Stacking the Boards

 Out-of-state bus trip to "Jake's house": threatening Jake and his family

Does anyone else look forward to  Al Sullivan's column these days?  Today's is another great read.

I used to chalk up Sully's Between the Lines as a bunch of Dark Side drivel-- which is how my friendship with Al began.  About 3 years ago, he published some absolute drivel about me-- talking points from the very same operative that Terry Castellano emails when she's all liquored up. 

So I posted this: 

GA calls that the 'charm offensive'-  which can either either charm or offend.

I bring this up to show that differences between people- even in print, don't have to end up in ugliness.

Like the kind that's turned up at Hoboken's public meetings and in online discourse lately.   Threats of marching on people's homes, lies about what the blogs write and choreographed stunts to have the HHA Board Commissioners 'denounce' individuals for exercising their First Amendment freedoms online with respect to free expression of political speech.  (Of course, selected individuals to denounce all support Mayor Zimmer)

Do the architects of such theater wish to provoke violence?

'Blog Denunciation Theater' and Field Trips to Jake's House are choreographed intimidation tactics. In their world, there is no place for dissent- it's Their Way or The Highway to Jake's House. 

They target Jake Stuiver, Greg Lincoln, Dave Mello, Mayor Zimmer, Reform members of the City Council,  and Reform blogs/bloggers.

While intimidation tactics bear little political upside at the voting booth; none of that matters to its architects. 

The political upside for "them" is to suppress Reform participation on municipal boards and on the HHA by making any Reformers who do miserable; by dragging their families into their public service with protests at their homes, ginning up phony 'denunciations' on free political speech to shop to the media.  All this abuse amounts to punishment for serving one's city, with the message: Don't step up or you're next.

Look at the crap Jim Doyle's been dragged through. Before him, Ian Sacs. And Jake. And many, many others, including yours truly.

By making Reform participation on public boards so miserable they expect few willing to step up and replace Reformers as their terms expire.  We see it on the HHA now.

GA believes the next election is not about who gets to be mayor.   It is about who controls the Boards and the City Council.  And the BoE. 

That's what the misery campaign is about: stacking the HHA and Hoboken's Boards with people "for them" not "against them".