Who is right on critical speech: Tucker Carlson or Dawn Fantasia?
/By Rubashov
In common with so many establishment politicians, County Commissioner Dawn Fantasia seems to believe that large parts of her public life – the life she made public – are off limits to discussion. We got a taste of this earlier today, when her campaign sent around an email that entirely evaded what the voters have a right to know.
Commissioner Fantasia made a statement that suggests 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. We even invited her to publish her clarification, unedited, on our website.
Fantasia’s statement 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.”
Nobody made this up. It is on the front page of the state’s largest newspaper. And we’re not discussing events that happened at the time of her husband’s arrest and trial – but rather, statements made years after, when Dawn Fantasia was pursuing political office. Further, it appears the 2014 front page story was 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 public disclosure. Anyone can buy it on Amazon for $19.95.
So far, Fantasia has refused to issue a clarification, even though, as 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. And in her 780-word email earlier today, Fantasia again failed to clarify for voters her position on this matter.
Do voters have a right to know Dawn Fantasia’s position?
Micah Rasmussen, Director of the Rebovich Institute of New Jersey Politics at Rider University, provides this answer: “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.”
But Commissioner Fantasia’s email today takes a different path. It lays out the argument that a politician who currently holds elected public office and who is pursuing higher elected public office should not have to answer to the public.
And why? Fantasia claims a feminist exemption. Her campaign’s 780-word email is full of emotional rhetoric and offense-taking, but short on clarity. Please Dawn, just tell us how you would vote if you were a member of the Assembly. That’s all we asked.
The Fantasia campaign’s email is similar to political mailings sent out earlier this year, that urged voters not to read non-establishment media. This is something out of the old Soviet Union – or one of Joseph Goebbels screeds, decrying “Jewish atrocity propaganda”. Disgusting really, and an example of how over-powerful politicians think they have become.
Dawn Fantasia is a politician. She is paid by an organization that receives millions in taxpayer funding. She is an elected official who gets paid by the taxpayer. She is seeking higher public office – and a substantial pay raise. Dawn Fantasia does not get to decide what is or isn’t journalism.
She might think she’s a big deal, but the United States Supreme Court has over-ruled her. They have determined that blogs are indeed journalism and that bloggers are indeed journalists. The Society of Professional Journalists agrees as well.
Last week, former Fox News host Tucker Carlson announced that he was bringing his perspective to Twitter. His short statement contained a great deal of insights, such as this one, regarding statements that run counter to those of the “official” or establishment narrative:
“The rule of what you can’t say, defines everything. It’s filthy, really, And it’s utterly corrupting. You can’t have a free society if people aren’t allowed to say what they think is true. Speech is the fundamental prerequisite for democracy. That’s why it is enshrined in the first of our constitutional amendments.”
Carlson then goes on to point out the dearth of media platforms that stand in opposition to the establishment narrative or that present an alternative perspective. The situation is bad nationally – but even worse locally, where some counties and local governments have become transparency free zones with no external oversight. Local media simply doesn’t exist, and the situation is a great incubator of corruption.
Dawn Fantasia is an example of how politicians become when there is no local media to scrutinize them. They become apoplectic when asked questions about statements they made to the largest newspaper in the state.
Tucker Carlson reminds us, “Free speech is the main right that you have. Without it, you have no others.”
As an Assemblywoman – a member of the New Jersey Legislature – Dawn Fantasia 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.
Earlier today, she refused again.
