Not good news, considering that the area is still trying to recover from the earlier hurricane; they’re talking another round of evacuations and loss of power. I’m keeping the folks up there in my thoughts and prayers, and I hope that you’ll do the same. Also, the Salvation Army is still working in the area; donations may be made here.
OK, yeah, let me explain something before we go any further. I grew up in New Jersey, myself: and the word has never been ‘hookers’ to me. It’s always been “HOOKERS!” – and pronounced, bizarrely enough, as if it’s being half-shouted by a Monmouth County Italian-American woman who’s been smoking for thirty years.
I’m sorry. It’s just one of those things.
Anyway, Sen. Menendez might have gotten himself mixed up with some HOOKERS!:
For those without video access: basically, two Dominican Republic prostitutes have come forward to claim that the Senator paid for their services some time around Easter, 2012. Allegedly, the Senator only paid them $100 each of the $500 that they were promised (I think that they were only promised $500 in total). This supposedly happened in the Dominican Republic: the Daily Caller has traced the plane of a prominent Menendez donor – a plane used by the Senator on several occasions, in fact – which had flown up to a private airport convenient to Menendez, over to the compound where the alleged sex acts took place, and back to the United States at about the time that the alleged events occurred. And, if you’re wondering, the Senator had no official events at that time.
Continue reading Sen. Bob Menendez (D, NJ) alleged to be involved in scandal with HOOKERS!
Spoiler warning: ‘mixed.’
Michael Barone has taken a look at two non-battleground states – New Jersey and Connecticut – and sees something interesting:
In three recent polls in heavily affluent suburban Connecticut, Obama leads Romney by only 52%-43%. He carried the state 61%-38%. Obama is running 9% behind his 2008 percentage; his 23% margin is now 9%. Polling in New Jersey, also heavily affluent suburban, is averaging 50%-40%, down from Obama’s 57%-42% in 2008. Neither state is a target state (though south Jersey gets Philadelphia TV, with any Pennsylvania-targeted ads) or likely to be one on these numbers. But if the apparent CT and NJ trends are happening in affluent suburbs in target states, assumptions based on 2008 benchmarks could prove to be unjustified.
Barone goes on to note a what he (and I) consider to be too-good-to-be-true poll of Cook County, IL; but even if Cook County is not in play it still remains unlikely that Obama will make his 2008 numbers there, either, which is largely Michael Barone’s point. But let’s go back to CT & NJ for a moment. Specifically, the Senate races in both. Continue reading The downticket implications of Obama losing the suburbs.
As in (to mangle Josef Stalin*) “No police union, no problem:”
Crime-ridden Camden, New Jersey – often referred to as the most dangerous city in the United States—is getting rid of its police department.
In the latest example of a cash-strapped municipality taking drastic measures to deal with swollen public sector liabilities and shrinking budgets, the city plans to disband its 460-member police department and replace it with a non-union “Metro Division” of the Camden County Police. Backers of the plan say it will save millions of dollars for taxpayers while ensuring public safety, but police unions say it is simply a way to get out of collective bargaining with the men and women in blue.
(H/T: Hot Air) Why can’t it be both?
Continue reading #rsrh Camden, NJ mayor Dana Redd (D) attempts to solve her police union problem.
Dammit, Cory, come on over to the Dark Side.
We have cookies. More importantly, we have voters who will vote for African-Americans on a statewide level.
The Congressman is being flown back to New Jersey via emergency transport, and that almost certainly means exactly what you think that it means: Rep. Payne’s colon cancer is in a terminal stage, and they want to make sure that his family and loved ones can see him one last time.
If you are the praying sort, pray for his family. This is a very hard burden to bear; I wouldn’t wish colon cancer on my worst enemy.
It’s getting a little ugly in the NJ-09 primary. To refresh people’s memory: the recent redistricting in New Jersey (which lost one seat) ended up with producing a situation where eight term Democratic Congressman Bill Pascrell is challenging eight term Democratic Congressman Steve Rothman for the NJ-09 seat. Or perhaps it’s the other way around: the new district draws on both old districts pretty heavily. Anyway, the race is becoming… ugly.
How ugly? Ugly enough that people like local activist Dr. Aref Assaf are writing op-eds with titles like “Rothman is Israel’s man in District 9” (H/T: Powerline). This is causing some consternation in New Jersey Democratic circles; while people reading this post may be by now more or less used – or resigned – to the idea that the activist Left feels increasingly comfortable with at least implying that pro-Israel politicians have divided loyalties*, it’s not necessarily as obvious to rank-and-file Democrats that things have gotten worse along these particular lines. And it’s all being complicated by Pascrell’s disinclination to actually condemn the original article – something that has people wondering why.
Continue reading Anti-Semitic stalking horses in NJ-09 Democratic primary?
It wouldn’t surprise me in the slightest – and neither does the news that Lautenberg came out of the blue and nominated Sen. Schumer’s brother-in-law Kevin McNulty for a federal judgeship. The ironic bit is that there’s nothing really wrong about giving McNulty a federal judgeship (well, no more than there would be for any other Democrat): the man was an assistant US Attorney when younger and people aren’t objecting to him on principle. But the timing and suddenness of it all is raising eyebrows.
Personally, my first guess would be that somebody in Lautenberg’s staff realized that they’re working for an 86 year old Senator in frail health, and that after November of 2012 there’s likely to be a sudden glut in the supply of Democratic Senate staffers for the job market. So best to shore that re-election now and hope the old guy lasts long enough for the economy to pick up again, right?
…What? Everybody else was being cynical about this.
(Via Hot Air Headlines)
I believe that the word that both the senior Democratic Senator from NJ, and the Democratic Congressman from NJ-12, would insist on seeing here would be allegedly. As in, allegedly former canvass worker Christopher Nastuk was told that it would be, ah, “demographically undesirable” to use African-American canvassers in Holt’s lily-white district. Or, allegedly the minority canvassers that Nastuk did hire were fired anyway “and replaced by white canvassers whose names were provided by e-mail in a text document titled “nobrolists” — which Nastuk said he took to mean “no bro-thers,” in a disparaging slang.” Not to mention, allegedly Nastuk got fired after raising a stink about this. And, finally, allegedly Nastuk and four other plaintiffs took this to court and got a 40K settlement out of Lautenberg and Holt.
No, wait, that last one is a matter of record. Continue reading Frank Lautenberg/Rush Holt paid out race-tinged hush money?
Reportedly, the press conference that New Jersey Governor Christie has called today for 1 PM is to indicate, yet again, that he is not running for President in 2012. Which, given the way that people have ignored all previous attempts by the man to tamp down speculation, will not do a darn thing to end said speculation.
What does Christie have to do? Eat a puppy on national television*?
Moe Lane Continue reading #rsrh What will it take for people to admit that Chris Christie is not running?
