The Jaffe Briefing - November 9, 2020

STATEWIDE – Ahhh. The election is over! No more politics for a long, long time, right? Heck, no. When the polls closed at 8 p.m. last Tuesday, it was the unofficial beginning of Election 2021. Next year will be a doozy in New Jersey, in which Gov. Phil Murphy is up for re-election, as well as all 120 members of the state Legislature. Only Virginia has a gubernatorial race next year, so political experts already see the Murphy race as an early “referendum” of the Biden White House, as state Republicans line up to take him on. Yep, this is happening. And it’s happening now.

TRENTON – Even die-hard Yankees fans should be seething that the team is abandoning Trenton. The big-league club is dumping the Trenton Thunder and will now have the Somerset Patriots serve as the AA minor league baseball team.  Obviously, this is a huge win for the Patriots, who play in Bridgewater. But the Thunder owner – who learned of the snub from Baseball America – is saying the Yankees are leaving an urban community for the affluence of Somerset County, a “calculated and ungracious maneuver,” NJ Globe reports. He claims the Yankees repeatedly assured him over the past 16 months that the Thunder would remain the Double A affiliate, yet the Yanks pulled the partnership at the 11th hour. While baseball is a private business, and the Yankees can do whatever the heck they want, this is a real loss for Trenton, always grasping for economic lifelines. All other major league clubs should take notice: There’s an established team, and an established fan base, that could really use an affiliation. 1-800-THUNDER.

STATEWIDE – Sure, there are many parts of New Jersey’s economy that are struggling. But ROI-NJ is reporting on a sudden, unexpected growth industry: Plastic surgery. The news site sat down with a plastic surgeon from East Brunswick who says business is booming for three distinct reasons: “The Zoom effect,” with people seeing themselves on camera all day and noting where a nip or tuck is required. “The work-from-home effect,” in which you can recover from all the bruises in the privacy of your own home. And the “extra income effect,” as people lucky enough to keep working find they have discretionary income at home, without the need to pull themselves together for the office.

AT HOME – There was a time – not that long ago – that the only bad thing about Thanksgiving was appeasing Cousin Alan, that chatty relative who seems to be the expert on everything. This is 2020, so now there’s much more to dread as we approach the holidays. The state’s death rate from this awful pandemic has remained steady, despite the surge that began last month. But state epidemiologists say your holiday table could become a super spreader if you invite all these hanger-on relatives into your bubble. Perhaps this is the year that Cousin Alan is urged to stay home, as the second wave is being fueled by college-age people, ages 30-49, the Record reports. “Gather around a smaller table,” Gov. Murphy urges.

BRIEFING BREATHER

A duel between three people is called a truel.

ON THE CAMPAIGN TRAIL – Former Gov. Chris Christie continues to publicly separate himself from Donald Trump, this time urging Republicans to demand proof of voter fraud, or just “move on.” Christie, now a pundit for ABC's "This Week," had this to say Sunday morning to Trump: “If your basis for not conceding is that there was voter fraud, then show us. Show us, because if you can't show us we can't do this. We can't back you blindly without evidence.” That’s right. Watch how other former Trump sycophants now suddenly have their own opinions on things. Refreshing, isn’t it?

EDISON – If politics in Edison is not crazy enough, there may be a new carrot to dangle for political aspirants. The Township Council tonight is considering making the next mayor a full-time job and nearly tripling the salary to $135,000 with a lucrative taxpayer-funded benefits package. Why now? Well, it may be because no fewer than five people may try to run for mayor next year including Councilman Joe Coyle, who the Home News Tribune says came up with this pay-boosting plan. For decades, Edison’s part-time mayors made paltry salaries until Jun Choi declared himself full-time in 2006 and got a salary bump to $75,000. Subsequent mayors, Toni Ricigliano and Tom Lankey, scaled back their pay to the $50,000 range. With this new prize, perhaps Edison politics can become even more bare knuckle, if that's possible.

IN THE MEDIA

ON AIR – The media also seems to be getting its voice back – after four years of its detailed reporting painfully dismissed as “Fake News.” Check out Alex Zdan of News 12 New Jersey, getting interrupted Saturday in front of a camera, during the big announcement for Biden. Zdan turned around. “How you doing, pal?" he said. “Is this real news or fake news?” the man asked. Then, Zdan responded with what sounded like “f--- off" and turned back around, smiling at the camera. “What?” the man replied. Later, Zdan went to Twitter to claim he said “Buzz off.”  Doubtful, but certainly fun either way.

IN OTHER IMPORTANT NEWS

MUMBAI – If you think you are having a bad hair day this morning, take solace that your head can’t possibly look any sillier than this. An 18-year-old from India now has the international distinction of having the longest hair on a teen, measuring 6 feet, 6.7 inches. It all stems from a really, really bad haircut when she was six years old, prompting her to never, ever cut her hair. That was 12 years ago…and counting. 

THIS DAY IN HISTORY

It was this day in 1989 that people across the globe could finally re-enter East Berlin – behind the Communist side of the wall for 28 years – to see everything they’ve done with the place.

WORD OF THE DAY

Reprove – [rih-PROOV] – verb

Definition: to scold or correct usually gently or with kindly intent

Example: Will someone go to his Twitter account to reprove Pennsylvania Republicans?

WIT OF THE DAY

“Show me a good loser, and I’ll show you a loser.”

-Vince Lombardi

TODAY'S TRUMPISM

“Where it mattered, they stole what they had to steal.”

-Donald J. Trump

WEATHER IN A WORD

Golf?

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