The Complete Idiots Guide to New Jersey

So, another Election Day is done, and the Democrats inched ahead to slightly more power in Trenton.

A loss of two seats in the Assembly [now 48-32]; a net gain of one seat in the Senate [now 23-17]. Senator Leonard Lance gracefully gives up his post to Thomas Kean Jr, who is fresh off a 60-40 victory-romp over Gina Genovese.

Good luck to Kean as we move through 2008 and 2009. My prediction: Kean will give up the Senate minority leadership after 2009 to an older and wiser Repub, with his tail between his legs ---after the Dems deliver the state’s electoral votes for the presidential candidate.

Public Question No. 4: Who would vote against this? Idiots or insane people, perhaps.

But the real issue from Tuesday is why more than 503,395 actually voted to oppose the removal of the words “idiot or insane person” from the standard in the New Jersey Constitution of who may and may not vote. Of course, the interpretive statement explained that

“The phrase ‘idiot or insane person’ is outdated, vague, offensive to many, and may be subject to misinterpretation. This constitutional amendment acknowledges that individuals with cognitive or emotional disabilities may otherwise be capable of making decisions in the voting booth and that their right of self-determination should be respected and protected in this regard.”

As Seinfeld would say, “Who are these people?”

Are they all Three Stooges fanatics, who hit each other with crow bars all the time? Are they all fans of “Jack Ass”? Are these fans the basis of Howard Stern's audience on Sirius satellite radio?

I inquired around Flemington to see who in point of fact voted to keep ‘idiots and insane people’ in the Constitution. I was not disappointed.

Low and behold, I found a current Borough Council member [recently re-elected] who voted to oppose all the public questions.

His reason: ‘They were all set up just to raise our taxes’.

“But how is keeping the words ‘idiots or insane people’ with regard to voting rights 'set up' to raise our taxes?” I inquired.

“Maybe not that one,” he indicated. “But why do we have to be politically correct with everything nowadays? Everyone knows what an idiot is. It’s been that way for years, and now they need to change it?”

Perhaps he also failed to see the irony in his own statement.