The Jaffe Briefing - July 19, 2021
ROSELLE PARK – We all have our rights, but let’s assume the Founding Fathers also assumed we have at least some common sense. That’s unlike a Roselle Park woman who thought it makes perfect sense to plaster large “Fuck Biden” signs on her wooden fence, for all the kiddies walking to school to see. The woman’s lawyer, in arguing this ridiculous case last week, took it this far: “In Nazi Germany, when Hitler didn’t like something, they burned the books and then they burned the people. I don’t think we want that to happen in Roselle Park,” he actually argued in court. Meanwhile, the local judge did his homework on this one, ordering the woman to take down her offensive signs, reminding everyone that “freedom of speech is not simply an absolute right.” Meanwhile, though, the judge did allow her to keep up a sign that reads: “Socialism sucks. Biden blows.” So, score one for this lady.
ON THE CAMPAIGN TRAIL – It’s doubtful that many are breathlessly anticipating the grand announcement of who Republican gubernatorial nominee Jack Ciattarelli will name as his running mate this week. One must assume it should be a big deal, but it just isn’t. And there’s two big reasons. First, Ciattarelli has a slim chance of winning, based on the polling, the overflowing war chests and the state’s churning Democratic machine. And, second, does anyone really care who is the lieutenant governor? If you walked down the Asbury Park boardwalk on a given Saturday and asked if Sheila Oliver was lieutenant governor or the opening act at the Stone Pony that night, most would guess she’s a pretty good singer. But, hey, it’s a government job with a decent $141,000 salary, plus all the food you can eat at the endless ribbon-cuttings you attend. So, mark your calendar for Thursday’s expected announcement. Or not.
ON THE CAMPAIGN TRAIL – The GOP gubernatorial candidate is quickly learning that everything he says – whenever and wherever he said it – is fair game. Gov. Phil Murphy is taking some easy swipes at Ciattarelli, after the Republican told voters that he is against teaching “gender ID and sexual orientation to kindergartners” and “sodomy in sixth grade” and that he’d “roll back” new LGBTQ curriculum requirements because they go “too far.” Well, that was some raw meat – especially in a liberal-learning state that just finished celebrating Pride Month. Murphy pounced, of course, demanding an apology and an explanation. Here’s the explanation: Ciattarelli explained his use of the word “sodomy” had “absolutely nothing to do with someone’s sexual orientation.” Rather, he wanted to highlight the “mature content being taught to young children.” Meanwhile, the media expressed appreciation to both candidates for a story on a slow news day.
BRIEFING BREATHER
A NASA engineer designed the Super Soaker water pistol.
RED BANK – State Sen. Declan O’Scanlon is now back on Twitter, after the social media giant reopened his account late Saturday. Twitter shut the senator down earlier that day in Trump-like fashion, after O’Scanlon posted this gem: “Given that we have crushed Covid with combination of natural immunity and voluntary uptake there is no reason anyone should be compelled to take the vaccine. Restrictions/mandates/vaccine passports all uncalled for.” Twitter would only reinstate the account on one condition: the senator must remove the post. O’Scanlon said his post was a “reasonable” opinion, telling NJ.com that “I’m not Tweeting crazy crap.” Again, an opinion.
NEW BRUNSWICK – The battle against COVID is now squarely focused on its next target: little kids. As school officials anxiously note the summer recess is quickly ticking away, Rutgers is joining in a study to administer Pfizer-BioNTech COVID vaccine on babies as young as six months old, the Record reports. There’s a lot of pressure here, with this damn delta variant floating around and a widespread recognition that the unvaccinated kiddies could become carriers and sicken older people who – get this – still refuse to be vaccinated. SMH.
LAWRENCEVILLE – There has been a lot written about the financial struggles at Rider University and, with the pandemic, there’s probably plenty else that’s left untold. But you can’t hide from the Wall Street bean counters, who have just downgraded the private school’s bond rating to junk bond status. Translation: financial analysts think Rider would struggle to pay back its loans, and assume it would take years to turn this sinking ship. NJ.com reports Rider is now $110 million in the red, yet university officials believe in their “aggressive strategic plan,” “long-term financial stability” and “vibrant living learning environment.” Sounds great. Just sell that to the high school graduates, as only 12% of those accepted this year have enrolled.
IN OTHER IMPORTANT NEWS
IN CYBERSPACE – Just like the “new” Coke, the DeLorean, Google Glass and other colossal product failures, Twitter is giving up on its disappearing tweets, called “fleets.” Twitter had breathlessly launched a new program in March in which tweets would disappear after 24 hours in a test market in Brazil. Fleets seemed perfect for skittish Twitter users who were concerned about posting something that would be permanent. “However, we haven’t seen an increase in the amount of new people joining the conversation with Fleets like we hoped,” Twitter said in a statement. So, as of Aug. 3, fleets will now disappear – permanently.
THIS DAY IN HISTORY
Perhaps it was finally time to replace the awful Seattle Kingdome on this day in 1994, as a Mariners game is cancelled because of falling tiles.
WORD OF THE DAY
Parry - [PAIR-ee] - verb
Definition: To evade
Example: When asked if I planned to finish my ice cream or hand the rest over, I parried my response.
WIT OF THE DAY
"Stay away from negative people. They have a problem for every solution."
-Albert Einstein
BIDEN BLURB
"There's one advantage in having been around as long as I have. Everybody in the Senate knows me."
-Joe Biden
WEATHER IN A WORD
Comfortable