In defense of Sue Altman and the American right to protest

Policy by policy, there is not a great deal that we would agree on, but what happened to Sue Altman at the hands of the Trenton Establishment is disgraceful. Whatever her views and opinions and whatever you think of them, Sue Altman has the right to voice an opinion, to speak out and challenge the powerful, and to protest the conduct of a taxpayer-funded hearing, about taxpayer-funded programs, by taxpayer-funded elected officials, using taxpayer-funded resources.

Sue Altman didn’t “milkshake” anyone. Her band of leftists didn’t attempt to charge the panel and take over the microphone. At no point did they threaten violence. As part of an exposition of feeling on both sides, they booed – or some of them did – and this became sufficient “cause” for Committee Chairman Bob Smith to send men with guns to remove them. In doing this, Smith behaved like the very worst of the British government during the “Troubles” in Northern Ireland. He should be ashamed of himself.

And it was clear that they were targeting Sue Altman, the leader of the opposition in the room. A note of thanks to InsiderNJ – specifically to Max Pizarro and Fred Snowflack – who were on the scene to report the details of Smith’s outrageous behavior.

Jay Lassiter nailed it when he said this is all about “corporate welfare”. Yes, corporate welfare – crony capitalism – the economic engine of choice in nations like the formerly “Red” China, or National Socialist Germany, or Fascist Italy. It is not the Free Market. It has nothing to do with the American ideal so often preached, so rarely achieved. Corporate welfare, crony capitalism, is simply Establishment corruption, codified and enforced. It kills freedom and enslaves what remains.

From her left-wing perspective, Sue Altman understands this as well as any free-market libertarian. It is one of those issues that brings reformers of all political persuasions together, as noted by Ralph Nader in his memorable book, Unstoppable, written in 2015.

What happened yesterday is also one of those events that sorts out just who is who. We note with sadness that Senator Loretta Weinberg, someone who once at least tried to embrace reform, issued a craven statement to the media that praised Committee Chairman Smith and the crony capitalist Establishment. So now we know where she is.

Whatever her faults on this policy or that, Sue Altman is a brave woman who is doing the taxpayers of New Jersey a great service by demanding transparency and providing scrutiny to the operations of what are, after all, taxpayer-funded enterprises. Where most fear to go, she has gone. Now that she knows what they are capable of, now that she has suffered the rough attentions of their men with guns, we hope that she will continue undaunted.

Godspeed.

State Dems scrap direct attack, use Politico’s Friedman to attack Christian religion.

Sources from within the Democrat Party in Trenton now say there will not be a “direct attack” on traditional Christian religions (and, by implication, traditional Judaism and Islamic traditions as well).  We are informed that the Democrats had planned to issue a press release yesterday, which would have attacked the Baptist pastor who has been asked to review the Sussex County GOP’s Twitter page to remove objectionable content, in keeping with the party’s platform and its traditional values. 

Two sources within the Democrat Party informed us that this attack would focus on the fact that the Baptist faith in particular (and traditionalist Christianity, Judaism, and Islam in general) is not “pro-LGBTQ+ enough” to satisfy the Democrat Party and the media, as represented by Politico’s Matt Friedman.  We all remember Friedman as the “hatchet man” for the “mastermind of Bridgegate” when said “mastermind” ran the blog PoliticsNJ.

Apparently, Friedman got his assignment this morning.  Generally, his handler is Jay Lassiter, a pro-LGBTQ+ Democrat operative from South Jersey.  We understand that Friedman is pursuing his assignment as we write.  This will be interesting, so stay tuned…

There’s an accused rapist prowling the State House in Trenton. Why are the Democrats protecting him?

A couple days ago, the story broke.  It had been suppressed up until then.  A woman on the campaign of Democrat Governor Phil Murphy accused a senior staffer of rape.  He got a cushy job in the Democrat administration.  She didn’t get justice.  Here is the story from the Star-Ledger…

The woman who accused a senior staffer in Gov. Phil Murphy's administration of sexually assaulting her while he worked for Murphy's campaign last year is a state official who says she is now telling her story because she has "received no justice." 

Katie Brennan, who later volunteered for the campaign and is now the chief of staff at the New Jersey Housing and Mortgage Finance Agency, detailed her allegations against Albert J. Alvarez publicly for the first time in a story published by the Wall Street Journal on Sunday afternoon.  

After the report was published Sunday afternoon, Brennan said in a statement: "On April 8th, 2017, Al Alvarez raped me. On April 9th, 2017 I learned that the system is broken." 

"I have pursued every form of justice available," Brennan, 31, of Jersey City, continued. "But it has become clear that this system is not built for survivors."

Brennan said she "decided to come forward because I know that Al Alvarez, and all perpetrators, must be held accountable, must never rape again, and the justice system needs a complete change with regard to sexual violence." 

"It is clear that leadership from the Murphy administration is needed to create meaningful policy change on several levels to make sure future victims do not have to endure what I have," she said.

Multiple media outlets -- including NJ Advance Media -- published reports this week citing anonymous sources saying Alvarez faced allegations of sexual assault while he worked as director of Latin and Muslim outreach for Murphy's campaign in April 2017. Alvarez, 44, of Wood-Ridge, was never charged with a crime. 

The victim detailed to the newspaper how both the Governor and Democrat Party let her down… 

https://www.nj.com/politics/index.ssf/2018/10/woman_accusing_murphy_staffer_of_sexual_assault_te.html 

We recall last year how the entire Democrat Party – leadership and minions – piled on to berate various Republicans for making jokes about the Women’s March organization (which turned out to be led by a racist Jihadist) or about Democrat candidates who happened to be women.  Jokes.  This is an accusation of rape we’re talking about.  There was plenty of outcry then.  Why is it muted now? 

Where is Jay Lassiter on this?  Why are his panties not in a twist?  There are dozens and dozens of Democrats who have remained silent.  You know who you are.  We’re going to start naming the names of the “Pro-Rape” wing of the NJ Democrats.

And then there’s Bob Menendez… doesn’t anybody in the Democrat Party care about the FBI’s findings that he was using underaged prostitutes in the Caribbean?  Don’t they care that he trafficked young women for his old-assed buddy to play with?  These are crimes against nature we’re talking about.  But the Democrats just wank on by and blithely ignore it all.

Next time they open their fat mouth we’ll have plenty to fill it with.