We'd all be better off if Christie moved to New Hampshire

Governor Christie in a moment that cements his reputation as the GOP bully.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

The Record's lead story today -- how New Jersey lost out on tens of millions in federal disaster aid -- only rubs salt in the wounds of residents who have been seduced and abandoned by their governor.

Yet, Editor Martin Gottlieb again gives Columnist Charles Stile front-page play to argue that campaigning in New Hampshire is more important to Christie's future than coming home to help the state weather a big snowstorm. (A-1 and A-6).

If Stile, the paper's chief Christie apologist, doesn't make you hurl, take a look at the idiotic headline:

Christie shelters in place

Readers still are waiting for The Record to call for the impeachment of a governor who time and again has put his selfish ambitions above the welfare of residents.

Or, at least demand that Christie resign, give up his million-dollar state police protection and move to New Hampshire as he pursues his doomed bid for the GOP presidential nomination.

Local news?

Bergen County readers continue to get a good spanking from local Assignment Editors Deirdre Sykes and Dan Sforza, who are in charge of the paper's thin local-news section.

Four of the five stories on their Local front today are from Passaic County (L-1).

Three Paterson stories appear on L-2 and L-3, and Pompton Lakes police news can be found on L-5.

The inside pages also carry plenty of crime and court news, including a long, flattering story on the Bergen County Police Academy (L-3).

Hackensack?

There is no municipal news from Hackensack, as has been the case for weeks. 

And school board stories from Clifton (L-1), Elmwood Park and Saddle River (L-6) only remind Hackensack residents they haven't seen a story on their profligate school trustees for more than, what, a year or is it two?

You're mistaken if you think care is taken in the writing and editing of stories, as shown by a mangled sentence in the police academy story referring to Bergen County Corrections Officer Alex Herrera:

"Corrections officers, as he's been since 2005, are limited to posts at the jail and the academy" (L-3).

Ignoring readers

It isn't news that Elisa Ung, the paper's chief restaurant critic, ignores the dietary restrictions of most of her readers, whether they are on a low-carb, low-fat or low-cholesterol diet or are watching their intake of sugar and other sweets.

Today, she recklessly awards 3 out of 4 stars to Porto by Antonio, a North Bergen restaurant that not only charges up to $23 for a 12-inch pizza, but actually fries the dough of another pie (BL-12).

Ung raves the fried pie is "less heavy" and "more subtly rich" than other versions she has tried.

On politics or weather, North Jersey is bracing for hype

These images are part of an art exhibit in the dingy, Ninth Avenue end of the Port Authority Bus Terminal in midtown Manhattan.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

I've heard so many forecasts for this winter's first big storm I don't know what to believe.

They range from the "moderate" snowfall reported by WNYC-FM radio this morning to the "7+ inches" in a front-page headline in The Record today:

Jersey

braces

for the

storm

Winter's first

big blast could

drop 7+ inches

Buried by hype

When it comes to the weather and campaigns for the major party's presidential nominations, North Jersey readers have learned to brace for hype and other media exaggeration.

Making the the next general election seem like a horse race, which the print and electronic media have tried to do for well over a year, serves two purposes.

Burned-out editors, reporters and columnists -- weary after so many years of covering political conflict and swallowing candidates' lies and B.S. -- now only report contested elections.

And without hype and exaggeration, how are you going to sell newspapers to readers so apathetic they often refuse to go to the polls, especially in North Jersey's local contests for council and school board?

Political stories

On Tuesday's front page, Editor Martin Gottlieb led with the contest between Hillary Clinton and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders for the Democratic Party nomination.

The Washington Post declared their last debate a defining moment for the party.

Left unsaid in this and other media reports is that either would make a great president, and preserve the Affordable Care Act and other accomplishments of the Obama administration.

And in the November election, either would certainly blow out of the water any of the clowns/racists/fear mongers/failed leaders and other trash put forward by the mean-spirited Republican Party.

In fact, many Democrats would love to see a Clinton-Sanders ticket or his appointment as her secretary of health and human services.

Gottlieb led Wednesday's paper with Sarah Palin's endorsement of Donald Trump, as if that moron can help the billionaire businessman get elected in November (A-1).

500+ vetoes

Wednesday's front page reported another "five dozen" vetoes executed by Governor Christie on a one-day break from his doomed campaign.

One bill would have prevented "convicted carjackers, gang members and others from buying guns," and another would require that "smart guns" be sold along with traditional handguns.

The new vetoes surely bring Christie's total to more than 500, set a record for any New Jersey governor and give a lie to all of the Charles Stile columns that have portrayed him as a compromiser who could break the legislative logjam in Washington.

Readers are still waiting for The Record to publish an editorial or column labeling Christie the worst governor in state history -- which has been evident to readers for many years.

Talking heads

Today's pathetic Mike Kelly opinion column rehashes news stories on the gun bills and vetoes, and goes on and on quoting Trenton lawmakers from both sides of the aisle speculating on whether Christie was motivated by his desire to win in Iowa, New Hampshire and other conservative states (A-1).

Nowhere will you find Kelly's opinion of Christie. 

Local news

Nearly the entire front of the local-news section today is filled with sensational court and police news or stories about the police (L-1).

A story on the bomb hoax that led to school evacuations "across North Jersey," and a second story on a terrorism-awareness conference discuss in great detail how police officers do their jobs.

More crime news appears inside as local Assignment Editors Deirdre Sykes and Dan Sforza continue their boycott of any stories about Hackensack.

Aleppo pepper

The Better Living editors worship at the feet of chefs whose restaurants advertise in the Woodland Park daily.

No cooking method, condiment or food gains credibility unless a chef uses it in his or her restaurant.

That seems to be the only conclusion readers can draw from Food Editor Esther Davidowitz's Wednesday column on Aleppo pepper, which has been used by home cooks in New Jersey for ages, including a sizable community of Syrian Jews.

Her take: 

"The bright-red condiment that for years was barely known in the U.S., except by a few immigrant communities, has captured American chefs' admiration, thanks to its unique flavor."

Sadly, Davidowitz reports the pepper is "yes, named for Aleppo, the ancient city in Syria," but makes no reference to the civil war that has seen the country's rulers try to bomb it back to the stone age.

What engages editors leaves most readers out in the cold

Between January 2009, when the original station house was destroyed in a fire, and March 2014, when a new Anderson Street Station opened in Hackensack, above, NJ Transit commuters relied only on bus shelters and ticket machines before boarding a train. A long Page 1 story in The Record on Monday never explained why commuters living in Wood-Ridge's Westmont section aren't being provided similar accommodations until a long-delayed train station opens there.

Actually, the Anderson Street Station is only a shelter open to the elements on two sides. Two small heat lamps are affixed to the ceiling. This morning, a banana peel, water bottle and other litter was evident, above and below.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

Pity all of the commuters who were delayed this morning for more than 90 minutes at the George Washington Bridge tollbooths, twice the usual wait.

Meanwhile, packed trains and buses again forced many North Jersey riders to stand on the trip into Manhattan.

You'd think The Record's reporters covering the Port Authority and NJ Transit would have examined why these transportation agencies have been failing commuters for years.

NJ Transit could easily double the capacity of bus service into the city, if the Port Authority added a second exclusive lane into the Lincoln Tunnel during the morning rush.

And if those lanes were operated in the afternoon as well, homeward-bound commuters would face fewer delays leaving the antiquated midtown Manhattan bus terminal.

Too little, too late

Instead, transportation writer Christopher Maag wrote a long front-page story Monday on why a train station for residents of Wood-Ridge's Westmont section is years behind schedule.

Even though the piece went on and on, Maag never explained why, in the meanwhile, NJ Transit doesn't just set up bus shelters and ticket machines so commuters who moved into the so-called transit village finally can ride a train into the city.

And Staff Writer Paul Berger, the new Port Authority reporter, has actually written two stories on the agency's search for a new chief executive.

Today, Berger referees a pissing match between Newark and Port Authority officials over the agency's lease of Port Newark land (A-3).

None of those stories serve the large majority of North Jersey commuters stuck in traffic or standing in the aisles of buses and trains.

Today's front page

Page 1 today carries weighty stories on the front-runners for the Democratic Party's presidential nomination, a newly independent state Alzheimer's group and the racially charged battle over affordable housing in New Jersey's home-rule communities.

And for some insane reason, Editor Martin Gottlieb is wasting readers' time with a story on the Dec. 14 police shooting of a man who crashed his car in Rochelle Park, and sat inside for more than five hours.

This is hard-hitting local news, Gottlieb must have insisted at Monday afternoon's news meeting, waking up local Assignment Editors Deirdre Sykes and Dan Sforza, who had planned to lead their section with this snoozer. 

Local news?

Still, once readers get a look at Sykes' and Sforza's local-news section today and see it's for the birds, they'll be rifling through the paper for something of real interest.

The biggest local news is the rescue of more than 200 birds from "deplorable conditions" in a Passaic city shop (A-1 and L-1).

Food follies

The Better Living cover today is devoted to more 2016 "food trends," an insult to readers who shop for food and eat out regularly (BL-1 and BL-2).

One is "fermented" cabbage, declares Staff Writer Sophia F. Gottfried, who bases her piece on what she was told by "North Jersey chefs and restaurant insiders."

I guess she has never heard of kimchi.

Editors: Syrian refugees aren't demons Christie claimed

A homeless man walking across the street was killed on Christmas Day at Garrison Avenue and Cedar Lane in Teaneck, above. Now, police have put up a digital sign asking for help in finding the driver of a large black SUV that fled the scene.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

A Page 1 story on Syrian refugees who have settled in Paterson continues The Record's gentle treatment of Governor Christie.

After the Nov. 13 terrorist attacks in Paris, Christie said he would bar any Syrian refugee, even an orphan, from coming to New Jersey.

The GOP bully later expanded that, saying he wanted to keep them out of the entire country.

Today's upbeat story on the Alteibawi family from Daraa, called a "flash point for the Syrian uprising," mentions Christie in the overlong first paragraph (A-1).

Heavy editing

But to the chagrin of many readers, Editor Martin Gottlieb toned down any criticism of the governor's fear mongering and racial animosity.

Gottlieb is known as a hands-on editor who often heavily edits and rewrites front-page stories to give them the same kind of "context" they have at The New York Times, where he had a long career.

The family, Staff Writer Hannan Adely says, found themselves "in the center of a national debate over Syrian refugees with even Governor Christie weighing in on their arrival."

How does Christie's bid to keep all refugees (read "terrorists") out of New Jersey become "weighing in on their arrival," except in the mind of an arrogant editor who seems intent on polishing the governor's image?

In fact, The Record waited more than a week after Christie's first anti-refugee salvo before publishing a story on the peaceful Syrian community in Paterson, where immigrants from Aleppo and other cities put down roots more than a hundred years ago.

Dictatorial rule

The rest of Page 1 today is devoted to endless second-guessing of President Obama's move to tighten controls on guns.

Columnist Charles Stile, the paper's chief Christie apologist, recalls how the governor called Obama a "dictator" three weeks ago (A-1).

But nowhere in his boring political column does Stile point out that by executing more than 430 vetoes to stop the majority Democrats in the state Legislature, Christie surely is the one who has imposed dictatorial rule right here in the Garden State.

Hackensack news

Assignment Editors Deirdre Sykes and Dan Sforza continue their boycott on Hackensack news in today's Local section.

I can't find any mention of Tuesday night's City Council meeting.

And Hackensack University Medical Center and city officials weren't even mentioned in a Tuesday story on L-1.

That story had local officials reacting to a bill that would require non-profit hospitals to make modest payments in lieu of tens of millions of dollars in property taxes.

Memorable stories no substitute for memorable journalism

A driver leaving a gas station in Teaneck saw nothing wrong with crossing the double-yellow line on Cedar Lane near River Road, blocking a turn lane and trying to find a hole in traffic stopped at the light.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

The Record's first Sunday edition of 2016 is chock full of "nuts" to readers:

There's the 2015 local news in review (L-1), more speculation on what the future holds for New Jersey (A-1), and only mild criticism of Governor Christie, who has put his personal ambitions above the welfare of residents (O-1).

Editor Martin Gottlieb, a New York Times veteran who is retiring at the end of the month, has started the year off with a whimper, not a bang.

Cranky Stile?

The danger of leading the Sunday paper with another Charles Stile column is that readers will simply turn the page to avoid more of the same old political drivel from one of Christie's chief apologists (A-1).

Surprise. Stile sounds cranky today, but still tempers his criticism, refusing to call Christie what he is, the worst governor in state history.

Ditto for Columnists Carl Golden and Mike Kelly on today's Opinion front.

Here's Stile:

"Without a fully engaged governor setting the agenda from his State House office, the deep-seated issues affecting the lives of average New Jersey residents ... are largely unresolved" (A-1).

Can you hear readers snoring?

Other columns

On the Opinion front, Golden comments on a near-bankrupt Transportation Trust Fund, a public pension system sinking further into debt; rising property taxes, still highest in the nation; and the disaster of casino gambling.

Say it, Carl: We are mired in deep doo-doo, all of Christie's making.

But what can you expect of Golden, a former Record staffer and onetime flack for two previous Republican governors?

Kelly's long-winded column says the day before Christie formally announced he was running for president, he created a panel to look into ways of making it easier for residents to buy and own guns, but you have to plow through six paragraphs to figure that out (O-1).

Outrage, please

The three columnists show once again why newspapers are becoming obsolete:

Stile, Golden and Kelly don't seem to have strong opinions about anything. Their columns sound like the kind of news analysis papers have been running for years.

From their pulpit, these so-called journalists should channel the outrage of the public over some of Christie's dastardly acts. 

Instead, they merely push words around into reasoned arguments.

Indeed. The strongest criticism of Christie comes from Columnist Brigid Harrison, a political science and law professor (O-2). 

Hey, Marty. Why isn't her column on Page 1 today?

Local news?

On the Local front today, a roundup of the "memorable stories of 2015" runs nearly two-and-half pages (L-1, L-2 and L-3).

But did local staffers, who brought up the rears of Assignment Editors Deirdre Sykes and Dan Sforza, produce any memorable journalism?

I was moved more than once by the local obituary writer, Jay Levin, who does a masterful job of summing up the lives of notable North Jersey residents.

Can you recall any other memorable local journalism?

Downsized

News of Hackensack, the biggest Bergen County community and once the paper's home, continues to wither and die.

Three areas of neglect were Hackensack's corrosive party politics, the impact of Hackensack University Medical Center and other non-profits on rising property taxes, and school and school board news.

In Englewood, The Record completely ignored segregated elementary and middle schools, and empty storefronts downtown.

Teaneck officials should get poor marks for Cedar Lane, one of the most congested downtown streets in North Jersey, and their refusal to install more turn lanes or even have cops directing traffic instead of setting speed traps.

Only the recent hit-run death of a homeless man at Cedar Lane and Garrison Avenue moved the editors to pay any attention to the street.

Funny business

Downtown economies were completely ignored by the business editors in 2015, as in previous years, and today's cover story doesn't bode well for them (B-1).

Readers are ill-served by the four staff-written profiles that read like public relations for the New Jersey and Business Industry Association, Valley National Bank, New Jersey Retail Merchants Association and Cushman & Wakefield.

Of course, business, food and some news coverage follows the money -- all of the advertising revenue that flows into North Jersey Media Group from banks, malls, real estate offices, commercial customers, restaurants, automakers and car dealers.

This year won't be any different.

Gottlieb, minions putting little under tree for local readers

Slow-moving landscaping trucks are one of the biggest hazards on local streets. On Monday morning, I got stuck behind this one on Woodland Street, appropriately enough, between Palisade Avenue in Englewood and Clinton Avenue in Tenafly, a distance of more than one mile.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

Editor Martin Gottlieb leads today's paper with another in a seemingly endless series of stories about human-bear run-ins, even though tens of thousands of readers have never seen one of the furry creatures.

On Dec. 12, Gottlieb even ran a detailed front-page story on how bears are butchered for human consumption. Gee-whiz.

Page 1 today is dominated by a sensational crime story, as it was on Monday -- one a cold case and the other the murder of a Palisades Park man in his Jersey City store (A-1).

Local news?

On the Local front today, the vast majority of readers search in vain for municipal news from their town, as they did on Monday.

Instead, four of the five stories on L-1 today are crime or court news or news about the police.

The editors are so inept they screwed up the name of the police chief in Rockaway Township, where The Record and Herald News are printed, according to an A-2 correction.

Page 1

Reporting on the poor job Governor Christie is doing in New Jersey seems to come in dribs and drabs.

Today, the front page reports that a panel he created wants to make it easier to carry a concealed weapon and speed up permits (A-1).

Speeding epidemic

Superior Court Judge Margaret M. Foti lectured a man sentenced to 6 years in prison in a road-rage death about the epidemic of speeding -- a story ignored by Road Warrior John "Wrong Way" Cichowski for more than a dozen years (L-1).

"There is no one out there driving on the roadways today who has not experienced someone speeding by at 80, 90, 100 miles per hour and to turn to the person next to you and say, 'That guy is going to kill someone.' It's frightening," Foti told Thomas Vanderwelt of Saddle Brook.

"And speed limits are there for a reason," the judge said. "They are there to save lives."

Pothole chronicles

In his ground-breaking reporting on long lines at the Motor Vehicle Commission and his annual awards for the biggest potholes, Cichowski not only has ignored speeding, but failed to uncover declining enforcement.

In November, Eye on The Record reported that the number of speeding tickets issued on the New Jersey Turnpike and Garden State Parkway had dropped dramatically:

More speeding, fewer tickets

Best restaurants?

The Better Living cover on the top 10 North Jersey restaurants in 2015 contains glaring omissions (BL-1, BL-2).

Critic Elisa Ung never says whether any of the restaurants serve the kind of grass-fed or naturally raised beef, pork and lamb that would justify their high prices.

And there is not a word about the sweet, artery clogging desserts she sampled at all of them -- the kind of food most of her readers avoid like the plague.

Monday's paper

When Gottlieb or his minions put another one of Tara Sullivan's awful columns on Page 1, readers know the editors are scraping the bottom of the barrel, as they did on Monday.

Of course, Sunday is a slow-news day, but there was even more irrelevant filler inside the paper, such as car, bus or plane crash news from several states on A-3.

Another Sunday paper elicits repeated, 'Who gives a shit?'

An article on The Record's Real Estate front today quotes affluent tenants swooning over the amenities at The Modern, a 47-story tower near the George Washington Bridge that nearly everyone else in Fort Lee loves to hate. The rental building, right, and the related Hudson Lights retail complex, above left and below, are simply too big for the borough, and the traffic they generate will only aggravate a bad situation.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

A change of one letter in a headline today would have made Page 1 of The Record far more relevant to the lives of readers than it is:

Christie's 

gun stance

debated

in N.H.

Gee. Doesn't Editor Martin Gottlieb and burned-out political Columnist Charles Stile know by now it's the gun-control debate in N.J. -- not N.H. -- that matters most (A-1)?

The lead front-page story on a global climate change accord certainly is important, but why has Gottlieb completely ignored what the Port Authority is doing to expand mass transit and reduce traffic congestion and smog (A-1)?

God bless Sandy Hillburn, a Fort Lee woman who is alive today, a decade after being diagnosed with the deadliest form of brain cancer and given only three months to live (A-1).

Still, far more compelling would be if the paper's medical and Trenton reporters explored how greedy special interests managed to kill a bill "intended to reign in exorbitant, surprise medical costs," as The Record's front page reported on Saturday.

Why not name the state legislators who essentially were bribed with contributions or promises by what is described as "the medical and insurance communities."

And where is the reporting on whether Christie backs the status quo or is behind the seven-year-long effort to end the exploitation of consumers?

Another plug

The Local front today carries The Record's annual sob-sister coverage of a Bergen County ceremony for victims of drunk drivers (L-1).

But Staff Writer John Cichowski screwed up again last Sunday, as an A-2 correction noted on Saturday, and he couldn't resist ending this week's Road Warrior column with another plug for a ride service for seniors and the visually impaired.

The addled columnist finally managed to list the correct telephone number for ITN North Jersey, a non-profit group that charges about $10 for "short trips" to supermarkets and doctors.

Still, Cichowski never says whether affluent but frugal seniors are exploiting the inexpensive ride service and its volunteer drivers or explain why he doesn't mention a free ride service available from NJ Transit.

'Inside' food biz

Elisa Ung, the paper's chief restaurant critic, continues to test the limits of irrelevancy.

Her Better Living cover story on "three Bergen County residents [who] play key roles in the culinary empire of [celebrity chef] Jean-Georges Vongerichten" is a colossal waste of space (BL-1).

Thousands of Bergen residents work in Manhattan. Imagine how the editors could fill column after column with stories about their jobs, too.

On BL-2, readers are in for diabetic shock after seeing Food Editor Esther Davidowitz's shameless promotion of cupcakes, pastry, gelato and other desserts available locally or online.

Margulies cartoon

The only item worthy of note in Opinion is the Margulies cartoon on Christie's performance as governor of New Jersey [O-2].

Unfortunately, Publisher Stephen A. Borg muzzled the cartoonist, whose work appears only on Sundays, while giving free reign to burned-out Columnist Mike Kelly, who bores readers today with another history lesson (O-1).

This Dec. 7 front page from the Daily News and a Dec. 5 front-page editorial in The New York Times --  "End the gun epidemic in America" -- are far stronger and more unequivocal than anything that has appeared in The Record of Woodland Park.

Moral compass?

Does The Record of Woodland Park have any institutional values beyond making a profit?

One glance at today's Business front (B-1) shows another in an endless series of stories exploring the health of malls and shopping centers, among the paper's biggest advertisers.

Meanwhile, downtowns in Hackensack, Englewood, Teaneck and other towns have withered without hardly any attention from the editors.

In more than a dozen years as the so-called commuting columnist, Cichowski -- aka Road Warrior -- has virtually ignored crowding on mass transit and obsessed over issues facing drivers.

Articles on new Hudson River rail tunnels and a new midtown Manhattan bus terminal constantly emphasize the cost and potentially higher fares.

Is The Record saying they shouldn't be built?

Does all of the ad revenue from automakers and car dealers shape The Record's news and editorial policies?

Today, the Better Living front reports multimillionaire chef Vongerichten wants to ban genetically modified ingredients in all of his restaurants.

Are any chefs in New Jersey going 100% organic to eliminate GMOs?

Anyone who reads Ung's restaurant reviews and other food writing hasn't a clue. 

See related post:

Departing editor didn't ease crisis at paper

N.H. paper backing Christie has picked losers since 1988

This Daily News front page from Jan. 9, 2014, is worth running again now that the New Hampshire Union Leader newspaper has given its presidential endorsement to Governor Christie, who is last among GOP candidates in state polls.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

In case you missed The Record's Sunday story on a New Hampshire newspaper endorsement of Governor Christie, you'll find another one on Page A-3 today.

The Union Leader on Saturday gave its presidential endorsement to the GOP bully, the latest in a long line of losers that paper has backed since 1988.

That means that except for 2004, none of the Republicans endorsed by the Union Leader went on to win the big prize, the White House.

The endorsement went to Newt Gingrich in 2012, John McCain in 2008, Steve Forbes in 2000, Pat Buchanan in 1996 and 1992, and Pete du Pont in 1988.

Christie is running seventh among Republican contenders in state polls of New Hampshire voters leading up to the Feb. 9 primary.

Why did The Record run stories for two days in a row on the same newspaper endorsement?

Rutgers news

The Record today corrects a major error on Sunday's front page, where it named the wrong team in reporting the loss of Rutgers University's football team on Saturday.

However, none of the half-dozen major errors in Staff Writer Christopher Maag's Sunday story on commuter rail in North Jersey were corrected.

Although today's front page is dominated by more news about Rutger's football team, the real crisis is at the Woodland Park daily.

Devoting so much of Page 1 to Rutgers football, and playing the story under a big, black doomsday headline, surely had tens of thousands of readers cursing their misfortune.

This is a non-story for the vast majority of readers, yet it seems to fascinate Editor Martin Gottieb, who left The New York Times to take over the newsroom of the Woodland Park daily.

Local news?

There is so little local news today, Editors Deirdre Sykes and Dan Sforza had to run long wire-service obituaries about an obscure U.N. official and an even obscurer Japanese actress on L-6.

Meanwhile, freelancer Nina Rizzo must be trying to steer patients to a cardiac-surgery practice with three recipes for macaroni and cheese (BL-1).

They are filled with unhealthy ingredients -- butter, half-and-half, heavy cream, full-fat cheese and bacon.

Governor Veto kills 24 bills, runs N.J. farther into ground

This Daily News front page from Jan. 9, 2014, is proving prophetic as Governor Christie's poll numbers sink, and he desperately vetoes bills on voter access, gun laws and other measures that don't play well in conservative states with early primaries. Even as Christie's presidential ambitions go down in flames, The Record's coverage has been unfailingly upbeat.

Editor's note: Today's post has been expanded to include commentary on more of today's edition, as well as the lead story on Monday.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

Governor Christie won his second term with the lowest turnout ever in a gubernatorial election in New Jersey, so making it easier for people to vote threatens him and every other conservative.

But The Record's coverage of his veto of the Democracy Act and 28 other bills awaiting his signature couldn't be more upbeat (A-1).

Christie clears
Assembly bills
from his plate

Today's lead headline on Page 1 is surprisingly bland, containing a bunch of meaningless numbers instead of telling readers the governor vetoed early voting or a tightening of gun laws.

Editor Martin Gottlieb also continues to politicize every measure passed by the state Legislature by reporting them in terms of Democrats against Republicans.

Gottlieb and his lazy local assignment editors, Deirdre Sykes and Dan Sforza, never bother to interview residents on how they feel about the bills that were vetoed.

The latest vetoes probably bring Christie's total close to 450 since he took office in early 2010 after bamboozling voters with a promise to lower local property taxes.

Readers shouldn't hold their breath for Editorial Page Editor Alfred P. Doblin to call for Christie's resignation, as Ellen Stein of Closter does in a letter to the editor today (A-8).

Underwhelming

Road Warrior John Cichowski engages in fear mongering today with a column on the lack of "safety reforms" in a bill "to fix the nation's road and rail system[s]" (A-1).

Readers have to plow through several long paragraphs jammed with numbers before getting to the top concern, lowering the legal age "for driving big rigs across state lines" to 19.5 from 21.

Cichowski has got to be kidding. 

He knows the challenges facing older drivers like himself are a far bigger problem in every town and city in New Jersey, and the rest of the nation, and likely kill more people.

He's just too lazy to report on any of the programs available to seniors to hone their skills behind the wheel.

Alzheimer's disease

Dementia is the general term for a decline in mental ability, such as memory loss, severe enough to interfere with daily life, and Alzheimer's disease is the most common type of dementia.

So, the lead paragraph of another Page 1 story is incorrect in reporting on a new law governing "group homes for patients with Alzheimer's and dementia" (A-1).

Catsgiving

The upcoming Thanksgiving holiday always dramatizes the continuing hunger problem in North Jersey, so why are Sykes and Sforza wasting so much of the Local front on hungry feral cats in the Meadowlands (L-1)?

Municipal news goes missing today.

Monday's paper

Herb Jackson's front-page column on Christie's refusal to fix the state's broken Transportation Trust Fund was a rare critical look at how the GOP bully has sold his soul to the devil, in this case the radical Americans for Tax Reform (Monday's A-1).

"It's easy to understand why Christie is offering solutions in New Hampshire to Washington's problems and saying little about Trenton's problems," Jackson says.

"... He signed a pledge from Americans for Tax Reform after he became a presidential candidate, saying that he would not raise taxes." 

So, that means the simple logic of drivers paying higher gas taxes to fix the wear and tear on the roads they use is sacrificed to Christie's conservative principals.