Sunday Night Theater

The response to GA's weekend post, Deep Dish: How it Went Down, was interesting.

In case you didn't read it...

My source, whom I called Fed Up (F.U. for short) described a scenario of alarm at the County level; alarm that events in Hoboken had gotten out of hand and were going to spill over into the Freeholder race.  (Which is tomorrow- vote for Kurt Gardiner- Column C!)

In other words, the County sees low turnout as a positive for the incumbent, and the specter of the hospital closure igniting our electorate was feared.  So according to F.U., Freeholder candidate Anthony 'Stick' Romano and Assemblywoman  Joan Quigley were dispatched by 'party elders' to Hoboken's Sunday Oct. 30th  meeting to send a message to minority Council members: STOP.  In particular, F.U. noted the "humiliation' of Mike Russo by Quigley, a kind of dressing-down publicly that usually occurs privately between a naughty child and his mom.

I have to tell you, that's the way GA saw it. Irrespective of whether or not Timmy 'flipped' on his peers-  it seemed to me there was an extraordinary push-back from outside of Hoboken directed at the City Council minority, and Mike Russo in particular.

With regard to the Timmy-the-Flipper narrative, I think folks should think what they want, believe what they do based on their sources.  It doesn't matter a whit to me.  GA would never shake another's faith in the Easter Bunny or that Puff  was a magic dragon.

Let's see what Flipper does at the next meeting.  Will he flip for refinancing the garage bond like it's a sardine?   Or flop with Beth 'Layoffs' Mason?  And will Flipper flip  for BA Arch Liston so he can move budget line items around before Hoboken flops with another Fiscal Monitor?

Which is why GA will reserve judgment on Flipper until he's shown his mettle by flipping for Hoboken every time and not when he gets caught on the Mayor's hook.


But some interpreted the events of October 30th quite differently from GA's source F.U.

Here's what one reader wrote about F.U.'s take on Quigley:
Thats quite some revisionism. The idea that she came down hard on Russo is only believable to anyone who didn't watch the meeting. Fortunately its recorded so its easy to disprove. She heaped so much praise on him for saving the hospital twice.

Since GA agrees with F.U.,  I wasn't offended, but instead fascinated - that two like-minded individuals could see the same thing so differently.

It reminded me of  Rashomon, the classic Kurosawa flick that takes place in ancient Japan, where 4 witnesses to a killing tell 4 completely different and contradictory versions of the event.

In Hoboken's Rashomon, some witnesses to the  hospital's rescue from our rogue Council minority tell different versions of the same event.

So thanks to Greg Bond, here's the video of Assemblywoman Quigley so you can form your own opinion.



What did you think? Did Quigley spank Russo or praise him?

I see Quigley playing Mike like a Stradivarius.  How could he vote 'NO' after THAT? He is a "father" after all, and that's supposed to make him "nicer'.

Ooooooh.  I don't want to meet her in a dark alley.

Here's what GA's political strategist friend, The Nose had to say
Quigley is the grand dame of Hudson County politics.  She's part of the leadership and for her to be sent into a public arena like this was a message.  The kind that used to be conveyed behind closed doors.   For her to come out in public and talk to Mike like he was a child, the message was loud and clear: you're going to to the right thing.

It's not always the message, but it's the messenger.  And it was also a message to Beth Mason.  That they're deadly serious that the hospital's not going to close.

Sunday night was political theater at its finest.
Thanks, Nose!  So glad I picked you.

What about Stick?  What did he have to say?

Here's Mason placing one of her 'The Council Minority Saved the Hospital'  press releases in front of him before he spoke.   Which he ignored.


Stick swung with a softer bat, but it was all the same: cut the crap and pass this thing- I've got an election in 9 days.    

GA stood near Romano; his demeanor was serious. As were all the 'old-guard' in the room that night. Like everyone knew their 'side' had gone too far and the game was no longer fun.  

This video-still captures Stick's mood, he seemed to be asking himself; why the hell are we here on a Sunday night?


And here's what he said, thanks again to Greg Bond:



So what did you see?

Political theater or an intervention?

VOTE Kurt Gardiner for Freeholder- Column C- on Tuesday, November 8th (tomorrow)

Comments

  1. I don't think Tim will flip. He has no vested interest in good governance. He is bought and paid for via Beth's checkbook. He definitely does not believe that Mayor Zimmer will lay anybody off. He and the others will claim to use the surplus. They too have no need for fiscal responsibility.

    ReplyDelete
  2. i agree she pimped him up, trying to override his inappropriate behavior....again the way he talks to people and uses his power over staff it is just disgusting. When he speak we have to lower the volume.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment