Hitting the Pipe

Now I know why my relationship with my ex-boyfriend Al Sullivan lasted 13-minutes.  (But oh, what a 13 minutes it was. Passion, ecstasy, then disgust, disillusionment, nausea).

On a personal level, I adore Al. He's a font of creativity, an intense and interesting fellow. But as the Hudson Reporter 's political columnist, he's been sucking the crack pipe.  Hard.

Look, Al.  I promised I'd never put you in a bun.  But if you're going to rant like a half-cocked lunatic, I've got to say something.  With affection.  You know, the kind every rotten kid gets from his parent occasionally. A whack on the bum with stick or a paddle or a belt- never a cat-o-nine tails. Nor a hammer.  Certainly not a chainsaw. A simple assault and battery given with love is for your own good,  the public's protection, and my pleasure.  Nobody's perfect.

That loaf you pinched in this week's Hoboken Reporter is an award winner- the kind of award  you'll receive on the Other Side from a guy in a red suit, 2 horns and pitchfork.

Let me break it down- what you said with my 2 cents below:

 Hoboken Mayor Dawn Zimmer is getting fired at from every direction as her opponents seek to determine whether or not her administration is using public resources for political purposes.

"Every direction?" Let me guess WHO they are: all the folks YOU speak with on the Dark Side, plus YOURSELF and AUGIE TORRES, a couple of self-important assholes in Hudson County with no love lost for Mayor Dawn Zimmer,  candidate for Assembly Ravi Bhalla, and the REAL Democratic Organization in Hoboken, now named the Democrats for Honest Government.   Which means the "fire" is coming from ONE DIRECTION.  You sorely underestimate the public support Zimmer's got here in Hoboken.  You need to talk to RESIDENTS, not hacks, paid political operatives, paid political strategists, and Old Guard Reform-haters.

This is part of the reason why Councilwoman Beth Mason is seeking to get copies of official emails to determine how much of the dialogue being done through official channels involves ways to frustrate political opponents.

I hope Beth Mason thanked you for explaining the "reason" she wants "official emails".  How thoughtful of you to express her point of view (a.k.a. "reason") for the unwashed masses. You left out the other 99 reasons.  Here's one: an effort to embarrass political adversaries while EXCLUDING those who give her/Russo favorable press- like Augie Torres.  I'll bet you $$$ that the leaky IT Office GAVE her political operation at Hoboken411 emails she is chomping at the bit to dump online.  You OK with her effort to silence critics and suppress free speech? 

The Zimmer administration has been criticized for using the official city website as a political vehicle, most notably reporting on the video tapes of Councilman Michael Russo, while not mentioning other people connected with her administration who might also have met with federal informant Solomon Dwek.

 Jeez, Al.  Those are Russo talking points.  I'd call it transparency.  This elected official did everything to sell out Hoboken except pick up the 5 grand.  Don't you think the public has a right to know?  I do.
More Mason-Russo talking points: NAME NAMES if you think anyone in the Zimmer administration met with Dwek.  Zimmer FIRED Public Safety Angel Alicea because he admitted to doing so. Jake Stuiver accompanied Beth Mason to HER meeting with Dwek.  And THAT'S IT.  If you are privy to anyone else in the Zimmer administration having met with Dwek, why don't YOU name names? If not, don't SMEAR them with Mason-Russo  propaganda.

No one really knows if this is the case with Zimmer, partly because she has slammed shut the door on open government with a gag order for city employees. Anyone who gives information out risks losing his or her job and thus, their pension.

City Hall was leaking like a sieve.  What was she SUPPOSED to do?  You sound cranky.  Like you're upset because maybe you lost some sources in City Hall?   That's a guess. If  'open government' means sensitive City business gets dumped on that cyber litter-box Hoboken411, used to spin and smear good people simply because they work for the mayor, or damage the City's ongoing settlement negotiations potentially costing taxpayers millions,  then I'm all for the gag-order.

Some sources say that the city’s communications director was falsely accused of leaking information out of city hall without prior authorization, and that the information involving two separate cases was actually leaked by a lawyer involved with one case and a police officer involved with the other, not the communication director.

 My "other sources" say your sources are bullshitting you.  Off-the-record.  Do you think the F.B.I. swoops in on a whim?  My sources suspect the IT Department has been under surveillance for months and have this stuff called "evidence" which brought them here to get more stuff- evidence.   Whom do you believe?  Why so ready to render a verdict?

The utter secrecy around these emails leads many to wonder why they are so sensitive that they need to be kept from the public. Some believe that they will show a pattern of abuse behind the scenes, not crimes, but political manipulation done on city time at tax payers’ expense.

"Utter secrecy"? How about being fed  up with Mason-Russo grandstanding, wasting taxpayer $ (estimated cost of Mason email jihad 50K-100K)  and trying to bully Reform bloggers into shutting up.  Which the traditional media supports, by the way.  You guys would like us to disappear, methinks.  Except for the cretins of Hoboken411 who coordinate polticial strategy with the people who call you on the phone and spin you like a top.

The use of a city attorney to remove candidates from the Democratic committee primary fight is one visible sign that the Zimmer administration doesn’t know where the line is between political and governmental function.

Al,  you may think I'm full of crap on everything up until this point.  And disregard it. But hear this: you owe the Zimmer administration an apology with a retraction in the Hoboken Reporter. An irate GA reader sent me this in response to your claim about the"use of a city attorney to remove candidates from the Democratic committee primary fight":

The second point he makes, though, is how the City is wasting  resources suing to knock people off the Democratic Committee line.   That's true BS, though, because it was Jimmy Farina, who knocked the candidates off the line (Republicans, Unregistered and Unaffiliated  voters), and then the HCDO SUED THE CITY.  THE CITY NEVER SUED TO  KNOCK THOSE PEOPLE OFF THE LINE.  THE HCDO DID. If you look at the  decision that I sent you, you will see in the caption that the plaintiff (the person who filed the lawsuit) is the HCDO.  The party  who is the defendant (who is being sued) is Jimmy Farina and the City of Hoboken.  Al, once again, is buying their BS hook, line and sinker.

If you don't take the reader's word then see for yourself:

Ummm, see what it says at the top?

OK, I've made it a little bigger.  There it is: the HCDO sued Jimmy Farina (Hoboken).

What say you?  

Al honey, you've GOT to stop regurgitating what the paid professionals stuff in your ear. And you've drifted so far off the path of reasonable subjectivity that your own credibility is... let's say you're viewed as pitching for the 'other team'.  

Al, we never would have made it into the 14th minute without killing each other. No bun for you.  Just a spanking.