Anti-Jordan NY Congressman has political connections to NJ

By Rubashov

Conservative activists have been lobbying the “anti-MAGA” GOP holdouts who refused to confirm Conservative Congressman Jim Jordan as Speaker. They circulated a handy list and urged grassroots Republicans inside and outside their districts to call the offices of those GOP holdouts.
 

One of those GOP incumbents – New York’s Michael Lawler – is potentially more exposed than the others. Lawler founded CheckMate Strategies with Chris Russell, Jack Ciattarelli’s strategist, and their political consulting firm came to dominate New Jersey Republican politics. The State of New Jersey’s corporate filings lists him as co-owner of the firm as does his congressional financial disclosure statement (made as a candidate) for 2022.
 

CheckMate Strategies is listed as the administrator on numerous campaign social media pages. For example, on the Facebook page used by Assemblyman Parker Space’s Senate campaign, the disclaimer reads: “CHECKMATE STRATEGIES LLC is responsible for this Page.”
 

CheckMate runs numerous campaigns in New Jersey and before his election to Congress in 2022, Lawler handled many of those accounts personally. It is also noteworthy that on his 2022 congressional financial disclosure statement, Congressman Michael Lawler lists that he earned income as a lobbyist for International Union of Operating Engineers (IUOE) Local 825. 

Has the NJGOP gone “Toxic”?

Jersey Conservative is now read by thought leaders in key 2024 primary states.

By Rubashov

A telephoned threat to a local Republican leader has folks wondering.
 
The NJGOP under Chairman Bob Hugin employs a stable of legacy consultants and operatives. These folks are employed regardless of merit. Whether they win or lose doesn’t matter. And apparently, they are immune from criticism for even the most bizarre behavior.
 
On July 10th, correspondence was circulated to GOP leaders as well as the Trenton-based blogs. It brought to their attention the story of a local Republican municipal chairman who was hosting a fundraiser for Republican legislative candidates at his family restaurant.  
 
The local Republicans involved with the event reached out to the NJGOP to “coordinate efforts with the NJGOP to hold a vote-by-mail training session at the event.” As the event approached they were anxious to receive a reply.
 
Eventually, the owner of the family restaurant – the Republican municipal chairman hosting the event – did receive a telephone call. The call was made on behalf of the NJGOP but came from an operative affiliated with political consultant Chris Russell and the Ciattarelli for Governor campaign.
 
The caller left a recorded message for the restaurant owner/ local Republican municipal chairman.  We have confirmed with the relevant parties that the call is genuine, and that the caller has admitted to leaving the message. 

Harsh. 

How GOP insiders caused Senator Ed Durr’s primary to happen.

By Rubashov

When Ed Durr beat Steve Sweeney – the longest serving Senate President in New Jersey’s history – it was international news. Newspapers overseas carried photos of the truck-driver who spent a few hundred bucks to beat the powerful Senate President who spent millions. Durr was featured on Fox News and praised by Tucker Carlson.
 
So, how did Senator Ed Durr end up in a primary with an opponent funded by the GOP establishment? An opponent whose campaign is run by establishment consultant Chris Russell, a moderate insider who is 2025 gubernatorial candidate Jack Ciattarelli’s top campaign advisor. Russell is the same political consultant brought in by Senate Minority Leader Steve Oroho to run the Space-Fantasia-Inganamort team in LD24.
 
Over a year ago, Senator Durr’s LD03 was identified as the number one target the Democrats would be coming for in 2023. The Senate Republican leadership and SRM were told that if Republicans had a chance at gaining a majority, they needed to hold all the 16 seats (at the time) they had. To do this, special provision would need to be made to protect Ed Durr, who was the most vulnerable Republican incumbent.
 
SRM’s top consultant at the time, and a nationally recognized talent in the field of political campaigning, looked at the data and made this clear assessment of Durr’s chances for re-election:
 
Look, Ed Durr didn’t fit the prototype of someone straight out of central casting. But you know what? His message connected with voters…and while he was outspent WILDLY by the Democrats, it turns out he had enough money…and he worked harder than Steve Sweeney. And guess what, he won. 
 
As I am out recruiting candidates for office next year, I am much more focused on candidates that connect with voters, will put in the effort to raise money and will work hard than any particular box of gender, color or the like.  
 
I am about winning, plain and simple…and those three qualities are what makes winning happen.
 
SRM’s generalissimo went on to note: 
 
These historic victories were driven by voters angry at the status quo… In Senator Durr’s district, 17% of the Republican vote came from people who don’t usually show up the polls! 17% of the Republican vote came from newly registered voters…people who were registered but had never showed up before…or people who only vote in presidential elections – these are all voters who never show up…but 17% of the Republican vote in District 3 came from Republicans who usually sit out elections like the one we just had – that’s unheard of!
 
The polling was good, the seat located in a populist region of the state in which the GOP was growing, and Durr was well known and his numbers solid. What he was weak on – owing to the underfunded nature of his upset win – was money. So, the SRM team pushed to have someone assigned to Senator Durr to help him start fundraising early. This is what any political campaign professional would have counseled anywhere in America. It is what you do.
 
But this is New Jersey, where things are generally not what they seem. That idea was repeatedly shot down by Senate leadership – Durr’s Senate colleagues – including Senators Oroho and Bramnick. Senate Minority Leader Oroho sounded bizarrely Darwinian in his insistence that Senator Durr be left to figure it out on his own.
 
Senator Oroho and top aide Jeff Spatola seemed angry that Durr had defeated Sweeney and offered contemptuous assessments of both the Senator and his remarkable victory. Again, and again and again, attempts to prepare Senator Durr for an expected 2023 assault by the Democrats were thwarted. He was the NJ Senate Republicans’ rock star – known nationally in conservative circles – but attempts to take Durr to Washington for a fundraising roundtable were nixed, as was a planned fundraiser hosted by a major conservative legal group.
 
A superPAC, planned to raise money to help incumbents like Durr, was killed in its infancy. Its inaugural event was essentially cancelled by Spatola, after a significant expenditure.
 
While suggestions to hire a fundraiser to work with Senator Durr were repeatedly rejected, as early as May 26th, there were internal memos circulating by Senate Republican leadership that SRM would need to go into triage mode, with the argument that an underfunded Durr would be too much of a strain on SRM’s finances:
 
“…we need to win six seats to get a net 5 because saving this seat [LD03] is way over what we can raise for all seats.”
 
That was on March 26, 2022! They looked to be giving up and seemed to be offering Durr up to the Democrats on a silver platter. So, Senator Durr, lacking the fundraising component the Senate GOP and SRM recognized that he needed, was allowed to roll into an election year in a vulnerable financial position. This all but ensured the Republican civil war that the Democrats were hoping for.
 
In conversation, Senator Oroho nourished the pipe dream that a GOP majority might be gained by the South Jersey Norcross wing of the Democratic Party joining the GOP en masse. Oroho spoke openly of his “lovely relationship” with Democrat Steve Sweeney. Along with his aide, Spatola, they appeared supportive of Sweeney’s gubernatorial ambitions.
 
Now Senator Durr is locked in a battle for re-election run by a consultant who trousers money from SRM and its candidates. The GOP establishment seems determined to prevent the Ed Durr miracle from happening again. If they succeed in destroying Ed Durr, will that 17% of the Republican vote from people who don’t usually show up at the polls that came out in 2021 to vote against the Democrats and all they stand for, come out again? Will they come out in 2025? And why would they? 

A "Lovely Relationship"?

Is it OK to suggest a candidate did something criminal when they didn’t?

By Rubashov

The Killian documents controversy (aka Memogate or Rathergate) involved six documents containing allegations about President George W. Bush's service in the Texas Air National Guard in 1972–73. Dan Rather presented these documents as authentic in a broadcast aired by CBS on September 8, 2004, less than two months before the 2004 presidential election, but it was later found that CBS had failed to authenticate them. The documents were allegedly typed in 1973, but several typewriter and typographical experts soon concluded that they were forgeries.
 
Fast forward to 2023, and the legislative campaign of Parker Space, Dawn Fantasia, and Mike Inganamort has put out a mailer alleging that opponent Josh Aikens was a registered voter in Pennsylvania, while he was registered in New Jersey. To back up that claim, the campaign mailer includes an image of a document that they had shopped around to reporters last month.
 
But the image on the mailer is not the same document given to reporters. The Space-Fantasia-Inganamort campaign appears to have deliberately altered the document, removing a very important part of it (literally chopping it off). That part of the document indicates that the person in question, who shares a name with the opponent, last voted on November 2, 1999.
 
The opponent, Josh Aikens, was a 16-year-old in 1999 and a well-known member of the High Point High School soccer team. He was living with his parents in Wantage – not far from Space Farms.
 
Is the document even real? If real, was the document deliberately altered by the campaign? Is Josh Aikens a victim of identity fraud? Or is there some other explanation.
 
Tossing aside such reasonable doubts. The campaign mailer goes on to irrationally suggest that Aikens may have committed the crime of “voter fraud”. The mailer refers to Aikens as “shady” even though the document – both in its unaltered and altered forms – does not indicate that “voter fraud” occurred. Nevertheless, the Space-Fantasia-Inganamort mailer uses the words “voter fraud” and “shady”.
 
The penalty for voter fraud can include a fine, up to two years imprisonment, and disenfranchisement. It is a serious allegation and not something to be lightly tossed around. If it happened, it should be reported to the prosecutor’s office in both states. But, of course, it has not been. Reporting something as a crime, when you know no crime has occurred, can be a crime itself.
 
Along with the word “conservative”, the phrase “voter fraud” is fast being made meaningless by the language pimps who manage some of the state’s political campaigns. Unwittingly, these particular language pimps have opened the door to some embarrassing questions of their own making.
 
For example, will these language pimps suggest to their client – gubernatorial candidate Jack Ciattarelli – that he needs to register from his new address?
 
From her public Facebook posts, Sussex County Commissioner Dawn Fantasia appears to be residing on a farm in Warren County. How will the language pimps she employs advise her?
 
And what about those various public officials in Sussex County – both elected and appointed – whose residency in Sussex County is required, but who keep most of their lives outside the County? Once the language of impropriety has been tossed about, don’t expect it to end with a campaign.

1999. High Point High School
Sussex County, New Jersey

When faced with an allegation of voter fraud – an allegation of criminal behavior – Assembly candidate Josh Aikens (a family man with a spotless legal record) addressed it publicly. He faced two journalists and told them directly that he had never lived in Pennsylvania.
 
This stands in contrast with Sussex County Commissioner Dawn Fantasia, who has consistently refused to address her very real, and very spotty, legal troubles.
 
Last September, the Commissioner was embroiled in a legal battle with Ashley Furniture over a debt of $2,045.06 (Docket SSX-DC-001706-22). And it appears she avoided the court notice (not at that address?). Most recently, there’s docket number SSX-DC-000502-23, filed on March 6, 2023. The plaintiff – a credit card company – is demanding a judgment in the amount of $1,152.00.
 
There are other incidents as well. On March 7, 2017, judgment was entered in the Superior Court, Special Civil Part, in favor of plaintiff CAPITAL ONE BANK and against defendant DAWN CUNNEELY (the Commissioner’s former married name) in the amount of $1,623.85 plus cost of $57.00. A Writ of Execution was issued by the Clerk of the Superior Court, Special Civil Part, with regard to this matter (Docket SSX-DC-000051-17). On November 16, 2017, pursuant to said Execution, Court Officer MICHAEL SCRIVANI levied on all monies on deposit in the Wells Fargo Bank, in the name of DAWN CUNNEELY. Judge David Weaver issued the Writ of Execution for $1,898.44.
 
And then there was judgment SSX-VJ-000722-16 (Docket SSX-DC-000631-16) against defendant DAWN FANTASIA (aka DAWN CUNNEELY). In which an order to garnish wages was executed on June 17, 2016, for the amount of $826.21. The listed employer was ILEARN SCHOOLS in Elmwood Park, NJ 07407.
 
These court actions were taken while Dawn Fantasia held public office. We have avoided those that concerned her as a private citizen, but before she held office, Fantasia was a joint debtor in a bankruptcy, filed by her husband, in 2008.
 
The Space-Fantasia-Inganamort team are sending out mailers and making allegations against a 16-year-old. Does it not follow that their entire histories are relevant?  
 

- - -

 Senate candidate Parker Space has been dodging the question of when and why he got a Confederate flag tattoo. He denied having one and repeatedly lied to the media about it in 2017 -- that much is on the record.

Sources have confirmed that the Assemblyman, accompanied by actress Janeane Garofalo’s brother, got the tattoo in the aftermath of the terrorist mass murder of nine people (including Pastor and State Senator Clementa C. Pinckney). Space was confronted about this at a March 18, 2022, meeting – attended by State Senator Steve Oroho and other Sussex County political leaders. He refused to address it.
 
Will his running mates care to comment on this? Two of those running mates, Commissioner Dawn Fantasia and Surrogate Gary Chiusano, were present at the March 18, 2022, meeting. In fact, Commissioner Fantasia called the meeting.

- - -
Commissioner Dawn Fantasia seems to believe that large parts of her public life – the life she made public – are off limits to discussion. When asked why, she invariably claims a feminist exemption. “I am the only woman running”, and statements like that. But there are statements she made, after beginning her political career in 2014, that need examination.
 
One such statement by Fantasia was made on the front page of the November 10, 2014, edition of the Star-Ledger, the largest circulation newspaper in New Jersey. In a story concerning her former husband, a schoolteacher who was convicted of a sex crime against one of his students (and “required to register as a sex offender under Megan's Law and… undergo parole supervision for life”, ibid April 18, 2008), the Star-Ledger reported:
 
“Like Jim Cunneely, Dawn Cunneely [Fantasia] believes he will never commit a similar crime. She calls him a good father, and she has granted him joint custody of the children.”
 
Studies vary, but the U.S. Justice Department’s National Sexual Violence Resource Center states: “Contrary to conventional wisdom, most re-offenses do not occur within the first several years after release. For example, in one study, subsequent sex offenses occurred as late as 10 years after prison discharge. The study found a 30 percent recidivism rate at year 10 of offender's release from prison. By the year 25, re-offending had increased to 52 percent.”
 
Nobody made this document up. It is on the front page of the state’s largest newspaper. And we’re not discussing events that happened when somebody was 16-years-old – but rather, statements of an adult pursuing a political office.
 
Nevertheless, Commissioner Fantasia believes that she should not have to clarify her statement – even though, as an Assemblywoman – a member of the New Jersey Legislature – she will be voting on bills that affect Megan’s Law and mandatory sentencing, and sex crimes, and child custody.
 
Fantasia’s statement certainly suggests that she might be open to policies that allow registered sex offenders, convicted of sex crimes against children, to be granted custody of minor children. That is why we asked her for a clarification of her statement from 2014. So far, she has refused.
 
Finally, before anyone suggests that we are revisiting some secret, best left in the dark, place – remember that the 2014 front page story was possibly in aid of marketing a book, written by Fantasia’s former husband. Published in 2013, it is called “Folie A Deux” and is 374 pages of self-disclosure. You can buy it on Amazon for $19.95.

“Voters can’t make informed decisions unless they’re informed.  If you asked any self-respecting constituent of George Santos, they’d tell you they wish they knew then what they know now.”
 
Micah Rasmussen
Director of the Rebovich Institute of New Jersey Politics at Rider University

Ciattarelli: Giving the Whitman campaign model one more try?

By Rubashov

Jack Ciattarelli’s handlers have started a new organization. It’s called the Mainstream Majority. That’s “mainstream” as in the Mainstream Media that conservatives, populists, and the Bernie Sanders Left so often complain about.

As a noun, “mainstream” means “the ideas, attitudes, or activities that are regarded as normal or conventional; the dominant trend in opinion, fashion, or the arts.” As an adjective, “mainstream” means “belonging to or characteristic of the mainstream.”

Wikipedia reports: “The mainstream is the prevalent current thought that is widespread. It includes all popular culture and media culture, typically disseminated by mass media. This word is sometimes used in a pejorative sense by subcultures who view ostensibly mainstream culture as not only exclusive but artistically and aesthetically inferior.”

So, it appears “mainstream” is just another way of saying, “the status quo” or “the establishment” or “middle of the road” or even, “moderate”.

And yet, in common with all Republican political campaigns (and even some Democratic ones) this new group employs the “c” word. The email makes this pitch to us: Yes, we are establishment moderates, but we are also “common-sense conservatives” (as opposed to the other kind?) who focus on “kitchen-table issues”.

Even Bill Clinton used the “c” word. So did Christie Whitman. Who doesn’t?

The email is long on braggadocio, claiming responsibility for every Republican victory in November 2021 – even the defeat of “New Jersey’s powerful Senate President.” Was it Jack Ciattarelli’s “compelling message and strong campaign” that elected Ed Durr? It wasn’t the backlash against incumbent Phil Murphy's extremist policies combined with a textbook low-budget, grassroots guerrilla campaign that did it? Sure about that?

Ciattarelli’s handlers have refused to share the same stage with Steve Kush, the political operative who actually managed Ed Durr’s campaign. Going back to election night, we don’t remember anyone in the NJGOP establishment even expecting Ed Durr to win. If they had, wouldn’t they have thrown some money to the Durr campaign? But nobody bankrolled Durr. Now everyone wants to take credit for the upset.

The email claims that the new group intends to be “pro-taxpayer, pro-law enforcement, pro-parent, and pro-small business, one that makes sure smaller government better serves the people who pay for it.” That’s very aspirational, but we would like to see details, a legislative agenda. We will keep an open mind and wait to see how the “Mainstream Majority” unfolds.

Still, we wonder how Jack’s handlers are going to sell “Mainstream” anything, given the political and cultural baggage the term has…

mainstream sellout

Will the County Lines prevail? (and keep the GOP a less-diverse party)

By Rubashov

The GOP establishment in New Jersey likes to talk about “diversity” but in reality their idea of diversity is a package of the same cultural and economic attitudes wrapped in a different skin color or gender or sexuality. The same tired old wine, but in new bottles.

Real diversity isn’t based on surface differences but on different perspectives -- especially on economic realities. A Trenton lobbyist with dark skin isn’t very different from one with light skin. A female corporate executive is much the same as her male counterpoint or, for that matter, a transgendered corporate executive.

In a notable exchange during the last gubernatorial campaign, Jack Ciattarelli and Phil Murphy went back and forth about the goings on at their respective kitchen tables – forgetting that their kitchen tables have more in common with each other than they do with the average kitchen table in New Jersey.

In its by-laws, the NJGOP recognizes the perspectives of just a handful of groupings, noting that the following “may be invited upon invitation of the State Committee and participate in discussions, but shall not have the right to vote… the President of the New Jersey Federation of Republican Women, Inc.; the Chairman of the Finance Committee; the Chairman of the Black Republicans; the Chairman of the Republican Hispanic Assembly; the Chairman of the Republican Heritage Groups; Chairman of the College Republicans; Chairman of the Teen-Age Republicans; Chairman of the Senior Republicans; State Chairman of the Republican Lawyers Association of New Jersey; Chairman of the New Jersey Republican Asian Assembly.”

Designations by gender, race, ethnicity, and age aside; the chairmen representing these individual groupings could all share the same economic perspective – the same “kitchen table” if you will – shared by Jack and Phil. The only employment designation is that of lawyers – hardly representative of an average perspective anywhere in the world.

Nationally, there is a huge populist upheaval within the electorate, with groups detaching from former loyalties and up for grabs. Is the NJGOP ready to knock on their doors and sit down with them to share the vantage from their kitchen tables?

Some of the NJGOP’s designations just don’t make sense. A “Republican Asian Assembly” makes about as much sense as a Western Hemisphere Assembly would for a political party in India – lumping in U.S. expats with those of Brazil, Chile, Haiti, and Canada. Try figuring out what that “kitchen table’ would look like?

Blue-collar trade union workers have an economic perspective the NJGOP should consider with the same importance they give to lawyers. Working mothers have a unique economic perspective (and there are a lot of them, so if you are going to pander…). Parents of school children have an education policy perspective that fueled last year’s upsets in Virginia. Those concerned with medical freedom have a health and civil rights policy perspective. Wouldn’t it be more practical for the NJGOP to have standing organizations to represent groups that are motivated by these issues of the day?

Missing from the current debate over firearms is the divide by economic class – with wealthy suburbanites wanting to get rid of something they don’t need for personal protection because their communities are safe and well-policed. But if you are in a less than safe neighborhood, with rising violent crime and a demoralized police force, perhaps partially “defunded”, with a police response time that would ensure your untimely death if it came to it, then the perspective from your kitchen table might be a bit different. Wouldn’t it serve the NJGOP to have them represented as a group that could “participate in discussions”?

The county party “line” gets in the way of this. The “line” is designed to replicate what exists. Illegal everywhere else in the world, in New Jersey it is a failsafe to ensure permanent establishment hegemony. It prevents experimentation and diversity. It ultimately makes for a grey, dull, boring, and out-of-touch party. Of course, we could be proven wrong… and we are hoping to be proven wrong.

NJ Spotlight News reports on the Lawsuit against the Party Line.

NJGOP: Controlling the narrative by controlling the data

By Rubashov

Last November, New Jersey Democrats weathered a national tidal wave that swept away Democrat majorities and gave the GOP its first gubernatorial win in Virginia since 2009. New Jersey Democrats maintained healthy majorities in both chambers of the Legislature and Phil Murphy bucked history to become the first Democrat governor to be re-elected since 1977.

But in the fantasyland inhabited by the cabal of consultants who dominate the NJGOP, New Jersey Republicans really won last November. The tide rose high enough for the GOP to pick up a respectable number of legislative seats and local offices… but Republicans still didn’t win control of the governor’s office or a single chamber of the Legislature. And the loss of two longtime Republican counties – Burlington and Somerset – was only more firmly established.

Why then is last November being sold as a “victory”? There are three reasons.

First, the consultants who have spent millions in losing the GOP congressional delegation, key counties like Burlington and Somerset, and dozens of other GOP candidates at the statewide, legislative district, county, and municipal levels have a reputation to maintain. They need something to pitch potential clients and keep existing ones. If you don’t have a victory to pitch, these guys have the talent to come up with a pitch that sounds like a victory – even when it isn’t. Hey, we all know bullshit fuels politics. This is just one example.

Second, Jack Ciattarelli is running for Governor in 2025 and he’s invested in this narrative. He needs to convince existing and potential donors to invest again, so it’s important that the blame not fall on his campaign and consultants. So the story goes: “We didn’t leave any votes on the table, did everything right, achieved something like a victory, and next time…”

Third, these consultants might as well own the NJGOP. They recruited Bob Hugin, made him a statewide candidate, and their latest statewide candidate – Jack Ciattarelli – handpicked Hugin for the job of NJGOP Chairman.

A big part of their narrative is that the Bob Hugin-Jack Ciattarrelli model of campaigning, in particular the turnout model, is the only “viable” way forward (to use their favorite term). Unfortunately, the two times that their model was actually used (2018 for Hugin and 2021 for Ciattarelli), it lost. And that’s kind of the opposite of “viable”.

You might have noticed that in contrast to past years, these consultants are going all out to present an examination of the data. They claim it will show how successful they were in not winning the governor’s office, state senate, and state assembly. The Save Jersey blog just did a post-mortem of sorts and the NJGOP is planning to put together a dog and pony show in March to further “prove” their point.

Some wags have pointed out that all this activity was hastened after the announcement that the GOP legislative leadership would conduct its own post-mortem into what was done and how it failed to capture a single legislative chamber. This is nothing new. Every legislative leadership in every state does it after every election cycle.

But the wags have also pointed out that this is the reason why NJGOP Chairman Bob Hugin is withholding access to the data necessary to complete a legislative post-mortem. Yes, it’s the Republican National Committee’s data, granted to each state committee as a resource for legislative and other party leaders to study voter history, conduct post-mortems, create voter turnout models, recruit candidates, and create direct-mail databases.

So why isn’t Bob Hugin and the NJGOP sharing this data with Republican legislative leaders? Could it be that they don't want the legislative post-mortem to happen? Why else would they want the NJGOP to be a one-idea operation?

Hugin and his consultants have the data. They are making selective use of it to create a narrative supporting the theory that the Bob Hugin-Jack Ciattarrelli model of campaigning, in particular the turnout model, is the only “viable” way forward. By withholding the data from competing models – like the one Bill Stepien’s team is working on for GOP legislative leaders – Hugin and his consultants are attempting to abort a potential competition of ideas.

Is this kind of cheating the Big Pharma way? If you fix it so there’s no competition allowed, you can pretty much do what you want and not be held to account for it.

For our part, we don’t like cheating. We think New Jersey Republicans can handle more than one way, in other words, a choice. And we don’t think they will explode just because they have more than one idea to consider.

Don’t cheat. Different perspectives are good things. Don't try to block them from happening. Don't try to stop them. From them, maybe you’ll figure out how to win… for real win. Not fantasy spin win.

What happens when you spin yourself and fail to come to grips with reality.

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

George Orwell

Is Nancy Munoz the first victim of the authoritarian vs freedom divide?

By Rubashov

Earlier this year, an event of great importance happened in New Jersey’s Republican Party: At the June primary election, the establishment candidate – the candidate with all the county party lines and all the public financing – received less than half the vote. Two underfunded, lesser-known candidates – one who began his political career just a year earlier (at a restaurant in New Hope, Pennsylvania) – together captured 160,000 Republican votes.

The winner of that election, Jack Ciattarelli, got 167,000 votes. 11,000 went to a fourth candidate. The primary saw the state’s conservative movement divided between “pragmatists” and “purists” – with the purists further divided between two candidates. The emerging consensus: Never allow the movement to become divided again.

That primary result has been trumped by an even more remarkable event – the intervention of the grassroots into the contest over who will lead the Republican minority in the Assembly. In the late afternoon of Friday, October 15th, New Jersey Globe’s David Wildstein broke the news that Assemblywoman Nancy Munoz (R-21) had the votes to become the next GOP Assembly Leader. Wildstein reported:

Nancy Muñoz appears set to become the next minority leader of the New Jersey State Assembly after forging a coalition with John DiMaio, the New Jersey Globe has learned.

DiMaio (R-Hackettstown) will drop his bid for the post and become the Minority Conference Leader, the number two slot in the Assembly GOP leadership. The new minority whip will be Antwan McClellan, a freshman lawmaker from Cape May County.

Assemblyman Ned Thomson (R-Wall), who had also been campaigning for the post, will also exit the race and back Muñoz, sources have confirmed.

The New Jersey Globe tally gives Muñoz, a six-term assemblywoman from Summit, enough to clinch a majority of the GOP caucus in the lower house after the November 2 election. Those numbers led to Thomson’s exit. He will be offered the post of Assistant Minority Leader.

In reaction to this, the grassroots erupted and Assemblyman Brian Bergen (R-25) offered himself as an alternative. Over the next week, traditional conservative grassroots activists from the Second Amendment and Pro-Life communities began an effort to block Assemblywoman Munoz. Critically however, it was the muscle of a newer grassroots effort – those resisting government medical mandates – that shocked sitting GOP legislators with wave upon wave of lobbying contact.

This group is not part of the traditional “conservative” world of guns, babies, and taxes or the post-Trump “populist conservative” guns, babies, illegal immigration, and taxes. This is new, post-COVID, and was predicted by Ralph Nader in his 2014 book, Unstoppable: The Emerging Left–Right Alliance to Dismantle the Corporate State.

Former Democrat Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard, a candidate for president last year, has written and discussed this extensively. Earlier this month, Tucker Carlson described the old partisan Democrat vs. Republican divide as meaningless in understanding the politics of today and termed the new divide this way:

“The people in charge are intent on replacing our free democratic system with an authoritarian system, where they don’t convince you of anything, they simply make you do things. And they benefit from that.”

Here is a video with the entire segment…

“The people in charge are intent on replacing our free democratic system with an authoritarian system, where they don’t convince you of anything, they simply make you do things. And they benefit from that.”

That last sentence is very important: “And they benefit from that.”

The people who brought us the opioid epidemic certainly benefit. Americans pay the highest prices for pharmaceuticals in the world to companies that use our tax dollars for research and development. Goldman Sachs is benefitting from Green Energy mandates to the tune of billions every year. Even Garden State Equality is getting fat off contracts related to the new LGBTQplus curriculum mandates. With every mandate there are those who trouser the cash and those who turn over the cash by way of taxes.

Did Assemblywoman Munoz reckon on this new group? It is looking like she didn’t. Like Jack Ciattarelli and running mate Diane Allen, Nancy Munoz was prepared to smooth the edges around her positions on the Second Amendment and abortion – but it seems she didn’t take the growing free democratic system vs. an authoritarian system divide into her calculations.

If Tucker Carlson and the others are right, going forward, politicians of all political persuasions will need to take this new divide into account. That is, unless you are a committed authoritarian, like Phil Murphy and his charming Lady Macbeth.

"What need we fear who knows it, when none can call our power to account?"
Lady Macbeth
(from The Tragedy of Macbeth, by Wm. Shakespeare)

Gubernatorial Debate: Murphy laughs about violence against women.

By Rubashov

There is a disturbing intensity about Phil Murphy -- and it’s something his campaign team evidently approves of and draws upon. In his recent attack ad on GOP opponent Jack Ciattarelli, his team selected a clip of a wildly gesticulating Murphy waving his arms up and down in the manner Fidel Castro. Disturbed as much as it is disturbing?

At last evening’s debate, Phil Murphy didn’t appear to listen to or consider the questions posed to him. At no point could you catch the wheels turning in the back of his brain somewhere. Instead, Murphy rabbited back his replies with all the thoughtfulness of a child repeating his catechism. Murphy exists not so much in a world of ideas as in one of certainties, which become more certain the more often repeated. This he did, stopping only to relish the “sacredness” of certain words. For example, Murphy genuflects before the phrase “Planned Parenthood” the way another Murphy, a generation or so ago, might have before the phrase “Virgin Mother.”

He seems genuinely beyond discussing anything with. A post-rational politician who is pursuing his own way into “heaven” – trying to be his version of “good” and unable to imagine any other versions. In short, an invincibly intolerant man.

Then there is Phil Murphy’s pride. He seems incapable of apology – even of acknowledging his own humanity. Phil Murphy does nothing wrong. There is no fault he needs to acknowledge. No wrong done that he needs to apologize for. It is always someone else’s fault or responsibility. To disagree with him is existential, to “go backwards” as he tells it. Murphy accuses others of inciting “them against us” divisiveness while he speaks incessantly about people based on the color of their skin or who they have sex with. Did he even once refer to the human whole – to people – as opposed to “black and brown” people or “LGBTQ plus” people or "white" oppressors???

A man, so lacking in original thought, unable to discuss ideas, hangs desperately on to the life preserver of mantra. A strange, distant man – ultimately tragic in his isolation.

That’s why Phil Murphy makes such callous gaffs – like treating the rape of one of his own staffers as if it were a systems flaw to be corrected with the right amount of training or the right number of female appointments (and then patting himself on the back for “getting it right”). His comments concerning the horrendous crimes faced by women realtors – sneering, dismissive, mocking – were particularly telling. Here is Murphy:

“He (Ciattarelli) supports concealed carry… for certain professions like that really dangerous one, realtors…”

The Democrats in the audience hooted very loudly and laughed with Murphy.

Well, Governor (and all your laughing supporters) please consider this video:

Play those screams, Governor. Hear her tell about how she feared she would be raped, Governor. Then tell us, Governor, if this is a laughing matter.

And here are a few headlines for you to consider before your next bout of laughter:

Attacks on Real Estate Agents Are Increasing Every Day
09/09/2019
“In fact, according to the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics, 48 real estate professionals died while on the job in 2017.”

The Concerning Rise of Real Estate Agent Attacks
03/02/2019
“Experts on real estate safety agree that the reason so many real estate agents are attacked is because their job requires them to be alone with random members of the public. Unlike customer service jobs that typically include working with coworkers, many real estate agents work alone. They also make scheduled appointments to show homes and advertise when they will be having open houses, so it is easy for a potential attacker to ascertain a real estate agent’s whereabouts.”

Trend of Violence Against Women Real Estate Agents
04/04/2020
“It’s no secret that real estate agents do fear for their personal safety. According to a 2018 Inman survey, 41% of women surveyed said it was a major concern.”

How a Real Estate Agent Survived Attack By Man She Was Showing a Home to
02/12/2015
"And finally I said, we really need to go. So, we started out the door, and I reached down to pick up the lock box. That's when he struck me over the head."

Broker beware: From robbery to assault, realty agents face big risks
12/02/2017
“…in May, while showing a client a vacant property in Avondale, Figueroa heard footsteps and conversation on the second floor. She believes it was a drug deal. All she knows for sure is that a man began running down the stairs toward where she was standing.”

Should Realtors Wear Body Cameras?
03/01/2018
“An Elizabeth City real estate agent found herself in a scary and dangerous situation while showing a rental property this March. A man pretending to be working with a group of investors ended up touching the agent several times and refusing to let her leave the property once he had her inside.”

Are open houses too dangerous to justify?
11/13/2019
“Jen Geisinger was holding an open house alone about a decade ago when she heard what sounded like someone rummaging through the master bathroom’s medicine cabinet…”

The Disturbing Reality of Real Estate Murders
04/15/2019
“According to Psychology Today, real estate professionals face a significant risk when they show homes to strangers. Every meeting with a client means trusting somebody new… Sarah Anne Walker’s body was found in a model home by a couple coming to view it. She’d been beaten, stabbed, bitten, and robbed of her jewelry. Police arrested Kosoul Chanthakoummane for Sarah’s murder thanks to DNA-related discoveries. He’d seemingly been targeting real estate agents he could rob.”

“She’d been beaten, stabbed, bitten, and robbed… and then murdered.”

Imagine if it was someone you knew? A neighbor perhaps? Or a family member?

Still laughing?

This is what happens when a politician stops listening and becomes too certain of his or her own bullshit. Because thinking you are “good” when you are just a fallen human fool like the rest of us is bullshit. It allows you to the laugh at the plight of people who don’t have 24-hour armed security, like Phil Murphy has. Who have to go out and maybe not come back just to put food on the table – something Phil Murphy doesn’t need to worry about.

It comes from an over-abundance of Pride. And a lack of empathy for others who don’t share your good fortune. And a lack of tolerance for those whose perception of the world was shaped differently from yours.

“The true measure of any society can be found in how it treats its most vulnerable members.”
Mahatma Gandhi

Katie Brennan: Don’t make your cause political. It hurts victims.

By Rubashov

Katie Brennan is a long time Democrat Party political operative. She was a staffer with the campaign of Governor Phil Murphy when she made the claim that she was sexually assaulted by another staffer, allegedly a political favorite of the Governor’s spouse.

Katie Brennan tried to have her problem resolved internally. She went to politically appointed prosecutors and they declined to take her case. Finally, she went to the media and her story became front page news.

As Katherine Landergan of Politico notes:

Katie Brennan’s rape allegation against Al Alvarez and the way it was handled by the Murphy administration prompted hours of hearings, policy changes and a broader discussion about how women are treated in Trenton.

It also became a major scandal for the governor’s office.

Republican gubernatorial candidate Jack Ciattarelli is now using the scandal as part of a website and digital ad campaign that was launched Wednesday. Brennan’s testimony in those hearings narrates the ad. And Brennan is not okay with it.

“Survivors are not your props. We are not your political pawns. To use me as such, without my consent, is disrespecting survivors. It is disrespecting women. Take note @Jack4NJ and Diane Allen,” Brennan said on Twitter, with a screenshot of the website.

Hey Katie, this isn’t the time to make this political. You made the allegation. You went public. When you do that, you lose control over who is allowed to comment. You don’t get to vet people who wish to take a position on the subject you raised. You can’t keep it a Democrat Party thing or a women thing or even a victims’ thing. It is now part of a national discussion. Sorry. Didn’t your lawyer tell you this?

Every entity that came forward to focus a light on what happened to you had a motive or could be accused of having a motive. The media uses scandal to put eyes on the page and increase revenue. Politicians, academics, bureaucrats, activists, and non-profits use it to their own advantage too. As in our adversarial legal system, two sides beat each other up to get to the truth. It is the way we move forward. Let it be.

Most of the women New York’s Governor Andrew Cuomo sexually abused were politically active Democrats too. Like you, they came forward. And like you, they took crap from other Democrat Party operatives. But right and wrong came before party. The same with Nixon and Watergate. It always should.

Don’t make this about politics. Don’t turn yourself into a prop for the Murphy Democrats. For every woman like you who had the opportunity to exact some measure of justice for what happened to you, there are dozens – maybe hundreds – who worked in the Trenton cesspit (for both parties) whose stories never made the front page. Who were abused and exposed to the world and who had to shut up and take it.

Don’t become a shield to the same two-party establishment power structure that abused you. Don’t get in the way of it tearing itself apart. Forget that party shit because party doesn’t matter. Right and wrong does.

Katie... you are not the only one it happened to. And not only women are victims of sexual abuse.

“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.

The humanity of Jack Ciattarelli vs. Phil Murphy’s Wall Street ego.

By Rubashov

The grumblings on the ground, amongst the hundreds of grassroots doers who make up what could be the activist base of the Republican Party in New Jersey, are not filtering up, not making it to the ears of the Establishment media in this state. Apart from the astute Paul Mulshine, who ever calls them?

For most of the Establishment media, such people are simply examples of Hilary Clinton’s deplorables, unworthy of consideration. How stripping people of their common humanity – a humanity the Establishment media insists be granted to child rapists and serial killers – became a species of so-called “liberalism”, we cannot know. It is a feature of the new class war described by Michael Lind in a book by the same name (The New Class War: Saving Democracy from the Managerial Elite), published last year.

Lind argues that Western democracies must incorporate working-class majorities of all races, ethnicities, and creeds into decision-making in politics, the economy, and culture. Only this class compromise can avert a never-ending cycle of clashes between oligarchs and populists and save democracy.” Now, before anyone goes assuming that Lind is some “right-wing extremist”, recall that he has taught at Harvard and Johns Hopkins and is a Professor at the Lyndon Baines Johnson School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas at Austin. An author of more than a dozen books, Professor Lind was an editor or staff writer at the New Yorker, Harper’s, The New Republic, and The National Interest. Professor Lind also writes some very good poetry.

With regards to the gubernatorial race between the incumbent Democrat, Phil Murphy, and the Republican challenger, Jack Ciattarelli, the usually hostile Establishment media is full of “well-meaning” advice for the challenger. This advice goes from “give-up, Murphy’s got this” to “there should be no clear-blue water between the GOP and the Democrats, all those issues are settled, your policies should mimic those of the Democrats.”

But the grumblings continue – fueled by those “settled policies” pushed on them or imposed directly by Governor Murphy and his ideological allies (many of whom he has made taxpayer-paid vendors to his administration). As the Establishment media doesn’t talk to people like this, they find ways to talk to each other – so a new, contained, kind of media is created in the hundreds of social media and internet-based groups, formal and informal, that have filled the void left by Establishment media.

This vibrant new media serves much the same purpose as the phenomenon of “little magazines” did during the last century – when political, cultural, and literary movements (pushed aside or ignored by the Establishment) created their own media to communicate through. The question is: Will the NJGOP and its candidates acknowledge and promote this new media? Will they harness its possibilities?

So far, New Jersey Republicans have been slow to recognize the opportunities offered by this new media, slow to adapt and engage. Most have remained hard-wired to the Establishment media who (a) are not their friends, and who (b) no longer talk to or engage with the voters who are their friends. We see evidence of this in every fresh missive from official party sources. The party recognizes and promotes the same sources as it has done for decades – only the newspapers are now on life-support and instead of PoliticsNJ it is now called New Jersey Globe.

The most notable departure from this has been the Republican nominee himself, Jack Ciattarelli. Whoever he was four or more years ago, informed by his background as a small business owner and an accountant, he has grown through engaging with people and listening to them.

Jack Ciattarelli is among the best listeners in politics we’ve come across. And it doesn’t matter who he’s talking with – a kid in Newark wondering about his future, a restaurant owner trying to stay in business, a single-mom facing foreclosure, or parents sick and tired of government butting-in between them and their children – Jack listens. He listens, he thinks about it, he takes what he has heard into his heart – and he changes and makes it part of his platform.

You cannot ask for more from anyone running for public office. It doesn’t get any better than a genuine, honest listener – open to learning from the people he wants to represent. And isn’t that what representative democracy is all about?

Jack’s opponent is Phil Murphy, the incumbent Governor, and one-time boss at Wall Street’s Goldman-Sachs. A self-proclaimed “Master-of-the-Universe”. They do not listen. They know.

They know what is best for you. And they know that it is better for everyone when the silly proles know their place and leave the world to be run by people like them. People who don’t let ideas like freedom or democracy get in the way of profit. Masters-of-the-Universe who know that you can’t get all sentimental and worry about young Asian girls being worked like slaves in unsafe environments for pennies an hour. Especially when an “ideal” like profit is at stake.

These people send their children to private boarding schools that cost as much as a working person earns in a year. They turn their kids over to an institution that daily takes their place. Institutions that act as Nanny to inculcate an Establishment ethos into their charges.

It is their choice to do so. But they do not extend to others the same choice when they try to impose an ideological curriculum on their children. Phil and Tammy Murphy (herself an alumnus and board member of one of these private boarding schools) want to place their ideas about how your children should be raised between you and your own kids! And its not just the curriculum that they are messing with. Murphy’s Democrats wanted to make it a crime for the police to tell parents when the cops caught their kids using drugs.

Phil Murphy doesn’t respect the family. He doesn’t care about that special space that joins parents and children. He wants to break it all to pieces – just so he can hand a fat plum to his political allies at Garden State Equality. They want something. They need money. Mandating a new curriculum delivers on that. His allies get theirs. They endorse Murphy. Murphy profits – just like in the old days.

There is no doubt that the grumblings of the nascent new media will continue – even as it grows, knits itself together, and builds a following of people looking to read something by someone who doesn’t call them names. There are millions upon millions of such people – and they grow every time someone tells them that skin color marks some people as “bad” or that their country is something to be ashamed of.

And while the NJGOP and its allied organizations throughout the state may not get it, some do and, most importantly, Jack does. Jack Ciattarelli is a listener who has listened and who has taken crap from the Establishment media because he has listened… and he did not back down.
 
If there is to be a reckoning within the GOP, now is not the moment. All people – Republican, Democrat, Undeclared, Independent – who value individual liberty and personal freedom, who value the family and the small community, have in Jack Ciattarelli a champion who will listen. And that’s how it begins – with listening. How refreshingly different from the “shut up and know your place… or I’ll call you a bad word” of Phil Murphy and his unctuous crew.
 
Jack is listening. He needs your help. Focus your energies between now and November 2nd accordingly.

“It is a truism that almost any sect, cult, or religion will legislate its creed into law if it acquires the political power to do so, and will follow it by suppressing opposition, subverting all education to seize early the minds of the young, and by killing, locking up, or driving underground all heretics.”

Robert Heinlein

BLM backs the Cuban regime. Will the NJ Legislature end its support of BLM?

By Rubashov

A Newsweek headline asks: Why Is Black Lives Matter Defending the Totalitarian Cuban Regime? Why indeed?

Newsweek continues:

The anti-government protests that have rocked Cuba in the last several days are the most dramatic expression of discontent seen on the island in six decades of communist rule. President Biden has sent a strongly worded message of solidarity with "the Cuban people and their clarion call for freedom" against "Cuba's authoritarian regime," praising the protesters' assertion of "fundamental and universal rights."

…Yet not everyone was united in condemnation.

Most prominent among these is the Black Lives Matter movement, whose statement posted yesterday blamed Cuba's economic troubles on the United States embargo and hailed the Cuban regime's "solidarity with oppressed peoples of African descent." According to the BLM statement, "The people of Cuba are being punished by the U.S. government because the country has maintained its commitment to sovereignty and self-determination. United States leaders have tried to crush this Revolution for decades." Preposterously, the statement also accuses the U.S. of "undermining Cubans' right to choose their own government."

The "choice," in this case, is a one-party system in which all candidates for political office must be vetted by Communist Party-controlled committees.

Wow. “All candidates for political office must be vetted by Communist Party-controlled committees?” Functions something like the county “line”.

The BLM Movement statement specifically mentioned Cuba’s support for a convicted cop-killer: “Cuba has historically demonstrated solidarity with oppressed peoples of African descent, from protecting Black revolutionaries like Assata Shakur through granting her asylum, to supporting Black liberation struggles in Angola, Mozambique, Guinea Bissau, and South Africa.”

An anti-(American) police organization that supports a foreign police state. An actual police state. The real thing. Not some academic Karen’s imaginings.

Here is some news coverage of BLM’s madness:

BLM… a Ponzi scheme?

A few days ago, a group of corrupt Democrat ward heelers, that included state legislators, put out a statement attacking Republican gubernatorial candidate Jack Ciattarelli for his support of the Cuban people in their push for democracy.  Perhaps, now we know why.
 
Last year, a chamber of the New Jersey Legislature passed a resolution explicitly supporting the same BLM (Black Lives Matter) Movement that has now formally lent its name and support to a totalitarian Communist dictatorship. In doing so, BLM has made it abundantly clear that they do not represent Black Americans who are not Communists or totalitarian or pro-dictatorship or anti-democracy.  In short, BLM hardly represents any Black Americans at all. 
 
May they now quickly consign their movement to the waste bin of history.
 
 

“It is a truism that almost any sect, cult, or religion will legislate its creed into law if it acquires the political power to do so, and will follow it by suppressing opposition, subverting all education to seize early the minds of the young, and by killing, locking up, or driving underground all heretics.”

Robert A. Heinlein

Big Pharma lobbyist LeRoy Jones defends Big Pharma’s Bob Hugin.

By Rubashov

In a remarkable intervention, the State Democrat Party Chairman came to the aid of his GOP counterpart, after the Republican was criticized for what the Democrat characterized as “attempting to introduce some level of diversity in candidate selection to (the state Republican) party.” On Friday afternoon, Democrat Chairman LeRoy Jones issued a press release defending State Republican Chairman Bob Hugin.

The two do share a degree of commonality. Jones is a Trenton lobbyist who counts Big Pharma among his clients (as well as Dominion Voting Systems). Hugin is a former Big Pharma executive. And, of course, both are members of the Trenton political Establishment.

It should be pointed out that, as a matter of fact, both oppose any real diversity in candidate selection – beyond that of a candidate’s surface appearance. No matter the outer husk of a candidate, you can be sure that both look to select so-called “party loyalists” – candidates who will be obedient to the needs of the Trenton Establishment. This is different than candidates who follow their party’s platform, or who have an ideological or policy benchmark.

If it were otherwise, Jones and Hugin would do away with the “county line” – a truly undemocratic institution, unique to New Jersey, that would be disqualified by the United Nations from use in an election anywhere in the civilized world. Jones’ party also wouldn’t spend enormous sums trying to stamp out reformist elements whenever they pop up.

Jones’ vision of “diversity” means that you can have candidates with a great many shades of skin coloring, or sexual interests, or gender identifications – so long as at their center there is the same corruption – the same, uniform, rot. That is how many different “identities” are managed in a way to ensure the same results: The same insiders making more money. The same taxpayers paying.

Nevertheless, it was a remarkable intervention by one member of the Trenton Establishment, on behalf of another. Jones’ press release reads, in part:

The latest NJ GOP turmoil comes from a highly critical blog post in the influential JerseyConservative.com, which attacks Ciattarelli and Hugin for attempting to introduce some level of diversity in candidate selection to their party. The post reads in part:

One high-ranking party boss in South Jersey said that Bob Hugin told him the NJGOP wants “new” looking candidates… youth, women, “minorities”, anything but old white guys. What’s going on in your head doesn’t matter… issues, policies, ideas, solutions, ethics, integrity, honesty… these things don’t matter. It is all about how you look and how they can market you. Sad, especially because they almost always lose anyway.

“It’s sad to see the Republican Party unable to reckon with a concept as simple as representing and respecting the diversity that makes our state unique, dynamic and powerful,” said NJDSC Chair LeRoy J. Jones, Jr. “If this is what Jack Ciattarelli’s Republican Party is fighting amongst itself about, how can it be counted on to address the issues of systemic racism and inequality that exist in our state and our nation? The answer is that it can’t, and the only party interested in advancing the cause of racial, social and economic justice is the Democratic Party..."

First, the Jersey Conservative post did not attack GOP gubernatorial nominee Jack Ciattarelli. It did question the waste of GOP resources – by Bob Hugin and others – in the active pursuit of pointless primary battles. One reason for these primary battles – suggested by Hugin when he targeted an incumbent Mercer County State Committee woman and in the passage quoted by Jones, above – was the pursuit of “diversity.”

Let us, for today, leave aside the fact that LeRoy Jones is partnered in his lobbying business with a longtime member of the Republican Establishment. Jones and this Establishment Republican make money together. Lots of money. This Republican is very close to the Republican operative who recruited Bob Hugin. Some operatives benefit directly from these primary fights within the GOP – generally in the form of monetary commissions, vendor mark-ups, and direct consultancy fees. Others benefit through professional contracts and such.

Viewed in context, could this remarkable intervention just be a case of the State Democrat Chairman doing a favor for his Republican business partner? And if so, how should the average Democrat feel about that?

Second, Jersey Conservative in no way represents the “Republican Party” organization in New Jersey. So, this is hardly a case of “fighting amongst itself”. Jersey Conservative takes a skeptical view of the Trenton Establishment. We are contrarian by nature. And while open to pretty much anyone who wishes to publish, it mainly exists to raise uncomfortable questions – to challenge Establishment opinion – much in the same way that someone like Sue Altman does within New Jersey’s Democrat/ liberal circles. Granted, we have yet to be physically assaulted and manhandled the way Altman was, at the direction of her party. Perhaps Chairman Jones might wish to comment on this, to assure us that diversity of opinion within his own party will, in the future, be tolerated?

Finally, the Jersey Conservative post was an appeal for less marketing (celebrity-style branding) and more results-oriented thinking. The post’s punchline reads: “More than branding, the GOP needs thinking. Come up with solutions to the problems voters face and then tell the story of how you are going to do it, so that they believe at least you’ll try.”

“Diversity” is a species of marketing. It is craven and opportunistic in the way that only something obsessed with the outer husk of a thing can be. “Diversity” is the last line of defense for many villains, among them, the very worst – as LeRoy Jones well knows, being a lobbyist for Big Pharma. Look at all the investments in “diversity” made by all those pharmaceutical companies caught killing kids through opioids. “Diversity” is a means to get people to look away from, for example, the fact that for decades you suppressed evidence that your product was giving women uterine cancer: “Don’t worry about that, we’re LGBTQ+ friendly… we are underwriting the PRIDE parade!” It is scumbag behavior.

Don’t believe us? Well, perhaps LeRoy Jones should ask those on the honest Left. There are some in his own party’s reform wing…

LeRoy Jones’ concept of “diversity” looks to be a very narrow one. He concerns himself with surface appearances and “identity” but ignores deeper values – such as religious beliefs, philosophical and political ideas, and economic class – along with human considerations like ethics, morals, honesty, and integrity.

That’s why Jones’ party doesn’t mind running and advancing the careers of convicted criminals. It has no ethics committee. His party has an LGBT caucus – but none representing Roman Catholics, the state’s largest “minority” group. It has a Standing Committee on Affirmative Action, but none on Universal Health Care (even through the pandemic), or the Bill of Rights, or Fair Trade, or (here’s a novelty) Peace (as opposed to Endless War).

Jones claims that “diversity… makes New Jersey “unique” and “dynamic”. It certainly cannot be called dynamic – more like economically stagnant. And as for diversity making it unique, who is he kidding? Diversity is (for the moment at least) everywhere.

Globalism has created new waves of migration that, in the natural course of things will turn “diversity” into a global “melting pot”. What Jones’ idea of “diversity” offers is a coercive segregation of the mind – because only segregation can preserve “diversity”. If you convince people they are different, then you can get them to stay apart from people who they have been taught to perceive as opposed to them. In this way they will maintain “diversity” by segregating themselves. It’s quite unnatural.

Jones’ “diversity” reminds us of those last-gasp European “ethnics” from the 1970s, who – around the time of the Bicentennial – successfully pushed to have ethnic ancestry placed as a question on the U. S. Census for 1980. That’s why we have figures today on the relative numbers of people with Irish or Italian or Polish ancestry in a given state or census tract. For the briefest moment it got people thinking in terms like “Armenian-American” before it all fell apart and evolved into “White”. In fact, even by the time of the 1980 census it had become an act of mere self-identification, the vast majority of Americans by then being of mixed ethnic ancestry. Ultimately, Jones’ “diversity” will be a similar fool’s errand.

Jones suggests there is “systemic racism and inequality” that exists in New Jersey and the nation. There he goes again with those husks – and of course, he would, being more liable than most for the systemic effects of the Establishment of which he is a big part. As a lobbyist, Jones must be aware that just about every reformer on earth points to his profession as the most visible cause of the corruption at the heart of our system of government. The reformers at Represent.US clearly finger Jones and company as the movers and shakers behind the systemic bad shit happening:

The system, of which LeRoy Jones is a part and by which he trousers large gobs of money, led a Princeton University study (Gilens & Page, 2014) to conclude: “The preferences of the average American appear to have only a miniscule, near zero, statistically non-significant impact upon public policy.”  Maybe we should call it systemic Jonesism?
 
As for inequality, well, here at long last progressives like Brandon McKoy actually have something “white” they can legitimately blame society’s problems on: White-Collar Government.  The bad news for LeRoy Jones is that his party (and Hugin’s) is a major reason we have White-Collar Government.
 
In White-Collar Government: The Hidden Role of Class in Economic Policy Making, Duke University Professor Nick Carnes cites studies showing that while a majority of Americans work in blue-collar employment, only 2 percent of Congress were blue-collar workers before being elected and only 3 percent of State Legislators are employed as blue-collar workers.  Carnes and others hold that this disparity reflects the economic decisions and priorities of legislative bodies in America.  So, there’s your inequality – staring back at LeRoy Jones when he looks in the mirror to shave every morning.
 
This lack of blue-collar “diversity” shouldn't surprise anyone looking at the Legislature's agenda.  And it shows why Democrat political leaders in Trenton don't give a damn about New Jersey having the highest property taxes in America.
 
LeRoy Jones – Trenton lobbyist and Democrat State Chairman – argues that “the only party interested in advancing the cause of racial, social and economic justice is the Democratic Party”.  That’s a strange formulation, because justice – being blindfolded – isn’t supposed to be about race or social status or economic class.  If you murder someone or rape a child, that stuff is not supposed to matter.  You get what is coming to you, regardless.  Maybe not in LeRoy Jones’ world, but that’s the ideal.
 
As for his Democrat Party and “justice”, LeRoy Jones could advance the cause if he could get his boss, Governor Phil Murphy, to cooperate with the families of the more than 8,000 residents of nursing and veterans’ homes who died as a result of Murphy’s Executive Order #103.  Have an investigation, get them answers, and don’t make the same mistakes again. 
 
Justice would also be served by addressing the inequality of the state’s school funding formula – which forces poor families in rural and suburban New Jersey to subsidize the property taxes of rich people in wealthy towns like Hoboken and Jersey City.  The poor subsidizing the rich.  Where’s the justice in that?
 
And, in the interest of justice, maybe LeRoy Jones should recognize – and ask his party to recognize – the growing police response times in urban areas, caused by the Defund the Police movement.  Jones and his party should recognize that a single mom has no place to hide with her children if some street thug decides to break in and take their lives.  The police, who were already overstretched, cannot get to her in time.  So, when she applies for a firearm permit, create a process that works, in the interest of justice, so that she can defend her life and her children – so they don’t need to die.  Either that, or have your party pay for a guard and station him outside her front door… forever.  That would work too.
 
We welcome a continuing dialogue with Chairman Jones.  If you wish to write a response to this or anything else, we will happily publish it.  Thank you for taking the time to address us through your press release on Friday.  Please do so again.  
 
 

“If it were 1860, the Democrats would be bragging about their first transgendered slave-owner.”

Jimmy Dore

NJGOP: Will Bob Hugin cause a civil war for Jack Ciattarelli?

By Rubashov

First, a hearty welcome to our new readers in the Washington Metro area.

Later today, former U.S. Senate candidate Bob Hugin will become the new Leader of New Jersey’s Republican Party. Ideologically, Hugin is very different from the last two men at the helm of the NJGOP. Outgoing Chairman Mike Lavery is a behind-the-scenes guy who shares a similar issue grid with the Chairman he replaced, Doug Steinhardt, an unashamed conservative on issues like the Right-to-Life, the Second Amendment, illegal immigration, taxes, and traditional values.

Of course, Hugin spent $36 million on a campaign to convince voters that he wasn’t a conservative. Nevertheless, he had more than enough connections with President Trump for the Democrats to define him. His campaign provided insiders with six-figure jobs, made some consultants rich, but was otherwise a disaster. While suppressing the GOP base, Hugin drove up swing Democrat turnout in several congressional districts that Hugin won – and the Republican Congressman or congressional candidate lost.

Last December, Hugin ran for Chairman of the NJGOP and came up short. Since then, the former Big Pharma executive has busied himself with changing the face of the GOP. Since his 2018 campaign, Hugin appears to have more deeply embraced identity politics.

For example, an independent expenditure committee controlled by Hugin called Women for a Stronger New Jersey spent around $30,000 on direct mail, text-messaging, robo-calls, and social media in an attempt to defeat a conservative State Committeewoman in Mercer County and replace her with what would have been the first transgender State Committeewoman to represent the GOP. The effort ultimately failed, but one can only ask why such resources – scarce in the best of times – would be wasted on such a silly primary, for such a silly cause. Surely, with so few legislators and counties in the GOP column, $30,000 would be better used to defeat Democrats.

Women for a Stronger New Jersey is run by Bob Hugin’s 2018 U.S. Senate campaign manager, who also benefits as a vendor to the committee. Hugin’s spouse is a member of the three-member board that runs the committee, according to its webpage. And as if anyone needed clarification as to the ideology of the candidates the committee is looking to promote, the Women for a Stronger New Jersey website is very clear on this:

“We're working to grow the number of women serving in elected office at the state and local level by building a diverse network of moderate Republican and Independent women throughout the state and expanding the pool of women considering public office.”

That’s right, conservative Republican women need not apply. But independents – as in non-Republicans – are okay. That’s kind of a sucky formula, isn’t it?

Earlier this year, when the state’s senior Pro-Life Senator decided to run for re-election, Women for a Stronger New Jersey was there wasting resources and urging a primary. And there was a primary – not for the Senate, but for the Assembly – with another enormous waste of resources. In total, Republicans have pissed away about $2 million on avoidable primaries – and that’s not counting the gubernatorial race. Insider vendors and consultants trouser the proceeds and benefit, but the party doesn’t. Because money doesn’t come easy.

Women for a Stronger New Jersey is not the only committee Bob Hugin has set-up that seems drawn to killing its Republican brethren. Jersey Real is a federal independent expenditure SuperPAC that has spent hundreds of thousands in Republican congressional primaries in seats that we later failed to pick-up. The Treasurer of Jersey Real happens to be that same candidate who was hoping to become the first transgendered Republican State Committeewoman. Small world.

Jersey Real is already active fomenting primaries in two congressional districts for next year: CD05 and CD03. Jersey Real’s choice in CD05 worked on Hugin’s 2018 campaign. It doesn’t appear to matter to anyone that the Democrat incumbent is sitting on $9 million. Nobody has asked, let alone answered, the question about how Republicans spending a million or more dollars bashing each other is going to help that arithmetic. Hey, the consultants and vendors will trouser a lot of cash – but the poor GOP donors shouldn’t expect a return on their investment.

One high-ranking party boss in South Jersey said that Bob Hugin told him the NJGOP wants “new” looking candidates… youth, women, “minorities”, anything but old white guys. What’s going on in your head doesn’t matter… issues, policies, ideas, solutions, ethics, integrity, honesty… these things don’t matter. It is all about how you look and how they can market you. Sad, especially because they almost always lose anyway.

After the scandal of Watergate, steps were taken to make our election process more democratic. In the time since, the Courts have destroyed those reforms, ruling that money is speech. Today, the average voter feels shouted down by a few very rich oligarchs who count for a very few votes but whose money allows them to scream very loudly and shout down millions of voters.

This disparity led a Princeton University study (Gilens & Page, 2014) to conclude: “The preferences of the average American appear to have only a miniscule, near zero, statistically non-significant impact upon public policy.” Voters believe in the ideal of democracy but increasingly understand they do not have it.

“The preferences of the average American appear to have only a miniscule, near zero, statistically non-significant impact upon public policy.”

In an opinion column, published in yesterday’s New Jersey Globe, Fairleigh Dickinson’s Peter Woolley wrote: “Jack (Ciattarelli) barely mustered half of the Republican primary vote though running against two candidates who were, to put it most charitably, marginal.”  It’s actually worse than that, because most Republican voters weren’t excited enough or mad enough to vote at all. 
 
Bob, you have been chosen to lead the NJGOP by the 2021 gubernatorial nominee.  His name is Jack Ciattarelli.  He is job one.  Along with every legislator and legislative candidate and all the county offices and local elected offices.  The party has candidates who face do or die THIS November. 
 
Don’t get ahead of yourself worrying about how to put your stamp on the 2022 congressional primaries so that the GOP establishment nominates a bunch of lefties nobody cares about.  If you are going to do that, you might as well take Alan Steinberg’s advice and just embrace critical race theory and then – for all your money – prepare to be the state’s third party.
 
Finally, you need to accept that this is a grungier, more blue-collar party now.  A candidate can get by perfectly well just by repeating the word “Trump”.  Of course, that is not a policy or a solution.  But neither is the first transgendered (fill in the blank).  More than branding, the GOP needs thinking.  Come up with solutions to the problems voters face and then tell the story of how you are going to do it, so that they believe at least you’ll try.          

“Every great cause begins as a movement, becomes a business, and eventually degenerates into a racket.”

Eric Hoffer

Hispanic Republicans of North Jersey Announce Speakers for Lincoln Dinner in Hudson County on March 6th

Herminio Mendoza

Hudson County, NJ – The Hispanic Republicans of North Jersey announced the speakers forthe Hudson County Lincoln Dinner on Saturday, March 6 th from 5-9pm at The Factory (451 Communipaw Avenue, Jersey City, 07304).

The speakers will include Matthew Castaneda, Northeast Deputy Regional Director at Young Americans for Liberty; Billy Prempeh, founder and President of Revive America; Eric Arpert, Campaign Manager for Jack Ciattarelli for Governor; and Pastor Phillip Rizzo, candidate for the GOP gubernatorial nomination.

The dinner will include great conversation, celebrating Lincoln, and terrific food. Tickets for the dinner are 75$ and can be purchased here. Due to Covid-19 space is limited. For early sign-up use discount code “2024” before they run out.

Herminio Mendoza, President of the Hispanic Republicans of North Jersey stated that, “the great line up of grassroots GOP leaders deeply involved in Republican politics speaking at our Lincoln Dinner shows that Hispanic Republicans are being taken seriously.” He continued, “we are so excited to have all the Republicans who support outreach and activism, from across New Jersey, but especially from Hudson County, come together as one.”

From rallies to op-eds arguing for policies that help regular people not just the elite, standing up against the Democrat Machine to advocating for an active GOP in Hudson County and more, the Hispanic Republicans of North Jersey have been an important voice for Republicans in Hudson County and across north New Jersey.

Will Steinhardt now disclose his clients who invest in Communist China?

By Rubashov

Did you hear… Jack Ciattarelli is a Commie!
 
Yep, the campaign of gubernatorial candidate Doug Steinhardt has followed up the announcement that “I’m not a politician, at all”, with a bigger, stupider lie. 
 
Yesterday, the Steinhardt campaign sent around an email that accused Ciattarelli of investing in “the Chinese Communist Party.”  The email went on to explain:
 
“As recently as 2017, Ciattarelli had ownership in several Chinese business investments all tied to the Communist Party of China (CPC).  It’s outrageous, but true - Ciattarelli actually owned financial interests in China Eastern Airlines, China Lodging Group and China Mobile Ltd.” 
 
The email included an image of Ciattarelli’s 2016 Personal Financial Disclosure Statement, filed with the New Jersey Legislature on May 2, 2017).  Steinhardt’s missive continued:
 
“At least two of his investments have direct connections to the CPC. According to Centre for Aviation, Shanghai-based China Eastern Airlines is one of China's 'big three' state-owned airlines. Moreover, China Mobile is reportedly controlled directly by the Communist Party of China. According to a report from Forbes, the Federal Communications Commission sought to reject China Mobile’s application to provide telecommunications in the United States because of its CPC influences.”
 
While it is true that candidates for public office are responsible for where they place their money and with whom they invest, it is also true that investments are often made without very much detailed geo-political information on the company invested in or the fund doing the investing.  Perhaps there should be federal labeling laws? 
 

True to its tribute band aspirations, the Steinhardt campaign goes on to level this attack against Ciattarelli:

“While Ciattarelli has been profiting from his investments in Communist China, President Trump and Doug Steinhardt have been promoting strategies that put America first, protect our Nation’s interests, promote election integrity, and hold China accountable for the spread of the COVID-19 virus.”

They even have a quote from Steinhardt – one in which he does the full Elvis impersonation…

“New Jersey needs a leader who will stand with President Trump’s ‘America First’ policies and against the Communist Party of China, not invest American dollars in the CPC. It’s time New Jersey leaders start protecting our financial interests instead of only worrying about their own. While conservative leaders who understand the threat the CPC poses seek to distance themselves from Communist China, Jack Ciattarelli has a long history of making money by investing in CPC linked companies. Voters must know that Jack is morally compromised on this important, national issue.”

Morally compromised? Didn’t the Philadelphia Inquirer report that Doug Steinhardt’s law firm wanted to buy a marijuana farm? Isn’t Steinhardt’s partner, the ever-so-conservative Jim Florio, the state’s biggest promoter of edible marijuana? You know, they put the stuff in chocolate bars, peanut butter cups, and gummy bears… and then the kids get hold of it and nobody is the wiser. A teacher or a parent or a cop can see when a kid is smoking a joint – but how do you effectively monitor candy? Guess “morality” must come in assorted flavors too.

But let’s place Doug Steinhardt’s questioning of Jack Ciattarelli's morality to one side for the moment.

We have to ask… Why doesn’t the Steinhardt campaign know that Donald Trump is heavily invested in China and that he does so much business with China, he maintains a bank account there? Given who is running the Steinhardt campaign… WTF!

If anyone missed it, the New York Times did a pretty big story on it at the end of October. Oh, and catch these dates…

“Trump Records Shed New Light on Chinese Business Pursuits... As he raises questions about his opponent’s standing with China, President Trump’s taxes reveal details about his own activities there, including a previously unknown bank account... President Trump at a 2017 meeting with the leader of China, Xi Jinping. Mr. Trump has a long history of chasing licensing deals in the country.”

One story from October 20, 2020, was particularly in-depth:

“Mr. Trump’s own business history is filled with overseas financial deals, and some have involved the Chinese state. He spent a decade unsuccessfully pursuing projects in China, operating an office there during his first run for president and forging a partnership with a major government-controlled company.

And it turns out that China is one of only three foreign nations — the others are Britain and Ireland — where Mr. Trump maintains a bank account, according to an analysis of the president’s tax records, which were obtained by The New York Times.”

The story notes that Trump paid China $188,561 in taxes – which is, by some accounts, more than he paid in the United States. Trump’s attorney would not identify the bank in China where the account is held, but the Times noted that China’s biggest state-controlled bank rented three floors in Trump Tower as late as 2019.

The Times continues:

“Mr. Trump has long sought a licensing deal in China. His efforts go at least as far back as 2006, when he filed trademark applications in Hong Kong and the mainland. Many Chinese government approvals came after he became president. (The president’s daughter Ivanka Trump also won Chinese trademark approvals for her personal business after she joined the White House staff.)”

“In 2008, Mr. Trump pursued an office tower project in Guangzhou that never got off the ground. But his efforts accelerated in 2012 with the opening of a Shanghai office… Mr. Trump found a partner in the State Grid Corporation, one of the nation’s largest government-controlled enterprises. Agence France-Presse reported in 2016 that the partnership would have involved licensing and managing a development in Beijing. Mr. Trump was reportedly still pursuing the deal months into his first presidential campaign, but it was abandoned after State Grid became ensnared in a corruption investigation by Chinese authorities.”

Doug Steinhardt should take a moment and read this and accompanying articles on Donald Trump’s business connections with China. We’re surprised nobody on his staff took the time to do so before issuing an attack that questioned Jack Ciattarelli’s morals – and by implication, those of President Donald Trump as well.

We would like to ask Doug, because he allowed his handlers to place a direct quote from him in their attack, do you now believe that Donald Trump is a Communist too? Does this mean that Jack Ciattarelli is more like Trump than Doug Steinhardt? That’s never good for a cover band, Doug.

But this get’s worse.

Doug Steinhardt allowed his team to put out this quote from him: “While President Trump and I were fighting to hold the CPC accountable, swampy politicians like Jack Ciattarelli were taking financial advice from the likes of Hunter Biden and making a personal profit off of questionable investments. I call on Jack Ciattarelli to immediately disclose all of his Chinese business holdings."

Hunter Biden? Where the hell did that come from?

See Doug, this is why you hire competent people. Sane people. People who don’t throw some name into the mix, simply because they heard it somewhere, regardless of whether it has anything remotely to do with what you are on about.

Can we flesh out this Hunter Biden thing? Does your campaign have any evidence at all that Ciattarelli took “financial advice” from Hunter Biden or, is the former top Republican in New Jersey (now a gubernatorial candidate) simply smearing the entire financial services industry? Shame on you for letting them put your name on that. It wasn’t smart.

Even less smart was them getting you to issue a call for Jack Ciattarelli to “disclose all of his Chinese business holdings.” You know you probably have all that information already. But now you’ve opened the door for him to ask you to disclose the Pandora’s Box of your clients – and all their dealings. And how many of them look at the geo-politics of a stock instead of its bottom line? Donald Trump doesn’t, for one. How about the Mayor of Jersey City? Isn’t he a client? Somebody pissed down their own leg.

See Doug, this is why you hire competent people.

“We have now sunk to a depth at which restatement of the obvious is the first duty of intelligent men. If liberty means anything at all, it means the right to tell people what they do not want to hear. In times of universal deceit, telling the truth will be a revolutionary act.”

George Orwells

N.B. We welcome a conversation on this and all topics raised on this website. Jersey Conservative is entirely open to your ideas and opinions. To submit a column for publication, please contact Marianna at marianna@JerseyConservative.org.