News media gawk at Trump as a new Hitler rises among us

The Aug. 10 front page of the Daily News called on the New York businessman to quit the race for the White House.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

The Record and other news media are giving a wall on our southern border as much legitimacy as any other public-works project, including new Hudson River rail tunnels and a new Manhattan bus terminal.

You won't find any fact checking in today's front page report on wacko racist Donald J. Trump's visit to Mexico or yet another speech on immigration filled with hysteria, half-truths and outright lies (A-1).

Even though the Mexican president "made clear that Mexico will not pay for the wall," the GOP presidential nominee insisted they never discussed payment (A-6).

Hitleresque

Trump's vow to deport 11 million illegal aliens and bar any Muslim from entering the country isn't that far from Hitler's purification of the Aryan race and the extermination of 6 million Jews.

At least in Israel, the government justified spending billions on a "security fence" to keep terrorists from killing citizens, but thousands of Palestinian workers enter the county each day to do work Israelis refuse to do. 

Mexicans are definitely not the criminals and rapists Trump insists they are, and illegal immigration from that country is at historic lows, though you won't see that reported in The Record or other media.

Many generations of Mexican-Americans live in California, Arizona and other states, and thousands of them came to the U.S. long before Trump's grandfather emigrated from Germany.

Deportations

Nor will the media report President Obama is driving civil libertarians crazy by deporting more illegal aliens than any other president.

The Woodland Park daily also refuses to cover the dysfunctional legal immigration system's high fees and endless delays, which prompt many immigrants to enter the country illegally.

Instead, The Record reports Trump's rants with a straight face.

It's likely Trump would shaft U.S. citizens by forcing them to pay for an unnecessary wall while cutting taxes on the wealthy.

Local news?

Crime dominates the Local front today in the form of a large courtroom photo of sucker-punch defendant Kristian Gonzales, 18, and flamboyant defense attorney Harley Briete (L-1).

Gonzales pleaded guilty and faces three years in prison, but readers must decide whether the violent teen or the high-priced lawyer has the more outrageous hair style.

Despicable Trump grabbed the front page today, but immigrant protesters who blocked the entrance of Trump Tower in Manhattan weren't given equal time (L-1).

They said Trump is a hypocrite because undocumented laborers worked to build the Fifth Avenue tower, and are also involved the construction of his hotel in the nation's capital.

The Oradell firehouse is shown in this image from Google Maps and NJ.com.

Road kill

Editor Deirdre Sykes, who has only four more days in the job, treats a woman killed by a car as so much road kill.

A brief on L-3 today reports Judith James, 64, of Paramus was struck and killed by a car around 10:35 Monday night in front of the Oradell firehouse.

The story adds nothing to Wednesday's L-3 caption under a photo that showed pavement marking left by investigators, and gave the woman's name and age.

But Sykes and overworked police reporter Stefanie Dazio say nothing else about the victim, including whether she was married, had children or grandchildren.

Also missing is how well the street is lit or whether she was in the crosswalk.

The driver was identified, but Oradell's Keystone Kops are quoted as saying the investigation is continuing and no charges have been filed.

This brief is like so many others The Record has published, but it never dawns on Editorial Page Editor Alfred P. Doblin to call for stiffer penalties when cars kill people, especially if the driver gets off by claiming he or she "never saw" the pedestrian.

Are editors calling 2016 presidential race on front page?

The Record's Tuesday story on PSE&G replacing outdated, leaky gas pipes didn't say whether the work is closing streets in Hackensack, above, Fort Lee and other towns.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

On Sunday, Democrat Hillary Clinton got four of the five columns on Page 1 of The Record to announce her White House candidacy.

But former GOP Florida Gov. Jeb Bush's declaration commanded only three columns on Tuesday's front page.

And today, pro basketball grabbed all of the editor's attention, earning billionaire Republican Donald Trump only an A-1 brief, referring readers to his campaign launch inside (A-6).

Is Editor Martin Gottlieb using the front page to signal to readers which candidate he expects to win the 2016 presidential election?

No. It's more likely page designers long ago replaced The Record's editors in deciding the makeup of A-1 based on photos, presumed reader interest, sensationalism and exaggerating the importance of pro sports.

Christie play?

If Governor Christie finally declares he will be riding the GOP clown bus to the 2016 convention, will The Record give him a banner headline on the front page?

The paper's tone, at least on the Editorial Page, has shifted dramatically:

"The governor's lack of leadership on mass transit and road and rail infrastructure is inexcusable," today's editorial on rising NJ Transit rail fares and service cuts declares (A-12).

But the GOP bully signaled his war against mass transit nearly five ago, with the late 2010 cancellation of the Hudson River rail tunnels, and the editors swallowed whole his excuses for doing so.

They also were asleep when Christie grabbed hundreds of millions of dollars in leftover tunnel money from NJ Transit and the Port Authority to fix roads and bridges, rather than raise the low gas tax.

Governor Veto

Coverage of the worst governor in state history by Columnist Charles Stile, Staff Writer Melissa Hayes and others seemed to have been lifted from Christie's own upbeat press releases.

And The Record continually portrayed him as a compromiser and bipartisan, only this year reporting he has used the gubernatorial veto more than 350 times to kill progressive bills and get his way with the Legislature's majority Democrats.

Nasty Trump

In true racist form, Trump blasted Mexico for sending "people who have lots of problems," including "rapists," and vowed to build a border wall and have that country pay for it (A-6).

Mexicans and Central American cooks, kitchen workers and servers form the backbone of the Manhattan restaurant industry, including those owned and patronized by the billionaire.

I can see one of them spitting in his food or worse. LOL.

Word play

A mayor in Indiana who came out as gay on Tuesday has a last name that starts with "Butt" (A-6).

In Local, a Ramsey man accused of sexual assault is named "Goodfellow" (L-3).

Nikolas Samouhos

Congratulations to the local assignment editors, Deirdre Sykes and Dan Sforza, for once again treating a fatal accident victim as little more than road kill.

Today, readers learn Nik Samouhos, 40, of Ridgefield Park led an adventurous life and was loved by his family, including his four nephews (L-6).

On Tuesday, a brief reported Samouhos was killed in a collision in California, but the editors didn't bother finding out anything more than his age and where he lived.

Similar briefs have appeared in The Record's Local section literally for decades.

Editors finally discover 'Little Mexico' under their noses

Hackensack's Salem Street, between River and Moore streets, was closed Friday, disrupting traffic. How many of the people in this photo are actually working? Three blocks of Salem, from River to State streets, have been torn up for weeks to perform underground work.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

In a single front-page story today, The Record's editors try to play catch-up on nearly three decades of Mexican migration to a city not far from their ivory tower newsroom.

Spurred by Governor Christie's visit to Mexico,  the reporter who covers immigrants for the Woodland Park daily traces the growth of Passaic city's Poblanos or people who hail from the state and city of Puebla (A-1).

The Record's local-news editors have largely ignored Passaic's Mexican-Americans until now, even though the onetime Food section wrote extensively about North Jersey's Little Mexico in 2003.

On Friday, Christie visited Puebla, citing the big percentage of Mexican immigrants in New Jersey who come from there (38.75%). 

Previously, the GOP bully slashed tax credits for Mexican-Americans and other working poor, and cut aid to Passaic and five other impoverished cities.

In her story about Passaic's Poblanos, Staff Writer Monsy Alvarado undercounts "taquerias, Mexican bakeries, restaurants and stores," and makes no mention of the wholesale Mexican food warehouses that are open to the public (A-4). 


Christie's revenge

Another rating agency has condemned Christie's fiscal policies in New Jersey, citing, among other things, a state economy that "continues to lag that of the nation" (A-1).

The A-4 story by Melissa Hayes on Christie's visit to Puebla says the governor "came to the state nearly 90 miles from Mexico City," but didn't he meet Puebla Gov. Rafael Moreno Valle in the capital city, also called Puebla?

Tips immigration hand

At one point, Christie seems to be saying the unaccompanied children crossing the Mexican border illegally should respect and recognize the laws of the United States.

Then, he is quoted gushing about "an endless line of one child more adorable than the next" -- presumably, as long as they stay in Mexico.

Friday was the last day of what Christie called a trade mission, but The Record hasn't reported whether any new deals or contracts were signed between New Jersey and Mexican businesses.

Indeed, the gushing coverage seems designed only to boost Christie's prospects as a Republican presidential contender in 2016.

Police blotter

Head Assignment Editor Deirdre Sykes and her deputy, Dan Sforza, did a great job filling today's Local section with police and court news (L-1, L-2, L-3 and L-6).

Second look

In last Sunday's Road Warrior column, confused Staff Writer John Cichowski again provided "wrong, unsafe and illegal advice" to teenagers and their parents, according to the Facebook page for Road Warrior Bloopers.

"The Road Warrior [Cichowski] reported that an official stated that about 800 teens were killed in car crashes in New Jersey over the last 10 years.

"Actually, there were only about 400 teenage deaths for drivers and passengers in the last 10 years, according to New Jersey State Police road fatality annual statistics, which the Road Warrior frequently references, but misstates."

See: Take away John Cichowski's license to write 

Do I blame lack of sunlight or sub-par Sunday edition?

Pupuseria Las Americas, which is open 7 days, tries its luck in a storefront on Salem Street in Hackensack. Pupusas, a traditional Salvadoran dish, are stuffed corn tortillas. Meanwhile, an ice cream and coffee shop called Upsy Daisy has failed to open after starting renovations at 479 Main St. in Hackensack, below.

A Shilla Korean Bakery operated for several years in the building, across the street from Sears' parking lot. Daheen Wang Mandoo, a Korean king dumpling restaurant, started renovations, but never opened, and nearby merchants said the city was slow to issue permits.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

Before the sun finally came out around 11:30 this morning, I didn't know whether to blame the weather or The Record's lackluster Sunday edition for my moodiness.

Just when you've had it with the distant nightmare of Superstorm Sandy (late October 2012), nearly half of today's front page is covered with another cliche-filled column on the future of a Jersey shore town (A-1).

Staff Writer Mike Kelly brings his shit-eating-grin perspective to a subject most of us are sick of reading about already.

Word pusher

The headline grabs your attention -- "Mix of dread and defiance" -- but the column fails to deliver on the latter, and Kelly never mentions how the Christie administration bungled all that federal aid.

In the second paragraph, a poor schmuck named Bill Mullen the reporter latched onto "gazes" at broken tile from the bathroom of his Ortley Beach home, which was destroyed by Sandy.

For years now, Kelly has nearly every subject in every column gazing at something or other.

Then in his fifth paragraph, Kelly claims "Bill Mullen's dream is as sturdy as the sand that he hopes will one day hold the foundation of his new home." 

Wait a minute. 

Sand is far from "sturdy," and aren't all new Jersey shore homes built near the ocean supposed to be supported by pilings -- like the one shown in the Page 1 photo with the column -- not a foundation?

And this is the best the Woodland Park newsroom could manage for the Sunday paper. Unbelievable.

Christie in Mexico

Another burned-out columnist, Staff Writer Charles Stile, previews Governor Christie's visit to Mexico next week (A-1).

Leaders of drug cartels had been planning to kidnap Christie and hold him for ransom until they found out the GOP bully's fiscal policies have nearly bankrupted the Garden State.

New Jersey State Police would be offering bushels of Jersey tomatoes, corn and peaches to gain Christie's freedom.

Culinary prodigy

Max Aronson of Woodcliff Lake might want to put his kitchen skills to work improving the poor food service at Hackensack High School, just a couple of miles away from where he studies culinary arts at the Bergen County Academies (Better Living cover).

When school starts on Wednesday, Hackensack High students will be voting on the lousy food in their roach-infested cafeteria with their feet, walking to nearby pizzerias, McDonald's, Dunkin' Donuts and even Starbucks for lunch.

A sign on the door of 479 Main St. in Hackensack.