To all Democrats: Don't take election of Clinton for granted

Filmmaker Michael Moore (@MMFlint) tweeted five reasons he thinks Republican wacko racist Donald J. Trump will be the next president of the United States.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

"Donald J. Trump is going to win in November," filmmaker Michael Moore predicts.

"This wretched, ignorant, dangerous part-time clown and full time sociopath is going to be our next president," Moore said in a call to the voting booth that appears on his website, MichaelMoore.com and on Twitter.

One major problem, Moore noted, is that in poor, black and Hispanic neighborhoods, where Democrat Hillary Clinton has widespread support, "everything is being done to literally stop them from casting a ballot ... so in most elections it's hard to get even 50% to turn out to vote."

But in what Moore calls "the last stand of the angry white man," Trump's "crazed fans are going to be up at 5 a.m. on Election Day, kicking ass all day long ...."

Today's paper

To tens of thousands of Jewish, Muslim, Protestant, agnostic and atheistic readers, the retirement of the Newark archbishop is a non-event, so why does the story take up so much precious space on A-1 of The Record today?

Trump has pledged to build a wall on the Mexican border and deport 11 million illegal aliens, so why is Columnist Michael Kelly wasting our time with a Page 1 piece that has readers' eyes rolling:

"Trump a dilemma for many Hispanics"

Kelly's second column appears today on the Opinion section cover (O-1), where he looks ahead to the Sept. 12 trial of Governor Christie's key allies in the George Washington Bridge lane closures.

In the court of public opinion, Christie himself has been found guilty of involvement in the politically motivated traffic jam, but Kelly doesn't seem convinced.

Citing Christie's prosecution of Clinton at the Republican National Convention last week, Kelly fails to remind readers the GOP bully also erased emails, as well as text messages, related to Bridgegate, and "lost" his cellphone for two years, according to reporting by WNYC-FM.

Amateur hour

Don't bother with Better Living's amateurish appraisal of Fort Lee's diverse dining scene or the wildly exaggerated comparison to Manhattan (BL-1).

Staff Writer Elisa Ung has been reviewing North Jersey restaurants and writing about food for about a decade -- yet she still hasn't discovered Hiura, which opened on Main Street about 25 years ago.

Many consider the BYO with fewer than 30 seats the best sushi and Japanese restaurant around.

She also ignores BCD, a Korean restaurant in Fort Lee that serves organic soft-tofu soup and superior side dishes.

Chris loves Sandy, but hates the rest of us

The new City Council, led by Mayor John P. Labrosse Jr., third from right, meeting at Hackensack City Hall on Monday night in an atmosphere of optimism for the city's future. A sign inside the 3rd Floor men's bathroom, below, seems to show the city has been conservation-minded, though it is just getting around to installing solar panels on its buildings, lagging behind Teaneck and other communities.

By Victor E. Sasson

Editor

Just imagine how Governor Christie is getting off every night thinking about Sandy -- the devastating superstorm he disguises as a siren who is luring unwary voters into giving him a second term.

The GOP bully is knocking himself out to convince voters he should be judged only by what he's done since Sandy -- and not on all of the promises to the middle class he has broken since he took office in January 2010.

And The Record of Woodland Park can't do enough to help him, continuing to run Sandy recovery news on Page 1, as it does today, or all over the Local front, even though more than 9 months have passed.

I have yet to see a story contrasting Christie's stand on the issues with that of Democratic challenger Barbara Buono.

As the bottom of today's front page shows, that's because Editor Marty Gottlieb continues to portray the contest as one that will go to the candidate who raises the most money (A-1).

Making babies

Gottlieb wastes more space today -- stories on A-1 and L-1 -- about the birth of the royal heir in Britain.

Head Assignment Editor Deirdre Sykes' pathetic attempt to localize the story omits the names of any of the women who gave birth at North Jersey hospitals on the same day or the names of their babies (L-1).

Assume the position  

Filmmaker Michael Moore is a genius who has the courage to make documentaries no one in Hollywood would undertake.

But his well-known weight problem makes some readers wonder how Kathleen Glynn, his colaborator, managed to survive 21 years of marriage to him, unless he allowed her to be on top (A-2).

Some staffers have wondered the same thing about Sykes' husband, a tall, thin graphic artist who once worked at The Record.

Hackensack news

Today's Local front is dominated by a suspected gang member who tried and failed to take on the re-energized Hackensack Police Department early Monday (L-1).

Robert Leonardis, 22, fired one shot that narrowly missed Officer Joseph Ayoubi, but was severely wounded when four officers fired back, Police Director Mike Mordaga said.

At a Hackensack City Council meeting on Monday night, one resident said she now calls the police when she sees something amiss in her neighborhood, and they actually respond.

In the past, she said, she didn't bother to call because she knew police working under the corrupt police chief, Ken Zisa, would do nothing.

Solar-power lesson

A resident asked the council and City Manager Stephen Lo Iacono why no solar panels are being installed on city schools.

Lo Iacono said the profligate Board of Education has refused to meet with the council to discuss solar power.

The systems being installed on city buildings cost taxpayers nothing.

Coffee is hot and cheap

Sykes continues to rely on photos of minor accidents in place of legitimate local news, and continues to supply readers with no information on the cause.

Clues in today's L-3 photo suggest an older driver (Mercury Marquis, blue license plate and handicap space) couldn't wait to get a morning cup of coffee McDonald's sells to seniors at a special, low price, so he crashed his car into the fast-food restaurant.

'The day the middle class died'

Image via Wikipedia


Filmmaker Michael Moore has posted a video as a chilling reminder of the destructive presidency of Ronald Reagan, right.


You can see how Governor Christie, congressional Republicans and rabid Tea Party loyalists are carrying on the work of our first and hopefully last company spokesman-actor-president.


You remember "trickle-down economics," don't you?


In retrospect, that theory could have been called "tepid discharges from a douche bag."


I was part of a team of reporters at The Record that documented the cuts to social programs during the Reagan presidency.


As today, all those holier-than-thou Republicans loved to cut Head Start and other programs for minority children.


Here is a link to the YouTube video:


4-minute video of Ronald Reagan puppet

He's talking about Christie, too

Image via Wikipedia

The State Capitol in Madison, Wisconsin.

Here is some straight talk from filmmaker and activist Michael Moore:

Join My High School Newspaper ...a note to students from Michael Moore
Friday, February 18th, 2011

Dear High School Students:

How inspired are you by the thousands of students from Wisconsin high schools who began walking out of class four days ago and have now occupied the State Capitol building and its grounds in Madison, demanding that the governor stop his assault on teachers and other government workers? I have to say it's one of the most exciting things I've seen in years.

We are, right now, living in an amazing moment of history. And this moment has happened because the youth around the world have decided they've had enough. Young people are in revolt -- and it's about time.

You, the students and young adults, from Cairo, Egypt to Madison, Wisconsin, are now rising up, taking to the streets, organizing, protesting and refusing to move until your voices are heard. Effing amazing!! It has scared the pants off those in power, the adults who were so convinced they had done a heckuva job trying to dumb you down and distract you with useless nonsense so that you'd end up feeling powerless, just another cog in the wheel, another brick in the wall. You've been fed a lot of propaganda about "how the system works" and so many lies about what took place in history that I'm amazed you've been able to sort through all the bs and see the truth for what it is. This was all done in the hopes you would just keep your mouths shut, get in line and follow orders. And don't rock the boat. Because if you do, you could end up without a good job! You could end up looking like a freak! You've been told politics isn't cool and that one person really can't make a difference.

And for some beautiful, unknown reason, you've refused to listen. Maybe it's because you've figured out that we adults are about to hand you a very empty and increasingly miserable world, with its melting polar ice caps, its low-paying jobs, its incessant war machine, and its plan to put you in permanent debt at age 18 with the racket known as college loans.

On top of that, you've had to listen to adults tell you that you may not be able to legally marry the person you love, that your uterus isn't really yours to control, and that if a black guy somehow makes it into the White House, he must've entered illegally from Kenya.

Yet, from what I've seen, the vast majority of you have rejected all of this crap. Never forget that it was you, the young people, who made Barack Obama president. First you formed his army of election volunteers to get him the nomination. Then you came out in record numbers in November of 2008. Did you know that the only age group where Obama won the white vote was with 18-29-year-olds? The majority of every white age group over 29 years old voted for McCain -- and yet Obama still won! How'd that happen? Because there were so many youth voters of all races -- a record turnout that overcame the vast numbers of fearful white adults who simply couldn't see someone whose middle name was Hussein in the Oval Office. Thank you young voters for making that happen!

Young people elsewhere in the world, most notably in the Middle East, have taken to the streets and overthrown dictatorial governments without firing a shot. Their courage has inspired others to take a stand. There's a huge momentum right now, a youth-backed mojo that can't and won't be stopped.

Although I've long since left your age group, I've been so inspired by recent events that I'd like to do my bit and lend a hand. I've decided to turn over a part of my website to high school students so they -- you -- can have the opportunity to get the word out to millions more people. For a long time I've wondered, how come we don't hear the true voices of teenagers in our mainstream media? Why is your voice any less valid than an adult's?

In high schools all across America, students have great ideas to make things better or to question what is going on -- and often these thoughts and opinions are ignored or silenced. How often in school is the will of the student body ignored? How many students today will try to speak out, to stand up for something important, to simply try to right a wrong -- and will be swiftly shut down by those in authority, or by other students themselves?

I've seen students over the years attempt to participate in the democratic process only to be told that high schools aren't democracies and that they have no rights (even though the Supreme Court has said that a student doesn't give up his or her rights "when they enter the schoolhouse door").

It's always amazed me how adults preach to young people about what a great "democracy" we have, but when students seek to be part of it, they are reminded that they are not full citizens yet and must behave somehow as indentured servants. Is it any wonder then why some students, when they become adults, don't feel like participating in our political system -- because they've been taught by example for the past 12 years that they have no say in the decisions that affect them?

We like to say that we have this great "free press," and yet how free are high school newspapers? How free are you to write or blog about what you want? I've been sent stories from teenagers that they couldn't get published at school. Why not? Why must we silence or keep out of sight the voice of our teenagers?
It's not that way in other countries. The voting age in places like Austria, Brazil or Nicaragua is 16. In France, students can shut down the country by simply walking out of school and taking to the streets.
But here in the U.S. you're told to obey and to basically butt out and let the adults run the show.

Let's change that! I'm starting something on my site called, "HIGH SCHOOL NEWSPAPER." Here you will be able to write what you want and I will publish it. I will also post those articles that you've tried to get published at your school but were turned down. On my site you will have freedom and an open forum and a chance to have your voice heard by millions.

I've asked my 17-year-old niece, Molly, to kick things off by editing this page for the first six months. She will ask you to send her your stories and ideas and the best ones will be posted on MichaelMoore.com. I'll give you the platform you deserve. It will be my honor to have you on my site and I encourage you to take advantage of it.

You are often called "our future." That future is today, right here, right now. You've already proven you can change the world. Keep doing it. And I'd be honored to help you.

Yours,
Michael Moore
MMFlint@aol.com
MichaelMoore.com
 
P.S. When can you get started? Right now! Just go here and register. (You can use a made-up name if you want and you don’t have to name your school.) Then once you’re done, start submitting blogs, music, video and more!

P.P.S. If you’re reading this and not in high school, please take a second and forward it to all the students you know.



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