PURCELL'S BAAAAAAAAAACK...

Not too long ago, Courier publisher and Democratic Party operative Jim Purcell stopped blogging at The Inside Clamdigger; he also discontinued his column in his paper. Seemingly as a result of strong criticism by Art Gallagher of More Monmouth Musings. The blogging is now done by "Courier Reporter" and Purcell was replaced by columnist Somdatta Sengupta, a longtime Courier staffer. Until this week.

Purcell's back.

In this week's (Issue of Oct. 9th) column, in a newsworthy bit of new news, Purcell implores us all to vote Democratic.

He opens with a criticism of President George Walker Bush, and says he cannot vote for Sen. John Sidney McCain to replace him. Although Purcell doesn't mention the Illinois Senator by name, I would presume that he wants us all to vote for Barak Hussein Obama. And Boy Wonder Robinette for veep.

Then he goes on to Monmouth County:

"In Monmouth County, it is time for the Monmouth County Republican Organization to not be in control for a while, in my opinion. Corruption is rampant and only thinly concealed from public view. The corruption is institutional and spans the county."

Wanna have that conversation now, Jim? Where is the corruption of which you speak? Don't bother trotting out the Rob Clifton contribution story. That one lost credibility when you gave Bill Barham a pass for accepting the same amount from the same contributor and didn't return it, not to mention that you chose to ignore the Aberdeen Democrats' acceptance of contributions from that town's train station developer, even when the documentation was handed to you.

Westlake? Puh-leeze. At the end of the day, a Democratic tax board appointment by the governor that had to be vetted by the Democratic County Boss. That's Victor Scudiery, Jim. Maybe you've heard of him?

Bid Rig? Jim, a lot of the perpetrators were your friends. John Merla, Ray O'Grady and Harry Larrison, among others. When others expressed revulsion that these individuals could get involved in such corruption, you stood by your men. BTW, your chairman, Scudiery, said in 2005 they were entrapped. But then he also wrote that convicted federal felon Frank Abate was "honorable and dedicated."

Purcell then goes on about Peter Carton. Yaaaaawwwwn. Alright, we know you don't like the guy, already. Get over it, Jim, this is getting to be black helicopter stuff.

Do you really think that the Democrats don't have their own "Pete Carton" waiting in the wings for the Dems to take a majority. Come on. Just take a look at their ELEC reports. It's mostly labor unions and lawyers.

He jumps back to the county:

"The family members and friends, not to mention friends of friends, of Monmouth Republicans are so insinuated within the government's infrastructure that the notion of 'best person for the job' is simply quaint and perhaps nostalgic most times, but certainly not grounded in reality."

All righty then. And just who might these family members and friends be. Names and titles, Jim. It's easy to make the accusation, but to make it stick you need facts, Jim. Remember facts?

Purcell closes with a discussion of Middletown. Naturally, he wants Democrats in office there, too. Nothing really there to see.

Which leads me to ask the great unanswered question of Campaign '08, originally posed by Art Gallagher of More Monmouth Musings, also asked by Barry Goldwater at The Voice of Reason and by yours truly at this blog, and never answered yet: "Can anyone tell me of a county in New Jersey where Democrats are doing a better job governing than Republicans are doing in Monmouth County?"

I think I know the answer, or rather, why no Democrat has answered yet. Or will answer.

With the Democrats it's not about reform or good government, it's about power. We've seen where out of county interests have funded the Monmouth County Democrats, particularly Camden and Union County Democrats like George Norcross and Raymond Lesniak. For a look at how the Democrats have been running things in Union County, check out the blog of the Union County Watchdog Association, http://www.countywatchers.com/. Do we want our great county to be like Union? Is that the Democrats' idea of "where Democrats are doing a better job governing than Republicans?"

Well?

MIDDLETOWN: THE NEW HOWELL

Middletown Township is Monmouth County's largest municipality in population; it's also right up there in land area. It stretches from the tip of Sandy Hook all the way to Lincroft, nearly on the doorstep of Western Monmouth.
Politically, it is a must-win in order to carry the county.
But all is not right in the Middletonian behemoth. A long-simmering party split has in recent years reached a slow boil, with the Democrats under local boss Joe "King" Caliendo benefiting in the process, and by currency, the county Dems.
What once was fought out in the primary and forgotten by Labor Day has now become a full-time pursuit. The two factions would get together, with Joe Azzolina hosting Pete Carton's local GOP Headquarters on Joe's property on Route 35. That's all a distant memory now; the HQ building has been bulldozed for lo these several years now.
Caliendo has benefitted big time in the last two years, with two of his Democrats being elected to the Township Committee. One more and all the GOP infighting will be moot.
Last year, things got really bizzare. Joe Azzolina, the longtime Republican legislator and former municipal chair, publicly backed the local Democrats in a mailer. And, from the other faction, Planning Board Chairperson Judith Stanley-Coleman backed a write-in candidate in Highlands, and is said to be supporting the local Democrats there this year. And that's not even in Middletown!
Wow! You just can't make this stuff up, campers!
With all these Republicans backing Democrats, it's no surprise that the Democrats are making gains.
In spite of a political scene that seems like a cross between The Jerry Springer Show and the bar scene from Star Wars, the local GOP seems to have been doing a pretty decent job governing the township, which makes it all the more imperative to maintain the Republican majority there, as well as keeping the vote pluralities high for the freeholders and top of the ticket.
I'll close with Art Gallagher's poignant question, which Democrats hate to be asked and can't answer: "Where in New Jersey are Democrats doing a better job governing than Republicans are doing in Middletown and Monmouth County?"

PURCELL DISSES MONMOUTH's DIVERSITY

In his column in last week's (August 21st) Courier, publisher Jim Purcell laments Monmouth County's lack of "diversity."
Say what?!
What does he mean by the PC term diversity anyway? Monmouth County has about as much diversity as the next county. Yes, it's a predominantly white county, but not exclusively.
Many different communities make up our county. Holmdel has sizeable East Asian and South Asian communities. Long Branch, Neptune and Asbury Park have large African-American communities, as do Red Bank, Tinton Falls and Freehold Borough; smaller black communities exist in Matawan, Keyport and Aberdeen. Even Middletown has the enclave of Hillside Park. Howell has the Kalmuck Mongol community, one of the largest Buddhist communities in New Jersey.
Freehold and Red Bank, among other towns, have large Latino communities.
Even white communities are not all the same. Marlboro, Manalapan, Aberdeen and Ocean have large Jewish populations, whereas the southern shore towns, centering on Spring Lake, have been dubbed the "Irish Riviera."
I could go on and on. But I think you get the point. We're all Americans here. The things that unite us outnumber those that divide.
Sounding more like The Big Professor, Purcell also sounds a drum beaten by many on the left:
" Indeed, in many ways this 'conversation' about race will end one day. In this country, by 2050, the majority of the population in the United States will no longer be white. The majority of voters will be something other than white, and so the whole issue of race will be a lot plainer for some folks to grasp—because they'll have to."
This sounds like typical liberal "drive-by" media stuff. Promoting "get-even-ism" when whites are a minority, the left fails to take into account the fact that America has absorbed many peoples of all colors and from all continents and made them into... Americans.
And Americans work out our differences.

MONMOUTH BUSTEDMAN

UPDATE!
According to Art Gallagher, it appears that Rasta is Alan Moretti, 27, of Rumson. There may be others involved as well.
I think Alan needs a lawyer.
Many have wanted to (figuratively) Taser® this clown.
Monmouth RastaMan.
This blogger first appeared on the Monmouth County scene around the time of the 2006 County Chairman's election as a supporter of Adam Puharic's candidacy. Originally posting as "Donny D" and using a photo of former Governor Donald DiFrancesco as an icon, after the chairman's election he began posting as Monmouth RastaMan, a "lifelong Monmouth County Democrat who tells it as it is". He then began using a series of photos, changing them periodically.
Rasta's blog began pretty benignly, posing as a disheartened Democrat coming over to the G. O. P. His criticisms at the time were along the lines of criticizing Freeholder Anna Little for not resigning as a Highlands Councilmember soon enough.
After the 2006 election, Rasta amped up his criticisms of Freeholder Little, to the point of libel. Many other dedicated longtime Republicans were targeted; Rasta also went after Courier Publisher James Purcell. It was at about this time that I removed the link to his weBSite.
Purcell retained the services of attorney Tommy DeSeno, who aggressively pursued the case. Through DeSeno's tenacious hard work, Monmouth RastaMan is now Monmouth BustedMan. Found out. Purcell promises to reveal Rasta's identity in a press release later today. When we have the information we will post it here.
I expect this to have a cascading effect. Many will probably want a piece of the Rasta. He offended many people, many of them private citizens. Time will tell where this leads.
Also unknown is whether this extends beyond the civil realm into the criminal realm.
As more info is officially made public, I will post it.

DO PAPERS USUALLY DO THIS? AND SOME ELEC STUFF

On Monday we received a communication addressing a situation in Matawan. The writer alleged that for the second year in a row, Courier has appeared in driveways in Matawan, shortly before Election Day and featuring articles favorable to the local Democrats. The writer went on to say that the local Democrats should report this on their ELEC reports as an in-kind contribution.
Back in January, the Monmouth County Republican Blog reported that the Flynn - DaSaro losing 13th District Legislative Campaign was given an in - kind donation of $2,100.00 from Courier. This was promptly refuted by Courier publisher and sometime - Democrat Jim Purcell; the bill was finally paid to Courier.
While we knew that Courier doesn't do in - kinds (Purcell said!), we thought this did bear some research, and so we directed the Honest Abe Research Foundation to look into this. They went through the Democrats' 2005 ELEC reports of every Bayshore town, including Matawan, and found some interesting stuff.

• Aberdeen: On Oct. 19 and Oct 21, 2005, the local Democratic Executive Committee made two payments of $960.00 each, totaling $1,920.00, to Courier for "Distribution". This was reported by the executive committee as an expenditure made on behalf of the Aberdeen Democratic campaign; the campaign failed to report this as an in - kind from the executive committee.
• Atlantic Highlands: Nothing spectacular. The Dems buy advertisement in Courier, that's about it.
• Hazlet: On a 48 - hour Report dated November 3, 2005, the Hazlet Democratic campaign reported paying $1,940.00 to Courier for "Ads and Paper Delivery". While they did file the 48 - hour report, the Hazlet Dems failed to file their 20 - Day Post - Election financial report. Their 11- day Pre - Election report closes with a balance of $6,230.00 and no expenditures whatsoever reported. While we know about the $1,940.00 paid to Courier, we don't know what they spent the other $4,290.00 on, or if they raised and spent more!
• Highlands: Only 48 - hour reports filed listing contributions to the local Democratic campaign. No expenditures listed.
• Holmdel: No Dem advertisements in Courier. No distribution or delivery of the paper.
• Keansburg: Non - partisan elections.
• Keyport: No advertisements by local Democrats or distribution reported. There was a $2,500.00 contribution from some Raritan Bay Leadership Fund, a New Brunswick - based PAC (Lynch?).
• Matawan: No record of any payments by local Democrats to Courier.
• Middletown: Their ELEC reports show many advertising bills in Courier, and Middletown Democrat boss Joe "King" Caliendo does advertise heavily in that paper. They do not, however, make mention of paying for paper delivery.
• Union Beach: No campaign reports found. Nothing. (Did any Democrats even run there in '05?) Sworn statement filed for Dem County Committee.

Jim Purcell is a frequent visitor to this Blog and we hope he will explain this newspaper delivery matter.

PROLIFERATION OF POLITICAL BLOGGERS

Monmouth County has experienced a proliferation of political blogs. Both parties are represented, but so far we Republicans seem to be ahead on this.

Some blogs have flourished, while others seem to have fallen by the wayside.

The Monmouth County Republican Blog has been active for over a year. Lew Alcindor started Right Inside Monmouth Politics in November 2005, but has only been intermittently active. In January of this year, William H. Seward started More Monmouth Musings, and has been very active posting since then. Two blogs were set up by someone posting as Ronald Reagan, believed to be the nom de blog of Dan Gallic, the shadowy former executive director of the Monmouth GOP. Both blogs went dormant but one has been reactivated; it has been a repository of namecalling and hopeless negativism and will not be linked here.

Some folks running for office have started blogs under their own names. Freeholder Anna Little began a blog back in February; sadly she has not kept it up. I hope Anna reactivates her blog for the campaign and posts pertinent Freeholder information. (Hint hint hint!) I'd like to see Surrogate Candidate Rosemarie Peters and Freeholder Candidate Andrew Lucas get into the blogging act, too. On the local level, so far we have Borough Council Candidates Art Gallagher from Highlands and Charles Cocuzza in Union Beach.

Some journalists have blogs, too, and often post on political subjects. Jackie Corley, formerly of Courier, would have to be considered the pioneer in this category, with Bayshore Journalista and Jersey Blog Beat. Courier publisher and sometime Democrat Jim Purcell has The Inside Clamdigger, where he posts on news up in the Bayshore; he also posts on Airborne issues. Courier probably has more blogs per capita than the other Monmouth papers; there's Matt McGrath with Matter of Fact; other Courier bloggers with varying degrees of political content include Doug Irvin (Who recently left the paper.), Rich Kohler and Mike Kenny. Of these blogs, the only one officially affiliated with Courier is Matter of Fact. Over in Howell we have Kathy Baratta, who is administrator at HowellNJ.com. She covers Manalapan for the News Transcript, but the blog is not affiliated with the paper. The Asbury Park Press has recently launched its own family of bloggers, including Bob Ingle, Editorial Page Editor Randy Bergmann, editorial writers Clare McDowell and Larry Benjamin, and columnist Rev. Michael Riley.

The Democrats have begun to get into the act too. A few months ago the Monmouth County Democratic Blog was started by Old Hickory, but that seems to have gone dormant. Middletown Democratic Boss Joseph "King" Caliendo has started Democrats Calling, and the Democrats also have Donkeys Rule! on their blogroll. Assemblyman Michael Panter (D-12) has a blog, as did Bill Flynn and Mike DaSaro, the unsuccessful Democratic candidates in the 13th District last year. It is generally believed that so far the Democrats lag behind the Republicans in blogging.

If I missed anyone's blog (preferably of a political nature), please leave a comment with the blog's address. I will add the Republican ones to my sidebar links.

MERLA A DEMOCRAT

Embattled Keyport Mayor John Merla is now a Democrat, according to a June 8 Courier article, as well as a report in this week's Independent.
Merla, elected as a Republican, was nabbed in the FBI's "Operation Bid Rig" and faces eight counts of corruption charges. He maintains his innocence and intends to go to trial and fight the charges. He had previously beaten charges brought by then County Prosecutor John Kaye in the early 90's by going to trial.
Once considered a rising young star in our party, Merla was a candidate for Harry Larrison's open freeholder seat in December 2004, opposing Bill Barham, who was elected. Merla and others would be arrested the following February.
Some who supported Merla now say they would have supported Barham had they known of Merla's alleged corruption.
Merla had declared himself an independent last year; this year he becomes a Democrat. We wish him well in his new home.

SEWARD'S RIGHT. JIM PURCELL CAN DO A LOT BETTER

This past Friday, William H. Seward of More Monmouth Musings ran a post criticizing Courier publisher Jim Purcell for an editorial he ran in last week's Courier. (May 4th.) In the editorial, Purcell bashes Freeholder Deputy Director Rob Clifton for accepting a $5,000.00 contribution from the Committee for Responsibility and Trust in Government, an East Brunswick Township-based PAC led by former State Senator Jack Sinagra (R-Middlesex). After receiving negative press (From Courier) last summer, Clifton returned the contribution.
Much of this is just a re-hash of last summer's articles.
Purcell updates the story by comparing Clifton to indicted former West Long Branch Councilman Joseph DeLisa, who was nailed in Operation Bid-Rig, and is now said to be jammed up with developer Jack Morris and former State Senator John Lynch (D-Middlesex).
As Seward says:
"With that being said, Jim's column this week is garbage. Yellow journalism. Not fit for the National Enquirer or Mr. Whipple's inventory. He rehashes an old story published last July with no new facts and spews innuendo and suspicion on Rob Clifton because a campaign contributor of Rob's is suspected by an Asbury Park Press reporter of being an unnamed developer in former West Long Branch Councilman Joseph DeLisa's Operation Bid Rig indictment."
Exactly.
I agree with Seward, "Jim has been kinder to Republicans and former Republicans who have been indicted. He's even talked about "innocent until proven guilty" in the cases of at least 3 indicted in Operation Bid Rig."
I can see going after a public figure based upon many factors, good government being one of them, but in this case it looks like Jim Purcell simply doesn't like Rob Clifton. That's fine, but dislike does not good journalism make.
Last July, Courier ran a series of well-researched stories by Jackie Corley on the train station redevelopment project involving Matawan and Aberdeen. The problem was, they didn't go far enough. It's not as simple as "Oooh, Rob accepted a campaign contribution." That does not exist in a vacuum. Aberdeen's Democrats have accepted several thousand dollars from several developers doing business in their town. From the Aberdeen GOP website:
"In 2003, they accepted contributions of $4,000 from JPI, developer of Jefferson apartments, now Versailles, and $5,000 from Kara Homes, developer of Aspen Woods on Route 34 and Aberdeen Forge in Freneau. And so far this year they “wheeled” $1,000 to the Hazlet Township Democrat campaign! It’s no wonder the Democrats in Trenton continue to fight meaningful reforms of “pay-to-play” laws and an end to “wheeling”; they subsist upon it."
And the Aberdeen GOP Chairman, Michael Borg, who is a commenter on this blog, has exposed a $5,000.00 contribution to the Aberdeen Democrats from Aberdeen's train station developer! You didn't see that in Courier.
This goes well beyond Matawan and Aberdeen. Getting back to the Committee for Responsibility and Trust in Government, other beneficiaries of its largesse are the Howell Committee for Good Government (10/27/05 -- $4,000.00), and the Election Fund of Bill Barham (11/01/05 -- $5,000.00), but Purcell never reported that either.
I have come to respect Jim Purcell as a journalist, but to single out Rob Clifton while giving numerous others a pass is just wrong. Just plain wrong. To quote Will Seward, "Jim, you can do better. A lot better."

UPDATE

I just took a look through ELEC today, and here's what I found. The Monmouth GOP Leadership PAC, another of Fred's PACs (This would be No. 11). This PAC lists Neptune Attorney Peter V. Cantalupo, Jr. as its chairman, and Glenn Hopler (of course!) as treasurer.

This PAC included a $2,250.00 contribution from Jack Morris (himself, no PACs this time), a $750.00 contribution from John E. Westlake, only 2 months after his office had been raided by the FBI, and another $750.00 from Solomon Dwek. I'm assuming Dwek's check has cleared.

These contributions were all dated January 26, 2006, the date of the Chairman's Gala. This only strengthens my contention that it's Fred Niemann, not Rob Clifton that's the problem.

Nice people Fred hangs out with.

ARTICLE IN THIS WEEK'S COURIER

I would encourage everybody who can get up to the Bayshore to pick up a copy of this week's Courier. Jim Purcell, the paper's publisher, has written a very nice editorial about me, your host, Honest Abe.
While we as Republicans may disagree with Mr. Purcell's Democratic politics, this column is pretty much spot on, and the illustration is very creative.
Thank you Mr. Purcell for a great editorial.

LIB CAT FIGHT.

Republican leader tied to controversial religious group
By JACKIE CORLEY
During last year's Monmouth County Freeholder race, Republicans had a bone to pick with Democrats after a derogatory comment about women made by one of the Democrat candidates years earlier, was made public.
This is really lengthy; read more here.

And then this lib clown's response is priceless:

At 4:32 PM, The Big Professor said...
Attacking a man because of his religious beliefs. Wow. That's pretty low.
Ms. Corley, you may feel that you are serving the cause of progressivism with your article, but trust me you're not. You are playing right into the hands of the right wingers who paint all of us with the same broad brush of atheism and overall anti-religion.So what if this man belongs to some little known Roman Catholic splinter group. So what!
Were he Amish would you have written the same story? Or a Chassidic Jew? Both sects, one ostensibly Christian like the so-called People of Hope, the other Jewish, advocate similar views of male dominance, close-knit communities, etc. Are they cults? And how about Islam, arguably a cult in anyone's book. Had he been Daniyullah al-Galiq instead of Dan Gallic would you still have run this piece? And would he have met with your approval were he, say, a Unitarian Universalist or atheist?
What would you propose be done, Ms. Corley? Ban cults? Can't ban them outright, but if their activities cross the line of illegality, Law Enforcement will step in. Ban religions that border on cultishness? Where do you draw that line? Find the People of Hope compound and have federal agents lay siege to it, then torch it like Waco and incinerate all occupants, men, women and children? Or, like in pre-revolutionary times, establish a religious test for potential officeholders? Expand that to political party staffers? What?
I am not familiar with your newspaper, but it seems that this editor of yours harbors a hateful grudge against the Republicans of your area. Fine. Take this as advice from one progressive to another that attacking your opponents' religious belief system or lack thereof is just dirty pool.
Finally, you contradict yourself. While castigating Gallic for suppressing women, you also castigate him for promoting this Amy Handlin, who would appear to be rather progressive, at least as Republicans go. From what I've read she would appear to be more of a Rockefeller than a Goldwater Republican; and if at 23 you don't know who they were, Google their names or ask your editor. So is he pro-woman or anti-woman? Which is he? You can't have it both ways.

So "La Journalista" has to explain herself to the big, liberal professor:

At 6:29 PM, Jackie Corley said...
Well, that's a mouthful.
The stories I was told by the former members of the group I spoke to were quite troublesome, in my opinion. And, in fact, I kept out most of the more shocking details out of print.
And no, I'm not a "liberal atheist." I was raised Catholic.
Our paper isn't anti-Republican. In fact, I did what I consider a non-controversial and friendly background piece on Sean Kean and Steve Corodemus last week, and I will be writing a non-controversial background piece on Lillian Burry next week.
I respect most of the Republican and Democrat leaders I come across.
It's not my place to dictate what should be done with "cults" or alleged "cults." It is only my place as a reporter to inform.
When a religious belief system becomes the backbone of a party instead of guiding that party's sensibilities, as the Founding Fathers intended, the public has every right to know and can assess the information as they see fit.
Of course, if you don't care for the information our newspaper is putting out to the public you can use the power of the purse and proudly snap yours shut and not purchase it.
My best,Jackie Corley

And...

At 2:43 AM, Jackie Corley woke up and said...
More importantly, I think any group or organization that seems to espouse the subjugation of women should not be free from criticism simply because the group or organization is religious in nature.
As campaign manager for Ms. Handlin and Mr. Clifton, Mr. Gallic very effectively made use of Mr. Morlino's "women should be muzzled" comment.
The following is his statement to a local newspaper, The Independent:
"Gallic said the information used in the mailed fliers and newspaper advertisements was taken from official minutes of the meeting at which Morlino made the remark. He defended using the remark and said it was a 'peek at his [Morlino’s] soul.'
"Gallic said the fact that Morlino made the remark because he was angered by the heckling he was receiving from two women attending the meeting was telling and 'not a trivial point.'
"'It was not all that long ago that women were not allowed to own property, let alone vote,' Gallic said, adding that Morlino’s remark 'goes back to a very deep-seated belief in some people that women can’t handle public affairs.'"

And then Honest Abe said:

Amazing.

BLOGGING FROM THE KIDS TABLE

We have heard from Mr. Purcell. I believe his comments rate a post of their own. I give you Mr. Purcell:

Dear whoever you are:

I was neither secretive about my party affiliation when I was a Republican, nor am I about being a Democrat.

I cannot count the number of journalists involved with media, be it locally or nationally, who are also involved somehow with politics. It's not even close to being a new idea.

Locally, I certainly am far from being alone. As for my "objectivity," I treated Democrats equally when I was a Republican and I treat Republicans equally when I am a Democrat. No one from the Beach is concerned about this, because we do not practice the feral brand of politics practiced in other areas, which is one reason I reside in this community. We are neighbors and friends, Americans before members of any stupid party or other.

Meanwhile, my party affiliation does not, in any way, change the facts that have been presented about Mr. Kyrillos, Mr. Clifton and Ms. Handlin. I stand behind my work there, as well as Ms. Corley's. Unless you are saying I forged the documents provided regarding Mr. Kyrillos, I think your argument lacks sense. As for Mr. Clifton, he has already admitted taking the money from the PAC and is giving it back (albeit months AFTER the election).

I made my views plain about the GOP when Mr. Dowd was chairman and when Mr. Niemann became chairman. Mr. Niemann lied about most of his campaign promises, so I left the party. I did it in March, because I already knew that Mr. Azzolina's selection was being rigged by the county when Niemann wouldn't let Old Bridge's vote in.

In the meantime, the Founding Father believed in a two-party system. By all appearances, you believe in a one-party system. But, that's facism and I'm sure that's not what you're talking about...because that would be moronic.

Ms. Corley brought this site to my attention today and I am making my one and only response to it. I am not big on computers and have absolutely no use for this venomous nonsense anyway.

Accordingly, if you were something close to someone with any real commitment, you'd post your name. Frankly, your refusal to do such makes you someone trying to annoy. Well, go sit at the kids table and have a good day.

Jim Purcell

Thank you Mr. Purcell.

NEW DEM BOSS IN UNION BEACH

Jackie Corley at Bayshore Journalista likes to post ELEC reports on her blog, so I thought I'd post one on mine. Why, it's none other than her boss, Courier publisher Jim Purcell, who, in addition to being a journalist, has been Democratic Party Chairman in Union Beach since July 7. Why would an "impartial" journalist become a leader in one of the two major parties he reports on while still masquerading as an "impartial" journalist? This would explain his anti-Clifton, anti-Kyrillos, anti-Handlin screeds. And his strident pro-Aberdeen (read Democratic) stand in the ongoing dispute between that town and all-GOP Matawan over redevelopment of the train station area.
Some people have thought that Purcell's reasoning has been "Azzolina's Revenge", whereby Assemblyman Joseph Azzolina, Sr. (R-13) gets back at the Monmouth County Republican Organization for denying him the party's line at the Party's April convention. Azzolina went on to lose a close primary to Freeholder Amy H. Handlin.
Azzolina is also owner of The Courier.
The revenge theory loses steam when one finds out the fact that Purcell declared himself a Democrat in March, nearly a month before the convention! So Purcell couldn't have known the convention's result; indeed he couldn't have even voted for Azzolina in the primary if he wanted to, regardless of who got the party line.
Looks like ol' Jim's got his own agenda going on here.