Extremist Josh Gottheimer

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Frank Pallotta has exposed Congressman Josh Gottheimer for embracing international terrorist organizations such as CAIR and convicted cop-killers like Joanne Chesimard – as well as their domestic enablers like Action Together, Linda Sarsour, and the Women’s March. Gottheimer refuses to disavow their support.

This also means EVERYONE associated with Gottheimer falls into the same category -- including his hired flacks, Mikie “I’ll swallow anything” Schnagglepuss, Jacky the Conduit, James Santonastaso, the county Democrat Committee, Sussex Progressives, and assorted critters.

CAIR has been designated an international terrorist organization by one of America’s closest Islamic allies. Democrat Linda Sarsour has called for “Jihad” against the United States. Joanne Chesimard is a convicted cop-killer. They are among the worst the World has to offer.  And Gottheimer and his mob want a seat in the House, next to the Squad and some of the other psycho cases there.  No thanks.

https://sussexcountywatchdog.com/?offset=1657031928012

The Sussex County Informer

7h ·

Congressman Josh Gottheimer has exposed Frank (the Fraud) Pallotta for embracing domestic terrorist organizations such as the Oath Keepers--and Pallotta refuses to disavow their support.

This also means EVERYONE associated with Pallotta falls into the same category--including his hired flacks, Blue Falcon Joe Labarbera and Kelly Hart.

The Oath Keepers, among other things, are white supremacists, NRA sycophants, and are among the worst America has to offer. And Pallotta and his mob want a seat in the House, next to some of the other psycho cases already there. No thanks.

https://newjerseyglobe.com/.../new-gottheimer-ad-skewers.../

Gottheimer: Is it okay to call the Editor of NJ Globe a “terrorist”?

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By Rubashov

Let’s remember that terrorism is a crime. As Congressman Josh Gottheimer well knows, Section 802 of the USA PATRIOT Act (Pub. L. No. 107-52) expanded the definition of terrorism to cover domestic, as opposed to international, terrorism. A person engages in domestic terrorism if they do an act “dangerous to human life that is a violation of the criminal laws of a state or the United States, if the act appears to be intended to: (i) intimidate or coerce a civilian population; (ii) influence the policy of a government by intimidation or coercion; or (iii) to affect the conduct of a government by mass destruction, assassination or kidnapping.”

Now, let’s recall what Bridgegate was all about. Wikipedia explains: “The Fort Lee lane closure scandal, also known as the George Washington Bridge lane closure scandal or Bridgegate, was a political scandal involving a staff member and political appointees of New Jersey Governor Chris Christie colluding to create traffic jams in Fort Lee, New Jersey, by closing lanes at the main toll plaza for the upper level of the George Washington Bridge… It was later suggested that the lanes had been closed intentionally to cause the massive traffic problem for political reasons, and especially theorized that they were a retributive attack against Fort Lee's Mayor Mark Sokolich, a Democrat who had not supported Christie as a candidate in the 2013 New Jersey gubernatorial election. The ensuing investigations centered on several of Christie's appointees and staff, including David Wildstein, who ordered the lanes closed…”

According to the New York Times (May 1, 2015), the School Superintendent of Fort Lee thought Bridgegate was an act of terrorism. Here’s how the New York Times covered it:

Fort Lee School Head Calls Lane Closings an ‘Act of Terrorism’
FORT LEE, N.J. — Hearing that the bridge lane closings were intentionally scheduled for the first day of school made Dr. Paul Saxton, the interim superintendent of the town’s schools, angry all over again on Friday.

Dr. Saxton called the plot “an act of terrorism.” To carry out a “premeditated action designed and targeted toward the kids, what did they expect?” he said in a phone interview after a former Port Authority official pleaded guilty in the scheme.

The official, David Wildstein, told a judge that the lane closings were timed to the first day of school in 2013 to maximize punishment to Fort Lee’s mayor, Mark Sokolich.

The gridlock, which lasted for days, created all sorts of headaches for the school district and for Dr. Saxton, who was starting out as the interim superintendent.

School buses were stuck in traffic, teachers could not get to work, crossing guards failed to make it to their posts. Worst of all, Dr. Saxton said, were the hazards all the distorted traffic posed for the majority of the town’s schoolchildren who walk to school.

“It was a thoughtless, mindless action,” he said. “It’s really disturbing to think that the kids were targeted.”

Now, let’s be clear about something. David Wildstein, the Editor of NJ Globe, is not a terrorist. Why? Because he was never charged and convicted of the crime of terrorism. In America, for the moment anyway, everyone of us is protected by the phrase, “Innocent until proven guilty” by due process, in a court of law.

Apparently, Democrats don’t believe this anymore. At least not the Democrats in Sussex County and, along with them, Democrat Congressman Josh Gottheimer.

The Sussex County Democrats believe they can state, as fact, that someone committed the high crime of terrorism. The Democrats believe that to object to accusing someone of having committed a crime when no conviction has been rendered or even charges filed, and allow us to quote their lawyer directly here, “…is blatantly attempting to stifle open discussion about matters of public importance: the conduct, platforms, and beliefs of those who represent the citizens of our state in election related matters.”

Got it. So, when Josh Gottheimer was accused of sexually molesting a staff member and fooling around on his wife… that would be okay to put in direct mail? At the time, we defended Congressman Gottheimer, not knowing that we were in the wrong for doing so. We had no idea that we were “attempting to stifle open discussion about matters of public importance: the conduct, platforms, and beliefs of those who represent the citizens of our state in election related matters.”

If Bridgegate could reasonably be described as “terrorism” (read the law) and some people (people like the former head of the school district in Fort Lee) have made the accusation that it was terrorism, then is appearing on NJ Globe the same as appearing on a “terrorist” website? Would it be okay to make the accusation that any political figure who ever appeared on NJ Globe is “linked” to a “terrorist” website? Heck, just writing “linked to Bridgegate” would probably be enough. Could you put that in a direct mail piece and feel good about?

Apparently, the Sussex County Democrats, their Chairman Dawne Rowe, and Josh Gottheimer all believe you could. The Editor of the NJ Globe himself appears to believe it would be acceptable. What’s with these people? Could it be the end of “innocent until proven guilty”? It’s a brave new world we’re heading into.

The hypocrisy of the establishment.

Murphy wants to make CAIR’s Chair a Judge. What did the ADL say about CAIR?

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By Rubashov

When it writes about “white nationalism” or “white supremacists” the establishment media, the Murphy administration, and prominent Democrat politicians all rely on the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) for “expert testimony” – with the ADL providing statistics and background information on various groups and their leaders. For example, Andrew Campi of Governor Phil Murphy’s Department of Homeland Security and Preparedness (NJOHSP) recently joined Oren Segal of the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), and Congressman Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ05) in hosting a virtual forum on battling "extremism, hate, and homegrown lone-wolf terrorism."

A press release put out by Congressman Gottheimer’s office noted: “Gottheimer has helped lead several key initiatives to combat homegrown lone-wolf terrorism, QAnon, extremism, Foreign Terrorist Organizations online, and to maintain election security.”

On Monday, Governor Murphy nominated a number of individuals to become judges on New Jersey’s Superior Court. New Jersey Globe, covered the story and highlighted one of the Superior Court Judges-to-be:

“Nadia Kahf practices immigration law in Haledon and would sit in Passaic County. She is the chairwoman of CAIR-NJ board, the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights organization, and has served on the board since 2003. She is the legal advisor to Wafa House, a Passaic County-based non-profit domestic violence agency.”

We wondered if anyone at the Murphy administration has read what the ADL has to say about CAIR. So, we looked and found a rather thorough article on the ADL website, complete with 68 footnotes detailing the sources that went into writing it. Below are the highlights, as they relate to the appointment of CAIR-NJ Board Chairwoman Kahf, as well as a link to the article itself (and the footnotes), so that anyone might read it and form their own conclusions:

The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) is a Washington D.C.-based 501(c)(3) non-profit organization with 28 independent chapters around the country. Since its founding in 1994, CAIR has sought to position itself as the leading American Muslim civil rights organization. In recent years, much of its activity has centered on responding to the proliferation of anti-Muslim incidents and sentiment expressed nationwide.

Some of CAIR’s current leadership had early connections with organizations that are or were affiliated with Hamas. Hamas is designated as a foreign terrorist organization (FTO) by the United States and is also viewed by the EU as a global terrorist organization.[1]

In addition, some of CAIR’s leadership have used inflammatory anti-Zionist rhetoric that on a number of occasions has veered into antisemitic tropes related to Jewish influence over the media or political affairs, or has descended into the vilification of Zionists, which includes the majority of American Jews, who view a connection with Israel as a component of their Jewish identity.[2] ADL defines Zionism[3] as the movement for statehood for the Jewish people in their ancestral homeland, the land of Israel.

…Although its main organizational mission is upholding the rights of Muslims in the United States, CAIR also comments on international issues, with a particular focus on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Key CAIR leaders have frequently expressed vociferous opposition to Israel and Zionism, claiming at times that Zionism and Zionists are fundamentally racist.

Antipathy towards Israel has been a CAIR staple since the group was founded in 1994 by several leaders of the Islamic Association for Palestine (IAP), a now defunct organization that was once described by the U.S. government as part of “Hamas’ propaganda apparatus.” Nihad Awad, who was IAP’s Public Relations Director, became CAIR’s first Executive Director, a position he retains today.[4] IAP was active in the U.S. from 1981 until about 2004, and categorically rejected a peaceful resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, writing in a December 1989 communique: “The only way to liberate Palestine, all of Palestine, is the path of Jihad…Hamas is the conscience of the Palestinian Mujahid people.”[5] In 1987, immediately following the establishment of Hamas, IAP began to print and distribute Hamas literature, including Hamas communiqués and the Protocols of the Elders of Zion.

One of the founding board members of CAIR’s Dallas office, Ghassan Elashi, was linked to the Holy Land Foundation (HLF), a Texas-based charity that, according to the U.S. government, became the chief fundraising arm for the Palestine Committee in the U.S. The Palestine Committee was created by Hamas’s parent organization, the Muslim Brotherhood, to support Hamas. Both HLF and CAIR were members of the Palestine Committee. In 2008, HLF’s five founding officers were convicted on more than 100 criminal counts and sentenced in May 2009 to between 15 and 65 years in federal prison for financing terrorism by funneling more than $12 million to Hamas.[6] According to news reports, evidence presented at the Holy Land Foundation trial demonstrated that other CAIR leaders were also linked to HLF and Hamas activity in the U.S.[7] As noted above and according to the trial testimony, the Palestine Committee was a U.S. wing of Hamas’ parent organization, the Muslim Brotherhood. The Palestine Committee was headed by Hamas official Mousa Abu Marzook,[8] who since 1995 had been designated by the U.S. government as a Specially Designated Terrorist.[9]

Throughout the HLF trial, CAIR organized support for the defendants and joined several other organizations, including the Muslim American Society, to form the “Hungry for Justice” coalition to support HLF.[10] Two CAIR leaders acted as media contacts, while Khalil Meek of CAIR’s Dallas chapter served as the coalition’s primary spokesperson. He described an earlier, related case in the prosecution of HLF as an “Israeli trial tried on American soil.”[11]

CAIR was included on a 2007 Department of Justice list of nearly 250 “unindicted co-conspirators” in the HLF case. A federal appeals court subsequently ruled that the government had been wrong to publicly identify CAIR and others on that list and that the list should be sealed.[12] CAIR’s name remains on the list.

In response to CAIR’s involvement with the Holy Land Foundation, the Federal Bureau of Investigation distanced itself from the organization. In the past, the FBI had interacted with CAIR representatives regarding community outreach activities, civil rights complaints and criminal investigations. However, in 2008, the FBI issued an instruction to its field offices that they should sharply curtail “non-investigative interactions” with CAIR.[13] This instruction was elucidated in an April 2009 letter to the Subcommittee on Terrorism, Technology, and Homeland Security, in which the FBI explained that it would cease to liaise with CAIR “until [they] resolve whether there continues to be a connection between CAIR or its executives and Hamas.”[14] To our knowledge as of this writing, the FBI has not retracted this protocol.

CAIR Executive Director Nihad Awad’s repeated statements in support of Hamas also loom over the organization. Awad is quoted as saying during a March 1994 panel discussion at Barry University in Florida (prior to his involvement with CAIR) that “after I researched the situation inside Palestine and outside, I am in support of the Hamas movement more than the PLO.”[15] In its defense, CAIR notes that Awad’s statement was made “before CAIR was formed,” and that “Hamas did not commit its first suicide bombing until October 1994.”[16] In 2000, when he was asked about Hamas during an Al-Jazeera interview, Awad refused to condemn what had clearly become a terrorist organization. “We do not condemn, and we will not condemn any liberation movement inside Palestine or inside Lebanon,” Awad said.[17] CAIR has countered by noting that in 2006 Awad stated that he “[does] not support Hamas today.”

Awad also appeared at a rally convened in April 2002 next to antisemitic Imam Abdul Alim Musa, the founder of the extremist group Sabiqun. Among other virulently antisemitic statements, Musa has claimed that the Jews ran the slave trade; that, compared to the what had been done to Native Americans and African Americans the Holocaust was “small potatoes;” that Jews are the enemy of humanity; that Jews control America and that Jews have manipulated Arab leaders into being drunk, broke and engaged in internecine warfare.[18] In the photo below, Nihad Awad is shown next to Musa, delivering a speech under a Hezbollah flag.

More recently, CAIR has supported and advocated for Rasmea Odeh, who was convicted by an Israeli court in 1970 for her role in a 1969 bombing of a supermarket that killed two Israeli students, and who was later released as part of a prisoner exchange. As a member of the Rasmea Defense Committee, both of CAIR’s Midwest chapters (Chicago and Michigan) support the idea that Odeh “is a leading member of Chicago’s Palestinian, Arab, and Muslim communities,” and that she “is a community icon who overcame vicious torture by Israeli authorities…and an example for the millions of Palestinians who have not given up organizing for their rights of liberation, equality, and return.”[19] The Rasmea Defense Committee was active up until September 2017, when Odeh was deported to Jordan.

Although CAIR does not appear to endorse the Boycott Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement as an official policy, CAIR frequently tweets in support of BDS campaigns[20] including academic and cultural boycotts of Israel. In April 2020, they joined American Muslims for Palestine (AMP) in calling for a boycott of Israeli dates. CAIR has a close relationship with other pro-BDS, anti-Zionist and anti-Israel groups like JVP and Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP). Moreover, some of CAIR’s leadership, including Zahra Billoo, Hussam Ayloush and Imraan Siddiqi, have been particularly outspoken in support of BDS.

CAIR’s Executive Director Nihad Awad has made numerous anti-Israel comments, some of which have played into conspiracy theories about Jewish control of the media or U.S. government. During a May 2021 CAIR webinar, Awad stated that “the mainstream media had monopoly over the talking points – [parroted from] the pro-Israel organizations.”[21] In 2014, he claimed that Israel “is the biggest threat to world peace and security.”[22]

At an August 2014 anti-Israel rally in Washington D.C., Awad endorsed a view he attributed to Latin American countries, that Israel is a “terrorist state” because allegedly its official policy is to target innocent civilians and has also said that AIPAC did not promote American values but was a foreign lobby that controls the U.S. Congress. He told the audience “Do not accept Israeli talking points. AIPAC should have its hand off the United States Congress. They have corrupted our foreign policy; they have corrupted our political leaders.”[23] In July 2014, Awad had similarly tweeted: “Israel lobby has corrupted American politicians by skewing US foreign policy to support killing of civilian population in #Gaza…”[24] Also that month, he alleged U.S. policy toward the Palestinians was “driven by the Israel lobby.”[25]

(N.B.: The following is noteworthy, because it concerns the Executive Director of CAIR-NJ who works under the direction of CAIR-NJ Chairwoman Nadia Kahf…)

Salaedin Maksut, Executive Director of CAIR-NJ, has demonized Zionism and Zionists on several occasions. In an October 31, 2021, post on Facebook, Maksut referred to Zionism and “other racist and oppressive ideologies.”[51] On May 10, 2021, he tweeted: “Israel is a state based on a racist doctrine. Zionism is racism, pure and simple.”[52]

At an anti-Israel rally on May 11, 2021, Maksut played into antisemitic themes about Jewish power and culpability for racism in the United States, remarking to attendees: [53]

“We have to realize that the same foot and the same knee that is choking the Palestinian people is the same foot and the same knee that is choking the Black and Brown people in this country. The powers that are funding the oppression of the Palestinian people are the same powers that are funding the oppression of minority groups in this country. It is the same money. They are cutting the same checks. They are the same people. They are sitting in the same offices of government.”

He concluded with the chant: “Zionism is racism.” Whatever his intent, altogether such rhetoric can be interpreted as suggesting that pro-Israel and Zionist Americans, and by extension the mainstream Jewish community, is the primary cause of racist oppression and brutality in the United States.

Maksut made similar remarks at a rally in July 2020. [54] Faced with criticism, he doubled down in a tweet: “I stand by what I said. ‘In order to defeat this evil that is Zionism, we must realize that the foot on the necks of the Black and Brown people of this nation is the same foot and the same knee that is choking the Palestinian people....’” [55]

…CAIR is closely connected to American Muslims for Palestine (AMP), the leading organization providing anti-Zionist training and education to students and Muslim community organizations around the country. AMP promotes extreme anti-Israel views and at times has provided a platform for antisemitism under the guise of educating Americans about “the just cause of Palestine and the rights of self-determination.”[62] In 2017, Nihad Awad spoke at AMP’s 10th annual conference.

In October 2021, CAIR-Minnesota hosted AMP Chairman, Students for Justice in Palestine co-founder and UC Berkeley lecturer Hatem Bazian for their annual “Challenging Islamophobia” conference.[63] In October 2018, CAIR hosted Bazian at its National Leadership and Policy Conference.[64] On several occasions, Bazian’s claims about Israel have straddled the line between antisemitism and anti-Israel activism. In July 2017, Bazian retweeted an antisemitic post that included an image of man dressed in distinctive Orthodox garments, reading: “MOM LOOK! I IS CHOSEN! I CAN NOW KILL, RAPE, SMUGGLE ORGANS & STEAL THE LAND OF PALESTINIANS *YAY* #ASHKE-NAZI.”[65] The UC Berkeley administration criticized him for cartoons that “crossed the line” into antisemitism.

Although Bazian subsequently apologized, claiming the image “is offensive and does not represent [his] views,”[66] he has continued to occasionally engage in similar rhetoric, which calls the sincerity of his apology into question. In August 2021, he re-tweeted an antisemitic cartoon depicting an Israeli soldier organ harvesting the heart of a deceased Palestinian man.[67] In May 2021, he tweeted: “Zionist Jews are so over taken[sic] and blinded by power, might and control over Palestine that they don't have the capacity to look in the mirror and ask the question of what role they are playing and how they became a powerful instrument in Western imperialism.”[68]

The ADL’s full article (with source footnotes) can be accessed here:

https://www.adl.org/education/resources/backgrounders/the-council-on-american-islamic-relations-cair

CAIR and BLM rally against the Jewish State.

If media players and politicians wish to use the ADL as an “expert” source for defining what is or isn’t an “extremist” group, shouldn’t they at least acknowledge the ADL’s commentary on groups like CAIR?

We hope that all members of the Senate Judiciary Committee will do their duty and question CAIR-NJ Chairwoman Nadia Kahf appropriately. We trust the Republicans on the Committee will do so regardless of the conformist mentality which holds that the ADL matters mightily when looking to condemn someone we disagree with – and not at all when commenting on a fellow-traveler.

“In a time of deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act.”

George Orwell

Johnson’s “hate crime” revealed to be a Gottheimer scam.

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By Rubashov

Whenever he gets caught in some hypocrisy or in an outright lie, Congressman Josh Gottheimer tries to deflect criticism from average folks by accusing them of something terrible. It’s a trick Gottheimer picked-up from his former boss, Bill Clinton, who trashed the reputations of the women he forced himself upon.

Gottheimer calls his Right-of-Center critics “terrorists” and accuses his Left-of-Center critics of “anti-Semitism”. It seems he has a pejorative for everyone.

Worse still, Gottheimer’s power and money means that he is never short of “friends” who will do his dirty work for him. A month ago, the New Jersey Globe reported on a case in point:

Assembly Speaker Pro-Tempore Gordon Johnson has asked the Bergen County Prosecutor to investigate a September 2021 incident where a protestor allegedly screamed “Jew” at Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-Wyckoff) as a possible hate crime.

In a speech at Rutgers University last month, Gottheimer claimed that a member of the Working Families Party hurled the anti-Semitic slur at him at a Glen Rock event with U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo. Raimundo is backing up Gottheimer’s allegation.

Working Families state director Sue Altman said last month that her group reviewed footage from the protest and interviewed several participants.

“To be absolutely clear, if that ever happened at a WFP event, the person would have been rebuked instantly and asked to leave,” Altman said. “However, we do not believe Gottheimer’s explosive allegation ever occurred.”

Johnson wants the organization to dig deeper.

Well, the Times of Israel has published a piece that dug so deep it got to the bottom of this so-called “hate crime”. It is written by Dr. Russell Miller, a research psychologist at the Graduate Center, City University of New York and adjunct assistant professor of Children and Youth Studies at Brooklyn College.

Dr. Miller is also a journalist who has published in The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Rolling Stone, New York, Ha'aretz, and Corriere della Sera. Dr. Miller’s column is titled: “I called Josh Gottheimer a Jew – it wasn’t a slur.” Dr. Miller’s column begins:

A couple of weeks ago, David-Seth Kirshner, the rabbi of Temple Emanu-El, in Closter, New Jersey published a commentary here on the indisputable truth that even among the most well-meaning, compassionate, and socially engaged, there can be people who hate. His impetus? The charge by US Congressman. Josh Gottheimer that a progressive adversary, the Working Families Party, is sheltering an antisemite.

The piece rehashed Rep. Gottheimer’s claim that at a rally in September in support of “Build Back Better,” President Biden’s social services bill, a WFP member attacked the “reputable and respected Congressman” with the Jew-hating epithet “Jew.”

There’s only one problem. The claim is patently false – and Gottheimer almost certainly has to know that. Anyone following this phony blood libel would know it’s false. And how am I so certain it’s false? I’m the “attacker.”

The first time Gottheimer mentioned the supposed antisemitic attack was on December 13 at Rutgers University, three months after the fact. Since then, he’s speechified, fundraised and called in chits around the WFP’s alleged antisemitism. The US Secretary of Commerce signed on. A New Jersey state senator demanded a hate-crime investigation. The ADL announced, “we take him at his word.” Rabbi Kirshner came forward as character witness.

Meanwhile, the WFP scoured its ranks to find the offender. I was late to hear of this; I’m not a member. But as soon as I did, I contacted a reporter and “confessed” on a national podcast. That was four days before Rabbi Kirshner’s indictment of the WFP.

As I told that reporter, like Josh Gottheimer, I’m a Democrat and, as my grandmother would say, oich a yid – also a Jew. Gottheimer has to have known this all along. Rabbi Kirshner may not have, because the Congressman conveniently neglects to report the full sentence I spoke last September — at precisely the place and time he’s vouched the slur was slung. The moment was heated, so my reconstruction of the syntax may be off, but it was something like, “Josh, as a Jew, it’s a shanda that you’re blocking Build Back Better.”

That’s right, “a shanda,” as generations of Ashkenazic Jews have cried in Yiddish: A disgrace. That’s not Jew hating. That’s Jewish shaming. That was one Jew addressing another in a time-honored voice.

If Gottheimer heard “Jew,” he would have almost certainly heard “shanda.” If he heard “shanda,” he would have certainly known his attacker was anything but antisemitic.

Now, the record does show Gottheimer has memory issues. At Rutgers, he claimed several of us were jeering “Jew!” Subsequently, he revised his recollection to one. As a research psychologist, I can understand how, hit where it hurts, his mind might have reframed the scene. I can only assume my podcast appearance jogged his memory since his office has since refused comment. Meanwhile, it appears he’s buying Facebook ads to keep Rabbi Kirshner’s condemnation afloat.

As for the rabbi, in the worrisome week after Colleyville, he might well have missed my interview and subsequent coverage in the Jewish press. Odds are Gottheimer’s team, busy fibbing on Facebook, failed to brief him on my clarification, which surely would have brought him relief.

But by the time his piece went public, no informed observer could believe the Working Families Party, or even a stray antisemite, was the source of the telltale monosyllable.

You can access the entire column at the Times of Israel:

https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/i-called-josh-gottheimer-a-jew-it-wasnt-a-slur/


Meanwhile, we have a high-powered Democrat political consultant from Gottheimer’’s district – a guy who controlled numerous political action committees, SuperPACs and other entities – who admitted to having another Democrat operative murdered, and nobody in Gordon Johnson or Josh Gottheimer’s circles seem concerned about getting to the bottom of it. Nobody is demanding that anyone “dig deeper”.

Fake hate crimes are a growing phenomenon in America, as is “crying wolf’ when there’s no wolf…

Incidents of reporting FAKE "hate crimes" are on the rise.

Will Gottheimer blame “white supremacy” for attack in Kabul?

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By Rubashov

Congressman Josh Gottheimer likes playing at being a “John Wayne” when it comes to smearing his fellow Americans – his own constituents even – as “terrorists”. He accuses them of criminal offensives, without evidence, based on something he heard… or pulled off social media. Gottheimer has a lot to say about “the threat to America” posed by people posting things on Facebook that he disagrees with.

Gottheimer lauded the leaders of our military establishment when they said that their new enemy was “white Americans”. But now reality has stepped in to slap them in the face. Now they have sobered up and put aside the hash pipe of Critical Race Theory.

Maybe now will Congressman Gottheimer take a moment to rethink his full-on push to dismantle the Bill of Rights – particularly the First Amendment. Maybe now will the good Congressman understand that disagreement between one’s fellow citizens requires forbearance and understanding – not authoritarian measures that criminalize thought and free expression.

Of course, we’ve been here before. Back then, those acting out against the Bill of Rights donned a different ideological face paint, were cosmetically different, from those doing so today. But an authoritarian is an authoritarian, whatever his or her politics. They lost then. Let us hope they do so again.

"Congress has no right to investigate how we vote or where we pray, what we think, say, or how we make movies. Hello, I'm Dalton Trumbo."

“The entire business model of the Democratic Party is to avoid dealing with its own populists’ concerns, so they’ve never seen the Sanders wing of the party as anything but a threat to what they do for a living, which is basically take corporate money and then sell themselves as socially progressive. That’s what they do for a living. That’s their business.”

Matt Taibbi
Journalist and author of Hate, Inc.: Why Today's Media Makes Us Despise One Another.

Cruz joins with Sussex Dems to oppose broadband in Sussex-Warren.

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By Sussex Watchdog

If you lived through the pandemic in Sussex or Warren County you know how important Internet connectivity is. If your Internet service wasn’t reliable, you couldn’t work from home, or learn from home, or even order food from home. And it’s not just for the pandemic – expanding broadband in Northwest New Jersey so that there’s reliable access to the Internet is crucial for the region’s economic development – now, and in the future.

Elected officials from BOTH political parties understand the need for greater broadband access in the region and reliable Internet connectivity. That’s why they place their ideological differences aside to broadly work together on what should be an issue of mutual agreement.

So, on Friday, when Governor Phil Murphy and Congressman Josh Gottheimer visited Lafayette to announce $190 million in American Rescue Plan funding that includes broadband expansion in Northwest New Jersey, they were joined by Republicans who have worked side-by-side with them to achieve this. Only an asshole would oppose reliable Internet access for Sussex and Warren Counties.

Enter Dan Cruz, a former Democrat, who is the teachers union’s answer to the problems facing Northwest New Jersey. It’s not enough that many teachers opposed returning to the classroom – apparently Cruz opposes students having the Internet access they need to learn from home as well.

Cruz took to social media to go on a rampage against Republicans who have put their partisan feelings aside to help get Sussex and Warren Counties the 21st Century Internet service we need. Cruz attacked Senator Steve Oroho and, by extension, Assemblyman Hal Wirths, County Commissioner Director Dawn Fantasia, and the Republican mayors of Blairstown, Hardwick, Belvidere, Sussex Borough, Frelinghuysen, and others. All of whom showed up in support of expanding broadband access for rural New Jersey and to support state legislation to create a Broadband Access Study Commission.

Apparently, Cruz saw red when Governor Murphy said, “Along with our congressional delegation and our Legislature, we are working to ensure that those living and working in New Jersey have access to reliable high-speed broadband services.” Cruz profoundly disagreed with that statement and with the one made by Congressman Gottheimer:

“For the sake of our families, economy, schools, and health care, we must continue fighting for communities across Warren and Sussex Counties to help boost their broadband connectivity… Now, every county and town in Sussex and Warren County will be clawing back federal dollars that they can use to improve connectivity. We also need to get the dollars sent to the State of New Jersey for rural broadband to right here in Sussex and Warren. With partners on both sides of the aisle and at every level of government, I believe we can get this done.”

NJBPU President Joseph L. Fiordaliso, who was also at the announcement, said: “Ensuring the most hard-to-reach areas of New Jersey have access to high speed Internet is an absolute necessity, especially in light of the last year. It is crucial that we close the digital divide, so our schoolchildren and businesses have the same educational and economic advantages regardless of where they are located.”

What responsible leader would oppose working together to achieve a bi-partisan outcome that materially helps the people of Sussex and Warren Counties?

Is Cruz nuts, stupid, or just a liar? Are we really supposed to believe that Cruz would rather have an Internet desert in Northwest New Jersey if it means working with the Democrats who run Trenton (the Murphy administration) and Washington (the Biden administration)? He’s too educated to be that stupid – so it’s down to being a nut or a liar.

But it gets worse.

It is bad enough when a political wannabe is on the make and will do anything, say anything, to try to score – but when the Executive Director of the Sussex Democrats cheers him on and shops around such a stupid attack, that is truly remarkable. Especially as the Executive Director in question has just trousered a fat patronage job – courtesy of the very same Governor Murphy.

Speaking for the Republicans, who are a minority in the Legislature, Senator Steve Oroho said: “High-speed internet is an absolute necessity in our world today, yet there are too many homes and communities in New Jersey that lack the broadband service many of us take for granted. The last year with so many employees and students working from home through the pandemic, it underscored the need of being wired for reliable internet connectivity. The creation of the Broadband Access Study Commission will examine the logistics of developing community broadband networks in order to deliver high-speed internet access, especially to underserved communities like many in rural areas. From a competitive standpoint, closing the digital divide is a must.”

Unfortunately, Dan Cruz and the Sussex County Democrats would rather play politics than get anything done. Being spiteful losers might make them feel good, but it doesn’t address the problem, which is a very real one – all across America.

Here is an educational video, provided by the Wall Street Journal, for the edification of Dan Cruz and the Sussex Democrats.  These idiots should watch it.  Maybe they’ll learn something?  But don’t hold your breath.

 

“The more inept you are, the smarter you think you are.”

Tom Stafford

Congressman Gottheimer tries to cancel journalist Matt Taibbi.

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By Rubashov

Josh Gottheimer is equal parts bully and crybaby. Quick to apply labels, tropes, and nasty sobriquets but emotionally vulnerable to the same when applied to him – excruciatingly so.

His own employees accused Congressman Gottheimer of workplace bullying. In a Ryan Grim column – titled, “REP. JOSH GOTTHEIMER IS A REALLY, REALLY TERRIBLE BOSS, FORMER STAFFERS SAY” – published in The Intercept (May 22, 2019), former aides to Gottheimer “painted a portrait of a man who pits staffers against each other, screams easily, and throws pens with abandon.”

As for tropes, this is the guy who was slammed just last year on allegations that his campaign darkened the skin coloring of his Italian-American opponent in order to make him look like a Sicilian mobster, while using language like “Fraudster Frank” on direct mail hit pieces. Josh Gottheimer can certainly dish it out.

But he can’t stand for long on the receiving end before crying foul – and looking for a referee of some kind to wipe his nose and smother him in a protective hug.

This happened again on Friday of last week, when one of the best investigative journalists on earth – Matt Taibbi – wrote a column titled, “Congressional Democrats heroic fight to save the rich”, which was published in the National Post on April 28th. Taibbi made the argument that the campaign by Gottheimer and other members of Congress to repeal the SALT cap is for the benefit of wealthier taxpayers rather than poorer ones.

Matt Taibbi is an intellectually curious man of the Left. He had the gig at Rolling Stone magazine once occupied by the great Hunter S. Thompson. Taibbi’s writing can be just as good but is more balanced, always fairer, with an always clear perspective. There is no bullshit about Matt Taibbi. It falls as it falls.

Josh Gottheimer appears to hate journalists like Matt Taibbi. So, when Taibbi re-messaged Gottheimer’s star issue, the powerful Congressman went to destroy him by accusing Taibbi of anti-Semitism. Gottheimer focused on this paragraph from Taibbi’s column:

“Josh Gottheimer, Democrat of New Jersey, made an inspired plea recently. The Harvard man and Alpha Epsilon Pi brother is a member of the so-called ‘SALT caucus,’ a group of congressfolk threatening to hold up Joe Biden’s infrastructure bill if it doesn’t include a full repeal of a Donald Trump-imposed $10,000 cap on deductions of state and local taxes.

‘It is high time that Congress reinstates the state and local tax deduction, so we can get more dollars back into the pockets of so many struggling families,’ intoned Gottheimer, one of 32 members of the SALT caucus, which includes 8 Republicans.”

Ah yes, did we mention that bipartisanship was another of Josh Gottheimer’s star talking points? Bipartisan this, bipartisan that – in reality just a bunch of establishment insiders, regardless of party, scratching each other’s ass in the furtherance of permanent incumbency.

To smear Taibbi, Gottheimer turned to a group that profits off hate – the ADL or Anti-Defamation League. If there was no “hate” to piss and moan about, there would be no cause by which the ADL could pocket the $80 plus million they take in each year. Hate is a commodity. Hate sells. And there can never stop being hate. If that happened, it would need to be re-invented. It is worth billions to some people.

On top of that, it is partisan political. The ADL is so political, in fact, that other Jewish organizations have labeled it a “Democratic Party auxiliary”.

And so, the ADL’s Jonathan Greenblatt tweeted: “Mentioning a member of Congress was in a Jewish fraternity in college in an article about tax policy is wholly irrelevant and plays into classic anti-Semitic tropes about Jews and money. The National Post should edit this article ASAP.”

To which Matt Friedman, who writes for Politico and covers the New Jersey political scene, replied: “As someone of partial Semitic heritage, I had no idea that was a Jewish fraternity.”

So, Gottheimer turned to his old friend David Wildstein of the blog, New Jersey Globe. Yes, the same David Wildstein who was at the center of the scandal that ended the presidential ambitions of Governor Chris Christie – the self-styled “Mastermind of Bridgegate”. Wildstein obligingly wrote a hit piece on Friday, with the title: “Anti-Defamation League demands newspaper pull reference to Gottheimer’s Jewish fraternity. ADL leader says reference to congressman’s college fraternity ‘plays into classic anti-Semitic tropes about Jews and money’”.

Wildstein’s column notes: “Jason M. Shames, the CEO of the Jewish Federation of Northern New Jersey, echoed the ADL’s criticism.

‘Say what you want about the SALT cap or tax policy, but Taibbi’s unnecessary mention of Gottheimer’s membership in this article for the National Post only serves to perpetuate anti-Semitic stereotypes about Jews and money,’ Shames said.”

Warming to his hit job, Wildstein continued:

“Incidents of anti-Semitism are at a historic high nationally, with 295 recorded incidents in New Jersey last year, according to Alana Burman, the associate regional director of the ADL.

Burman said that New Jersey was the second highest in the nation in 2020.

The Rutgers University chapter of Gottheimer’s fraternity was vandalized earlier this month during a 24-hour Holocaust Remembrance Day reading.”

That headline alone accuses Matt Taibbi of the sin of anti-Semitism. But only if you discount the “classic anti-Semitic tropes about Jews and money” that David Wildstein has served up over the years. Beginning in 2018, David Wildstein has called Josh Gottheimer “the human fundraising machine”. Wait… a Jewish congressman being referred to as a “human fundraising machine”? You can’t get more tropey than that!

Of course, there is a difference. Josh Gottheimer likes that “classic anti-Semitic trope about Jews and money”. He doesn’t cry about that. Doesn’t mind it at all.

Of course, the real question is this: Did Matt Taibbi use the mention of a college fraternity to make a point about Josh Gottheimer’s religious affiliation, or did he do so to make a point about Gottheimer’s economic class affiliation?

Well, according to the United States Census Bureau, only 35 percent of Americans attend college. Pew has put together some interesting research on which religious groups have the greatest access to higher education. Here’s a hint – it isn’t Roman Catholics and Southern Baptists. Those thinking about playing the role of the oppressed should check it out.

Those who belong to fraternities are an even more select group. Just 2 percent of Americans have belonged to a fraternity or sorority. Journalist Cleo Chang wrote:

“Each year, 2 million university students prepare to enter the most prestigious enclave of what is already an exclusive set of American institutions. Think less along the lines of Harvard or Yale and more about the Greek letters that come to define them.

Selective colleges are merely the starting point for concentrated success. One only needs to browse the Greek life section of Cornell’s official website and see the slogan ‘The Power of 2%’ to recognize the perks that come with Ivy League admittance and Greek acceptance, especially when it comes to men.

As Cornell’s official website states, while only 2 percent of America’s population is involved in fraternities, 80 percent of Fortune 500 executives, 76 percent of U.S. senators and congressmen, 85 percent of Supreme Court justices, and all but two presidents since 1825 have been fraternity men, according to Cornell.”

So maybe, just maybe, Matt Taibbi wasn’t trying to make a point about Congressman Josh Gottheimer’s religion and all this pissing and moaning has just been an attempt to smear a good journalist for reporting the truth and messing with crybaby Josh’s message. In which case, the lot of you should be ashamed of yourselves.

"I hate to advocate drugs, alcohol, violence, or insanity to anyone, but they've always worked for me."
Hunter S. Thompson

Murphy goons target COVID nursing home whistleblower

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By Sussex Watchdog

In a coordinated, one-two punch, Democrats allied with Governor Phil Murphy delivered a vicious attack on journalist/whistleblower Jennifer Jean Miller. She’s the former New Jersey Herald reporter featured in the New York Times and ABC News who broke the story that Governor Murphy’s infamous Executive Order 103 was causing the deaths from COVID-19 of dozens in nursing homes in Sussex County.

Eventually, the deaths from COVID in New Jersey’s nursing and veterans’ homes would surpass 8,000 lives. New Jersey would earn the terrible distinction of having the worst rate of death (per 100,000) in long-term care facilities (nursing/veterans’ homes) from COVID-19 among the 50 states. As the Star-Ledger pointed out, if New Jersey were its own country, it would have the worst rate of death from COVID-19 in the world.

The first attack came on Sunday – from a blogger known by the pseudonym Jabba the Angry Fat Man. Jabba is a big supporter of Congressman Josh Gottheimer and has bragged on his blog that his death threats against President Donald Trump earned him a visit from the United States Secret Service.

Jennifer Jean Miller is interviewed through this video by ABC.

Jabba has attacked this testimony, calling journalist Jennifer Jean Miller a “liar” and her articles in the New Jersey Herald, a “PR stunt”.  When Miller, who is not only a courageous whistleblower but who served as a support system for many of the families of the victims, drew parallels between what her family suffered during the Holocaust (at Auschwitz) and the fear and isolation suffered by the those who died, she was viciously attacked by the Democrat, who called her a “wacko”.     
 
These histrionics and the nastiness of the attacks lead us to wonder if Jabba is on the payroll of the highly insider, international Public Relations/ Lobbying/ Political Consulting group (Mercury) that was hired to protect the nursing home operators (and, by extension, the Murphy administration) from the families of those who died and their supporters.  Is Congressman Gottheimer at all connected to these – or other nursing homes operators – or to their lobbyists?  We’re just asking.  Is the lobbyist/ public relations firm owned by the Congressman’s spouse and in-laws connected?  And what about contributions to the master fundraiser’s campaign?  
 
Given Gottheimer’s background as the Number Two executive at a similar insider international Public Relations/ Lobbying/ Political Consulting group, perhaps the Congressman hooked them up?  Gottheimer’s was the firm that MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow called “the PR firm from Hell.”  And remember what else Maddow said about Josh Gottheimer’s firm:
 

"When evil needs public relations, evil has (Josh Gottheimer’s firm) on speed dial."
Rachel Maddow

 
We wonder if Congressman Gottheimer and the members of his Problem Solvers Caucus believe that journalists who uncover misfeasance by government and/or private nursing home operators should suffer retribution by Democrat Party operatives in the form of being labeled “a lying, has-been, right-wing sleaze artist”?  We will be asking them – each of them – directly about this, as they are all up for re-election next year (some having to pass through the filter of a Republican primary).  We suspect, in turn, that Caucus Co-Chairman Gottheimer will be hearing from them.
 
Earlier today, the Sussex County Democrats issued their own attack in support of the one launched on Sunday by the blogger Jabba the Angry Fat Man.  In it, they attacked people for asking questions.  In a press release of more than a thousand words, they never once mention Executive Order 103.
 
Instead, the Democrats attack everyone who wants answers, everyone who has submitted an unfulfilled OPRA request to Governor Murphy's administration, everyone who has called for bi-partisan legislative hearings, everyone who has asked for an independent investigation into why more than 8,000 people died.  In their fear for what the truth may reveal about Governor Murphy – the Democrats attack everyone looking for the truth. 
 
Sussex County Democrats even attack the whistleblowing journalist who broke the story.  In the most vicious way – mocking the suffering of her family in Auschwitz.
 
In their press release, the Sussex County Democrats claim that the nursing home operators “chose PROFIT over PEOPLE, which led to bodies being stacked up in makeshift morgues and families and employees left with enduring trauma for years to come.”  They further state:
 
“The Sussex County Democratic Committee has been inundated with first-hand accounts from both current and former employees who want to set the record straight about the horror they witnessed.”
 
Good.  But why are the Sussex County Democrats resisting the means to set that record straight?  Why are they not supporting the victims’ families, the county government, and legislators like Senator Steve Oroho – who are demanding transparency from the Murphy administration.  Why the cover-up?
 
Why have OPRA requests about those nursing homes gone unfulfilled?  Does it have anything to do with the boast made by a nursing home operator to a local government official about their donations to Governor Murphy and his Democrats?  This local government official would like to have a hearing at which to testify – on the record!  Will the Sussex Democrats work to give him one?
 
Sadly, it doesn’t seem so.
 
Rather than uncover who is responsible for what happened, the Sussex County Democrats want everyone to accept their perspective that Governor Murphy and his administration acted perfectly, there is nothing to see here, so move on.  They make this clear when they suggest that Republicans “should be exploring viable ways to make sure these examples of failure, negligence and mismanagement are never able to happen again under these circumstances.”  Just so long as those viable ways do not include fact-finding of any kind – from OPRA requests to open public hearings into why more than 8,000 died – all fact-finding is strictly verboten! 
 
The Sussex County Democrats want Watergate without the hearings.  Someone should pull them back to reality and tell them it doesn’t work that way.
 
We have a suggestion. 
 
The Sussex County Republicans should invite the Sussex County Democrats to debate this issue and how to address it.  Openly, in public, with full transparency. 

The Democrats could bring Jabba the Angry Fat Man as part of their panel.  The Republicans could ask the whistleblower/ journalist the Democrats have attempted to smear, Jennifer Jean Miller.  Perhaps the Democrats could ask Governor Murphy himself to attend… the Republicans, Jack Ciattarelli. 
 
If they really want to get to the bottom of this, the Democrats need only look to their name and live up to it – democracy and the transparency that democracy is supposed to be synonymous with.  Supposed to be… in practice, not so much.  Not at all, these days.    

Gottheimer: Was Bridgegate an act of Terrorism?

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By Rubashov

According to the Oxford Dictionary, “terrorism” is a noun meaning “the unlawful use of violence and intimidation, especially against civilians, in the pursuit of political aims.”

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) states:

“There is no single, universally accepted, definition of terrorism. Terrorism is defined in the Code of Federal Regulations as ‘the unlawful use of force and violence against persons or property to intimidate or coerce a government, the civilian population, or any segment thereof, in furtherance of political or social objectives’ (28 C.F.R. Section 0.85).”

The FBI goes on to state: “A terrorist incident is a violent act or an act dangerous to human life, in violation of the criminal laws of the United States, or of any state, to intimidate or coerce a government, the civilian population, or any segment thereof, in furtherance of political or social objectives."

Well, let’s see…

Was closing the George Washington Bridge, with the help of men with guns (albeit sworn officers), trapping thousands in traffic – including “the children of Buono voters” on school buses “an act dangerous to human life”?

Fort Lee officials certainly thought so. They called it a threat to public safety. Emergency services concurred. So did the Port Authority.

The Executive Director of the Port Authority at the time believed that the closure “violated federal and state laws”.

We learned from the related proceedings in federal court – in particular from the allocutions in those proceedings – that the closure was an attempt to intimidate, to coerce, the government of Fort Lee and a segment of the civilian population.

And, for our final question: Did the closing of the George Washington Bridge in what became known as Bridgegate have a political objective?

Check the boxes. Then you decide. Was it an act of terrorism?

Dr. Paul Saxton, Superintendent of Ft. Lee’s schools, called Bridgegate a “plot”, an “act of terrorism”, and a “premeditated action designed and targeted toward the kids.” Is he right?

Of course, Trenton doesn’t think so. Governor Murphy doesn’t think so. The guy he picked to run the New Jersey Office of Homeland Security & Preparedness (NJOHSP) doesn’t think so. Congressman Josh Gottheimer doesn’t think so. Even Patrick Murray doesn’t think so. They who talk so much about “political extremism” and “domestic terrorism” don’t have much to say on those subjects as they apply to Bridgegate.

That’s because those involved were all insiders. Fellow members of the Trenton political class. And you don’t call fellow members names like “terrorist” or suggest that what they did was an act of political “extremism”. Instead, you appear on their radio show and wish them the best.

See… these people are “goodfellas”. They’ve been vetted by Trenton, somebody vouched for them as a “goodfella”. Nobody is ever horrified at what they do. Excuses are made for it. They get a pass.

But if you are not “of Trenton” – not a “goodfella” – you are subject to very different handling. For example, Congressman Gottheimer has accused his own constituents – average citizens – of “domestic terrorism”. He is a rich insider and they supported his opponent.

Then his local party operatives call their job to have them fired. Unlike in Bridgegate, no charges will ever be filed, because the accusation is based on an opinion. It isn’t a real crime. There will be no trial at which the accused might make a defense and clear their name. Those options will not be afforded them. It’s a form of political intimidation, of retribution – an aspect of what’s become known as “cancel culture”. We wonder, does Patrick Murray approve of this kind of “due process”?

Gottheimer is currently undertaking an experiment in which he is attempting to “cancel” an entire county within his own district, by accusing it of extremism and domestic terrorism. He’s brought in the Murphy administration to talk about this (curiously enough, at a time when they are refusing to talk about those 8,000 people they allowed to die in nursing and veterans’ homes).

They didn’t vote for him you see. It was his worst showing – and the reason couldn’t be the COVID relief funding formula he voted for that entirely cut the county out and all its municipalities. No, says Josh, it must be something else. The sin must be with them. They must be extremists. For why else would they not love me?

And for “evidence”, Gottheimer and Murray and Murphy and his NJOHSP all point to the same private organizations whose incomes depend on the public believing some problem is a “crisis” that needs their money right away to address it. Two unelected, secretive, unaccountable, undemocratic private organizations with a sales force who earn in excess of six figures: The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) and the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC).

Of course, these private organizations have a natural tendency to magnify a problem to increase the income from that problem. And so, we have the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) which last year crushed their 2017 intake of $74.2 million and are looking to do even better this year. They recently released a report claiming that New Jersey went from “12 incidents of reported hate propaganda in 2017 to 323 incidents in 2020.”

What is “hate propaganda”?

Is it like shutting down the George Washington Bridge?

No. According to Gannett’s Hannan Adely it is “flyers, banners and leaflets promoting racism, anti-Semitism and white power.” Hey guys, that is called reading material for idiots – but under the Bill of Rights, it is perfectly legal. You can buy Adolf Hitler’s rantings on Amazon.

We don’t burn books in this country. Even stupid books. Even “flyers, banners and leaflets”. Because we each get to make up our own minds about what is and isn’t stupid. That is the American way. Here to explain this very American concept – one that, once upon a time, united both Left and Right and in-between – is the great Ira Glasser, Executive Director of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) from 1978 to 2001…

And by the way…
 
Is it any wonder that “incidents” of “hate” and “racism” and “white supremacism” are on the rise when nearly everything today is an “incident” of “hate” and “racism” and “white supremacism”? 
 
Over the weekend, the Star-Ledger published an opinion piece by Patrick Murray, the Director of the Monmouth University Polling Institute.  It was titled “Hate is thriving in New Jersey”, and featured a Confederate flag.  Murray cites the ADL report and claims “the recent growth of hate activity in New Jersey has been stunning.”
 
New Jersey is one of the most woke places in America – and when you expand the definition of “hate” you are going to get more of it.  Look, a year ago Senator Dianne Feinstein, Democrat of California, was a liberal champion.  Today she is a “hater” and to defend her “crime” of “hate” – flying a Confederate flag as part of a display of flags – is “hate” speech. 
 
A school in San Francisco named for her (Feinstein served as Mayor) had to change its name.  Heck, they are pulling down statues of Abraham Lincoln, the Great Emancipator, apparently because he too was a “hater”.
 
Groups like the ADL and the Southern Poverty Law Center ($471 million, 2018) are manufacturing “hate” at an unprecedented level by redefining what it is.  Why?  Because there is BIG MONEY in hate. 
 
And that goes for the taxpayer funded budgets of agencies like the New Jersey Office of Homeland Security & Preparedness too.  Nothing exists without a reason and if it wants its budget to grow – that reason is going to have to grow… or at least appear to grow.     
 
Ponder this for a moment.
 
Across the United States, the ADL reported 5,125 cases of hateful messages last year, nearly double the 2,724 cases reported in 2019.  And to “combat” this in New Jersey, the Office of Homeland Security & Preparedness (NJOHSP) wants a bigger cut of the state budget – more taxpayer money.
 
5,125 hateful messages.
 
The United States Justice Department, Bureau of Justice Statistics, claims “the self-reported incidence of rape or sexual assault more than doubled from 1.4 victimizations per 1,000 persons age 12 or older in 2017 to 2.7 in 2018.”  It goes on: “Based on data from the survey, it is estimated that 734,630 people were raped (threatened, attempted, or completed) in the United States in 2018.”
 
734,630 rapes.
 
And yet, the Defund the Police movement has gutted the ability of some police forces to cope with this very real threat.  A real crime.  Not “hateful messages” or “flyers” – RAPE.   
 
Hey, but this is New Jersey.  Just like with Bridgegate, when someone is raped in New Jersey – and it involves an insider, a “goodfella” – everybody looks the other way.  It happens all too often, and the prosecutors, the political class, the insiders, the “goodfellas” all want to ignore it and get past it.  Just ask Katie Brennan.
 
Shame on our leaders for having their priorities so screwed up.
 

“Civil liberties victories never stay won, but must be fought for over and over again.”

Ira Glasser

Is Josh Gottheimer guilty of improperly using his office?

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By Rubashov

So, it wasn't a real invitation to a real event? Just a political ploy?

Did InsiderNJ’s Fred Snowflack pull the curtain back on Congressman Josh Gottheimer – or did Gottheimer do it to himself?

On March 22nd Congressman Gottheimer sent a formal invitation – on his official stationery – to the Sussex County Board of Commissioners. The invitation was to join him for a “briefing” by the New Jersey Office of Homeland Security and Preparedness (NJOHSP) on “the latest domestic terror threats in our State.”

The invitation, signed by Congressman Gottheimer, did not contain the date and time of said briefing or the location at which it was to be held. It did contain this paragraph:

“I will follow up with specific details on the briefing with NJOHSP and look forward to working together to stop hate, domestic terror, and extremism in all forms. In the meantime, please contact me directly at Josh.Gottheimer@mail.house.gov with any questions. Thank you for your service.”

But Congressman Gottheimer never did follow up with specific details. According to Snowflack, he instead used it as a political hit piece on the Commissioners and, more importantly, on his constituents who reside in Sussex County. On a March 25th post on InsiderNJ, Snowflack wrote:

“Today, Gottheimer, whose 5th District includes most of Sussex County, released a letter he sent to the county commissioners on March 22.
In case, the commissioners have any doubt about the specter of white supremacy, the Democratic congressman is ready to help. His letter invites the commissioners ‘to join me and the New Jersey Office of Homeland Security and Preparedness for a briefing on the latest domestic terror threats in our state.’
It then notes that for the first time the state’s Homeland Security Office has raised the threat level posed by white supremacists to ‘high,’ putting them in a class with ‘ISIS-inspired terrorists.’
Gottheimer adds that three far-right groups in particular – the Proud Boys, Oathkeepers and Three Percenters – are active in Sussex County.
That’s an interesting point.
As the debate raged over the hate-related resolutions, some speakers said condemning extremism is needed, because of the presence in the county of those very groups. Commissioners, as is their apparent custom, didn’t respond to the speakers’ point.
When the issue of political violence from the right is raised – as it has been many times since Jan. 6 – some Republicans point out violence caused by the far left.
So, Gottheimer’s letter also mentions ‘individuals inspired by antifa ideology.’
But make no mistake. The congressman’s main point is about the dangers of right wing extremism. And in Sussex County.”

Well, let’s look at this for a moment. Let us examine the statement: “for the first time the state’s Homeland Security Office has raised the threat level posed by white supremacists to ‘high,’ putting them in a class with ‘ISIS-inspired terrorists.’”

Are the groups mentioned here – the Proud Boys, Oathkeepers and Three Percenters – which are labeled by Gottheimer as “white supremacists”, actually in a “class with ISIS-inspired terrorists”?

ISIS is officially designated as a “terrorist organization” by the United Nations, the European Union, Argentina, Australia, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Canada, China, Egypt, India, Iraq, Iran, Israel, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Lebanon, Paraguay, Malaysia, New Zealand, Pakistan, Paraguay, Syria, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Tajikistan, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

The Oathkeepers and Three Percenters don’t make the list.

The Proud Boys make the list in Canada, just as CAIR (Council on American Islamic Relations) made the list in the United Arab Emirates. Curiously, CAIR’s designation as a “terrorist organization” didn’t stop Congressman Gottheimer from praising and seeking electoral assistance from Action Together, a group that has coordinated activities with CAIR and has even accepted awards from them.

We can point to numerous activities in which CAIR has worked closely with Democrat Party activists throughout Congressman Gottheimer’s district – everything from voter registration drives to protest rallies. Why did it not earn a mention in Gottheimer’s missive?

In fact, CAIR is closely linked to the Muslim Brotherhood, which is a designated “terrorist organization” in Bahrain, Egypt, Libya, Kazakhstan, Russia, Syria, Saudi Arabia, Tajikistan, and the United Arab Emirates.

Given this, Congressman Gottheimer’s assertion about the “threat level posed” seems histrionic, hysterical even. In fact, everything in his “invitation” seems less about the work of government and simply a political hit – albeit one paid for by the taxpayers.

Then there is Congressman Gottheimer’s claim that “the Proud Boys, Oathkeepers and Three Percenters are active in Sussex County.” Are they?

It has been polled you know. Recently.

Nobody heard of them. Nobody knows anyone who is a member. And, by-the-way, nobody thinks Sussex County is particularly racist. Or that their neighbors are racists. Or that “white supremacy” is prevalent.

Why would they? Sussex County is one of the least violent, safest places in America. People move from places like Bergen County and New York City to enjoy all that it offers. It has more incidents of agricultural trespassing than bias crimes.

Now we are all aware that the designation of what is or isn’t a “terrorist organization” is a highly political exercise. Joe Cryan’s beloved Irish Nationalists were all once labeled “terrorists”. Even Nelson Mandela was once designated a “terrorist”. So was Menachem Begin, who went on to become the Prime Minister of Israel. It was Begin who, as the leader of a militant paramilitary group, ordered the bombing attack on the King David Hotel in Jerusalem. 91 people – British, Arabs, and Jews – died in that bombing.

Is Congressman Gottheimer suggesting that Sussex County is a hotbed for activity of the kind practiced by Menachem Begin? If so, where are the crime statistics? No, instead of crimes, we are told about “incidents”. These mainly involve people posting on-line or handing out reading material that other people find offensive – which, in America, is perfectly legal. Other “incidents” involve rude or anti-social behavior which, if it becomes criminal, should be dealt with as the law instructs.

In his rush to stamp out all such “incidents” Congressman Gottheimer runs the risk of creating a species of thought crime and of packing our already packed-out prison system with a new kind of prisoner – a political prisoner. This is not the way forward if you wish to continue to use that name, democracy.

Here to instruct Congressman Gottheimer on the difference between “crimes” and “incidents” is the great Ira Glasser, Executive Director of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) from 1978 to 2001…

Now this isn’t the first time Congressman Gottheimer has used his office to play political tricks.  Earlier this year he held a press conference on “hate” at the Sussex County Community College and claimed to have had invited the County Commissioners and the state legislative delegation, which he had not.  And then there was the time he crashed the county vaccination center – had his staff members threat face with some sheriff’s officers and then dared them to arrest him – all over a photo op.  Weird.
 
Weirder still is the political angle to all this.  Does he have data showing that his constituents in Sussex County want to believe they live in a violent, racist hellhole and that they and their children are all bad, bad racists?  That’s not a very positive message. 
 
It appears that, in the wake of the January 6th Capitol Riot, a number of Democrats have seized upon it as their Reichstag Fire moment.  They want to use it to criminalize their political opponents to the point that they, once again, enjoy the “permanent majority” they held during the forty years before Newt Gingrich undid it in 1994.  It is a dangerous game that appears to have carried them along to this moment.
 
Of course, Josh Gottheimer is an old hand at playing with fear.  His former boss, President Bill Clinton, played on the fear of “Black” crime for votes and now he is trying to convince people that their real threat is their neighbor (as opposed to corrupt, rapacious politicians like himself).  But it’s a dodgy strategy, because their neighbor is likely to disprove what Gottheimer is selling.
 
Yes, the strategy is a little crazy.  Just like Katie Rotondi, the organizer the Congressman got to pull together the twenty or so Democrats (mostly failed candidates) to represent what Fred Snowflack takes to be “the people” of Sussex County.  Rejected county candidates, rejected municipal candidates, some even rejected by their own party… like Rotondi herself.  Their words will come back to haunt him (and they were all publicly recorded), because the intention in them was so plain:  To them Sussex County is an evil, bad place, full of “white supremacists” and “violent racists” who refused to vote for any of them.  And so, of course, the Democrats, the failed candidates, hate them for it.  This is the just the way some folks deal with the sting of rejection.
  
 

“One of the hardest parts of my job is to connect Iraq to the war on terror.”
George W. Bush

Anti-Trump criminals attack GOP legislator’s family

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By Sussex Watchdog


Over the past month, we’ve gone where newspapers like the Gannett corporation’s New Jersey Herald fear to tread.  We’ve covered the vandalization of family homes in Northwest New Jersey by anti-Trumpers and asked why these obvious acts of hatred were not covered in the same way as when someone spray-paints a Gottheimer for Congress sign? 
 
Does the Gannett corporation approve of violence, so long as it is directed towards people who they decide are unfashionable?  Or are they simply glad that the violent are too distracted to examine Gannett’s record closely?  Are they pleased that the violence is directed away from them?  That someone else is doing the suffering?
 
Sometime last night, a billboard advertising Space Farms Zoo and Museum was defaced with spray-painted anti-Trump slogans and foul language…  

space farms billboard.JPG

Space Farms is owned by the family of Assemblyman Parker Space (R-24) and his wife, Jill Space, a Republican State Committeewoman and the First Vice Chair of the Sussex County Republican Committee.  When Congressman Josh Gottheimer’s (D-5) campaign sign was defaced, everyone of both parties rallied around him, the media covered it in great detail, all and sundry were appalled.  We won’t hold our breath in this instance.
 
At this sick moment in our history, the Establishment has allowed the violent to target some with impunity, while taking steps to destroy the morale and effectiveness of the police.  Average Americans have watched this and have responded by personally arming themselves to an unprecedented degree.  Any possibility of a rational debate has been screwed to death over the past few weeks.  People cannot unsee what has happened. 
 
This attack on the family of an elected representative of the people comes just weeks after two Black Lives Matter activists were arrested for spray-painting “BLM” and defacing property near the home of the elected Sheriff of Sussex County, Mike Strada.  At about the same time, ten shots were fired at the home of Sheriff Strada, while his wife and children were inside.  That crime is still under investigation and Governor Murphy’s State Police have not released the name or names of those suspected of perpetrating what could be a case of attempted murder.
 
Fresh from successfully intimidating the Sussex County Freeholder Board into passing a resolution that they dictated, Black Lives Matter activists were out in force yesterday, holding a Black Lives Matter rally in Byram while – a few miles away – engaging in an action to disrupt a planned pro-Trump rally that was called off at the last minute for safety concerns.  The stated reason was weather related.
 
Now the New Jersey Herald is willingly accepting the intellectual servitude of the Black Lives Matter movement.  Its pages today remind us of the end of the free press in Germany during that very dark period of the 1930s and 40s.  We will devote a future post to illustrate just how parallel the language is – often word for word.  It make us wonder if those running BLM are historical copycats?
 
Of course, the Gannett corporation is more than happy to spread the blame to America or “society” or the police… instead of being held to account for its own actions.  No matter how many riots or burned down buildings or spray painted slogans or murderous acts… violence does not result in peace.  You cannot compel peace or tolerance or respect at a global level.  Government cannot mandate these things.  Such things happen at the smallest, personal, and individual scale.
 
That is Gannett’s problem.  As a corporation Gannett has been wantonly cruel to its individual workers – generally, across the board, although some have believed it to be due to the color of their skin. 
 
Black Lives Matter is complicit in Gannett’s corporate viciousness.  By allowing Gannett to “take a knee” they are complicit as its public relations “fig leaf”.  But so long as they get their pay-off, Black Lives Matter doesn’t seem to care about the workers.  After all, these are academic “Marxists” of the snowflake variety.
 
Gannett pays homage to Black Lives Matter because it doesn't want anyone looking at their behavior or the behavior of some of the corporation's media outlets.  Like the recent federal class action lawsuit brought against Gannett alleging that the corporation is "running a racist workplace that makes it impossible for black workers to be promoted".  The 26-page lawsuit, with 23 pages of attachments makes for interesting reading:
 
"Gannett ran a sophisticated scheme and cover 'in the form of focus groups and other means and methods that are subjectively manipulated by Gannett to achieve its discriminatory goals and objectives.'
According to the lawsuit, Gannett 'has a corporate custom, policy, pattern, practice and procedure of not promoting African-Americans to director and leadership positions and utilizing a ‘one-and-done policy’ that disparately impacts African-American employed within the company.'
Gannett, based in McLean, Va., is best known for its flagship newspaper, USA Today. Its chain of newspapers, TV stations and other media reach than 110 million people a month, according to the complaint."
 
A journalist employed at Gannett added:
 
“In sum, the overall employment atmosphere and attitude at Gannett is hostile toward recruitment, training, leadership, management and advancement of African-Americans into top broadcasting leadership positions and opportunities.”
 
The EEOC found that it could not certify that Gannett is in compliance with the federal anti-discrimination law.  The federal class action lawsuit "seeks class certification, restitution, and compensatory and punitive damages for Civil Rights Act violations, loss of prospective earnings and a court order 'to enjoin the discriminatory practices.'"
 
Gannett was also recently sued for age discrimination over its practice of replacing older employees with younger, less expensive ones.  Over 1,300 Gannett employees have been "fired" between 2011 and 2017. 
 
Gannett is a ruthless corporation that takes knees and points fingers in a public relations spin operation designed to take the focus off them.  Black Lives Matter is aiding and abetting this scam.  Don’t be fooled.
 
We will keep you informed.  Stay tuned... 
 
 

“It is his millions of relationships that will give man his humanity… It is not our ideological rights that are important but the quality of our relationships with each other, with all men, with knowledge and art and God that count.
 
The civil rights movement has done a magnificent job but it is now faced with the ancient choice between good and evil, between love for all men and lust for a group’s power.”
 
“Every group on earth that has put ideology before human relations has failed; always disaster and bitterness and bloodshed have come.  This movement, too, may fail.  If it does, it will be because it aroused in men more hate than love, more concern for their own group than for all people, more lust for power than compassion for human need.”
 
“We must avoid the trap of totalism which lures a man into thinking there is only one way, one answer, one option, and that others must be forced into this One Way, and forced into it Now.”

(Author Lillian Smith, civil rights pioneer,
on accepting the Charles S. Johnson Award for her work)  

Democrat Gottheimer needs to spend less time condemning and more time explaining

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By Sussex County Watchdog

He’s at it again.   Yesterday, in the midst of an actual shooting war between the United States of America and the Islamic Republic of Iran, Congressman Josh Gottheimer called a press conference to tell us that the real threat came from… other Americans.  Especially “white” Americans. 

Why is Gottheimer ignoring the existential threat posed to Israel and Jews around the world by the Islamic Republic of Iran?  Why is he trying so hard to change the subject?  Founded in the wake of the 1979 revolution, the Islamic Republic of Iran rests on a “foundation of three pillars.”  They are:  (1) The mandatory veil (hijab) for women; (2) Opposition to the United States of America; and (3) Opposition to Israel.  Look it up! 
 
Instead of trying to blame Americans for all the world’s troubles, perhaps Congressman Gottheimer should adopt a little humility, search his own past, and atone for some of his own actions.   Before he was elected to Congress in 2016, Josh Gottheimer followed his buddy Mark Penn, the Clintons' polling guy, to take over an international public relations/lobbying corporation called Burson-Marsteller.  These folks are a real piece of work. 
 
Hey, don't take out word for it.  Here's what MSNBC's Rachel Maddow had to say about the firm where Josh Gottheimer held the number two position as International Vice President (his buddy Mark Penn was International President):

Yep, Josh Gottheimer and his pal Mark Penn ran the "PR Firm from Hell"!
 
Maybe Josh Gottheimer should explain what he got up to at the "PR Firm from Hell"?  Maybe offer a little apology?

LUPE should lead investigation on Trenton sex scandal

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By Rubashov
 
Yesterday, Latinas United for Political Empowerment (LUPE) PAC sent Senate Majority Leader Loretta Weinberg (D-37) the names of four Latina women who they asked to be added to the “ad-hoc committee” that Weinberg is proposing address “misogyny and sexual harassment” in Trenton.  LUPE president Laura Matos put out this statement (in part):

“While the ongoing coverage of the #MeToo movement has touched upon the topic of the diversity of the women victimized by sexual harassment and assault, women of color are still underrepresented in this coverage.  It has been shown over the past three decades that women of color have vastly different experiences in terms of sexual harassment and assault.”

Let’s leave aside the false construct of “women of color” for the moment and concentrate on things that matter like economic class and the barriers that language may impose on people.  We recall a case in Hudson County in which a judge (yes, a judge) was specifically targeting and sexually preying upon economically disadvantaged working class women, many of whom were not proficient in the English language. 

Cases like this are obviously different from what is suffered by more powerful, economically secure women, so Ms. Matos’ point should be seriously addressed.

On the other hand, if Ms. Matos is arguing that those in power perceive Latina women as especially vulnerable to coercion, that is a different matter.  Is there data on this?  If so, Ms. Matos' group might be in a good position to collect testimony.  We should note that this was a factor in a recent report we received about a senior member of the Speaker’s office who appeared to be targeting a junior staffer.
   
According to press reports, Senator Weinberg has invited veteran lobbyist Jeannine LaRue, political operative Julie Roginsky and Patricia Teffenhart, executive director of the New Jersey Coalition Against Sexual Assault, Senate Majority Counsel Alison Accettola and Senate Minority Executive Director Christine Shipley to serve on the panel, whose membership will be finalized later this week.  Outside of Ms. Teffenhart, this appears to be an insiders’ panel and we seriously doubt that someone like Ms. Accettola will actually call out her bosses or a lobbyist like Ms. LaRue will be in an economic position to serve as an independent whistleblower.  It simply isn’t credible.

Senator Weinberg knows this – and her efforts appear more and more to be along the lines of an attempt to seize a potential scandal, control it before it gets out of hand, and then brush it under the rug.  Like they did the rape case, still unresolved, of Katie Brennan. Nobody was charged.  Blame was sufficiently obfuscated and dispersed.  The Trenton way.     
 
In her statement on Monday, we found it particularly hypocritical of Senator Weinberg to condemn the New Jersey State League of Municipalities and the New Jersey State Chamber of Commerce for what she called their “see no evil responses.”  In fact, the same can be said of Senator Weinberg – and not just concerning what goes on at some annual event – but about what happens every day, day in, day out, in Trenton.
 
Senator Weinberg is part of the power structure in Trenton.  So how many of those in that power structure sleep with staff members who they have the power to fire at will?  How many of her colleagues have sexual dependents on their payrolls?  Would the taxpayers approve of paying for this?
 
The military doesn’t allow such fraternization.  Neither do enlightened corporations.  What message does it send?  What tone does it set – when powerful people are allowed to hire paramours or groom them at the workplace? 
 
This is where the rot begins.  Everyone knows what is going on, everyone sees it, people are rewarded, predators are lauded and further empowered – and nothing is said.  And Senator Weinberg is somehow surprised when it goes outside the Trenton workplace and occurs at the social gatherings of such people?  Don’t start at the fringes – clean it up at the source!     
 
If Senator Weinberg is serious about what she put out in her press release, she might wish to start with her Democrat colleague in the nearby 32nd District…

This has been out in the public domain since 2011 – nearly a decade – and it happened just down the road from where Senator Weinberg lives!  And she’s putting out press releases in 2019 suggesting that this kind of misogynistic behavior is news to her?  We have to ask… are you for real?
 
And why haven’t the members of Congress who represent Bergen and Hudson Counties spoken up about this State Senator?  Why haven’t we heard from Congressmen Josh Gottheimer (D-5), Albio Sires (D-8), Bill Pascrell (D-9), or Donald Payne (D-10)?  These men have all been quick to blame political opponents for indiscretions but are mute when it comes to their political allies.  Don’t they understand that nothing will ever change that way?    
 
There are many serious people in politics and public policy.  You have people like Sue Altman on the Left and Regina Egea on the Right.  But there are a lot more jumped-up, wannabe political celebrities.  And like all celebrities, they think they are special.  They think taxpayers’ money is their money.  They think the voters are their subjects – to be bossed, mandated, manipulated, and ordered about.  They think people are put on earth for them to consume.
 
The institutional misogyny that pervades the Trenton Establishment will never be adequately addressed by a pillar of that Establishment.  Senator Weinberg has too many deals in place and, as a member of the legislative  leadership, she’s part of the problem.  One need only be reminded of how she single-handedly prevented the bi-partisan Human Trafficking and Child Exploitation Prevention Act from even getting a hearing in committee – in spite of this legislation having enough co-sponsors of both parties to ensure its passage.
 
Instead of a committee composed of people who knew about this for years but remained silent, how about bringing in some average taxpayers – the people who foot the bill for all this hanky panky – and let them get outraged.  Maybe a few heads would roll? 
 
Not to worry though, this will get reported on and written about… thanks to Senate President Steve Sweeney’s mighty efforts to piss-off as many working women authors as is possible, thanks to his efforts to destroy their careers.  It’s just another facet of Trenton’s non-stop WAR ON WOMEN.  And this time, you won’t get to contain it using an insider committee like you did with the Brennan cover-up.  

Is Sen. Weinberg empowering Trenton’s bad sexual habits towards women?

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By Rubashov
 
On Sunday last, the Star-Ledger ran an expose on the bad sexual behaviors of those in Trenton who make and administer our laws.  On Monday, Senate Majority Leader Loretta Weinberg (D-37) put out a press release claiming shock, writing that she was “saddened and disheartened” to learn of the cases detailed by the Star-Ledger – concerning twenty women who were “groped, propositioned, harassed and even sexually assaulted.” 
 
As Senator Weinberg has held political office in New Jersey since 1975 – and has been a legislator since 1992 – we find it remarkable, indeed unbelievable, that Sunday is the first she’s heard of behavior that has long been openly practiced in Trenton and in other venues of power around the state.  Anyone who has observed Trenton for any length of time (and there are those of us who have watched at close quarters for some decades) knows about the sexual merry-go-round that operates there.
 
And it’s not just women who have been victimized.  After all, didn’t the revered and feted former Governor Jim McGreevey assign one of his male staffers the task of keeping his First Lady sated?  This is not meant in any way as a negative commentary on the obvious physical attractiveness of the then Mrs. McGreevey, a former reporter for the Record, but such an assignment is somewhat exotic and should constitute a form of harassment. 
 
And it’s not just men who have victimized women.  During the administration of Governor Christine Todd Whitman there were situations, one notable in which a senior female administration figure was accused of sexually harassing and propositioning a young female staffer.  That staffer received no thanks and less support for reporting said allegations, and the matter was quickly extinguished.
 
One could fill a book with the promiscuity and downright bizarre sexual practices displayed by, mainly men, who seem at times to be making up for some drought suffered during high school.  There is the story of the legislator who installed a family member as an intern at the State House, only to have her become the prey of a more senior legislator.  Now this legislator was old school, stormed into his colleague’s office, taking him by the throat, and threatening to – let us say – deball his colleague.  When his more senior colleague reminded him of the State Police officer on duty nearby, the legislator suggested that he call the officer in, and the media, for a press conference about why the senior legislator was being deballed.  There was no police, no press conference, just heartfelt apologies and accommodations.  Pity.  He needed deballing.
 
You want to talk about Weird New Jersey?  This state is home to elected officials who have got up to such things as accessing child porn on a legislative office computer, urinating on a crowd of his own supporters, stalking women while impersonating law enforcement, being drunk at a swingers convention, requiring a state house employee to accompany one to a New York City sex club, placing a daughter’s college roommate on the public payroll in order to make her a paramour, and conspiring to kidnap and eat his female victims.  These are just a handful of the dozens and dozens and dozens of such stories. 
 
We suppose it should come as no shock that now they’re trying to screw working moms out of employment and force children to comply against their will and that of their parents.  These politicians are beyond shame.  They are crazy.  Stone cold nuts.  And if their constituents knew even half of it, they would never stop throwing up.
 
Senator Weinberg has been around long enough to know all of this.  We found it particularly hypocritical of her to condemn the New Jersey State League of Municipalities and the New Jersey State Chamber of Commerce for what she called their “see no evil responses.”  In fact, the same can be said of Senator Weinberg – and not just concerning what goes on at some annual event – but about what happens every day, day in, day out, in Trenton.
 
Senator Weinberg is part of the power structure in Trenton.  So how many of those in that power structure sleep with staff members who they have the power to fire at will?  How many of her colleagues have sexual dependents on their payrolls?  Would the taxpayers approve of paying for this?
 
The military doesn’t allow such fraternization.  Neither do enlightened corporations.  What message does it send?  What tone does it set – when powerful people are allowed to hire paramours or groom them at the workplace? 
 
This is where the rot begins.  Everyone knows what is going on, everyone sees it, people are rewarded, predators are lauded and further empowered – and nothing is said.  And Senator Weinberg is somehow surprised when it goes outside the Trenton workplace and occurs at the social gatherings of such people?  Don’t start at the fringes – clean it up at the source!      
 
If Senator Weinberg is serious about what she put out in her press release, she might wish to start with her Democrat colleague in the nearby 32nd District…
 

This has been out in the public domain since 2011 – nearly a decade – and it happened just down the road from where Senator Weinberg lives!  And she’s putting out press releases in 2019 suggesting that this kind of misogynistic behavior is news to her?  We have to ask… are you for real?
 
And why haven’t the members of Congress who represent Bergen and Hudson Counties spoken up about this State Senator?  Why haven’t we heard from Congressmen Josh Gottheimer (D-5), Albio Sires (D-8), Bill Pascrell (D-9), or Donald Payne (D-10)?  These men have all been quick to blame political opponents for indiscretions but are mute when it comes to their political allies.  Don’t they understand that nothing will ever change that way?    
 
There are many serious people in politics and public policy.  You have people like Sue Altman on the Left and Regina Egea on the Right.  But there are a lot more jumped-up, wannabe political celebrities.  And like all celebrities, they think they are special.  They think taxpayers’ money is their money.  They think the voters are their subjects – to be bossed, mandated, manipulated, and ordered about.  They think people are put on earth for them to consume.
 
The institutional misogyny that pervades the Trenton Establishment will never be adequately addressed by a pillar of that Establishment.  Senator Weinberg has too many deals in place and, as a member of the legislative  leadership, she’s part of the problem.  One need only be reminded of how she single-handedly prevented the bi-partisan Human Trafficking and Child Exploitation Prevention Act from even getting a hearing in committee – in spite of this legislation having enough co-sponsors of both parties to ensure its passage.
 
It’s time for ordinary voters – women and men – to insist that their elected officials practice some humility and recognize that they are servants of the public, not masters.

Don’t let Democrats Fortgang and Clarke bury America!

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Are you seeing the ads run by Trenton Democrats for Laura Fortgang and Christine Clarke? 

They feature a headstone and threaten to “bury” American values like the Bill of Rights, Free Speech, Fiscal Responsibility, and the Free Market.

Fortgang and Clarke are members of the far-Left group Action Together New Jersey, which has officially embraced the insanely ruinous economic policies of  Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s Green New Deal.

Action Together New Jersey has no less than eight members running as the official legislative candidates of the Democrat Party…

District 21

Stacey Gunderman

Lisa Mandelblatt 

District 24

Deana Lykins

District 25

Lisa Bhimani

Darcy Draeger

District 26

Christine Clarke

Laura Fortgang 

District 30

Steven Farkas

On February 10, 2018, Action Together New Jersey accepted an award from Linda Sarsour. Accepting the award was Action Together New Jersey’s Executive Director, Uyen “Winn” Khuong; Action Together New Jersey’s Sussex County Co-Chair, Johannah Hinksmon; and Action Together New Jersey’s Director of Operations, Kim Baron.

Linda Sarsour is the controversial Democrat activist who has praised the notoriously anti-Semitic Louis Farrakhan, cop-killer Joanne Chesimard, and the anti-Semitic BDS movement.  In 2017, Sarsour famously called for “Jihad” against the elected government of the United States of America…

The award was in recognition of voter registration drives and other political campaigning done by Action Together New Jersey in coordination with a group called CAIR, the Council on American-Islamic Relations.  Presenting the award was CAIR National Chairwoman, Roula Allouch, and CAIR-NJ Founder, Ahmed Al Shehab. 

Due to its apparent ties to the Muslim Brotherhood, one of America’s most important Islamic allies – the United Arab Emirates – has designated CAIR a terrorist organization.

Action Together New Jersey is in the forefront of the drive to push the Democrat Party in New Jersey to the far-Left.  They have joined CAIR in opposing the bi-partisan efforts of New Jersey Congressman Josh Gottheimer (D-5) to push back on members of the so-called “Jihad Squad” (far-Left Democrats Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ilhan Omar, and Rashida Tlaib) in their attempt to promote the anti-Semitic BDS movement. 

The far-Left is on the march, taking over the Democrat Party, pushing out common sense and fiscal responsibility.  The Action Together New Jersey crew represents the very radical far-Left of the Democrat Party. 

Democrat Assembly candidates are members of group aligned with Linda Sarsour and CAIR

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Linda Sarsour is the controversial Democrat activist who has praised the notoriously anti-Semitic Louis Farrakhan, cop-killer Joanne Chesimard, and the anti-Semitic BDS movement.  In 2017, Sarsour famously called for “Jihad” against the elected government of the United States of America…

On February 10, 2018, Action Together New Jersey accepted an award from Linda Sarsour…

Pictured with radical Linda Sarsour (above, L-R) are Uyen “Winn” Khuong, ATNJ Executive Director; Scott Baron, ATNJ Activist; Johannah Hinksmon, ATNJ Sussex County Co-Chair; and Kim Baron, ATNJ Director of Operations.

The award was in recognition of voter registration drives and other political campaigning done by Action Together New Jersey in coordination with a group called CAIR, the Council on American-Islamic Relations.  Presenting the award was  CAIR National Chairwoman, Roula Allouch, and CAIR-NJ Founder, Ahmed Al Shehab.

Due to its apparent ties to the Muslim Brotherhood, one of America’s most important Islamic allies – the United Arab Emirates – has designated CAIR a terrorist organization.

Action Together New Jersey is in the forefront of efforts to push the Democrat Party in New Jersey to the far-Left.  They have attacked the bi-partisan efforts of New Jersey Congressman Josh Gottheimer (D-5) to push back on members of the so-called “Jihad Squad” (far-Left Democrats Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ilhan Omar, and Rashida Tlaib) to promote the anti-Semitic BDS movement. 

Action Together New Jersey has endorsed the economically ruinous Green New Deal of Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.

A number of Democrats who are running for Assembly this year are clearly identified as members of Action Together on the group’s website and have helped in their organizing efforts.  For their loyalty to the far-Left “cause” these Democrat candidates have been formally endorsed by Action Together New Jersey:

District 21

Stacey Gunderman

Lisa Mandelblatt 

District 24

Deana Lykins 

District 25

Lisa Bhimani

Darcy Draeger 

District 26

Christine Clark

Laura Fortgang 

District 30

Steven Farkas 

Among all the Democrats running for the Assembly this year, Action Together New Jersey chose to endorse only these candidates.  They represent the very radical far-Left of the Democrat Party. 

CAIR jumps into Sussex fray. Is it a “terrorist” group?

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The New Jersey chapter of CAIR jumped into the controversy over a satirical post tweeted by Sussex County GOP Chairman Jerry Scanlan. The post, which resembles a classic movie poster (think “Charlie’s Angels” or the “Mod Squad”), features four Democrat members of Congress and the words “Jihad Squad”.

CAIR, which is short for Council on American-Islamic Relations, put out a statement that labeled Scanlan’s tweet “anti-Muslim” and “Islamophobic, racist, and xenophobic” and called for Jerry Scanlan’s resignation. In a lengthy statement, CAIR’s executive director concluded that “Jerry Scanlan should be removed from his position as the county’s GOP chairman.”

We didn’t know much about this organization, so we Googled it and found the press release and statement, referenced above, on the home page of CAIR’s website. Here is what else we found.

The featured story on the home page of CAIR states: CAIR Wins Landmark First Amendment Victory Striking Down Texas Anti-BDS Law.

This is interesting, because we just read today of the bi-partisan efforts by Congressmen Josh Gottheimer (D-Sussex) and Chris Smith (R-Mercer) against the BDS movement, which CAIR obviously supports:

Two New Jersey congressmen today celebrated the passage of a resolution denouncing the Global Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) Movement that targets Israel.

“The BDS movement demonizes Israel and Jews and applies a double standard whereby Israel is always wrong, and the “oppressed” Palestinians are always in the right – regardless of whether groups such as Hamas are engaging in terrorist acts upon Israeli citizens,” said Rep. Christopher Smith (R-Hamilton), the co-chair of a Bipartisan Task Force on Combatting Anti-Semitism. “The overwhelming vote in favor of the House resolution to reject the BDS movement and its efforts to delegitimize the State of Israel, underscores America’s strong support for Israel as a key ally and our commitment to Israel’s right to exist.”

The resolution, which passed the U.S. House of Representatives last night by a 398-17 vote, opposes economic apparatuses aimed at punishing companies that do business with Israel.

“There are few clearer examples of bias and double standards than BDS movement. But BDS is also fundamentally incompatible with a two-state solution. It seeks to punish only Israel and it rejects direct negotiations in favor of a unilateral strategy,” said Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-Wyckoff). “That is why it is so important that Congress is on record opposing BDS and other harmful efforts to single out and delegitimize Israel.”

The only New Jersey House member to vote against the measure was Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-Ewing).

Wikipedia explains that CAIR is “a Muslim civil rights and advocacy group. It is headquartered on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., with regional offices nationwide.” Wikipedia goes on to note:

Critics of CAIR have accused it of pursuing an Islamist agenda[5][6][7] and have claimed that the group is connected to Hamas[8] and the Muslim Brotherhood,[9][7] claims which CAIR has rejected and described as an Islamophobic smear campaign.[10] Due to apparent ties to the Muslim Brotherhood, the government of the United Arab Emirates has designated CAIR as a terrorist organization.[11]

A “terrorist organization”? That is a very serious matter.

The “Muslim Brotherhood”? Quite a few nations have designated that a “terrorist organization” as well, including Egypt and Saudi Arabia.

The United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Saudi Arabia… these are all Islamic nations and all strong American allies.

It looks like you have some explaining to do.

As a courtesy, we offer you the use of these pages to explain how CAIR came to be designated a “terrorist organization” by one of America’s Islamic allies.

And as a further courtesy, we offer to attempt to set up a personal meeting – hosted by Sussex County Watchdog – so that you can meet Jerry Scanlan, who was a resident of Saudi Arabia for many years. We urge you to make your concerns directly to him. Watchdog will provide refreshments. There, over good tea, we can talk as brothers. Perhaps even move on from politics to something more interesting… literature perhaps… The Travels of Ibn Battuta?

Please reach out to us.

Gottheimer attacked leader of “Jihad Squad”.

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They have been satirically called the “Jihad Squad”…

You remember satire, don’t you?  Yes, it had something to do with comedy… but all that was banned after the rise of the Neo-Cromwellians…

Satire (noun) the use of humor, irony, exaggeration, or ridicule to expose and criticize people's stupidity or vices, particularly in the context of contemporary politics and other topical issues.

Apparently, satire – like everything else these days – is now a form of “racism”.

This so-called “Jihad Squad” is composed of the following members of Congress: Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ilhan Omar, Ayanna Pressley and Rashida Tlaib.  A couple of them are rather anti-Semitic and none of them much like the Jewish state.  One member of Congress – Ilhan Abdullahi Omar (D-Minnesota) – actually mocks Jewish people by calling them “Benjamins”.  Another, Rashida Harbi Tlaib (D-Michigan), holds rallies under the banners of the PLO – a terrorist group.

Maybe that is why Congressman Josh Gottheimer (D-New Jersey) called out the group’s leader, Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, after she threatened him and other Democrats with placement on a kind of political extermination list.  Gottheimer asked: “Since when is it okay to put you on a Nixonian list?  We need to have a big tent in our party, or we won’t keep the House or win the White House.”  The New Jersey Globe did a nice job covering Gottheimer’s response to the “Jihad Squad” leader’s attacks.  You can read the full story here…

https://newjerseyglobe.com/congress/gottheimer-takes-on-ocasio-cortez/

Rashida Harbi Tlaib doesn’t much care for Josh Gottheimer either (hey, at least she doesn’t call him a “Benjamin”).  The Democrat from Michigan called the Democrat from New Jersey a “bully”.  Gottheimer had simply raised the issue of anti-Semitism amongst members of what has been jokingly referred to as the “Jihad Squad”.  According to media reports, Gottheimer noted… “anti-Semitic comments on dual loyalty and other anti-Semitic tropes that the Congressman and many other members of Congress found deeply disturbing."  The Intercept, run by that hero of transparency Glenn Greenwald, reported on this in May. 

All the members of the so-called “Jihad Squad” are supporters of Linda Sarsour, a co-founder of the famous (or, depending on one’s perspective, infamous) Women’s March.  Sarsour has, in fact, used the term “Jihad” in her speeches and, to our knowledge, not one of the “Jihad Squad” has attempted to distance themselves either from her or her use of the word.

In July 2017, Linda Sarsour called for a "Jihad" against the American government. 

Here's what she said:

"During a speech to the Islamic Society of North America convention in Chicago last weekend, Sarsour, a delegate to the 2016 Democratic National Convention who is an anti-Israel and pro-Sharia activist, made the startling call and also urged against 'assimilation.' 

'I hope that we when we stand up to those who oppress our communities that Allah accepts from us that as a form of jihad,' she said. 'That we are struggling against tyrants and rulers not only abroad in the Middle East or in the other side of the world, but here in these United States of America, where you have fascists and white supremacists and Islamophobes reigning in the White House.'

'Our number one and top priority is to protect and defend our community, it is not to assimilate and please any other people and authority,' she said.

'Our obligation is to our young people, is to our women, to make sure our women are protected in our community. Our top priority and even higher than all those other priorities is to please Allah and only Allah,' she said."

Sarsour started off her call for "Jihad" by praising the work of Siraj Wahaj, who she described as her "favorite person in the room."  Wahaj is a controversial New York imam who has attracted the attention of American law enforcement for years.  Federal prosecutors included him on a 3½-page list of people they said "may be alleged as co-conspirators" in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, though he was never charged, the Associated Press reported.

That same month, July 2017, Linda Sarsour’s organization "honored" cop-killer Joanne Chesimard (aka Assata Shakur). 

Then there is the extensive media coverage of Sarsour’s supportive statements towards the virulently anti-Semitic Louis Farrakhan.  And her statements about wanting to remove another Muslim woman’s vagina…

In an August 1, 2017 New York Times column – When Progressives Embrace Hate – Editor Bari Weiss wrote:

"The leaders of the Women’s March, arguably the most prominent feminists in the country, have some chilling ideas and associations. Far from erecting the big tent so many had hoped for, the movement they lead has embraced decidedly illiberal causes and cultivated a radical tenor that seems determined to alienate all but the most woke.

Start with Ms. Sarsour, by far the most visible of the quartet of organizers. It turns out that this 'homegirl in a hijab,' as one of many articles about her put it, has a history of disturbing views, as advertised by . . . Linda Sarsour.

There are comments on her Twitter feed of the anti-Zionist sort: 'Nothing is creepier than Zionism,' she wrote in 2012. And, oddly, given her status as a major feminist organizer, there are more than a few that seem to make common cause with anti-feminists, like this from 2015: 'You’ll know when you’re living under Shariah law if suddenly all your loans and credit cards become interest-free. Sound nice, doesn’t it?'  She has dismissed the anti-Islamist feminist Ayaan Hirsi Ali in the most crude and cruel terms, insisting she is 'not a real woman' and confessing that she wishes she could take away Ms. Ali’s vagina — this about a woman who suffered genital mutilation as a girl in Somalia." 

Hey, maybe the reason why some Democrats don’t get satire is that, in this case, they don’t think it is satire.  Maybe they think it is reality and they just want to suppress it?

Could be.

Lafayette resident calls out Herald on Gottheimer

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Lafayette taxpayer Josh Aikens called out the New Jersey Herald for reporting that Democrat Congressman Josh Gottheimer was in attendance at the annual Sussex County St. Patrick’s Day Parade on Saturday.  The parade was held in Newton, Gottheimer was the only elected official mentioned by name…but he was, in fact, a no show.  Records from Gottheimer’s own social media indicates that he was in Teaneck at the time of the parade in Newton. 

Aikens, who serves as the President of the Lafayette School Board, took to social media himself to complain about the Herald’s dishonest focus on Democrat Gottheimer, while other elected Republicans were ignored.  In recent years, the Herald has openly promoted Democrat Gottheimer.  This appears to be its editorial policy.