Most of the time I think you need a secret decoder ring to understand what Plainfield Assemblyman Jerry Green is trying to say.
Take his blog bomb (see here) dropped the Tuesday before Thanksgiving Day -- when most folks had their minds fixed on a real turkey and a long holiday weekend. At the time, blogger Nat Singleton was the only one to pick up on Jerry's attack (see 'Assemblyman Jerry Green, a closeted anti-Semite in sheep's clothing' here)
Why is a decoder ring needed?
Well, the post begins with a quintessentially Jerry attack on Councilor Cory Storch which does not fit the style or content of the rest of the piece. What's up?
It only became clear on Wednesday, when PolitickerNJ's Max Pizarro wrote on the 'open letter' (see here) that the letter was not by Jerry Green at all, but by Roselle council president Jamel Holley, who was circulating it among Union County Dems for signatories. Even with a decoder ring, you can't be sure from Jerry's post that he is signing it, but let's give him the benefit of the doubt.
So, Jerry embarrasses the Union County Democrats by deviating from their line and attempting to smear Storch. Since the import of the 'open letter' is that the GOP candidates are racists, Jerry is here really PLAYING THE RACE CARD, and not the 'closeted Republican' allegation against Storch. Jerry's attempt to call Storch a racist doesn't stand up to the light of day -- but don't expect Jerry to stop; Jerry's got an agenda of his own.
I find it interesting that Jerry is lining up behind Jamel Holley's leadership, given that Holley escaped criminal prosecution for voter fraud in the 2006 election cycle by the skin of his teeth (see here, and here), getting off with pre-trial intervention being imposed by a completely independent and non-political Union County judge incapable of being suborned.
But, hey, Holley is a comer in Union County politics, having been championed by the disgraced ex-Assemblyman Neil Cohen (now facing jail over a child pornography conviction) as well as Sen. Ray Lesniak and sometime State Dem chairperson Joe Cryan. This is what makes politics -- especially New Jersey politics -- so interesting.
But Holley exposes the Union County Democrats to embarrassment and ridicule, too.
While attempting to paint the defeated Republican candidates as racists (unproven in my mind), Holley has exposed the Democrats to the scrutiny they deserve with regard to Union County's diversity and their record in promoting it.
And, guess what? The Union County Dems come up short, as CountyWatcher's Tina Renna pointed out in a blog post of November 29 (see here).
The record of Union County Democrats in opening up leading county jobs to women and minorities is abysmal. Make that ABYSMAL. Renna ticks off all the top county positions and the woeful record of filling them with minority and/or women candidates. 95% white men, by her count.
And to make things worse, when Union County Dem chairperson Charlotte DeFilippo decided to dump Freeholder Rayland Van Blake (a story which I broke on March 5, see here), Jerry Green was prepared to let the seat be filled by a white male candidate from Linden (since the nice white lady from Linden had moved to Westfield and had no intention of stepping down).
Ready, that is, until the PLAINFIELD TODAY post lit a bonfire under the Assemblyman, who finally got the gumption to say that Plainfield would like to see an AFRICAN AMERICAN WOMAN have a chance at the seat, thank you very much.
DeFilippo swallowed hard. Linda Carter got the nod and will be duly sworn in on January 1st.
The County Dems should get to work on really correcting THEIR embarrassing lapses.
Racism, anti-Semitism and intolerance go hand in hand. Assemblyman Jerry Green should apologize to Cory Storch for his insinuation.
'Do the right thing', as the man said.
-- Dan Damon [follow]
Why is a decoder ring needed?
Well, the post begins with a quintessentially Jerry attack on Councilor Cory Storch which does not fit the style or content of the rest of the piece. What's up?
It only became clear on Wednesday, when PolitickerNJ's Max Pizarro wrote on the 'open letter' (see here) that the letter was not by Jerry Green at all, but by Roselle council president Jamel Holley, who was circulating it among Union County Dems for signatories. Even with a decoder ring, you can't be sure from Jerry's post that he is signing it, but let's give him the benefit of the doubt.
So, Jerry embarrasses the Union County Democrats by deviating from their line and attempting to smear Storch. Since the import of the 'open letter' is that the GOP candidates are racists, Jerry is here really PLAYING THE RACE CARD, and not the 'closeted Republican' allegation against Storch. Jerry's attempt to call Storch a racist doesn't stand up to the light of day -- but don't expect Jerry to stop; Jerry's got an agenda of his own.
I find it interesting that Jerry is lining up behind Jamel Holley's leadership, given that Holley escaped criminal prosecution for voter fraud in the 2006 election cycle by the skin of his teeth (see here, and here), getting off with pre-trial intervention being imposed by a completely independent and non-political Union County judge incapable of being suborned.
But, hey, Holley is a comer in Union County politics, having been championed by the disgraced ex-Assemblyman Neil Cohen (now facing jail over a child pornography conviction) as well as Sen. Ray Lesniak and sometime State Dem chairperson Joe Cryan. This is what makes politics -- especially New Jersey politics -- so interesting.
But Holley exposes the Union County Democrats to embarrassment and ridicule, too.
While attempting to paint the defeated Republican candidates as racists (unproven in my mind), Holley has exposed the Democrats to the scrutiny they deserve with regard to Union County's diversity and their record in promoting it.
And, guess what? The Union County Dems come up short, as CountyWatcher's Tina Renna pointed out in a blog post of November 29 (see here).
The record of Union County Democrats in opening up leading county jobs to women and minorities is abysmal. Make that ABYSMAL. Renna ticks off all the top county positions and the woeful record of filling them with minority and/or women candidates. 95% white men, by her count.
And to make things worse, when Union County Dem chairperson Charlotte DeFilippo decided to dump Freeholder Rayland Van Blake (a story which I broke on March 5, see here), Jerry Green was prepared to let the seat be filled by a white male candidate from Linden (since the nice white lady from Linden had moved to Westfield and had no intention of stepping down).
Ready, that is, until the PLAINFIELD TODAY post lit a bonfire under the Assemblyman, who finally got the gumption to say that Plainfield would like to see an AFRICAN AMERICAN WOMAN have a chance at the seat, thank you very much.
DeFilippo swallowed hard. Linda Carter got the nod and will be duly sworn in on January 1st.
The County Dems should get to work on really correcting THEIR embarrassing lapses.
Racism, anti-Semitism and intolerance go hand in hand. Assemblyman Jerry Green should apologize to Cory Storch for his insinuation.
'Do the right thing', as the man said.
- Jerry Green's Page: "An open letter to the 2010 Republican candidates..."
- Dumbed Down America: "Assemblyman Jerry Green, closeted anti-Semite in sheep's clothing"
- PolitickerNJ --
- 11/24/2010: "Union County flare-up: Dems go after GOP candidates over post-election remarks"
- 8/27/2009: "AG's office indicts Holley 'by accusation' with 2006 vote fraud"
- 10/8/2009: "Judge orders Holly into PTI for 'overzealous' pursuit of signatures"
- CountyWatchers: "Let's talk race"
- Plainfield Today: "County Dems dumping Van Blake from Freeholder slot?" -- and followup here.
Posts
3 comments:
Dan...it's not racist when Democrats have 95.9% white male anything.
As long as the good slaves vote the proper way there is no racism. Now...were those good slaves ever to vote a Republican in office we might unfortunately see that white male number tick up to 96% which of course would show the true racist nature of the Republicans. The good slaves of the Democratic Party cannot tolerate that.
In a nutshell, Jerry is the perfect poster boy for Ignorance and Ignorant Voters. Plainfield and the surrounding area deserve what they have.
"Take his blog bomb (see here) dropped the Tuesday before Thanksgiving Day -- when most folks had their minds fixed on a real turkey and a long holiday weekend"
Awww...poor, poor, Plainfield subjects. Just trying to do thier thing, and bad old Green takes away Thanksgiving by putting up a blog post.
Bad..bad boy Green!!
You know Dan this post is one of the most desperate attempts for attention I've seen from you for some time. I'm a independent white jewish man and I'm not taking the bait. Your personal vendetta against Green is frankly boring. The same thing over and over. When will you get the nerve to sit down an interview Green? Your accusations of racism are serious and unsubstantiated.
While you continuously promote Storch and demonize the regular Dems Plainfield is in deep need of solutions and resources neither of which YOU seem to be providing.
But judging from the number of ads you have on your blog lately maybe your turning into the FOX news of Plainfield. Please stop exploiting Plainfield.
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