Chris Christie Goes on Weight Watchers to get ready for fall race

You may have not noticed it, but Republican gubernatorial candidate Chris Christie has been slimming down over the years. This is in preparation for his long-awaited run for governor.

He was probably at his chunkiest in 1995, when he was elected to the Morris County Board of Chosen Freeholders ----as you can clearly see in above photo. Perhaps this was one of the several reasons he was not re-elected in 1997. At that time he tried Slim-Fast for the first time, and it had a moderate to little effect on his weight.



In 2001, after raising mucho dollars for then presidential candidate George W. Bush, Christie was appointed the U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey. He was a bit thinner than in his days as a freeholder, but still fairly hefty.





Finally, as you can see here in his official gubernatorial candidate photo----you can clearly see the effect Weight Watchers has had.

Perhaps he has been a bit too successful, and needs to ‘bulk’ up again for the fall race.

...Pants on Fire

Though Chris Christie has called the practice "pension abuse," the AP is reporting that one of his top political advisers and fundraisers, John Inglesino, has a state job for $3,000 -- the minimum needed to remain in New Jersey's pension system.

He got the job from State Sen. Joe Pennacchio the day after his term as freeholder ended, when he would have no longer been earning credit towards a pension. It also happens that Inglesino's firm got one of Christie's no-bid contracts while he was US Attorney.

Christie had an interview scheduled with the AP yesterday, but he "abruptly canceled" it after the news broke.

Now State Senator Joe Vitale (see below for the press release he issued today) is asking Christie to call for the release of any documents that demonstrate the work Inglesino has done. "We all deserve to see exactly what this “political adviser” did in his state taxpayer funded job that allowed him to pad his pension."

This was Christie's take on pension padding a few months back: "The pension abuse is terrible,'' Christie said in a March interview on New Jersey 101.5. "I mean, let's face it. Part-time employees, people making $5,000 on somebody's staff being eligible for a pension? Being eligible for health benefits. On our dime? I would end it.''

These are his close friends. If he wants to end the pension abuse, he can start with them.

Links:
AP: Christie campaign adviser on N.J. state pension rolls
AP: Christie ducks questions on adviser's pension

For what it's worth, it wouldn't be the first time Christie's words don't match his actions.

Niiiiice!

If only more like people Trout endorsed Christie….

At another time and another place, maybe even in an alternate universe of New Jersey, Chris Christie the US Attorney would have been prosecuting this person. But the time, place and date is now, New Jersey in the current universe and the Republican gubernatorial primary.

So, alas, he is Chris Christie the gubernatorial candidate, and this person endorses him instead. Wonder what he has to say about that. We emailed but have yet to hear back.

The person is Sheriff Deborah Trout of Hunterdon County. And in a recent letter to the Hunterdon County Democrat [the newspaper of record, not the political party] she endorsed Christie for governor. Trout said that she “was honored to join with Republican sheriffs statewide to endorse” Christie for governor. She cited his record of fighting corruption and putting “corrupt politicians” in jail. Finally, Trout made note that Christie will work with law enforcement officials to clean up out cities, and reform Trenton.

If he wants to do all that and more, maybe he can start with the Hunterdon sheriff’s office itself.

Trout has flouted the law so many times that an independent recall effort was kicked off earlier this year. And her office was raided by the Hunterdon County prosecutor’s office, too. Here are just some of the reasons why Trout faces such problems...

• Trout endangered public safety through her inept Background Checks: Trout appointed several people to her staff who have been charged with lying about their backgrounds on their employment applications. One employee was stripped of his license to carry a weapon and was barred from public employment in the State of NJ.

• She violated citizens' 1st Amendments Rights: Sheriff Trout and Undersheriff Mike Russo sent emails to a Moderator of a local online forum demanding that he remove posts criticizing the Sheriff's Office, informing him that "several individuals that post on this forum are currently under investigation for Criminal and Civil Prosecution".

• She required her employees to sign “Loyalty Oaths" promising not to run against her when she runs for re-election.

We are sure that Chris Christie is damn proud to have Trout on Team Christie.

Herbert Hoover---America's Greatest President

With many economists saying that the financial crisis America faces now is the worst since the Great Depression, a lot of comparisons are being made between Barack Obama and Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Especially now that each of their first 100 days in office have taken place, the initial push of New Deal legislation is being compared to the economic stimulus package that is now being put to work.

However, there is an alternative view of Obama’s nascent presidency now being bandied about by conservative commentators. While they readily compare Obama to FDR, they claim that the Great Depression was lengthened if not exacerbated by the increase of federal spending starting in 1933. This minority of columnists and broadcasters somehow contend that if we had just stayed the course with Herbert Hoover’s policies of allowing the financial market to recorrect itself without government intervention, then perhaps to his prediction, prosperity really would have been found just around the corner.

Although this is a clear rewrite of accepted history, in the spirit of bipartisanship, I’ve decided to try to embrace this theory and see how it may apply to other periods of American politics. When I continue to reflect on this radical yet surprisingly obvious understanding of history, I realize that many of the presidents we have come to admire have actually done this country great harm.

First take George Washington. A war hero? I think not. After fumbling through a battle victory at Yorktown, he allowed Lord Cornwallis to escape. By ending the war prematurely, he enabled the British military to leave America and regroup, giving the United Kingdom a continued colonial stranglehold of vast amounts of lands in the world for more than a century later. Because he didn’t “finish the job,” America would be forced to again to fight the British a generation later in the War of 1812, or what I like to call, Revolutionary War II.

A real American commander would have pursued the fleeing Red Coats across the Atlantic and established a military occupation of Great Britain, liberating the English from the tyranny of their monarch. After allowing American-trained British jurists to put King George III on trial for war crimes, control of the United Kingdom would have been handed over to the descendants of Oliver Cromwell until warring ethnic factions on the British Isles could be brought to peace and an educated populace could conduct elections for a freely chosen chief executive.

Yet because of Washington’s inaction, to this day Canada is forced to bear the likeness of Queen Elizabeth II on their currency and the island of Bermuda must still fly the Union Jack. The oppression is unjustifiable, and if freedom were allowed to reign, Canadian currency would feature Wayne Gretzky, and Bermudans would have a variety of summer clothes to wear. Who likes short shorts? Bermudans like short shorts.

Now let us look at Thomas Jefferson who is clearly to blame for America’s current housing market crisis. In 1803, he doubled the size of country by negotiating with Napoleon the Louisiana Purchase of 828,800 square miles for only $15 million. Jefferson may have thought this was a good deal, but wasn’t this all just risky real estate speculation? Perhaps Jefferson was only going to hold onto what is now some or all of 14 states for a few years and then try to sell it for a higher price to the British or Spaniards? Yet what he did was even more dangerous. He opened up the new lands for Americans to build homes, establish farms and ranches, and then try to flip for a profit. This model gave Americans the false belief that real estate would always rise in value, and now the housing bubble that began at the beginning of the 19th century finally burst.

Lastly, let’s look at Theodore Roosevelt who affixed his name to the Meat Inspection Act of 1906, actually putting the federal government in the position of being able to regulate what we eat. This overreaching bill put federal bureaucrats in charge of the quality of the steaks and hot dogs that we eat. Why should some desk jockey in Washington decide the quality of pork roll on the Jersey Shore? This kind of government regulation is strangling the Mom and Pop stores out of business. At the same time, he establishes the first national park. Can you imagine how much cheaper gas would be in America now if we could have explored Yellowstone for oil?

We can’t change history, but we can change how we feel about it. Maybe we should rethink the memorials in Washington. Let’s take Lincoln off his marble chair and replace him with a real American leader, Millard Fillmore. Why should a statue of Thomas Jefferson grace the national mall when a statue of Warren G. Harding would be much more fitting.

Let’s salute the real leaders of America, the leaders who were smart enough to do nothing

Chris Christie and Warrantless Seraches.

Our Mensch of The Week this week goes to Deborah Jacobs and the fine folks at the ACLU for reporting that Chris Christie, while US Attorney---apparently taking his lead from the Bush Admnistration----approved the use of cell phone tracking without warrants for probable cause.

What did Chris Christie have to say?

"There was no policy in place that said to us you have to get a search warrant. Chris Christie wasn’t sitting around wondering where everyone was."

Well, yeah---there is a 'policy in place'!

It's called the US Constitution. Brought to you by the fine folks at the 1787 convention. Here's the link to it online. And you can check it out in Washington, too----now that Bush-Cheney-Rove et all are out of there, and it's back in style.

And I think it's funny that Christie referred to himself in the third person, like the 'Jimmy' character on Seinfeld....

The Yin and Yang of yahoos from Texas ----from the folks who gave us George W. Bush

Both Democrats and Republican say stupid things. And both make the news. This one was from a Republican state representative in Texas.

Betty Brown, a North Texas state legislator during House testimony on voter identification legislation said Asian-descent voters should adopt names that are “easier for Americans to deal with.”

And she defended her comments by saying "...was not making a racially motivated comment but was trying to resolve an identification problem."

Thank God that we have the fine folks from the state of Texas to help us solve all our racial problems in America.

From the folks whom gave us George W. Bush.

Too Important not to steal from the press....

Same-sex marriage opponents target N.J. in $1.5M ad campaign

by John Reitmeyer/Statehouse Bureau

Wednesday April 08, 2009, 2:08 PM

A national organization that opposes same-sex marriage is targeting New Jersey in a $1.5 million advertising campaign, launched today on broadcast and cable television.

The effort by the National Organization for Marriage was in the works before recent decisions in Iowa and Vermont allowed same-sex marriage, but those events make it more timely, said Brian Brown, the organization's executive director.

Jerry McCrea/The Star-LedgerDamon Owens of West Orange appears in the ads airing this week by the National Organization for Marriage, a group that opposes same-sex marriage. Owens is the organization's outreach director for New Jersey.

The goal of the campaign is "activating those millions of Americans who already agree with us," Brown said this morning during a news conference in the Statehouse in Trenton.

New Jersey currently allows same-sex civil unions, but it does not permit gay couples to marry.

A commission set up to study civil unions reported last year that inequities exist between married couples and those joined by civil unions and the panel recommended New Jersey take the next step and allow same-sex marriages. Same-sex marriage legislation has already been introduced and Governor Corzine has said he would sign a same-sex marriage bill if one reaches his desk.

Steven Goldstein, who chairs Garden State Equality, an organization lobbying for same-sex marriage in New Jersey, said Vermont's decision to abandon civil unions earlier this week shows New Jersey that "the time to act is now."

"New Jersey's separate and unequal civil union law is an abject embarrassment to the nearly 9 million people who live in our progressive state," Goldstein said.

Saed Hindash/The Star-LedgerSteven Goldstein, Chair and CEO of Garden Stage Equality

Brown said his organization is targeting New Jersey in the advertising buy -- along with Iowa, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Vermont -- because it is one of the hottest battlegrounds on the issue right now.

"Obviously there's a coming fight in New Jersey over same-sex marriage," Brown said.

The organization's television commercial, called "Gathering Storm," asserts same-sex marriage advocates "want to change the way I live" by forcing everyone to accept that same-sex marriage is acceptable. That means wedding photographers and marriage counselors could be labeled bigots and sued if they oppose working with same-sex couples, the group said.

"It's obviously going to happen if gay marriage is the law of the land," said organization president Maggie Gallagher.

The new advertising campaign was immediately opposed by The Human Rights Campaign, an organization that advocates for gays, lesbians and transgender individuals.

"Again and again, opponents of equality have claimed one shallow victory after another by telling lies about who we are as individuals, as loving couples and as families," said organization spokesman Brad Luna. "These lies must be called out for what they are every time the right-wing seeks to derail our progress by spreading distortions and inciting fear mongering."

West Orange resident Damon Owens is one of several people who appear in the television commercial, saying "people of every creed and color are coming together to protect marriage."

Owens said he is simply seeking to "uplift marriage."

"It's a great fit and it's a privilege to work with (National Organization for Marriage)," said Owens, who is also the organization's outreach director for New Jersey.

Go West, Young Man.

I get asked for directions a lot. I don't know why I give off a GPS vibe. Whenever I am working in front of our house or cleaning up the front yard---I always get asked for driving directions. And I do not have the greatest sense of direction at all.

I still get lost driving in Flemington. I was not sure which side of my family this came from. I always thought it was from my dad's side.

This evening, I was attending an improv workshop with the Magnet Theater in New York City, and I arrived a bit early. I stopped off to have a hot dog at one of those Papaya Juice places [two hot dogs and a drink for 4 bucks], and from the time I started my first hot dog, until the time I finished, I had three people ask me for directions.

The first was a woman with luggage asking the way to Penn Station ["Three blocks south of here"], I pointed.

Next, was a man dressed very well with an accent ["French? Italian?"], asking me which way was the west side. Finally, as I popped the last bit of hot dog in myn mouth, a couple asked me how to get to Madison Sqaure Garden. I wanted to say, "Practice, practice, practice," but I did not.

I still get lost in New Jersey, though.

Take Me Out to The Ballgame

I am a long-time Yankee fan, but I cannot afford to get tickets for the new Yankee Stadium.

"While "The House That Ruth Built" had reasonable and somewhat affordable prices, a day at the new Yankee Stadium is fit for a King---the king of Saudi Arabia, maybe.

With prices hovering in the thousands for the seats we used to sneak down to when we were kids--"The House That George Built", may be be a house, but it is not a warm welcoming home for fans.

Folks in New Jersey, if they want to see great baseball and have a day out with the family, should go to--instead of Yankee Stadium---to any one of New Jersey's minor league ball parks. Great baseball. Ticket prices within reach of New Jersey's hard working families.

While it's not the Yankees, it is teams with names like the Trenton Thunder, Somerset Patriots, the Camden River Sharks, and the Atlantic City Surf. Where ever you are in New Jersey, you're a short ride away from a day at the ball park.

Trenton Thunder

• NJ.com's Thunder coverage: The Times, Trenton articles & Game webcasts

• Schedule from trentonthunder.com

• Directions to stadium | Map

Somerset Patriots

• NJ.com's Patriots page

• Somerset Reporter Patriots blog

• Schedule from somersetpatriots.com

• Directions to stadium | Map

Lakewood Blueclaws

• Directions to stadium | Map

• Schedule from lakewoodblueclaws.com

Newark Bears

• Directions to stadium | Map

• Schedule from newarkbears.com

Sussex Skyhawks

• Directions to stadium

• Schedule from sussexskyhawks.com

New Jersey Jackals

• Directions to stadium | Map

• Schedule from jackals.com

Camden River Sharks

• Directions to stadium | Map

• Schedule from riversharks.com

Atlantic City Surf

• Directions to stadium | Map

• Schedule from acsurfs.com

Word A Day

Miss. Connor, my 4th grade teacher at PS 277 told us to learn a new word every day. And she told us to keep a notebook, and write down words we come upon when reading so we can look them up in the dictionary later on.

In this notebook we were supposed to write down the meaning of the word, and then a sample sentence with the word.

Today, I learned a new word:

Politigasm
	The overwhelming feeling of euphoria induced by a particularly stirring political moment. An orgasm of a political nature. Guy: Do you remember Obama's speech at the 2004 DNC? Girl: Oh hells yes. I had a total politigasm. Wise woman, Miss Connor.

Good fences make good neighbors.

On my inaugural Spring walk this morning, I saw an interesting sight in Flemington on Broad Street: Two houses, side by side.

One had a green peace flag hanging off the front porch.

Another had a lawn sign---“I am the NRA, and I vote.”

Must be fun at their backyard BBQs over the summer.

Freedom to “Wax on, Wax off”. Ouch.

Recently, the Mercatus Center of George Mason University completed a study on which states were the “free-est”. Their criteria —perhaps a bit too Reagenesque and libertarian ---for measuring such “free-ness” included fiscal policy, regulatory policy, personal freedom, and economic freedom.

Number one, by their standards? New Hampshire---whose state motto is “Live Free or Die”. Well, if you’re gonna put the lives of your residents on the line, it’s pretty tough not to come in at number one. Although New Hamsphire is number 1, New Jersey clocks in at number 49 overall. We do beat out New York, by the way.

However, there is one area where we are now a bit “free-er” than we were before: the freedom for women to get a "Brazilian" wax ---the bare-it-all bikini waxing---just in time for summers at the Jersey Shore.

At first, the state Cosmetology and Hairstyling Board proposed banning "Brazilian" bikini waxing after two women were hospitalized for infections following the procedure. Ouch for their Jersey Girly-parts.

Then Consumer Affairs Director David Szuchman got a ‘closer’ look at the issue, and killed the plan. Said Szuchman, “Many commenters have noted that the procedure can be safely performed. I, therefore, believe that there are alternate means to address any public health issues identified by the board.” “Many commenters”? Just who are these folks and how did they take ‘notes’?

Anyway, maybe we should contact the folks at the Mercatus Center and see if this new found freedom gets us moved up a notch or two. And by the way, Brazilian waxing is OK in New Hampshire, too, apparently.

Hides of March

I love living in New Jersey, and I have put down my roots here. However, we do have the world's greatest city just a few train stops away.

I served on the Flemington Borough Council for 12 years, so I have become intimately aware of the multitude of financial problems that confront New Jersey towns everyday. While I do not have any childhood memories of going to The Shore [however, I do have my own memories of going to Coney Island and Brighton Beach, where we could see the Jersey Shore in the distance], and I did not 'get' the whole Bruce Springsteen until fairly recently [after "The Rising" and the We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions] ---I do consider myself firmly a New Jersey resident.

This week I experienced two things that surprised me: two lifelong Jersey residents who never go in to New York. One friend said she has lived in Manalapan her entire life and the last time she was in the Big Apple was she was ten. Ten---for her that when the Mets won their first World Series. When Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin walked on the Moon. That's a long time to be a train ride away from the Empire State Building, the Statue of Liberty and United Nations without visiting. At least send a card. She said she was a self declared 'hick', proud of it, and never looked back.

The other friend asked me about taking his daughter to Times Square to go the Hershey store, Toys R Us, and the M & M store. He asked me 'where Times Square was', what subway to take, and how far a walk the various locations may be. "Should I take the subway?" "What subway should I take from Penn Station?" "Should I take the Shuttle?" were some questions. "Yes, the D,B, or N" and "No, the Shuttle goes to the Eastside from 42nd Street" were my answers.

Now, I don't have a four year old who will be thrilled to go to the Hershey store, Toys R Us, and the M & M store. And I would rather take a trip to the Empire State Building, the Statue of Liberty and United Nations ----but that's me.

However, I was very inspired by a father looking to take his daughter to Times Square. Families having a reason to go to Times Square. Imagine that. That never would have ocurred thirty years ago.

So, I am hopeful that what begins with the Hershey store, Toys R Us, and the M & M store will evolve in to seeing Empire State Building, the Statue of Liberty and United Nations.

It's spring, and we can always hope.

Art imitates Life

In a never ending effort for TV networks to become relevant again, they are planning shows to reflect the realities of a recession, job loss, and home foreclosure. For joy! Maybe they will run the shows right below Jay Leno at 10pm, to help him draw an audience.

From the NY Times:

Networks are even considering entire series based on the recession. Fox is developing a comedy titled “Two-Dollar Beer” that features a group of friends living in Detroit who are trying to weather that city’s worsening financial condition, and ABC Studios is developing “Canned,” a situation comedy about a group of friends who all get fired on the same day.

“Television serves as a crucible for exploring and tapping into real emotions,” said Gary Newman, chairman of 20th Century Fox Television, the studio that produces “Lie to Me” and “The Simpsons.” “When our characters are dealing with things that are relatable to our own lives, it can become more meaningful.”

Sure glad Mr. Newman has that all figured out. How'd President Obama miss having him in the cabinet?

Following the recession/Recession on Twitter

I am taking a long form improv workshop at the Magnet Theater in NYC. A group of theaters has sprung up on the Westside of Manhattan featuring long-form improv [as opposed to ‘short-form’ improv, the kind you’d see on “Whose Line Is It Anyway?” Anyway, I digress.

The class is filled with people much younger than I---mostly young actors and actresses making their way through the NYC acting scene, attempting to get their bite at the big NYC acting apple ---they are maybe 20s and 30s, tops. I attended law school with much younger folks, and feel comfortable in that environment, in case you're concerned.

Anyway, [again], during one class break we got chatting as a group, sharing some personal information about where we lived, where we grew up, went to college, yada yada, yada.

One young women [let’s call her ‘K’] shared that she lived in Long Island with her parents, and was going to move out when the “recession was over”. Hmm, I thought, she thinks these economic downturn thingies have a beginning, middle and end date. Sad to say for me, her perspective is certainly more hopeful than mine. With age comes wisdom, I guess.

But her comment got me thinking: This recession has not been ‘capitalized’ or ‘dated’ just yet [becoming The Recession like The Depression or The Great War, before we started numbering Great Wars]. Perhaps her perspective is colored by her experience, much as mine is. She follows the news in bits and bytes; emails, text-messages, and MySpaces/Facebooks. She has a “To Do” list that includes getting on with her life after the recession is over. And I am sure she will leave to future generations the capitalization of the whole Event.

So, let’s get on with Life, and not capitalize this recession, either. Let's follow the recession on Twitter ----but not become Friends with it on Facebook.

We all have much more important things to do, also. I am sure K will MoveOut very soon.

Fake Money?

Americans are really good at faking it. We are even good at faking that we are faking it.

Toupees. Silicon breast implants. Collagen for various body parts. Even so-called “reality shows” are actually quite fake. Most of Michael Jackson and Joan River’s face. That woman who has had so much plastic surgery that her fake face looks unreal –[I think her name is Jocelyn Wildenstein, maybe].

The other day I was having a conversation with a group of fellow Democrats about where the bailout money is coming from, exactly. One guy said that our ancestors and their ancestors will have to pay the money back. Hell, that I know. But where is the money coming from, I asked.

One person said, “From China. They own most of out national debt.” Hmm. Maybe, I thought. But I keep on reading that the Chinese have no money, either ---so how are they affording to buy our debt.

“We’re just printing it. The more we need, the more we print,” another guy said. That does not seem like a good idea. Doesn’t cause rampant inflation? At least that is what I think I remember learning in high school economics.

So, I am going to have to try and figure out exactly where this money is coming from. Are we faking a good bailout?

Less state spending? Maybe start by cutting Lonegan's campaign money....

It's playing hand shadows:

Conservative candidate for governor Steve Lonegan the other day called for less state spending by cutting the DEP, Community Affairs, Health and Seniors Services, and Labor and Workforce departments.

Seems like a good idea to me---that way the only areas of the state affected are clean drinking water, clean breathable air, small towns and communities, senior citizens, and New Jersey’s working families. Seems absolutely workable without cutting in to the heart of New Jersey.

Ironically, the one area Mr. Lonegan seems to have neglected to cut is the funding of gubernatorial candidates themselves. This stalwart for less and less government is receiving money from the hand he wants to bite off----the state government itself. Lonegan is set to receive “an additional $139,640 in matching funds soon,” according to PolitickerNJ.

Now, if Mr. Lonegan was a true conservative libertarian as he claims to be ---over and over again ---he would refuse tax payer state funding of his Republican primary campaign, and seek funds from the private sector. Charlie Stiles of the Record called Lonegan, "The Bulworth of Bogota…kooky, iconoclastic wild card…the voice of the disenchanted party’s right wing..”

Now, a strong argument can be made that primary elections, unlike general elections are purely political party affairs and no state tax dollars should go to fund such races. However, that being said, Lonegan is certainly fun to watch, if nothing else, and his inclusion in the Republican primary does make the race more interesting to watch---so maybe that makes it worth the money.

Twitter can track and report the microscopically minuscule movements

... of millions of people across America and the world.

Facebook can befriend/connect millions more, post videos, pictures, updates, report who you’re like, not like, Scrabulous plays, compare you to the dozens and dozens of denizens who like the same movies, desserts, and American Idol shows you like.

Google Earth can show you the front yard of the house you lived inn when you were 12 or back office of where your ex-spouse works. With a shake of an iPhone you can summon the GPS genie to let you know where the nearest Thai restaurant is located or which Starbucks is accepting a coupon for a dollar off on a Venti™ latte. IChat messages and videos of Paris Hilton going viral on some guy flow hither and yon faster than the lies from W’s mouth.

And yet, the power-computers that be and their super satellite allies in the sky could not track where the dollars were with any speed or accuracy to help us avoid or at least be forewarned about the current mess o’ money?

Now, I do have trouble balancing my checkbook when I can find it. And I use more than my share of cash machines and pay two bucks a pop because I forget to carry cash. But I am sure that someone somewhere could have done better.

As my Aunt Rose would say, “They can put a man on the moon, but they can’t figure out this drek.”

Problem is we have not put a man on the moon in more than 35 years or so. Hope we remember how. We could have Twittered our way to avoid this financial mess, me thinks.

23rd Turns Right, and right again and again.

Is the 23rd the ONLY district left in NJ where the Right wants to alight?

First, Warren County freeholder John DiMaio [pro-life, pro-gun, anti-climate change, etc] gets the convention nod from Hunterdon/Warren to replace Marcia Karrow in the Assembly.

Then, Hunterdon Freeholder Erik Peterson [also pro-life, pro-gun, anti-climate change, etc] gets the county line in Warren and Hunterdon for the Assembly race.

And now, to complicate things even more---the Chief of Staff of Assemblyman Mike Doherty [ even more so pro-life, pro-gun, anti-climate change, etc]---Ed Smith has decided to jump in to the race. His stand on the key right wing issues---you guessed it----pro-life, pro-gun, anti-climate change, etc.

Does he believe in evolution, gravity, magnetism? Who knows.

So, just how does the average Republican voter choose between the right-wing guys running? Again, who knows. One is more right wing than the next.

Former Senator Lance was a reasonable Republican---labeled himself an Eisenhower Republican. And for a while Ms. Karrow was reasonable, too. But Doherty is about as anti-progressive as you can get, and so are the three heirs to the throne.

So, you can bet the words/phrases you'll hear most often in the coming primary will be "Reagen", "Pro-life", "I never raised taxes" and "Corzine is a %$#!"

The 23rd gets another right wing zealot

Just when you thought the 23rd Assembly district was safe, up comes another right wing zealot.

Mike Doherty ---pro-life, pro-gun, anti-marriage equality, doesn't-believe in global warming [and maybe questions evolution, too] is out. And now John DiMaio is in. Mr. DiMaio also is a "pro-life, pro-gun, anti-marriage equality, doesn't-believe in global warming" kinda guy. Don't know his stand on evolution, yet.

Unlike Mike, this guy used to be a Democrat. How'd we ever let him get away?

Technically, he will replace Marcia Karrow. But in spirit, he's closer to Doherty.

From the ever thinning Courier News:

Republican county committee members from Hunterdon and Warren counties voted Saturday to have John DiMaio of Hackettstown fill the 23rd Legislative District seat.

DiMaio, who serves as a Warren County freeholder, defeated two Hunterdon County freeholders for the seat during a meeting held in Clinton Township.

In the first ballot, he earned 129 votes, followed by Erik Peterson with 104 and Matt Holt with 56. That eliminated Holt and, in the second round of balloting, DiMaio edged Peterson 153-141.

However, DiMaio said he would not immediately assume his new post, citing pending matters in Warren County.

Good luck to Mr. DiMaio. We will be watching to see what you do when you do take the seat.