Blue what? The only NJ Dem legislator elected to Congress was endorsed by the NRA!

There’s a lot to be said for not having a record. 

For a start, you can lie about who you are and what you will do when you get elected.  You can even target your lies to different audiences – like pretending you have a war record and appealing to suburban voters with your anti-tax broadcast advertising, while using your grassroots to find and target liberals with a message especially for them.  That’s how the Democrats did it. 

Republicans… they did it ass backwards.  They invested millions to tell their grassroots to go to hell and then broadcast an explicitly liberal message to those cultural leftists who hate the word “Republican” the most.  And they did it in the midst of the most divisive national election since 2010 – on par with 1994.  They invested even more millions in turning out the very people who loath them – all the while doing their utmost to convince their base that they think of them the same way they think of dog excrement.  See, in this way you lose everybody! 

New Jersey Republicans desperately needed a unified message to take to war in 2018.  After Donald Trump and the GOP leadership in Congress screwed them by passing a tax package that arguably raised property taxes in the state with the worst property tax problem in the nation – somebody should have got everyone in a room to figure out a message.  Hey, it’s a small state so if you don’t want to come off like a cacophony, you’d better all be singing the same tune.

Instead, half argued that screwing with the state’s property tax deduction was a net positive, half said it was a net negative – and the Democrats, they just loved it!  For once, they got to be the party defending the beleaguered property taxpayers of New Jersey.  What passes for the media in New Jersey backed them up on it.  And more importantly, so did the instincts of the average property taxpayer.  Donald Trump or no Donald Trump, when it comes to trusting the promises politicians make about property taxes, they don’t.  Period.  Somebody should have remembered that.

After handing the property tax issue to the Democrats – the issue that has consistently tested as the top concern of New Jersey voters for at least the last decade – it is amazing the NJGOP did as well as it did on November 6th.  A large part of the electorate already hated Donald Trump (and therefore, the Republican brand) and wanted to show it – but by miscalculation, the remainder were granted permission to hate the GOP too… over property taxes!  Gagged and gagged again.

But it wouldn’t have worked so well if the Democrats hadn’t been such clean slates.  Just think of it.  All those Democrats in the Legislature with all those perfect liberal voting records… and the only guy who is acceptable to the electorate to move up and go to Congress is the state’s most conservative Democrat legislator… the one who is endorsed by the NRA.  The one who voted against same-sex marriage.  Heck, Jeff Van Drew is more Pro-Life than many Republicans and has opposed both RGGI and increasing the minimum wage!  But he moved up, and all the rest stayed behind. 

Meanwhile, DC residents Andy Kim and Tom Malinowski simply move into the state, take out six month leases on rental properties, run and win.  And the silly fools who spent years as Democrat committee members, in local governments, running for Freeholder and then for Assembly… they just suck ass.  You can’t get elected because your liberal records won’t let you.

Where did Mikie Sherrill come from?  The “Navy pilot – Prosecutor – Mom” fell out of the sky and landed in Congress.  In the new politics of congressional elections, she’s one of the Houyhnhnm.  Back in the trenches, the time-serving yahoos can only snort and envy her advancement. 

Yesterday, Rutgers put out a new poll showing that – once again – taxes top the state’s issues grid (with a sizeable number volunteering “property” taxes as their big concern).  The Eagleton poll noted that people are generally happy with the state’s economy and, as it is part of a generally buoyant national economy, that shouldn’t surprise anyone, but it does appear Democrat Governor Murphy is taking more credit than the state Republican leaders.  One “research professor” drew attention to “a new phenomenon” of voters not having quite formed an opinion of Phil Murphy, after nearly a year in office.  It’s like they don’t know him and it’s taking some time. (Maybe they will now… after yesterday’s snow job?)

A phenomenon is it?  Why is anyone surprised, given the state of political news coverage in New Jersey?  Just ask anyone on press row… oh, that’s right, it’s not there anymore.  If it’s a national election like we just had, the coverage will be driven by national outlets.  If not… good luck.  And that is something our campaign gurus are going to need to consider when planning what used to be called “earned media” campaigns. 

Meanwhile, back at madness central, a couple of juvenile delinquent Democrat Assemblywomen invited “pro-death penalty for American military members” activist Jane Fonda to place a feather in her patouee and lead a conga line from the Speaker’s office to the Governor’s den.  Not a word yet from Navy pilot Mikie Sherrill about the appropriateness of Fonda’s appearance – or from Andy Kim or Tom Malinowski, for that matter.  But hey Assemblywomen, keep it up.  If that’s the fashion, keep it up and you’ll soon find yourself in… Congress?  NOT!

GOP voters to McCann: Hell No, We Won’t Vote!

Less than 24 hours after the polls closed, congressional candidate John McCann showed up at a place where he should have had a better reception.  McCann attended the regular monthly meeting of Skylands Tea Party in Sussex County. 

The two incumbent Freeholders who endorsed McCann are regular attendees and have a following there.  So it should have been an audience open to giving McCann a hearing.  Unfortunately for McCann, his words were a stark contrast to the campaign mailings he’s been sending out.  And that didn’t go down too well with those in attendance. 

Memo to McCann:  Don’t lie to people.  It pisses them off.  Memo to McCann’s handlers:  Don’t let him interact with average voters.  He pisses them off. 

One of the most effective Tea Party members later had this to say: 

“Well John McCan't (is) already at it. How so, simple. I decided to stay after the Tea Party meeting which he showed at. Figured I'd ask some 2nd Amendment questions of him, and see if a come together moment could be had.  Well that didn't work out quite so well. 

I asked about national reciprocity and his position. He said he is for it, but there are things you can and can't say to win an election.  I told him this is precisely why the 2nd amendment people stayed home during the gubernatorial election.    

He mentioned the NRA questionnaire, and I brought up the one for the rally in Trenton. He said he didn't have time to answer it. It came at 7pm and he was with his kids. I replied horsecrap with today's technology and smart phones it would have been a snap. He got heated.

My buddy came up and then he broke the cardinal rule with me. He called one of my closest friends, a liar. F*ck you’s were exchanged and that's Mr. McCan't. 

Won't tell you where he stands and will lie about whatever. Even called a good guy a liar. 

When I said I would vote for him but probably not volunteer, I was wrong.  I'll take Josh Gottheimer over this clown any day, because at least he’s been a gentleman every time I interacted with the guy.” 

Another activist chimed in:

“McCan't is a liar.. lied at the PCRRO candidates mtg while asking for the committee’s votes. He’s just a useful puppet with the convict pulling all of his strings!” 

Indeed.  And here is another reaction: 

“I was done with him the second I heard his answer to the question on reciprocity. He immediately turned into a typical politician.”

Anyone who recalls that great Robin Williams film, “Good Morning Vietnam”, will get the next reference:  John McCann is becoming the “Lieutenant  Steve Hauk” of the 5^th District and it seems the troops want Adrian Cronauer back. 

This week with Kate & Gina: Democrats want prisoners to vote and lobby (agree/disagree?)

The Democrats have a new demographic to practice their identity politics on... convicted criminals.  That's right.  The Democrat Party in New Jersey wants to give convicted criminals -- including those behind bars -- the right to vote. 

Yep, in the wake of rallies across the state to protest the police and the NRA, the Democrats announced their party's support for turning cell blocks into voting blocks and prison gangs into GOTV operations.  One group of liberals is rallying to handicap the police; another to take away your ability to protect your family from murder, rape, and robbery; while a different group of liberals is giving electoral power to murderers, rapists, and robbers.  It's liberalism at its most raw. 

Now we all know what happens when a politician smells a vote.  They're going to give something away to get it.  Laws are going to get progressively weaker and weaker.  Especially when the Star-Ledger reports that there are 100,000 criminal votes to be had in New Jersey.  That many votes could easily swing a statewide election and a large prison population would certainly shift the balance in a legislative seat or two. 

Imagine Shawn Custis as a prison ward leader, lobbying the Democrat-majority Legislature, organizing a petition drive (doubtless with the help of Action Together and the Women's March) to get Governor Goldman-Sachs 2.0 and Tammy Jane Fonda to sign into law a community release program that gets him out of doors again... Coming to a average door in an average community like yours.

The police will be told by their political paymasters not to act.  And you won't have a weapon to defend yourself when it happens, because the other set of "enlightened folk" will have already solved that for you.  Let's vilify the police and law-abiding gun owners while we pander to actual convicted criminals.  Makes sense... if you want a Mad Max kind of world.

So who is the new political leader from Rahway?  Why it is the Honorable Mr. Custis.  Oh, you don't know him?  Well here, why don't you catch some of his work...

So where do you stand?

McCann lies again. No he's not pro-second amendment

John McCann tried sweet-talking a speaking spot out of the organizers of yesterday's Pro-Second Amendment rally in Trenton.  The rally, which was hosted by the NRA and its state affiliates, was well-attended and featured a number of prominent speakers with solid Pro-Second Amendment records, including Senator Steve Oroho, NRA National Board member Scott Bach, Assemblyman Parker Space, Assemblyman Hal Wirths, former Mayor Steve Lonegan, and former Assemblywoman Donna Simon.

John McCann did not end up speaking.  According to several sources familiar with the event, McCann was asked to fill out an NRA questionnaire to determine where he stood on the issues and McCann refused to do so.  Like another candidate associated with Passaic County machine boss Peter Murphy, he won't say. 

But McCann is a resilient bullshit artist.  His campaign rolled out an often-repeated story claiming that his father had been the victim of a terrorist attack by the Weatherman organization, a radical group of 1960's leftists.  But McCann's story keeps on changing with regards to this incident.  And the official records of law enforcement and the judiciary do not match McCann's claims.  More on this later.

In any case, McCann uses this exaggerated tale to claim that he is Pro-Second Amendment when his actions indicate that he is simply spinning us.  Any man, worthy of the name, should have the balls to tell us where he stands on the issues. 

We suggest that candidate John McCann grow a pair and fill out the questionnaire.  The voters deserve to know who and what they are voting for.

Message from the Kids Rally: Tomorrow belongs to me

"We are the voices of the new generation... We want change, and those who try to stop us cannot stand in our way. We will outnumber you, we will outvote you, and we will outlive you." (High School student, March 24, 2018, Newton, NJ)

This has all happened before.  The same words were used by another generation of students who demanded security over freedom.  They ended up with neither.

What began as a modernist dream ended in retching sadness.  

"I have a message for all of those politicians... Your thoughts and prayers are not going to stop this from happening over and over again, like it has for the past 20 years." (Ibid)

Yes.  We are going to need to address our rotting culture.  A culture, by the way, that many of those young marchers have totally bought into. 

Twenty years ago... In the aftermath of the Columbine shootings, President Bill Clinton first highlighted the problem of violence in our culture and how it was being marketed for profit.  Psychologists had long noted how violent media content acts like a drug on childhood development, chemically altering a child's brain. 

It was President Clinton who pointed out that study after study, and the marketing documents of the entertainment industry itself, all pointed to the entertainment industry's premeditated marketing of violence to children and their undeveloped brains.  All the evidence was there.  Then he went further and ordered a study by the Federal Trade Commission.  The study, released on September 11, 2000, can be accessed below:

https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/press-releases/2000/09/ftc-releases-report-marketing-violent-entertainment-children 

In response, the entertainment industry increased its campaign contributions by 1,000 percent and spent hundreds of millions on lobbying and soft money to convince Congress to forget every study it had ever read.  Then September 11, 2001, occurred and concerns over media violence were ignored in the run-up to war.  Some in the entertainment industry never forgot, and when another Clinton ran for President, they derailed her by supporting a first-term senator named Barack Obama.  

Does our young high school student really believe that government will be able to eliminate the illegal possession of firearms any better than it has eliminated the illegal possession of narcotics?  Is there any high school in America free from illegal drug use?

President Richard Nixon declared war on drugs in 1971.  That's before most parents of today's high schoolers were born.  Are we any closer to winning that war -- or have we started to surrender, making up reasoning for decriminalization of those things long warned against?

Gun-free school zones have been disastrous failures.  Will trying to make all of America "gun-free" fare any better?  Instead of carrying the agenda of pre-existing movements, like the anti-NRA Brady bunch, shouldn't students be separating themselves from the failed paradigms of the past?

Of course, that would take thinking in place of emotion and a "be-in" is always cooler than a think-in.  Rallies, like dance parties, stir the emotions.  And the emotions of the young have always been a target for hijacking and abuse by political authoritarians.

If you want to protect children in schools make that the priority.  In other nations, including those on the front line in the battle with terrorism, school shootings are rare.  Despite schools being a prime target for terror attacks, in Israel there have been just six attacks on schools since 1974.  

America doesn't have Hamas or the Fatah al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades or Palestinian Islamic Jihad operating on its borders -- so why does America do such a poor job protecting our schools when other nations, in active battle with terrorist groups, manage it so much better?  Is it simply the case that other nations face facts, while we prefer to bask in emotion and the idea that "it shouldn't happen here" in exceptionalist America? 

We are going to be looking very hard at this and passing along ideas for solutions.  We invite commentary and participation from all.