Suckers! You voted for an absentee governor

This eyesore at 177 Euclid Ave. in Hackensack looks much the same as it did when I moved into the neighborhood in August 2007, except the furniture piled on the front porch was removed a few years ago. Ignoring complaints to the city's Building Department and visits by city inspectors, this homeowner doesn't appear interested in finishing the renovation project.

By Victor E. Sasson
Editor

On Tuesday, The Record named seven states Governor Christie plans to visit in the coming year as chairman of the Republican Goobers Association (Tuesday's A-2).

Today, in a Page 1 story, the Woodland Park daily expanded Christie's campaign itinerary to 36 states where fellow Republicans will be involved in gubernatorial races (A-1).

The Record sent Staff Writer Melissa Hayes to Scottsdale, Ariz., to continue her work of building Christie's image into a viable presidential candidate in 2016 -- despite his abysmal record in New Jersey on the economy (L-7), mass transit, tolls, property taxes and other issues.

Guadano to rule

When our absentee governor is on the road, Lt. Gov. Kim Guadano, a non-entity who gives a bad name to women, will be the acting governor, Hayes reports today.

As head of the goobers group, Christie will command an enormous slush fund of campaign money from corporations and other anonymous donors -- all of it intended to do the evil work of the 1% against the rest of us.

Today, The Record said the association raised nearly $24 million in the first six months of the year, nearly $1.6 million from New Jersey.

Racist blacklash

On Monday, Christie attacked President Obama and claimed the Affordable Care Act is "a failure," The Record reported on Tuesday's A-2.

But the GOP bully forgot to mention that he and fellow conservatives in more than 30 other states are doing their best to subvert the enrollment effort -- as part of the racist backlash by congressional Republicans.

Second best for N.J.

Christie gladly accepted millions of federal dollars to expand health care to the poor in New Jersey.

At the same time, he refused to set up a state health-care exchange, forcing residents to use the problem-plagued federal Web site, reducing choice and limiting competition among insurers.

So North Jersey residents get to see glowing TV ads about New York State's health-care exchange and affordable policies, but remain in the dark about buying insurance in the Garden State.

Baseball prick

Christie's ascendancy to head of the GOP goobers is the lead story on Page 1 today, where Editor Marty Gottlieb wastes a great deal of space on Alex Rodriguez, the drugged baseball player who does a good imitation of a walking erection.

'Pedal error'?

In the seven days since Ruta Fiorino, 49, an employee of Trader Joe's, was hit by a car outside the Westwood store on Nov. 13, The Record appears unable to find out how the accident happened (L-1).

Today's story on fundraising for the severely injured woman reports the car driven by Maryann Lewis, 75, of New Milford "apparently accelerated and lurched forward." 

A common problem among older drivers is "pedal error," mistaking the gas pedal for the brake pedal.

What about programs to help seniors improve their driving skills and cut down on similar accidents? 

The Record apparently doesn't know or doesn't care.

Dissing seniors

Even Staff Writer John Cichowski hasn't tackled the question for the Road Warrior column, which  has spent the last decade examining driving, drivers and the MVC is such minute detail.

Typical of The Record's coverage of the elderly, who aren't confined to nursing homes or mental institutions, is the rare mention of Alzheimer's disease in a photo caption on L-1 today.

When food is garbage

The Better Living cover today confirms that 50 years of cooking shows and other nonsense about food on television have been little more than fluff (BL-1).

Not a single Food Network show has focused attention on factory farms and the unnatural lengths processors, restaurant owners and chefs go to fatten their profits at the expense of the consumer.

Local news boycott continues

 Hackensack, Teaneck and Englewood residents will search in vain for municipal news in The Record today. Even the two restaurants featured prominently in Better Living are in Passaic County, seemingly a reflection of the paper's move to Woodland Park.

Image via Wikipedia

Although it was clear last month that legalization of same-sex marriage didn't have a chance, the former Hackensack daily kept the issue alive and today, devotes most of the front page and one inside page to its defeat. The other "big story" on Page 1 is the Cablevision-Scripps battle over the Food Network -- a non-story to tens of thousands of readers with other television services.

In the Local section, the paper assigns three reporters to the murder of a Garfield businessman and runs two large photos of law enforcement officials announcing an arrest.

For Hackensack news, you'll have to look to the weekly Hackensack Chronicle, which is also owned by North Jersey Media Group and which is delivered with The Record on Fridays. The weekly paper reports the city manager asked union workers to forgo their scheduled raises in 2010 -- a hike of about 3%.

Thumbs up to Columnist Kevin DeMarrais for acknowledging on Page L-8 that The Record is profiting from the cable TV dispute by selling full-age ads outlining each side's spin, but shame on him for gratuitously plugging Bobby Flay's hamburger restaurant in Paramus, where the chef chooses to serve lower-quality beef to fatten his bottom line.