manufacturing shifted away and is showing life again thanks to Obama's auto bailout. The one Romney famously opposed and is now struggling to paste over with revisionist suggestions of how the auto industry his father was once a titan of could have been saved. Chris Christie, Romney apologist and saver-of-his-bacon on numerous occasions, tried strenuously to back Mitt on Morning Joe (MSNBC) this morning (that video's on the jump page).
You could understand why Mitt would be rattled landing in the state where he grew up among future Masters of the Universe, where Daddy ran the show. But his rambling (druggy, if we didn't know better) breathless chatter about trees ...lakes .. and cars is just the weirdest shit I've ever seen come out of a politico's mouth (even with Michael Moore's defense of Romney).
I didn't get it. Till I saw this awesometown little AFSCME video cutting Romney in with the slightly slow Brick Tamland from Anchorman. Just naming stuff. I love lamp.
Click below to get to the meat: Chris Christie's contentious, revisionist, sputtering interview on Morning Joe this morning (and they like him there).
I'm not able to live-blog the budget today, but by all means use this post as an open thread if you're listening.
Here is the video the Christie front office put out today, in the lead-up to today's budget address. You paid for it, so you might as well see it - with its crescendoing music, organ keyboard choir voices (really), and "what you see is what you get" talk from the governor, who claims to be the reason New Jerseyans are no longer "desperate".
Budget address is at 2pm. Two ways you can see it:
ICYMI, Friday night's Overtime segment on HBO's Real Time, Bill Maher with guests Eliot Spitzer, Stephen Moore and Erin Pike. Discussion of Christie and his unsophisticated, pandering positions on marriage and other things begins at mark 5:40.
Immediately following Oliver's speech, Bonnie Watson Coleman rushed to hug her colleague
In a statement following this week's Assembly vote, closing the loop to show legislative intent as a marriage equality case makes its way through the NJ courts and exhibiting the shift toward the positive that the New Jersey legislature has made in the last two years, Garden State Equality chair Steven Goldstein issued a statement thanking some of the people who stand for marriage equality. Blue Jersey was among those Steven thanked. On behalf of all of us here, we share in your jubilation, and stand with you.
But this week, the thanks belong to the NJ legislature. Some of our representatives at the Statehouse took this moment to say some of the most important things they've ever said in casting a vote in Trenton. Over the next few days, we're going to post some of them. Start with Speaker Sheila Oliver.
Before she cast her vote, Oliver talked about how this bill is steeped clearly in the part of the Constitution dealing with equal protection of the law. And echoing bill sponsor Reed Gusciora, in the face of Chris Christie's ignorant remarks about the civil rights movement of the 1960's, she made it clear the case of Mildred and Richard Loving informed her decision. Impossible not to grasp that Oliver cast her vote as an African-American leader and a woman who is part of a history Chris Christie cannot yet comprehend. Oliver:
Can you imagine ... When I was 3 years old - 3! - couples of different ethnic persuasion were legally barred from being married. And that was promulgated by legislatures all over this country. We cannot single out any one group of people and deem them to be undeserving of the same legal protections that everyone else has.
(snip)
We've been down the road of change before. And we will be down the road of change again.
ICYMI for late-nighters, Rachel Maddow Thursday night, just hours after the New Jersey Legislature passed marriage equality bills in the second of its two houses, to which Gov. Christie issued a conditional veto tonight. Maddow was a little later than some in condemning Christie's ignorant reference to the civil rights movement of the early 1960's, but she nails it. Maddow:
15-second unscrubbable ad. But Maddow's always worth the wait.
Blue Jersey frontpager, NJ godmother of the Democratic wing of the Democratic Party, Senate Majority leader, and a woman who gives Chris Christie the willies, Loretta Weinberg has a birthday today. She's 77.
LW's taking the day off from her usual Monday morning post, so instead this sweet video she made with her very sensible grandchildren, Shayna and Jonah. Here for "my adopted son Steven Goldstein" and Garden State Equality she talks with them about the day, hopefully soon, when people can marry "who they love and feel comfortable with" and the gay people in their lives who want to get married.
Birthday girl, with the beloved Shayna & Jonah:
(Disclosure: I have the honor of serving on GSE's board)
Newark West Ward councilman Ron C. Rice makes it official with the release of the video below on his website, issuing a primary challenge to Rep. Donald Payne - first African-American ever elected to Congress from New Jersey - for the seat that's been his since 1989. Payne is 77.
Our Congress is broken. We need new ideas and new leadership to finally tackle age-old problems that have persisted in our nation for far too long. I'm asking for your support. Ron C. Rice (video)
Unlike the northland's other congressional primary contest, Rothman v. Pascrell, this is not the clash of resentful equals and titans that race has apparently gelled into. This is different, the challenge of a young man making waves across generations to an older man in a 22-year incumbency. Donald Payne has a progressive voting record, Ron Rice is a progressive man. That, among other things, will make this an interesting race. Note: Rice's website still lists his as an Exploratory Committee.
Per PolitickerNJ, the widow of former congressman John Adler is set to announce she plans to take from Jon Runyan the NJ-3 congressional seat that Runyan took from John Adler. It would be good to see another Adler sweep to victory in the 3rd District, like John Adler was swept in back in 2008. It's good symmetry.
It's useful to remember that though former Eagle Jon Runyan may have won in 2010, he got the chance to challenge Adler in his first re-election as an incumbent (Shelley Adler gets that chance now with Runyan) when he may never again be as vulnerable. Plus, the district had been Republican before Adler came in on the Obama wave, and perhaps most memorably, the Adler campaign floated a fake Tea Party candidate they tried for a long time to deny. That was apparently too disreputable even for New Jersey politics. (Adler, you'll remember, died of complications of a staph infection just weeks later). Note: in an earlier version of this post I posted the wrong numbers for Runyan's victory. Hat tip ken bank for the correction.
This is a good time to take Runyan out, though Adler will haYve to move into the District to do it. Her hometown Cherry Hill was redistricted out of NJ-3 this time around. And it's useful to remember, whatever the unpleasant history of the late Congressman Adler's last campaign, as a man and as a candidate, he way outclassed Runyan. Shelley Adler, like her late husband, is an attorney. Whatever his fame on the field, Runyan was spectacularly unqualified for office when he ran (and won). It's impossible not to wish Adler well (or for that matter, any Democrat that takes Runyan on in a viable campaign). After all, Runyan's still this guy:
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