Yesterday, for the first time in his presidency, in my biased point of view, Barack Obama was presidential as he addressed a memorial service at the University of Arizonia. As Jonathan Freedland wrote at The Guardian, Obama rose to the moment and transcended it. Governor Chris Christie said the president’s speech was “excellent…just what a leader should do at a moment like this,” on ABC’s Good Morning America this morning.
As I listened to Obama refer to scripture and invoke the G word last night as he sought to heal the emotional wounds of a city and nation shocked by the Tucson shootings, and to bring people together, I imagined Jeremiah Wright, Obama’s former spiritual advisor who uses scripture to divide, having a stroke and the ACLU trying to come up with a legal strategy to suppress the president’s first amendment rights.
Obama told the truth about the Tucson shootings. We don’t know what caused a troubled mentally ill 22 year old man to go on a shooting rampage. We know it was not political rhetoric, as has been alleged by the Pima County Sheriff trying to deflect attention from his department’s own failures and by far too many of the left who crassly attempted to use the tragedy to advance their agenda and silence their opponents. “It’s not,” Obama ad libbed from his prepared text, referring to the allegations that vitriolic rhetoric caused the shootings.
Obama was civil in calling for civility in our political discourse, as we strive to become a more perfect union.
Time will tell if President Obama has had a breakthrough in his ability to lead. If the Barack Obama who showed up in Tucson last night keeps showing up, his speech last night will go down in history as one of the great presidential addresses.
If you missed the speech or wish to study it, it can be viewed here.
Prompted by our post this morning, Assemblywoman Mary Pat Angelini (R-Monmouth) is looking into the DYFS case of the Jackson family. Angelini’s office called this afternoon seeking contact information for the Jackson’s, which MMM tracked down.
Angelini serves on the Assembly Human Services Committee which overseas DYFS.
While I have not heard the DYFS side of this story, the more I hear of the Jacksons’ story the more disturbing this becomes. Major and Mrs. Jackson have been separated from their children, and their children separated from each other, since April of last year without the benefit of due process, if what I am hearing is accurate.
The Jackson’s took one of their children to an emergency room last April. The child was dehydrated and had elevated sodium levels. DYFS says the child was poisoned and removed all five of the Jackson’s children from their custody the following day. The Jackson’s doctors say the elevated sodium level is medically normal for the condition the child was suffering from.
At an administrative hearing yesterday, DYFS objected to the Jacksons’ doctors tesitfying. The hearing has been adjourned until February.
That’s what I’ve heard so far. MMM will stay on top of this story. We are pleased that Angelini is looking into it.
It’s 5:00pm. You’ve had a long day at work. You’re tired of looking at a computer screen. You’re done with answering silly questions. And for God’s sake, you’re sick of all this snow. What is there to do now?
Get happy, of course!
Even nondrinkers like myself can enjoy Happy Hour, especially when it includes a hip atmosphere, friendly bartenders and so-good-it-should-be-illegal cuisine. Visit Taste at 10 Bridge Ave. in Red Bank for all of the above.
Upon entering Taste for the first time, I was impressed by the rustic meets sexy ambiance – wood floors and brick walls combined with dim lighting and swank décor. I took a seat at the well-stocked bar and checked out news and sports broadcasts on Taste’s five flat screen televisions. While waiting for my friend to arrive, I noticed the intimate lounge area and started dreaming of the VIP parties I’ll hold there when I’m famous. Don’t worry; you’re invited!
My friend Nicole arrived, and we chatted with the lovely female bartenders while sipping on vodka cranberry and good ol’ H2O. Nicole and I had peeked Taste’s menu online earlier (and literally started salivating, mind you), but we still had trouble choosing and appreciated the bartenders’ dinner recommendations. Two signs of a great café: Stellar menu and trustworthy staff. Also two signs that you’ll be back again!
Nicole and I started with two plates of bruschetta. The delicate crostinis almost looked too pretty to eat, but that didn’t stop us from enjoying every bite! The Wild Mushrooms brushetta featured a hearty blend of shitaki, oyster and crimini mushrooms with garlic, thyme, brie cheese and pomegranate balsamic glaze. The Mexicana brought some spice to my palate with black bean spread, cheddar and pepper jack cheese, tomatoes, corn, red onion, jalapenos and cilantro. Olé!
For our main courses, I selected the Mushroom and Goat Cheese press (what can I say, I love mushrooms and cheese!) and Nicole chose the TMP taster. My press was overflowing with wild mushrooms dressed in white truffle oil and balsamic. The earthy taste was enhanced by the tang of fresh goat cheese. I snuck some of Nicole’s slider-style dinner, which included three mini tomato, mozzarella and pesto, hence TMP, sandwiches.
No meal that good is complete without a decadent dessert, so we ditched calorie counting and ordered the Dark Chocolate Brownie “Flight” which is, in fact, three brownies, each complimented by a delectable topping – peanut butter, toasted coconut and walnut crumbles. To die for!
As vegetarians, Nicole and I tend to have trouble dining out. It was very refreshing to find that Taste catered to our needs in all three courses. We both had a more than happy experience at Happy Hour. Workday stress faded away as we enjoyed delightful drinks, delicious food and excellent company. The best part? We can do it again any day of the week! Stop by Taste Happy Hour, and see for yourself what our fuss is about!
Taste Happy Hour is 4:00-7:00pm. Upcoming events include a Lingerie Show, Super Bowl Party and Beach Party. Visit redbanktaste.com for more information.
By Tommy DeSeno
Growing up in Asbury Park, having a bicycle stolen was a fairly common event. Sometimes you’d get it back. The kid who stole it was just joy riding and would leave it somewhere for you to find it again.
But then there were those other thieves – the ones who took your bike and sold it on some sort of bicycle black market the police would always claim the knew about but could never crack. What bothered me most about those times was the money – the money I wouldn’t get back for the bike that was stolen, and the money I would have to spend on the replacement bike I would have to buy.
Thanks to Assemblywoman Cleopatra Tucker, (D – Essex) I’m getting that “someone stole my bicycle” feeling again.
Tucker has introduced Bill A3657, which I hope our Governor will veto with libertarian flair should it reach his desk.
The bill would require bicycles to be registered with a bill of sale like cars, and have a form of license plate displayed. Every 2 years you’d have to pay another $10 to re-register your bicycle (there are 6 in my house) and if you didn’t register your bicycle, you’d face a $100 fine and revocation of your bicycle registration privileges.
Good grief.
Bicycles, at least for enthusiasts, are symbols of freedom and self-improvement. To Democrat Tucker, it’s a chance for the government to collect revenue.
Bicycles are poorer folks means of transportation for the very reason that they are poor and can’t have a car. To tax them is to reach way down to the lowest incomes to raise money for the government. More proof that Democrats aren’t friends of the poor that will be ignored by the lame-stream liberal media.
Maybe we should have known this was coming. Climate-change bullies have been trying to get us to ditch our cars and ride more bicycles for years. Could taxes and fees on bicycles by Democrats have been far behind?
Tucker will argue that the registration will help recover stolen bicycles. Sure – because thieves are so dumb they won’t think to remove the registration tag.
I’d rather go out hunting for my stolen bike after it’s gone than pay a fee for a service that’s never going to work.
The story is of Major John Jackson and his wife Carolyn fighting the State of New Jersey for custody of their five children who were taken from them and placed in foster care by DYFS after one of the children was hospitalized for dehydration that resulted from a fever.
According to the Tea Party Daily News report, two the the children, ages 9 and 10, have been physically and emotionally abused while in foster care.
The Jackson’s case is the subject of an administrative hearing in Morris County this week, according to an MMM reader familiar with the case.
MMM has not investigated the facts of this story. The Tea Party Daily News story is clearly written with a pro-Jackson, anti-DYFS slant, which may or may not be appropriate. We are bringing the situation to our readers’ attention in the best interests of the children involved and with the hope that one or more of our readers in positions of power will look into the case with an unbiased eye.
State offices openings are delayed two hours this morning due to the snow overnight. Officials are cautioning motorists to drive carefully.
During the fallout of the blizzard two weeks ago, some pundits suggested that the Christie administration’s response to the storm would be Governor Christie’s Katrina, i.e. the blizzard would derail Christie’s popularity the way Hurricane Katrina derailed President George W. Bush”s popularity. It didn’t.
Today’s storm would be a big deal if we hadn’t had three feet of snow a couple of weeks ago.
This storm, and the last one too are more likely to be remembered as Christie’s Wilma; i.e., it won’t there won’t be any long term political fallout.
I’m going out to plow the driveway now before Mr. Neighbor gets up.
Posted: January 12th, 2011 | Author:Art Gallagher | Filed under:Uncategorized | Tags:Snow job | Comments Off on Will today’s storm be Christie’s Wilma?
Democrat Owen McCarthy scored a overwhelming victory over Republican Robert Ferrante in the runoff electionfor Manasquan’s final council seat yesterday, according to a report in the Asbury Park Press.
McCarthy and Ferrante were tied after a recount of the November 2 election results. Judge Lawrence Lawson ordered a new election. McCarthy earned 998 votes to Ferrante’s 679 in the special election tally.
As a result of the special election, Democrats and Republicans each have three council members. Democratic Mayor George Dempsey breaks the tie.
174,943 – Constituents responded to by the Governor’s Office of Constituent Relations
104,000 – Students trapped in chronically failing schools in New Jersey who could benefit from bold education reforms put forward by Governor Christie to
bring accountability, competition and greater choice to New Jersey public education.
28,929 – Fans on the Governor Chris Christie Fan Page
Excerpts of Christie’s prepared State of the State address:
So there can be no question…The debate in Trenton has changed.
We have turned Trenton upside down.
But now, we must take the next step.
We must make even bigger changes in the year ahead if New Jersey is to be a place where families choose to live and work, and can afford to live and work.
It is traditional in state of the state messages to provide a long list of initiatives for the year ahead.
To touch on the plan for every department of state government.
Today, I am going to break with that tradition.
I want to highlight not the small things, but the major challenges that our state has ignored for too long, and that we must confront now.
For New Jersey: It’s time to do the big things.
For this year, the biggest things fall in three categories:
·One: We must stick to the course of fiscal discipline.
·Two: We must fix our pension and health benefit systems in order to save them.
·And three: We must reform our schools to make them the best in the nation.
On these three, what is at stake is no less than the future of New Jersey.
***
First, we must continue the process of getting our fiscal house in order.
We achieved balance in fiscal year 2011, but our long-term deficit problem is far from solved.
It took years— indeed decades — to build up, so it cannot be solved in one year.
So let’s be clear.
We can’t continue to spend money we don’t have.
We can’t print money, and we can’t run deficits.
So we have to continue to make some very tough decisions about what we can afford— and what we can’t.
Next month, I will present to you my budget for fiscal year 2012.
I will guarantee you this: It will be balanced, and it will not raise taxes. …
… When I talk of controlling spending, I am doing it for a reason.
I am not proposing to cut spending just for cutting’s sake.
I am fighting this fight because we have to be truthful about what we can’t afford—whether it is health and pension benefits which are out of line with the rest of the country, or a tunnel which we can’t pay for.
I am asking for shared sacrifice so that when we leave here, New Jersey will be more fiscally sound than when we got here.
I am asking for shared sacrifice in cutting what we don’t need so that we can invest in what we absolutely do need.
***
Some people say that getting spending under control and reforming the budget is the third rail of politics.
Well, I am here to tell you that I am not afraid to touch it— because its been said, opportunity expands in proportion to one’s courage.
So I ask you to join me in cutting the popular in order to fund the necessary.
And I will go further than that.
***
So we need comprehensive tax reform — and by that I mean changes that are considered together, not in a piecemeal approach.
In my budget next month, I will propose the initial installment of such a package.
But let’s be clear: We will not put in place tax cuts that we can’t pay for.
Any economic incentive package that I will sign will be enacted in the context, and only in the context, of a balanced budget.
***
The second big issue we must tackle this year is our antiquated and unsustainable pension and benefit system. …
… I am not proposing pension and benefit reforms just to be tight-fisted.
I am proposing pension reform for the police officers who have served— and contributed— for years, but who may find nothing when they retire a decade from now.
I am proposing pension reform for the firefighters who every day put their lives in danger to serve the public— and who have the right to expect that when the time comes, the public will serve them.
I am proposing pension reform for the teachers who put in the extra hours every day to help their students.
We now must put in the extra hours to ensure the system is solvent for them. …
… So to every beneficiary of the system: I am fighting for your pension.
And to the members of the legislature, I say: Please join me in doing so.
Now as part of our negotiation on interest arbitration, the leadership of the legislature promised to take up this necessary package of pension and benefit reforms.
Now is the time for us to finish what we started last March.
We should pass this package now.
If you do, I will immediately sign it into law.
***
The third critical action item for this year— perhaps the biggest thing of all for the future of our state— is education reform.
We cannot ask children and families stuck in chronically failing public schools to wait any longer.
It is not acceptable that a child who is neglected in a New Jersey school must accept it because of their zip code. …
… Here is what we must do:
We must empower principals.
We must reform poor-performing public schools or close them.
We must cut out-of-classroom costs and focus our efforts on teachers and children.
I propose that we reward the best teachers, based on merit, at the individual teacher level.
I demand that layoffs, when they occur, be based on a merit system and not merely on seniority.
I am committed to improving the measurement and evaluation of teachers, and I have an expert task force of teachers, principals, and administrators working on that issue right now.
And perhaps the most important step in that process is to give schools more power to remove underperforming teachers.
***
Now, let’s be frank.
The issues I have highlighted today are difficult. …
… no doubt, in the months ahead, we will have to fight.
Some might even say that I have been too ready for a fight— that my approach has been too tough and too combative.
That’s for a reason.
It is because the fight is important.
It is vital.
The reality is I’ll fight when it matters.
It matters because I have seen what so many New Jersey families are dealing with each day.
For them this is not about politics— it is about their life.
I fight when the issues are big— when it matters the most.
Sometimes that means we won’t agree.
Sometimes you will oppose my proposals, and I will oppose yours.
Sometimes I will veto a bill.
But when I do so, it will because I genuinely believe it’s in the best interest of the people of New Jersey.
***
In the last year, we have begun a new movement in New Jersey.
A movement back to our roots.
Back to economic dynamism and growth.
Back to pride in our State.
We cannot say today where it will lead and all that will come of it.
But we know that the path of change is better than the path of stagnation that we were on.
I was determined when I took the oath of this office to give the people an honest assessment of our problems.
To tell them the truth, even if it was difficult and my proposed solutions were unpopular.
And to this day, I ask that I be measured by that standard—I will always do what I said I was going to do.
By Art Gallagher
Taste Happy Hour is 4:00-7:00pm. Upcoming events include a Lingerie Show, Super Bowl Party and Beach Party. Visit