To the Editor:
We are always pleased to see that “The Hudson Reporter” and its local editions, such as the “Bayonne Community News,” continues to attract advertisers. Because these newspapers are delivered free of charge to residents of Bayonne and Hudson County, we cannot criticize too severely an enterprise which is faring better than many larger, urban newspapers. Indeed, we imagine that the “Bayonne Community News” will report on the demise of “The Star-Ledger.” There is still a need for newsprint.
Mr. Sullivan amazes us with his energy and ubiquity. His sources of political gossip are apparently very broad, which is a testimony to his own integrity. In addition, he manages to produce at least two well researched pieces each month. We know that he is not accumulating wealth by his efforts. We wish him well.
At times, his reporting ventures into low comedy due entirely to the subject matter, and this risibility is unplanned, but nonetheless welcome. Jay Leno and his segment, called “Jaywalking,” comes to mind: Mr. Leno wanders through Los Angeles County, interviewing random characters for their knowledge of current affairs and American government. The humor is in the spontaneous and ingenuous displays of ignorance, which are made more entertaining by the absolute lack of shame. Something like that occurred in the Wednesday, March 18, edition of the “Bayonne Community News” (Vol. 32, No. 5). Where to begin?
• The headline? “State Budget is a mixed blessing for Bayonne?” “Where is the “blessing?”
• “It is clear that Gov. Corzine left no stone unturned in his quest for budget cuts and savings” – Mayor Mark Smith. This is not just hyperbole, it is a lie.
• “Mayor Smith praised Corzine for doing an ‘admirable job’ of defending Democratic values while cutting state spending to 2008 levels.” “Democratic values” was not attributed to Mayor Smith. Was this Mr. Sullivan’s interpretation of democratic values? Is there any sentient being in New Jersey who does not know the damage done to Bayonne and New Jersey by the application of democratic values?”
• There are further quotes from Assemblyman Chiappone. The remarks attributed to Mr. Smith and Mr. Chiappone strongly resemble “talking points” distributed by the Corzine media team. No one who has heard either of these two men speak in public would recognize their speech patterns in their reported remarks, let alone their ability to quickly and thoroughly read through the budget, with a highlighter and a note pad. We doubt that they actually spoke those remarks unaided, and we doubt that they actually read all of the budget, the basis of their unmerited praise. They are prisoners of the Democratic Party and democratic values, and their iron shackles have been replaced by their Blackberries.
• “This is a budget that defends working class family values” – Mayor Smith. What the budget intends to do is transfer money from those who work to those who don’t work and/or pay no taxes. From each according to his ability to each according to his need. This is Marxism: Karl, not Groucho. But we find much of Groucho in the leadership that is on display by the Democratic Party from City Hall to the County Courthouse to the State House.
• “Between the Lines” – the weekly doings of Hudson County politicians as breathlessly reported by Mr. Sullivan. Let’s be clear: none of these politicians has your good will at heart. They seek office to acquire the ability to distribute patronage. (This is all accomplished tax-free, by the way: political contributions are not taxed). Jerry Capeci, a longtime reporter for the “New York Daily News,” reported on the New York mob families under the byline “Gang Land.” His subject matter was the doings of the psychopaths who populated the Five Families. We find the doings of Hudson County politicians to be equivalent in all respects except that they do not settle disputes with a bullet. They are sociopaths instead of psychopaths. In any case, they do not deserve the attention and apparent approbation that Mr. Sullivan gives them. We would rather he report on the content of the weekly sermons preached by the local Catholic and Protestant clergy on topical and ethical issues.
We admire Mr. Sullivan, for he apparently lives and breathes local reporting. Very few of us have the opportunity to work at something which give us constant pleasure.
BRUCE KOWAL