Platkin’s next letter: 51 family members of nursing home victims?

By Rubashov

It is always easy for those in power to obtain an unrepresentative sample of a particular group of people and claim it is otherwise. Earlier this morning, the Murphy administration posted the fruit of no doubt some considerable arm-twisting on NJ Globe: 51 political insiders who happen to be women.

Here is how the Globe characterized the letter: “51 New Jersey women sign letter praising Platkin nomination as attorney general, urging his confirmation. Support for Murphy nominee comes from some of the most powerful women in N.J. politics.”

But is this list of lobbyists, political patronage appointees, political operators, elected officials, and fronts for special interests representative of the women of New Jersey? Do they share the same daily concerns? Are they even interested in the same things?

People in politics – both male and female – are a rarified bunch. Their minds work differently, which is why they so often fail to sync up with those of average voters.

Would the average woman living in New Jersey want to work for a middle manager who ignored the rape of a coworker and refused to notify the boss? A middle manager who allowed the man accused of the rape to continue on, with no justice? A middle manager who thwarted not only justice for the victim, but the protection of every woman involved with that establishment, every woman who visited that establishment, and every woman who the accused might come in contact with?

No, we doubt the average woman living in New Jersey would think much of that middle manager. Not even if 51 other women or 51,000 other women signed a letter telling her that he was a great guy. Who would wish to work in such a place? Who would wish to send their wife, sister, mother, daughter, niece, or any woman they cared about to work in such an establishment?

And then we have Matthew Platkin’s signature on all those executive orders – closing churches, businesses, and schools. We have the greatest respect for folks like Sue Altman – but how can any self-respecting person of the Left fail to recognize the fact that in America when government blocks someone from earning a paycheck, it blocks them from the ability to pay for healthcare. So, unless that executive order entails some measure of temporary universal health care (not ObamaCare, mind you, but Clement AtleeCare) it isn’t really worthy of your support, is it? And the Murphy administration is swimming in cash, by-the-way, so shame on you.

Matthew Platkin was the legal mind behind all those strange contortions and permutations that went into those executive orders – like Executive Order 103. Platkin signed that executive order (see below). His nomination gives the survivors of those victims and their elected representatives an opportunity to ask Platkin questions about the legal, scientific, and medical reasoning behind Executive Order 103 and the other executive orders also signed by Platkin.

https://nj.gov/infobank/eo/056murphy/pdf/EO-103.pdf

Matthew Platkin’s signature on Executive Order 103, hurried between 8,000 and 10,000 nursing and veterans’ home residents to their deaths. Take a moment to watch this ABC News Nightline piece on the victims of just one of the nursing facilities involved and the impact Platkin’s actions have had on their families. This facility, in Andover Township, Sussex County, saw dozens of deaths…

Matthew Platkin signed Executive Order 103 that hurried thousands of nursing and veterans' home residents to their deaths.

Curiously, some of the political insiders who signed letters and expressed support for Matthew Platkin’s nomination are lobbyists for this same facility and others like it. More on this later.

In the aftermath of those deaths, county officials submitted Open Public Records Act (OPRA) requests seeking public information. Many of those requests are still pending, despite the Murphy administration coming to a monetary settlement with some of the families of veterans’ home victims who brought suit against the state. Matthew Platkin’s nomination provides an opportunity for transparency and to resolve some of these outstanding OPRA requests.

Lifting the stonewall with regards to these OPRA requests is a necessary first step to having open hearings on Platkin’s nomination. Anything less is a cover-up and taints the process and his appointment.

From the Debate: Murphy is allowing “drunk drivers” over the border

By Rubashov

At Tuesday night’s gubernatorial debate, Governor Phil Murphy compared those who choose to remain unvaccinated to “drunk drivers” who not only endanger themselves but endanger others as well. Fair enough, except that “drunk drivers” do not endanger everyone equally – as Governor Murphy suggested they do.

The threat that “drunk drivers” pose to the general population is relative and depends on a number of risk factors. For example, “drunk drivers” pose a greater risk to people in automobiles and on highways than they do to people in buildings.

The Governor should also consider that a law to prevent someone from putting too much of a controlled substance into their body – in this case alcohol – is very different from a law that forces someone to put a controlled substance into their body, like a pharmaceutical product. At Tuesday night’s debate, Murphy actually mocked that heretofore sacred phrase, “my body my choice”.

And then there’s this recent warning from the administration of President Joe Biden – in the person of the Secretary of Homeland Security – who explained that 20 percent of the folks who illegally come across the border are sick with an “unidentified illness”. In Governor Murphy’s parlance, that’s a whole heck of a lot of potential “drunk drivers”. Except that Murphy doesn’t have a plan to find out what ails them – to make sure they don’t spread it to the communities he’s responsible for protecting. In fact, the Governor plans to hand them a subsidized driver’s license to help put them on the road to spread it around.

Here is a very interesting segment from Tucker Carlson. The entire video is worth your time, but if your time is somewhat constrained, go to the 8:50 point of the video and hear the words of President Biden’s Secretary of Homeland Security.

Towards, the end of the video, Carlson plays a clip of Murphy’s “drunk drivers” analogy and invites the Governor on his show to explain the logic behind it. Don’t hold your breath.

“We are confronted with a population of people that as a general matter have a rate of illness of approximately twenty percent.” United States Secretary of Homeland Security - Alejandro Mayorkas

Wow. That’s a lot of “drunk drivers”.

Given this… is Murphy’s “drunk drivers” analogy just more of his bullshit? Does he really believe his own words?

Or is he applying to each and every individual community in the state, the same logic he applied to each and every nursing home? Does Governor Phil Murphy intend to bring people into New Jersey – without testing them for COVID and knowing that 20 percent are sick (according to the Biden administration) – and inject them into the mainstream of our communities the same way he did with our nursing homes?

Maybe we should think of it as the placement of thousands of “halfway houses for drunk drivers” in each of our communities – except that these are secret, hidden, not subject to OPRA. Meanwhile, Governor Murphy promises to make life miserable for all those suspected “drunk drivers” he has in plain view. The same lips that demand clemency for some, drip with contempt for others.

Murphy goons target COVID nursing home whistleblower

By Sussex Watchdog

In a coordinated, one-two punch, Democrats allied with Governor Phil Murphy delivered a vicious attack on journalist/whistleblower Jennifer Jean Miller. She’s the former New Jersey Herald reporter featured in the New York Times and ABC News who broke the story that Governor Murphy’s infamous Executive Order 103 was causing the deaths from COVID-19 of dozens in nursing homes in Sussex County.

Eventually, the deaths from COVID in New Jersey’s nursing and veterans’ homes would surpass 8,000 lives. New Jersey would earn the terrible distinction of having the worst rate of death (per 100,000) in long-term care facilities (nursing/veterans’ homes) from COVID-19 among the 50 states. As the Star-Ledger pointed out, if New Jersey were its own country, it would have the worst rate of death from COVID-19 in the world.

The first attack came on Sunday – from a blogger known by the pseudonym Jabba the Angry Fat Man. Jabba is a big supporter of Congressman Josh Gottheimer and has bragged on his blog that his death threats against President Donald Trump earned him a visit from the United States Secret Service.

Jennifer Jean Miller is interviewed through this video by ABC.

Jabba has attacked this testimony, calling journalist Jennifer Jean Miller a “liar” and her articles in the New Jersey Herald, a “PR stunt”.  When Miller, who is not only a courageous whistleblower but who served as a support system for many of the families of the victims, drew parallels between what her family suffered during the Holocaust (at Auschwitz) and the fear and isolation suffered by the those who died, she was viciously attacked by the Democrat, who called her a “wacko”.     
 
These histrionics and the nastiness of the attacks lead us to wonder if Jabba is on the payroll of the highly insider, international Public Relations/ Lobbying/ Political Consulting group (Mercury) that was hired to protect the nursing home operators (and, by extension, the Murphy administration) from the families of those who died and their supporters.  Is Congressman Gottheimer at all connected to these – or other nursing homes operators – or to their lobbyists?  We’re just asking.  Is the lobbyist/ public relations firm owned by the Congressman’s spouse and in-laws connected?  And what about contributions to the master fundraiser’s campaign?  
 
Given Gottheimer’s background as the Number Two executive at a similar insider international Public Relations/ Lobbying/ Political Consulting group, perhaps the Congressman hooked them up?  Gottheimer’s was the firm that MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow called “the PR firm from Hell.”  And remember what else Maddow said about Josh Gottheimer’s firm:
 

"When evil needs public relations, evil has (Josh Gottheimer’s firm) on speed dial."
Rachel Maddow

 
We wonder if Congressman Gottheimer and the members of his Problem Solvers Caucus believe that journalists who uncover misfeasance by government and/or private nursing home operators should suffer retribution by Democrat Party operatives in the form of being labeled “a lying, has-been, right-wing sleaze artist”?  We will be asking them – each of them – directly about this, as they are all up for re-election next year (some having to pass through the filter of a Republican primary).  We suspect, in turn, that Caucus Co-Chairman Gottheimer will be hearing from them.
 
Earlier today, the Sussex County Democrats issued their own attack in support of the one launched on Sunday by the blogger Jabba the Angry Fat Man.  In it, they attacked people for asking questions.  In a press release of more than a thousand words, they never once mention Executive Order 103.
 
Instead, the Democrats attack everyone who wants answers, everyone who has submitted an unfulfilled OPRA request to Governor Murphy's administration, everyone who has called for bi-partisan legislative hearings, everyone who has asked for an independent investigation into why more than 8,000 people died.  In their fear for what the truth may reveal about Governor Murphy – the Democrats attack everyone looking for the truth. 
 
Sussex County Democrats even attack the whistleblowing journalist who broke the story.  In the most vicious way – mocking the suffering of her family in Auschwitz.
 
In their press release, the Sussex County Democrats claim that the nursing home operators “chose PROFIT over PEOPLE, which led to bodies being stacked up in makeshift morgues and families and employees left with enduring trauma for years to come.”  They further state:
 
“The Sussex County Democratic Committee has been inundated with first-hand accounts from both current and former employees who want to set the record straight about the horror they witnessed.”
 
Good.  But why are the Sussex County Democrats resisting the means to set that record straight?  Why are they not supporting the victims’ families, the county government, and legislators like Senator Steve Oroho – who are demanding transparency from the Murphy administration.  Why the cover-up?
 
Why have OPRA requests about those nursing homes gone unfulfilled?  Does it have anything to do with the boast made by a nursing home operator to a local government official about their donations to Governor Murphy and his Democrats?  This local government official would like to have a hearing at which to testify – on the record!  Will the Sussex Democrats work to give him one?
 
Sadly, it doesn’t seem so.
 
Rather than uncover who is responsible for what happened, the Sussex County Democrats want everyone to accept their perspective that Governor Murphy and his administration acted perfectly, there is nothing to see here, so move on.  They make this clear when they suggest that Republicans “should be exploring viable ways to make sure these examples of failure, negligence and mismanagement are never able to happen again under these circumstances.”  Just so long as those viable ways do not include fact-finding of any kind – from OPRA requests to open public hearings into why more than 8,000 died – all fact-finding is strictly verboten! 
 
The Sussex County Democrats want Watergate without the hearings.  Someone should pull them back to reality and tell them it doesn’t work that way.
 
We have a suggestion. 
 
The Sussex County Republicans should invite the Sussex County Democrats to debate this issue and how to address it.  Openly, in public, with full transparency. 

The Democrats could bring Jabba the Angry Fat Man as part of their panel.  The Republicans could ask the whistleblower/ journalist the Democrats have attempted to smear, Jennifer Jean Miller.  Perhaps the Democrats could ask Governor Murphy himself to attend… the Republicans, Jack Ciattarelli. 
 
If they really want to get to the bottom of this, the Democrats need only look to their name and live up to it – democracy and the transparency that democracy is supposed to be synonymous with.  Supposed to be… in practice, not so much.  Not at all, these days.    

The week ahead in Trenton (or Brave New World).

This week we start a new feature called “The week ahead in Trenton.”  The name is self-explanatory.  We hope it will give activists and other interested parties a heads up on the nonsense about to happen – some of it shocking, much of it crazy, all of it expensive to taxpayers.

This week we focus on the Assembly Human Services Committee, which will hold a hearing on Saint Valentine’s Day – Thursday, February 14th – at 2pm in Committee Room 16, on the 4th floor of the State House Annex in Trenton.  And remember, all of those in attendance are on the ballot this year in June and November.  Don’t forget them.

Now if ever there was a Christian holiday to excite the “Love is Love” crowd, this should be it.  And for the record, the Democrats do not disappoint in handing out presents to their favorite special interest.  But is it “Love” or Fear???  We’ll let you decide. 

First on Thursday’s Valentine’s Day agenda is AR-146 – a resolution calling on the federal government to recognize what it calls “children of certain LGBTQ parents” as United States citizens.  This is something out of a dystopian novel (we’re thinking Aldous Huxley and his writings, most notably, “Brave New World”) and attempts to create a new path to citizenship. 

From what we can learn, there is a brisk business in the monetization of the wombs of working class and/or economically disadvantaged women.  Rich “gay” men can, for a fee, avail themselves of the wombs of these women in order to do what they cannot do biologically – give birth to a baby.  (And remember, in the coda of today’s woke establishment, it aint a “baby” until it is actually born… and even then not until the mother and her medical provider have had a discussion as to whether or not to kill it). 

The problem occurs when one rich American guy marries a rich guy from another country and they use the sperm of the non-American to impregnate the womb of the woman they have procured for the purpose.  Currently, the State Department can require a DNA test to determine if a child is, in fact, a “blood relationship” to an American citizen.  This messes with the plans of those who travel outside the United States to procure their women for the purposes of their wombs and who opt to use the sperm of a “husband” who is not an American citizen.   

As one can imagine, this dilemma concerns a very, very tiny group of rich men (married to men who are non-citizens) who want to travel outside the United States to obtain a womb at, shall we say, third-world prices.  It will doubtless be examined by the State Department – no bastion of traditional orthodoxy, by the way – and some rule change or accommodation will be forthcoming. 

But that is not good enough for the folks at Garden State Equality (GSE) who apparently wield so much power over the Democrats in Trenton that legislation like A-146 gets pushed to the front of the line and ahead of the more than 90 bills languishing that would address the highest in the nation property taxes… or the Human Trafficking and Child Exploitation Prevention Act.  Every week, we hear from the Murphy administration’s own Attorney General about the rise in cases of identified human trafficking in New Jersey… but hey, it’s not about some rich jet-setter looking to buy the womb of some desperate, third-world woman or girl (Itself a case of human trafficking?  We wonder).

Next on Thursday’s agenda is AR-210, a resolution condemning the “Trump Administration’s policies towards transgender individuals.”  Specifically, the Democrat sponsors are pissed because the Department of Defense has sought to ban “transgender people” from serving in the military by proposing a definition of sex that “excludes gender identity”.  Okay, this has been covered a great deal in the national media… but does it really trump the issue of growing child poverty in New Jersey?  Yes, it is on the wish list of a private special interest group that last week bragged about whipping the Legislature into passing 222 pieces of legislation that they desired, but is it really more important and pressing than the opioid crisis?  Apparently so.

Next up is a spending bill that will cost us more in property taxes – but it will be a financial windfall for groups like Garden State Equality, who provide training programs like those mandated in A-4427.  Here is the text of the bill’s description:

“This bill provides that the Commissioner of Human Services or the commissioner’s designee, develop a training program designed to prevent and eliminate discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression in the delivery of certain services to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, questioning, and intersex senior citizens in the State.  The bill requires that the training program be developed no later than nine months following the bill’s enactment.

The training program would be designed to increase awareness among, and provide cultural competency to, service providers about the issues encountered by lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, questioning, and intersex seniors in order to ensure equal access to services for senior citizens, and improve the delivery of those services to senior citizens and caregivers in the State.

The bill requires that a provider of services or supports to senior citizens that contracts with, provides services through programs administered by, or receives funding from, the Department of Human Services, any of its divisions, or any Area Agency on Aging must complete the training program no later than six months following the availability of the program. Thereafter, each new service provider would be required to complete the training within one month of commencing the delivery of services or supports.”

Moe money, moe money, moe money for GSE and its allies... mandated higher property taxes for everyone else.

And finally on Thursday’s agenda we have A-4870, a bill that “requires modernization of all state blanks, forms, documents, and applications to incorporate new standards for collection of information about sex, gender, and sexual orientation.”  This is Assemblyman Andrew Zwicker’s personal genuflection to a special interest that he’s indebted to.  It is shocking to see the brazenness of it, but a role for the lobbyist group is specifically spelled out in the actual bill:

“…any questions relating to sex, gender, or sexual orientation are to be posed in a manner that is sensitive to the individual, and that does not infringe upon or threaten the individual’s mental and physical wellbeing; are to allow for non-binary designations; and are to be consistent with relevant best practices, as recognized by Garden State Equality and other relevant organizations that engage in advocacy on behalf of the State’s lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, or questioning (LGBTQ) communities”.

Hey, does this make the lobbyists over at Garden State Equality government bureaucrats and subject to the state’s Open Public Records Act (OPRA)?  We hope so… for the sake of transparency.  How every form in New Jersey is re-worked and re-worded should be open to public scrutiny.

Garden State Equality should fall under OPRA anyway because they already exercise a disproportionate control over the Legislative agenda in Trenton.  We all remember GSE founder Steve Goldstein’s hissy fit over the Democrats’ failure to pass same-sex marriage in 2009.  Goldstein publicly threatened Senate President Steve Sweeney and the Democrats – telling them that he would withhold “gay” money from their campaigns in future, unless they publicly recanted.  And sure enough, they did, at something resembling a religious revival meeting.

Since then, the Democrats (and some Republicans) have knelt before GSE and the “gay” lobby like attendant concubines, awaiting instructions.  Remember that in 2017, the Legislature passed a bill designed to use the power of government – and your tax dollars – to fund Garden State Equality's lobbying and political efforts.  In effect, the Democrats created a program of government -funded lobbying and political campaign activity -- but only for one side. 

Garden State Equality – a group with a history of threatening elected officials when they don't get their way – is actually three separate organizations.  Garden State Equality Educational Fund, Inc., is a New Jersey non-profit corporation organized under the IRS Code as a 501(c)(3).  Garden State Equality Action Fund, Inc., is a non-profit corporation organized under the IRS Code as a 501(c)(4).    Garden State Equality, LLC, is a Domestic Limited Liability Corporation organized to run a political action committee (see below).

View fullsize

The legislation passed in 2017 (A-4790) specifically funds Garden State Equality, LLC, the political action committee.  Here's what it did:

An Act providing for the issuance of “Equality” license plates and supplementing chapter 3 of Title 39 of the Revised Statutes.

   1.    a.  Upon proper application, the Chief Administrator of the New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission shall issue “Equality” license plates for any motor vehicle owned or leased and registered in this State.  In addition to the registration number and other markings or identification otherwise prescribed by law, the license plate shall display the Garden State Equality, LLC (“Garden State Equality”) emblem, consisting of: an image of a silhouette of the mathematical equivalency sign in the background and the shape of the State of New Jersey in a circle in the foreground.  The chief administrator shall select the design and color scheme, in consultation with Garden State Equality.  The “Equality” license plates shall be subject to the provisions of chapter 3 of Title 39 of the Revised Statutes, except as hereinafter otherwise specifically provided.

     b.    Application for issuance of an “Equality” license plate shall be made to the chief administrator on forms and in a manner prescribed by the chief administrator.  In order to be deemed complete, an application shall be accompanied by a fee of $50, payable to the New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission, which shall be in addition to the fees otherwise prescribed by law for the registration of a motor vehicle.  The chief administrator shall collect annually, subsequent to the year of issuance of the “Equality” license plates, a $10 fee for the license plates in addition to the fees otherwise prescribed by law for the registration of a motor vehicle.  The additional fees required by this subsection shall be deposited in the “Equality License Plate Fund” created pursuant to subsection c. of this section.

     c.     There is created in the Department of the Treasury a special non-lapsing fund to be known as the “Equality License Plate Fund.”  There shall be deposited in the fund the amount collected from all license plate fees collected pursuant to subsection b. of this section, less the amounts necessary to reimburse the commission for administrative costs pursuant to subsection d. of this section. Monies deposited in the fund shall be appropriated annually to Garden State Equality and shall be used to support lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender advocacy and educational programs in the State.  Monies deposited in the fund shall be held in interest-bearing accounts in public depositories as defined pursuant to section 1 of P.L.1970, c.236 (C.17:9-41), and may be invested or reinvested in securities approved by the State Treasurer.  Interest or other income earned on monies deposited into the fund, and any monies which may be appropriated or otherwise become available for the purposes of the fund, shall be credited to and deposited in the fund for use as set forth...

Apparently the sponsors of A-4790, along with the brain trusts at OLS and the Democrat Assembly Caucus, were so determined to secure this government funding for GSE, that they forget to properly vet Garden State Equality LLC.  If they had, they would have learned that the organization had been revoked by the New Jersey Department of Revenue in 2012 and that in 2015, they had been dissolved and terminated.

At the time, Garden State Equality Action Fund Inc. was also under suspension by the New Jersey Department of Revenue and had been for five years.  The group had filed its last annual report in April 2010 and had been pretty much a scofflaw since.  In 2012, Garden State Equality Action Fund's  status was listed as "revoked" and it was placed on "suspension" in July of that year. 

According to the most recent (at the time) IRS 990 tax statement filed by the Garden State Equality Educational Fund, the organization was in the process of repaying a $47,581.00 loan it received from Steve Goldstein.  The loan was negotiated without a written agreement and is a "loan for operating expenses", according to the information provided to the Internal Revenue Service.  So this is how you make government work for you… and you don't even need to follow the basic rules to do it. 

The Democrats who run the New Jersey Legislature are setting its committee agendas as though it were an auction – legislation likely to fetch a high price (in campaign contributions) is being pushed ahead of the peoples’ business.  In a state where so many are, due to financial hardship, moving out of state and away from their families, one would think that cutting property taxes and creating jobs would be higher on the list than the now ubiquitous “transgendered” this or that.  But as Steve Goldstein knew back in 2009, rich guys always get what they want in the end… whether it’s a womb in a third-world country or the agenda of a legislative committee. 

Will legislator be sued for trying to silence blog?

What did Assemblyperson Gail Phoebus mean when she told her Assembly colleague that Andover Township was going to silence Bill Winkler?

Phoebus, a former Andover Township Committee member, has targeted Winkler claiming that he is the "founder" of the Sussex County Watchdog blog.  Phoebus knows better, as the blog was created at the time of her first run for countywide office in 2012.  In fact, Phoebus' campaign mail featured the Watchdog in it, so she should know that the blog was founded by the late Rob Eichmann and has been maintained by a group of his associates ever since. Phoebus herself has contributed numerous stories to Watchdog.

Sussex County Watchdog has a long history with Andover Township that of late has become contentious.  The Watchdog has complained about Andover Township's failure to follow OPRA (Open Public Records Act) rules and has written about its failure to abide by the Open Public Meetings Act.  The blog acted as a whistleblower when it uncovered the improper way in which a recent resolution was drafted and passed.  Now that the blog has criticized Phoebus and her former colleagues in the Andover Township government, Phoebus is angry with the Watchdog.

What has upset Andover Township's politicians the most is Sussex County Watchdog's coverage of the former headquarters of the notorious American National Socialist Bund -- Andover Township's own Camp Nordland.  According to Assemblyperson Phoebus, township officials became incensed when the Watchdog made the following recommendations:

That Andover Township place a plaque at the site of the American National Socialist Bund's Camp Nordland, to honor the victims of the ideology practiced there; and that Andover Township donate all proceeds from events held at the former Nazi Beer Hall to organizations representing the victims of the Holocaust and their families.

Phoebus told a fellow legislator that Andover Township was going to "get" the person they held responsible.  And now, it appears that an attempt is being made. 

On Monday, October 31st, the Sussex County Watchdog blog posted a report about how an old Quaker gentleman had been accosted by Sussex County Freeholder Director George Graham and two Andover Township Committeemen.  The blog report is posted here:

http://www.sussexcountywatchdog.com/blog/2016/10/31/graham-supporters-accost-pro-lifer-at-gop-event.html

The incident took place at a GOP event held at the former headquarters of the notorious American National Socialist Bund.  For some strange reason, instead of demolishing the former Camp Nordland, the town leaders of Andover Township have maintained the building that hosted numerous Nazi, Fascist, and Ku Klux Klan rallies in the 1930's. 

The day after the Watchdog blog posted its story, the Deputy Mayor of Andover Township filed a harassment complaint against the old Quaker who was accosted by the three Sussex County politicians.  According to witnesses, one of the Andover Committeemen had threatened to "punch someone in the face," while another Andover Committeeman had threatened a bystander earlier that evening by saying "you better not be his (the old Quaker) friend."   

Of course, the people who run Andover Township would have you believe that it happened the other way round.  They want you to believe that a 60 year old Quaker assaulted a 40 year old Marine and his two comrades.  They want you to believe that writing about their political corruption is "harassment".

As David Danzis of the New Jersey Herald reported today, the Andover Township Deputy Mayor has filed a complaint against the alleged blogger:

http://www.njherald.com/20161214/county-political-consultant-faces-assault-harassment-charges

Really?  In America?  Are they really playing the old brown-shirt trick of beating up the Jew and then claiming he started it, in order to have him arrested?  Shame on the elected and appointed officials of Andover Township and shame on the residents who elected them and then stood by and let it happen.

Filing a false report is a serious offense, as is the attempt to deprive American citizens from exercising their First Amendment rights -- both the right to report the news and opinion, and the right to read it.  Of course, the former Hudson County Democrats who have switched their party registration and now occupy positions of power on the Sussex County Freeholder Board (Graham) and in Andover Township are following the playbook of where they came from.

A few years ago there was a similar case in Hudson County when the mayor of a city there decided that he wanted to "take down" an anonymous website that was publishing news and opinions that he didn't want published.  The mayor and his son conspired to "take down the website and to identify, intimidate, and harass those who operated and were associated with the website."  The United States Department of Justice takes such civil rights violations very seriously and the feds arrested both the mayor and his son.  The son took the rap and was convicted in federal court.     

Is there a similar conspiracy in Sussex County?  Watchdog knows the names of a great many political figures in Sussex County who were aware of this matter well before the accused was and that Assemblyperson Phoebus herself was making calls about it, spreading false information, and that she has expressed her animosity towards the Watchdog website and the individuals she claims are associated with it.  Yes, this stinks to high heaven! 

Will this end up in federal court?  If it does, it will impact you greatly if you are a taxpayer in Andover Township.  Remember, you elected them.  And you are responsible when they behave like fascist thugs.  As they say, stay tuned...