Fallen Angel

Cory Booker has joined the growing chorus of New Jersey public officials who have called for the resignation of the state's senior Senator, Robert Menendez.

NEW: Senator Booker calls for Menendez to resign. https://t.co/INebtw0Wlr

— Mueller, She Wrote (@MuellerSheWrote) September 26, 2023

There must be two (2) men named Cory Booker in New Jersey politics because shortly before an eight-count indictment was handed down for Senator Menendez in 2015

Mr. Booker held up a different New Jersey politician as a paradigm of civic virtue: Robert Menendez, the state’s senior senator.

“I knew him well when I was a mayor, because every time Newark needed something, he would show up — sort of like a superhero,” Mr. Booker told a select audience at a breakfast hosted by the United States Hispanic Chamber of Commerce on March 25, about a week before Mr. Menendez, a fellow Democrat, was indicted on bribery charges.

Describing the “respect and reverence” he felt for his colleague, Mr. Booker hailed Mr. Menendez as “one of the greatest advocates for justice on the planet Earth.”

A scant three years later, all had been forgiven, if not forgotten, because

Every major Democratic power broker in the state quickly endorsed Mr. Menendez for re-election in 2018: Philip D. Murphy, the governor-elect; Senator Cory Booker; Stephen M. Sweeney, the senate president; Craig Coughlin, the incoming speaker of the State Assembly; George E. Norcross, an influential political leader in southern New Jersey; and the county chairs in northern Democratic strongholds such as Bergen, Hudson, Passaic, Essex and Middlesex.

There was, however, one individual who challenged Menendez in the party's primary that June, Lisa McCormick, a virtual unknown who did not report spending any money on the race, received the support of almost 4 in 10 Democratic voters.

While Menendez, D-N.J., was never seriously threatened with losing his party's nomination for another Senate term, his performance wasn't a good sign coming on the heels of his Senate Ethics Committee admonishment and a criminal corruption trial that ended in a hung jury before the charges were dropped.

Once it was clear Menendez would be seeking re-election in 2018, the old boy network swung into action and everyone fell into line. Six years later, society has changed and it need not be a boy (man) and most Democrats would prefer someone reasonably young.

But it's the same idea, a refusal to challenge an incumbent because he or she is an incumbent.  They don't meet in smoke-filled rooms anymore but Democratic officials could have found any one of a number of legitimate individuals to run against Bob Menendez. 

Now they have found their beer muscles. Democratic U.S. Representative Andy Kim, who was first elected to the House of Representatives in 2018, has announced that he will run for the seat. With Democrats jumping ship on Menendez, the party has de facto announced that challenges to the incumbent are welcomed. In the unlikely event he actually does survive to run for a fourth full term, Menendez would be defeated in a primary.

The Democratic Party is thereby missing an opportunity to leverage to its advantage the corruption charges against the Senator. They could stand united, recommending that Senator Menendez agree in writing that he will resign- at the same hour of the same day that Clarence Thomas resigns.

Of course, the GOP would reject this arrangement. Still, it would give Democrats an opportunity to switch the narrative, diverting attention to the far more grave accusations against a far more important figure, a United States Supreme Court Justice.

And of course, Democrats wouldn't consider doing this. Turning the tables on Republican wrongdoing when they can more easily adopt virtue signaling would be against their religion of turning on one of their currently disfavored own. Fingers held in air, they have determined which way the wind blows, just as they did when they gave full-throated support to their colleague in his last re-election bid. Wind direction has shifted, and so have their principles. Menendez is reminiscent of the snake who noted "now you knew darn well I was a snake before you brought me in."

In 2015, Robert Menendez not only was acceptable, he was "one of the greatest advocates for justice on planet Earth," high praise from a powerful, black public servant. In 2023, he would be thrown under the bus- were there still room under that metaphorical bus, where lay the likes of Al Franken, Anthony Weiner, and Van Jones.

 

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When Rules Are Suggestions

"Some states," the report below from CBS News on May 3 indicates, "are now lifting restrictions as infection rates decline."  More than 40% of adults now are fully vaccinated and infections are declining in twenty-three states.

With an increasing number of people vaccinated and the arrival of warm weather, infection rates( in the absence of new strains of the coronavirus spreading) will continue to decline.

But that will not be because of clear and decisive decisions by state executives. Nonethless, NJ.com reports that by order of New Jersey governor Phil Murphy

New Jersey will join New York and Connecticut in dropping many of its largest remaining coronavirus restrictions May 19, including removing fixed, percentage-based indoor capacity limits at restaurants, gyms, retail businesses, and churches — though mask and social distancing regulations will remain — while also ending all outdoor gathering caps....

The capacity change will affect restaurants, gyms, hair and nail salons, barber shops, retail shops, movie theaters, museums, places of worship, and amusement parks, all of which are currently limited to 50% capacity in New Jersey.

Under the change, there would be no limit based on a percentage of capacity, but businesses and venues will still be required to keep patrons or parties of patrons 6 feet apart, based on federal Centers for Disease Control guidelines. Restaurants can also build physical partitions to allow for closer seating.

Meanwhile, seating at indoor bars in New Jersey will be allowed to resume starting Friday, with the same restrictions on social distancing. Buffets will also be allowed to return that day.

But this is not quite a full reopening for New Jersey, nor does it mean restaurants and stores will look like they did pre-pandemic. People must still wear a mask for all indoor activities unless they are eating or drinking.

"People must still wear a mask for all indoor activities unless they are eating or drinking" represents not only the terrible reporting during this pandemic but also the dishonesty which has characterized the words and actions of public officials.

Not going to happen. People don't go to restaurants and bars to sit down, eat and drink, and leave. They go to relax, to talk to the other individuals at their table or at the bar, and often to socialize.

They will not do this while wearing masks.  They know it, the business owners and their staffs know it, and the governors of New Jersey, New York, and Connecticut know it.

Business owners can encourage patrons to abide by social distance regulations but their ability to enforce them is limited. Demanding that individual customers wear their masks- properly- would be even more risky.

At the same time that customers of bars and restaurants are shirking regulations- with the full knowledge of government officials- people throughout the region will be in supermarkets/grocery stores, and drugstores wearing masks. No one will resist the peer pressure to do so, though the risk of transmission in a solitary activity such as shopping is greater than in the social settings involving eating and drinking.

In practice, people will not be required, nor expected, to wear a mask for all indoor activities. However, it's not hard to determine why government officials would establish a regulation they know will be ignored. NJ.com notes

Republicans have pushed Murphy, a Democrat seeking re-election in November, to move more quickly or to at least release target dates. And on Friday, a fellow Democrat, state Sen. Dawn Addiego, D-Burlington, called on the governor to lift all capacity limits in the state by July 1.

In announcing what New York governor Andrew Cuomo terms "a major reopening of economic and social activity,” Democratic governors are able (they think) to shut up GOP politicians who have slammed Democratic state executives for keeping their "economy closed." Restaurant and bar patrons will enjoy their night. Yet chores, essential activities, wil be conducted with face coverings, thus satisfying that portion of the leftshaming people and politicians resisting masks.

It's a win-win in the short term for politicians, especially with the media ignoring the obvious dissonance. But somewhere, sometime down the road, hypocrisy will exact its price.

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Taking Offense, Once Again

Following removal of Roseanne from "Roseanne," President Trump responded not by honestly defending Ms. Barr but by proposing Samantha Bee be fired. "But," Bill Maher remarked soon afterward, "fat Donnie is not the only one that demands everyone be fired all the time."

"For free speech," Maher stated, "this has become a terrifying time in human history." He added "conservatives govern without shame and liberals shame without governing."

It's not only conservatives, though. as demonstrated by executives at New Jersey 101.5 FM, a radio station never confused with liberalism. We learn

It took just hours for a conservative radio station in New Jersey to suspend two of its most prominent talk-show hosts after the pair repeatedly referred to state Attorney General Gurbir Grewal, a practicing Sikh, as “Turban Man.”

“The guy with the turban,” New Jersey 101.5 host Dennis Malloy said on the air Wednesday, referring to Grewal. He then declared he would never learn the name of the state’s top prosecutor, a key foe of President Donald Trump.

Turban Man,” his co-host, Judi Franco, replied in a sing-song voice during a broader discussion about a recent action taken by the attorney general.

“Listen, and if that offends you, then don't wear the turban and maybe I'll remember your name,” Malloy said. “If you called me ‘Baseball Hat Man’ and I was in a culture where no one wore baseball hats … should I be offended?”....

But this latest incident, which gained widespread public attention after audio of the show was shared on Twitter Wednesday evening, was met with swift anger and, to the surprise of some, an apology and action by the station. The reaction seemed to highlight how quickly public outcry can can grow over insensitive comments in an age in which the level of political discourse has shifted dramatically since Trump became president.

Perhaps this overreaction results from an under-reaction to the President of the United States of America, who routinely ridicules andpersonally condemns individuals and faces no penalty, ever.

Nonetheless, a "that's just Trump being Trump" attitude does not justify what Maher refers to as "making every offense a hanging offense" (though unfortunately he blames liberals for an affliction spread throughout society).  While neither Mr. Malloy nor Ms. Franco was charged with a "hanging offense," they were charged with a lesser felony, for what context would suggest should have been viewed as a mere disorderly persons offense. 

 When Mr. Grewal was nominated by the govenor, Politico had reported

“Throughout the campaign, I made it clear that in selecting the best and the brightest to serve in our administration, I also would strive to ensure that our cabinet reflected our tremendous diversity,” Murphy said.

The 44-year old Grewal

is both the state’s first Sikh county prosecutor and the first county prosecutor of South Asian descent.

The Glen Rock resident said he abandoned his work in private practice several years ago to pursue a career as a prosecutor, viewing it as a way to “give back” and also to send a message.

“I wanted to give back to a country that has given us and other immigrant families like us so much,” he said, standing beside Murphy. “And, in the process, I wanted to perhaps show people that, while I and others like me may look different, or worship differently, that we too are committed to this country.”

The governor vowed to "strive to ensure that our cabinet reflected our tremendous diversity" and the then-nominee "wanted to perhaps show people that, while I and others like me may look different, or worship differently..."

The personalities at the New Jersey radio station did not identify Mr. Grewal by his ethnicity or religion- the latter and the governor already had already played the identity politics card, several months earlier. As if to confirm Maher's critique six weeks earlier of politics exquisite, un-liberal sensitivity, Governor Murphy

released a statement calling the comments “abhorrent and xenophobic” and urged New Jersey 101.5 to “hold the hosts accountable for these intolerant and racist comments.”

Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) tweeted that the “hateful rhetoric doesn’t reduce Gurbir,” but rather “reduces and disgraces the one who uses it.” He called on all to “denounce this ignorant and outrageous attack.”

Hoboken Mayor Ravi Bhalla, also a Sikh American, tweeted, “Hey Racist Man,” at the Dennis and Judi show’s account.

A flood of condemnations from civil rights groups and politicians from both major political parties spilled into Thursday, when state lawmakers spoke out on the Senate floor.

Grewal has sent a message- that religion is synonymous with national descent. When the Hoboken mayor tweeted "hey racist man," he was making the same mistake as did the Attorney General, who carelessly declared "I'm a Sikh American."

Well, no. Grewal is an American of Asian descent or, as he prefers, an American of Indian descent. His religion is Sikh. He is no more a "Sikh American" than your neighbor is a "Protestant American." She is an American Protestant (alternatively, a Protestant) and he is an American Sikh. This is not insignificant, given the importance of both religion and ethnicity in the USA.

We  have become too discomfited by insensitive speech and demand a pound of flesh, in this instance a ten-day suspension and an apology. In a rebuke to the importance of free expression, the bounds of acceptable discourse (except in the case of D. Trump) have been continually narrowed while- not coincidentally- those of action have been widened.

"Yes, you disappeared Roseanne," Maher noted in June before sarcastically adding "and that sent a strong message to all the other racist Republican TV stars who suffer from multiple personality disorder." Democrats Murphy, Bhalla, and Booker (joined by spineless Republicans) may believe the action taken by 101.5 FM may change things, but it will have little impact. It will slightly increase bias- at least that which is driven underground- while we continue to be (in Maher's observation) "too comfortable with the clean out your desk card."

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A Bridge Too Far

Newly-inaugurated governor Phil Murphy of New Jersey has gone off the deep end.

Proof ironically comes from an Obama-era program. A June, 2012 memorandum from Department of Homeland Security secretary Janet Napolitano set forth the rationale for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals by "the exercise of our prosecutorial discretion."

DACA did not establish "amnesty" for the children who arrived in the USA under the age of sixteen. and were on that date under the age of 31. They were required to have"continuously resided" in the country since 6/15/07 and been currently in school, a graduate of high school or possessor of a GED, or an honorably discharged veteran.

And criminals need not apply. Napolitano wisely required the indiviudal not to have "been convicted of a felony offense, a significant misdemeanor offfense, multiple misdemeanor offenses, or otherwise pose a threat to national security or public safety."

On January 17 MSNBC's Chuck Todd (transcript here; relevant portion of the video at 3:20) asked Murphy about the Office of Immigrant Defensive Protection which the governor wishes to create. The New Jersey Democrat responded

Before Donald Trump got elected, we spoke about driver`s licenses for everybody regardless of status, statewide identification cards, instate tuition or financial aid for “dreamers,” then Donald Trump gets elected. And we still stand for all those.

The state of New Jersey is in a fiscal crisis, exacerbated by the disastrous eight-year reign of Chris Christie. Its public pension debt (and property tax burden) are the greatest in the nation, the latter driving residents (especially the elderly) to move out-of-state.

In response, Phil Murphy wants to give a break in tuition to immigrants who are not citizens and under current policy, will not be citizens. They would pay lower tuition in New Jersey state schools than residents in towns in Pennsylvania, Delaware, or New York State bordering New Jersey.

Murphy also  would like "driver's licenses for everybody regardless of status," which evidently would include illegal immigrants. He might want to be reminded that one Hillary R. Clinton, who in 2007 was on the fast track for the Democratic nomination for President. She was riding high before she ran into a roadblock, courtesy of rival Chris Dodd:





Had the late Tim Russert never asked this question, it is very likely Senator Barack Obama never would have been nominated and become President Obama.

Murphy's other immigration proposal contrasts with the DACA policy established in 2012. Todd asked him "among this (illegal immigrant) population), what should be enough to get you deported? If you were brought here, what should be enough to get you deported." Murphy replied

I think what we`ve done and the president has done this, it was  done in our campaign, we`ve crossed the wires between criminal justice and law enforcement on the one hand and immigrant status on the other hand. There is nothing inconsistent.

In fact, I think they add to each other with being really tough on law enforcement but being a welcoming state and community that people could come out of the shadows and feel free to engage with police and other community leaders. If you commit a crime, you ought to be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.





Remarkably, Murphy's only concession to law enforcement was "if you commit a crime, you ought to be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law," which means..... nothing.

No politician ever would recommend someone not be "prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law." But he says nothing about what the law should be. Nor does he indicate whether once someone is prosecuted and convicted, he or she should be deported or instead allowed to remain in the state.

It's not hard to figure out why. DACA required the individual not be a felon or repeated misemeanant. Murphy would require no such thing, though he was by the question invited to concede that breaking the law would be a deal-breaker. Obeying the law should be a minimum, as the Obama Administration understood.

The governor of New Jersey would be more humane to both immigrants and non-immigrants were he to ensure that all residents, legal or illegal, receive basic human services, or better.

But citizenship, or the effort to obtain it, means something. Certain benefits, including access to a driver's license, in-state tuitiion, and protection against deportation should be conveyed to persons exclusive of those who are here (illegally or as Dreamers) who are precluded from being citizens. If Murphy attempts to follow through on the agenda he laid out to Todd, the Governor will be courting trouble both for himself and Democrats in New Jersey.




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