Spadea lost, just like he always does

Over the past year, Bill Spadea has used the corporate resources of Townsquare Media and Oaktree Capital Management in an effort to make Spadea a major player in New Jersey politics.  Those corporate resources are worth tens of millions of dollars and the airtime alone expended by Spadea and his agents would have cost the average political campaign millions to buy.  All it took was a complacent board of directors and a greedy local management for Spadea to accomplish this enormous appropriation of resources and capital.

Spadea accomplished what some would have considered impossible.  He took hold of a wallflower Lt. Governor and tore her away from the Governor who had mentored and promoted her.  Spadea smirked as the Lt. Governor performed stunts for him, like opposing Governor Christie on Ballot Question 2 (a subject she had been in silent approval of until Spadea taught her to sit up and beg, bark, and bite).  The Lt. Governor's Super PAC spent money to defeat Ballot Question 2 as she campaigned across the state on a platform that included advocating for a NO vote on both Question 2 and Donald Trump.

Poor Kim Guadagno.  She lost on both.  This is what happens when you follow the fluttering eyelashes of Billy "the hand" Spadea.  Yep.  A political prognosticator he aint.  Spadea can't help it, because his big ego gets in the way of him seeing clearly.  He wishes it to be, so he believes it will be, even when it won't be.

Spadea has had this problem his whole life.  He thought he was part of an historic wave when he tried to split the RNC and start a far-right third party in the mid-1990's.  That failed.  Then he ran for Congress and lost.  He started his "Red Shirt" movement, the "Building a New Majority" project, promoted a statewide GOP candidate who would transform the Republican Party to remake it in his vision.  Failed, failed, and failed again.  He even set his sights lower, ran for Assembly, and found himself blocked.  Another failure.  Bitterness followed.

Then he was rescued by FOX. Given a late-night "news of a kind" show.  Then the popular host of NJ101.5 had an accident, and Spadea found himself with a lever of power that he quickly learned and used to pursue his personal ambitions.

But Spadea went too far.  Having lost the gas tax vote he decided on the "Big Lie" approach and made up the myth that Ballot Question 2 was a vote on the gas tax.  People like Kim Guadagno believed him, but groups like AFP and ATR saw Spadea's bullshit for what it was.  On Tuesday, Spadea lost once again.

NJ GOP must fight Red-Shirt Fascism

On Friday night, a couple members of Bill Spadea's Red-Shirt movement held a "rally" at the former headquarters of the notorious American National Socialist Bund.  For some strange reason, instead of demolishing the former Camp Nordland, the town leaders of Andover Township have maintained the building that hosted numerous Nazi, Fascist, and Ku Klux Klan rallies in the 1930's.  Sussex County historian Wayne McCabe has written a book about the goings on at "the barn at Lake Iliff in Andover Township."

The Red-Shirts were voicing their opposition to Ballot Question 2, which simply states:

A "yes" vote supports this proposal to dedicate all revenue from gas taxes to transportation projects.

A "no" vote opposes this proposal, thus devoting the same levels of revenue to transportation projects.

The non-partisan organization ballotpedia.org provides the following details:

Amendment design

Question 2 would create a constitutional requirement that all revenue derived from taxes on motor fuels be deposited into the Transportation Trust Fund (TTF).[1] Currently, only 10.5 cents of the gasoline and diesel fuel taxes is required to be deposited into the TTF.

Transportation Trust Fund

Question 2 would require all revenue from tax revenues on motor fuels to be deposited into the Transportation Trust Fund (TTF). The TTF was designed to fund the Department of Transportation and NJ Transit, which then use the revenue for transportation-related projects.[2]

Question 2 and the gas tax

Question 2 was intended to complement a gas tax increase. The amendment itself does not increase the gas tax.[3][4] On September 30, 2016, Gov. Christie (R) and the Democratic-controlled state legislature agreed to increase the gas tax 23 cents per gallon. As part of the agreement, the estate tax was eliminated, the Earned Income Tax Credit was increased, a tax deduction for veterans was created, and the state sales tax will be reduced from 7 to 6.625 percent in 2018.[5] Question 2 would guarantee that revenue from the additional 23 cents gas tax and the existing 10.5 cents gas tax to the Transportation Trust Fund.[6] Gov. Christie signed the bill on October 14, 2016.[7]

Americans for Prosperity, a leader in its opposition to the gas tax increase, supports the passage of Ballot Question 2:

"Americans for Prosperity supports the ballot measure and constitutionally dedicating the remaining revenues collected from the tax on diesel and the petro tax to the transportation fund. At the same time, AFP wants voters to be clear that this referendum does not authorize a gas tax increase, nor does it in any way resolve the transportation challenges the state is facing. The remaining revenue from these two taxes amounts to less than $30 million, a mere fraction of the $1.2 billion collected for the TTF last year. Americans for Prosperity is steadfast in our opposition to a gas tax hike. We continue to urge lawmakers to pursue reforms to rein in wasteful spending and to ensure our transportation dollars are used solely for our roads and bridges."

Ballot Question 2 is the latest BIG LIE seized upon by Red-Shirt founder Bill Spadea for the purposes of (1) increasing his value to the Townsquare Media Corporation, owners of radio station NJ 101.5; and (2) stirring up mistrust, anger, and rage against government and existing political parties for the furtherance of the Fascist Red-Shirt Movement. 

Spadea's argument appears to be that the tax cuts in the Tax Restructuring program (eliminating the estate tax, the tax cut on retirement income for most New Jersey seniors, the sales tax cut, the $3,000 personal income tax exemption for veterans, and the earned income tax credit for low-paid workers) will take revenue that is needed for pension payments for public employee unions. Spadea speciously argues that a vote on Ballot Question 2 would leave "teachers without proper funding".

First of all, this is nonsense and based on some entirely false premise that the Red-Shirt leader cooked up in his head.  Second, it is essentially a left-wing argument, one made by Walter Mondale against Ronald Reagan, at odds with the political spectrum Spadea and the other Red-Shirts claim to represent. But then again, they didn't call it national socialism for nothing!

The anger is the thing.  Getting listeners to act out in an emotional rage is what Spadea's mission is and the level of sometimes violent rage he's built up is truly remarkable.  The foul and pornographic language, the threats of violence against legislators and their families posted on social media, have been breathtaking. 

Townsquare Media permits Spadea to spew hatred against people who use public transportation as though they were a lower form of human being -- and his Red-Shirt followers (and some elected officials) lap it up.  As a salesman, politician, and movement leader, Spadea appears to know more about transportation engineering than civil engineers and planners, who explain the common sense fact that public mass transportation removes millions of cars from the road that would otherwise be clogging said roads and adding to road wear and lengthening commuting time.

Spadea's latest argument against putting the money from the gas tax into a lock-box for road and bridge repair is that capital projects should be purchased up front instead of being financed over the life of the project.  That would be like buying a house or a car for cash.  Few can afford to do that and taxpayers cannot afford to see their property taxes go up to pay for a new bridge up front  Capital borrowing spreads the cost out over the life of the bridge. 

It's common sense but common sense is not what Bill Spadea and his Red-Shirters are about.  They want anger, they want rage, they want fear, they want hate... and increasingly, they are succeeding.

Spadea's rants have so frightened Assemblyman Erik Peterson, that last week his office put out a press release stating "Peterson has consistently opposed these measures" while apparently forgetting that he voted to put the Question on the ballot in January of this year:

ACR1 Amends State Constitution to dedicate all State revenues from motor fuels and petroleum products gross receipts tax to transportation system.

Session Voting:
Asm.  1/11/2016-  3RDG FINAL PASSAGE   -  Yes {75}  No {0}  Not Voting {4}  Abstains {0}

Peterson, Erik - Yes

What a knucklehead!

But that's how it is now.  Emotion trumps reason.  The Big Lie conquers factual truth.  Fear makes people forget their own voting records.  And anger, rage, and hate are the order of the day.  We have been here before, as this footage from a speech by an American Brown-Shirt leader in Madison Square Garden reminds us.  Yes, we have been here before and we have defeated the forces of rage and have survived. 

Townsquare Media launches campaign against GOP

On Monday -- October 17, 2016 -- Bill Spadea, an agent of Townsquare Media, launched a campaign aimed at defeating conservative Republican legislators who voted for the tax restructuring plan that ended the Estate Tax, eliminated the tax on retirement income for most New Jersey seniors, cut the sales tax for consumers, provided a tax credit for low-paid workers, provided an income tax cut for veterans, and funded the bankrupt TTF through a rise in the tax on gasoline instead of by increasing property taxes.  On Monday, Spadea wrote: 

"Even if the current crusade by courageous community leader, Senator Kip Bateman is successful in forcing a vote it’s not gonna pass.  Even if by some miracle the legislature voted to repeal the (tax restructuring package) they overwhelmingly supported, it would be met with a veto by the Governor who led the charge for the largest tax (cut in New Jersey's history)." 

That said, this repeal push is not about actually repealing the tax.  It’s about giving notice to the politicians that we’re watching and we’re gonna #remember in november. 

...Kudos to Senator Kip Bateman for stepping up.  Think twice before attacking what may seem like a quixotic battle.  It’s actually necessary to identify who we need to thank and vote out in November 2017."

Spadea makes it pretty clear that this a political action campaign.  Instead of reporting the news or even commenting on it, this is the news.  Spadea has long craved this kind of political power.  Remember when he was using the money of some pharmaceutical millionaire to build a party structure?  Remember Spadea's "red shirts."  No, we're not kidding, like those old boys back in the 1930's, Spadea did the whole shirt thing too.  It goes nicely with the cult of personality.

Note the intensity and the anger in the singing.  That kind of rage -- unreasoning, stage-managed, and directed at some scapegoat -- may be found almost any day on radio station NJ 101.5 FM.  But then, radio is a very old vehicle for this kind of thing.

Townsquare Media is the corporate entity that owns the license (Townsquare Media Trenton License, LLC) to operate radio station NJ 101.5 (FCC Facility 53458).  The license is a for-profit monopoly granted by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). 

Townsquare Media is owned by Oaktree Capital Management.  This corporation dates from the mid-1990's.  Media sources note:  "Oaktree quickly established a reputation in the high-yield and distressed-debt markets."  The Securities & Exchange Commission fined Oaktree and ordered them to disgorge profits after the SEC ruled they had "sold securities short".

According to Oaktree Capital Management's filings with the Securities & Exchange Commission, it has important holdings in the petroleum sector, with one of its most important funds dependent on oil and gas profits from Alaska's North Slope.  So yes, boys and girls, raising the price of gasoline is not in their economic self-interest.

The federal government grants for-profit corporations a monopoly on the use of a certain frequency provided that they abide by a very few rules and regulations.  One is that they should at least try to be honest.  The FCC website states:

"As public trustees, broadcasters may not intentionally distort the news. The FCC has stated publicly that 'rigging or slanting the news is a most heinous act against the public interest'."

What this means is that a radio station shouldn't out and out lie just to inflame public opinion in an effort to jazz up the ratings in order to sell more advertising and reap a windfall in corporate profits.  But this is exactly what the corporation that owns NJ 101.5 has allowed Bill Spadea to do for months.  Now it has stepped that up and launched a political action campaign against Republican legislators.

Townsquare Media/ Oaktree Capital Management's choice of Senator Kip Bateman to play the hero is hilarious.  We will have more on that later.   

Beck dismisses tax cut for vets as "cosmetic"

Sen. Jennifer Beck dismissed two tax cuts aimed at helping veterans and commuters as "cosmetic."  Her comment was made to reporter John Reitmeyer, and appears today in NJ Spotlight. 

One of those tax cuts is a $3,000 income-tax cut for honorably discharged veterans and the other is a new state income tax deduction worth up to $500 annually for commuter households making $100,000 or less.

To balance these tax cuts fiscally, the plan is to scrap a proposed state income tax deduction for wealthy people who contribute to charities.  The deduction on charitable contributions was strongly supported by Senator Beck and the leader of the Republican caucus, Senator Tom Kean Jr. 

* * *

Why is Bill Spadea out-and-out lying on NJ 101.5 and why is his station manager, the Townsquare Media corporation, and the Oaktree Capital Management corporation allowing him to lie?  It appears that he has something for Senator Beck that causes him to lose all semblance of objectivity.  While this might be understandable, the lengths to which Spadea has taken it are remarkable.

Again, we remind those concerned that the federal government grants for-profit corporations a monopoly on the use of a certain radio frequency provided that they abide by a few rules and regulations.  One is that they should at least try to be honest.  The FCC website states:

"As public trustees, broadcasters may not intentionally distort the news. The FCC has stated publicly that 'rigging or slanting the news is a most heinous act against the public interest'."

What this means is that a radio station shouldn't out and out lie just to inflame public opinion in an effort to jazz up the ratings in order to sell more advertising and reap a windfall in corporate profits.  Neither should it do so because it finds the spokesperson for one position more personally appealing than that of another.  Facts and a fair presentation of the arguments on BOTH sides is the only course worthy of the name journalism.

NJ 101.5 isn't really from New Jersey

We've all heard that Madison Avenue tagline:  "Not New York (true).  Not Philadelphia (true).  Proud to be New Jersey (false)."  Actually, the company that owns the radio station is from Connecticut. 

Greenwich, Connecticut, in fact.  And blue-blood, Yankee Greenwich is about as far removed from New Jersey as you can get.  Greenwich is a pleasant 40-minute commuter train ride from Manhattan's Grand Central.  It is the largest town on what is known as the "Gold Coast" of Connecticut.  Both CNN/Money and Money magazine have ranked Greenwich FIRST -- Number One -- on their list of the "100 BEST PLACES to live in the United States." 

Greenwich has the highest wealth value in Connecticut at over $930,000-per-person.  But it doesn't end there.  The very rich Greenwich, Connecticut-based corporation that owns NJ 101.5 is itself owned by an even richer parent corporation, headquartered in Los Angeles, California, and worth $99.9 billion.

There is nothing New Jersey about any of this.  There is nothing average guy, or working class about it, or man-in-the-street.  Take it from George Carlin. They don't care about you... at all.

The owners paid some media people to come up with a catchy slogan, hired a sweet-sounding New Jersey politician named Bill Spadea to front for them, and suddenly they claimed to be the voice of New Jersey.  Their mission is to sell advertising.  That's why you get just 3 minutes of Bill Spadea's voice in between 5-minute blocks of wall-to-wall advertising.  It's not about the gas tax or the Governor or the Democrats -- it is about selling that advertising. 

The people who work for this company would take syncopated dumps on their own mother to get more listeners because the more listeners mean the more they can charge for that advertising and the more profits for the corporation.  And all that means is that some lousy talk radio host gets to keep his job. Don't ever believe that they are in the business of educating voters about the issues.  If the advertising revenue doesn't measure up, they will change the format so fast your head will spin.  Next week they'll be a hip-hop station railing against the police and advertising Black-Lives-Matter demonstrations -- and if that doesn't make the profits they're after they will turn to something else.  They really don't give a dump about taxpayers, BLM, or New Jersey... they care about money... more and more money... for them.

And on Saturday, they gave the game away. 

On Saturday, those of you who were on the email list of Bill Spadea's last political campaign would have received a corporate email lobbying against proposals to end the economic status quo in New Jersey.  This involves cutting taxes on consumers, retirees, lower-income workers, and veterans; phasing out taxes that inhibit job creation and inward investment; providing tax deductions for commuters and charities; raising the user tax that funds road and bridge maintenance for the first time since 1988; preventing a property tax explosion; and ending the subsidy paid by New Jersey taxpayers so that out-of-state drivers can use our roads.

Of course, this corporate email boiled all that detail down to a one-line, five-word slogan:  "Stop the gas tax NOW."

That's what advertising teaches you.  Less space for detail = more space for advertising. 

Townsquare Media is the corporation that owns NJ 101.5 and 308 other radio stations in 24 states.  Townsquare makes its corporate home in Greenwich, Connecticut -- a state that competes directly with New Jersey for business investment and jobs. 

And Townsquare Media doesn't make money off giving people the details they need to make an informed decision, Townsquare makes money off of the advertisements selling used cars, vinyl siding, and suppositories.  They'll provide you with more detail on a laxative than they will a piece of legislation.

Regardless of who paid to use the campaign mailing list, the email came from this address:  nj1015@townsquaremedia.info.

Townsquaremedia.info, has been owned by Michael Mrozek of Townsquare Media since 2012.  Townsquare media was registered with Afilias Global Registry Services on April 19, 2010.  Mrozek gave his contact address in Greenwich, CT, and his email as domains@townsquaredigital.com.  Mrozek was Townsquare's corporate manager of IT infrastructure and is now the corporation's director of enterprise systems.

* * *

Senator Steve Oroho was charged by the Republican caucus to get the best deal before January 2018, when the Democrats are expected to take the Governor's office AND pad their current majorities in BOTH chambers of the Legislature.  That is less than 18 months away and counting.  Once the Democrats take the Governor's office -- once the threat of a gubernatorial veto is removed -- the Democrats won't need a single Republican vote to pass ANY tax they want to pass in ANY amount on ANYONE or ANYTHING.

This isn't advertising land fantasy or angry-drunk-at-the-end-of-the-bar stuff.  This is a real-world situation in which the REALITY is that the Republicans are in the MINORITY.  Badly in the MINORITY.  They can't pass dick on their own.  All they can do is use the threat of a gubernatorial veto to bring the Democrats to the table to compromise. 

Corporate boys like Bill Spadea don't need to get this, because they don't give a dump about doing something positive like getting a deal that cuts taxes. They only care about stirring up enough anger to keep people coming back for more. 

The corporation knows that anger is a drug and that, once hooked, consumers of that drug will keep coming back for their fix.  And that's all Bill Spadea wants -- anger addicts checking into his show every day and listening to those blocks of advertisements, waiting for their fix.  The more addicts = the more the corporation can charge advertisers = more corporate profits.  And Bill Spadea gets to keep his job.  Maybe even a raise.

Bill Spadea works for Townsquare Media, a Connecticut corporation with 309 radio stations in 24 states.  Its parent company, Oaktree Capital Management, is headquartered in California and has operations in Los Angeles, New York, Stamford (CT), Houston, London, Hong Kong, Tokyo, Singapore, Beijing, Shanghai, Seoul, Sydney, Paris, Frankfurt, Luxembourg, Amsterdam, Dublin, and Dubai... but NOT New Jersey! 

They don't care that New Jersey ranks 49 out of 50 states if you want to invest in a new or existing business.  The executives who run these companies don't live in New Jersey, why would they?  New Jersey is one of only two places in America with an Estate Tax AND an Inheritance Tax.  And with its high tax on retirement income, why would anyone retire here or stay here once they did retire? 

They don't care about Senator Oroho's efforts to forge a tax cut compromise with the MAJORITY Democrats that will stem the outflow of capital from New Jersey and the outmigration of middle class retirees.  The status quo of 49th place is fine with the corporate bosses at Townsquare Media and Oaktree Capital.  They don't care because -- despite what that 101.5 slogan says -- THEY ARE NOT FROM NEW JERSEY!

They don't care that New Jersey's roads and bridges are falling apart, because they don't use them.  They live in states and nations that DID allow their user's tax on gasoline to go up in accordance with the rate of inflation over the last 28 years.  They don't live in New Jersey, which still charges drivers the 1988 price of just 14 1/2 cents per gallon of gasoline to maintain and repair the state's roads and bridges.

Everyone knows that the tax on gasoline is the principal way New Jersey funds road and bridge maintenance and repair.   It is a user tax charged to those who actually use the state's roads and bridges -- 30 percent of whom live outside New Jersey. 

The user tax on gasoline that New Jersey charges drivers who use the state's roads and bridges hasn't been raised since 1988.  That means that the price charged drivers in New Jersey hasn't even kept up with inflation.  If it was adjusted for inflation, the 14 1/2 cents still charged today would be 29 cents.

This represents a huge windfall for out-of-state drivers -- who in effect are being subsidized by New Jersey taxpayers. 

But instead of raising its tax on gasoline in line with inflation over the last 28 years, New Jersey put its road and bridge maintenance and repairs on a credit card -- using massive debt to fund its transportation infrastructure, while states like Pennsylvania raised their user tax on gasoline to 50 cents or more. Because New Jersey used so much debt, the first 10 1/2 cents of any gasoline tax increase will be needed just to pay the interest on that debt.

Does anyone believe that Townsqaure Media and Oaktree Capital care that the TTF is broke and the current 14 1/2 cents is insufficient to even pay the interest on the debt (it would take a tax of 25 cents a gallon just to do that)?  Do they care that property taxes will have to be increased next year to cover basic road and bridge maintenance and repair?  Of course not.  When you play in four continents you can afford to avoid a broke, down-at-the-heels, trouble-spot like New Jersey.

What these corporations care about is how much they can charge for advertising, how much money they can unload from New Jersey.  They know they are not in the business of fixing New Jersey's problems.  They know that anger-addicts, returning day-in and day-out for their fix are good for business.  Do not look to them to be fair or balanced.  Look for them to stoke the anger.

...And 18 months from now, when the people of New Jersey awake to a big tax increase and no tax cuts, and they howl and cry... Townsquare Media and Oaktree Capital won't hear you.  They'll be counting their profits -- far, far, away.

Bill Spadea, Sen. Beck and what's really going on?

Townsquare Media is the corporate entity that owns the license (Townsquare Media Trenton License, LLC) to operate radio station NJ 101.5 (FCC Facility 53458).  The license is a for-profit monopoly granted by the Federal Communications Commission. 

Townsquare Media is owned by Oaktree Capital Management.  This corporation dates from the mid-1990's.  Media sources note:  "Oaktree quickly established a reputation in the high-yield and distressed-debt markets."  The Securities & Exchange Commission fined Oaktree and ordered them to disgorge profits after the SEC ruled they had "sold securities short".

According to Oaktree Capital Management's filings with the Securities & Exchange Commission, it has important holdings in the petroleum sector, with one of its most important funds dependent on oil and gas profits from Alaska's North Slope.  So yes, boys and girls, raising the price of gasoline is not in their economic self-interest.

The federal government grants for-profit corporations a monopoly on the use of a certain frequency provided that they abide by a very few rules and regulations.  One is that they should at least try to be honest.  The FCC website states:

"As public trustees, broadcasters may not intentionally distort the news. The FCC has stated publicly that 'rigging or slanting the news is a most heinous act against the public interest'."

What this means is that a radio station shouldn't out and out lie just to inflame public opinion in an effort to jazz up the ratings in order to sell more advertising and reap a windfall in corporate profits.  But this is exactly what the corporation that owns NJ 101.5 has allowed Bill Spadea to do for months and allowed him to do again today.

Townsquare Media/Spadea has continued to use a report from the Reason Foundation that other journalists have investigated and called into question to make the case that road construction costs are "12 times the national average."  They have continued to broadcast and publish this very dubious figure, knowing that for months a much more detailed and full study has been available to them and that they would have been doing their listeners (and readers) an educational service by citing the several conflicting studies that now exist on this subject. 

The most detailed study made on the cost of road construction and maintenance in New Jersey was made by Rutgers University's Voorhees Transportation Center.  Information on the study, as well as the study itself, can be accessed below:

http://bloustein.rutgers.edu/new-study-by-voorhees-transportation-center-estimates-cost-to-build-and-maintain-njdot-roads/

http://www.state.nj.us/transportation/publicat/2016studyconopmaint.pdf

Bill Spadea should pull himself away from selling vinyl siding, used cars, and suppositories longenough to hold a rational discussion regarding the comparative strengths and weaknesses of each study.  While not trying to disparage the work of the author of the Reason Foundation study, who is known to us, his is a very different kind of effort to the one undertaken by Rutgers.  The Reason Foundations does a cursory thumb-nail review, taking as much space to review 50 states as Rutgers does to review one.  Rutgers is, by far, the more thorough effort.

* * *

Last week, the SaveJersey blog featured a story by NJ 101.5's Bill Spadea, who has been trying to justify his position against funding the TTF.  Aside from the ratings boost he's received, he is having an understandably tough time wrapping his intellect around the indefensible position that a user's tax is poor economic policy.

Spadea keeps looking for a way show that roads and bridges can be maintained and repaired in 2016 -- at the 1988 price-per-gallon of 14 1/2 cents.  So he's come up with a list of things to cut and he published the list on SaveJersey.

The trouble is, Spadea's newest heroine, Senator Jennifer Beck, has blown a hole in his argument.  Not only did Beck vote last month for over $100 million of the cuts Spadea wants to make this month, Beck's record shows that she supports NO spending cuts in any area of government and, IN FACT, supports increased spending.   All you need to do is visit Project Vote Smart and look at the answers Senator Beck was kind enough to provide us, herself.

So much for Bill Spadea's plan to fund the TTF by cutting spending.  Since Spadea started talking, all Senator Beck has done is to vote for more spending -- like the $7 million more for funding Planned Parenthood. 

But Spadea doesn't appear to notice these incongruities.   The talk radio host has already handed out the black hats and the white hats in his stage production of "a little masturbation ritual" -- and he doesn't want to reassign the "goodies" and the "baddies".  Hey, stick to playing with your electric blue phallic symbol.  Facts are too much for you.