THANKSGIVING LEFTOVERS & CHRISTMAS HORS d’OEUVRES: A POTPOURRI OF HOLIDAY TRIMMINGS

By Louis Manzo / December 8, 2014

Schumer Supports Blog’s Election Analysis

     The reaction to my pre-midterm election blog—in which I had accurately predicted the results of the November 4, 2014 elections—resulted in a wave of requests for media interviews. Some of the radio interviews elaborating on the analysis can be listened to on the internet—the links are posted in the “PRESS” tag of the “In the News” webpage of this website.

Some radio hosts were disturbed by my commentary. Please don’t kill the messenger. I’m a Democrat and I merely related to readers what other deep-rooted Dems from Hudson County had told me. [See “The Party Is Over: Dems Face a Drubbing at the Polls With Long-Lasting Consequences” blog.] Other Dem media supporters who read the blog were likewise upset by my accurate predictions and my independent analysis.

Ironically, United States’ Senator Chuck Schumer of New York State expressed similar sentiments to mine, which he then vocalized in recent days. His remarks went over like a lead balloon with the Democratic National Committee, which I maintain are a clueless lot that remain out of touch with moderate, middle class Dems, as well as the majority of the American people.

If the Democratic Party has any hope of ever righting itself again, then significant Party leaders like Schumer [he’s extremely progressive but gets it] will have to steer the Party out of the shoals and into safer waters. Dems should be focusing on helping the middle class to survive, instead of ignoring the plight of this vast swat of Americans who continue ebbing their way into extinction. Translation: healthcare and immigration issues should have been put on the backburner—like voters did to the Democratic Party on election night. Bill Clinton took on a President with a more than 90% approval rating by paying attention to the economy and the hurting middle case…and he won! It’s the economy, stupid!

Major contenders for the 2016 Democratic nomination for President should be careful about what they are prioritizing on their speaking tours—they can potentially inflict even more damage on a party that’s on life support. Recent comments by Hillary Clinton at Georgetown University, expressing her position that our country should have empathy for our enemies—you know, those ISIS guys running around beheading Americans and children—will make any chance of the party’s recovery even more difficult. Expect a reshuffling of Hillary’s staff after this fiasco!

The comments by New York City’s Mayor Bill de Blasio, regarding race relations and how terrible he considers our American heritage, were so outrageous and sickening that I deem them unworthy and unpatriotic for repeating. He is another of the out-of-touch Dems who are helping to sink the party. Let me predict it now: Warren Wilhelm is a one termer! If you’re saying to yourself “Who?” it shows just how little we know about the people who ask for our vote.

Christie Scores

   With the election verdicts handed down, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie can rightly take a bow after helping to deliver many GOP Governors to stellar victories on election night. As this year’s chair of the Republican Governor’s Association [RGA], the 2016 presidential contender went on a whirlwind tour of the Nation, stumping for candidates and raising them plenty of campaign cash.

Christie also managed to woo over potential supporters for his next anticipated campaign—the 2016 GOP Presidential nomination. Christie couldn’t help but pickup plenty of workers through the campaigns of the Governors that he helped to elect. Stealthy, below the radar of Federal election laws, Christie is amassing the largest organization and potential funding resources for his more than possible run for the office.

Christie’s Machiavellian cunning can be noted in the RGA’s bolder swagger. As the RGA took its post-election victory lap during the group’s recent reorganization meetings in Florida, they delivered a message to the rest of the GOP—the next president must have the executive experience of a Governor. [Sorry about that Rand Paul, Marco Rubio, Ted Cruz, Paul Ryan and the lot.]

Don’t underestimate the sentiment of the RGA, in 2015 there will be 30 Republican Governors in the country. Governors are the top dogs in running the political party apparatus in the States—they hold sway over who gets the party backing in primary elections and control the all-important delegates to the GOP’s Presidential nominating convention. If the RGA unites to elect one of its own—a new dynamic on the GOP political landscape—that candidate may well be a lock to secure the nomination. YES, even Jeb Bush and Mitt Romney would have to fold their tents against a candidacy that garners united RGA support.

Despite the abundant list of potential presidential aspirants among members of the RGA right now, if Christie can keep the group committed to the RGA philosophy expressed coming out of Florida, then as the field begins to narrow, Christie might be the main benefactor when the smoke clears. He already has enough allies in the group, now his goal should be to avoid making enemies.

As the pages of my book, Ruthless Ambition: The Rise and Fall of Chris Christie, proves—Christie possesses the cunning and all the black-op skills necessary to out maneuver his potential competition. The rest of the candidate field remains babes in the woods compared to Christie’s penchant for Machiavellian tactics. This has always been Christie’s key attribute—he is willing to push the envelope to places that others are not. How’s the George Washington Bridge traffic flowing today?

     Christie’s plan already took root at the Florida RGA summit—30 GOP Governors seemingly agreeing that the next president of the United States must be cut from their own cloth. Stay tuned!

Hog Heaven

     New Jersey Democrats thought they had managed to muddy up Christie by forcing him to veto a law that they tried to pass which prohibited pregnant pigs from being crammed into gestation crates. The cages were believed to be too small for the pigs, according to the squeals of animal activists. Wonder if these protestors have contemplated the plight of sardines? The same pigs they were trying to protect might eventually windup at the slaughterhouse. This, incidentally, is the same State where lawmakers passed one of the more liberal abortion laws in the country—I guess pigs are sacred.

Iowa pig farmers were opposed to the NJ legislation, which would have saddled them with additional costs. The farmers and Iowa’s governor lobbied Christie to veto the proposed law. With the Iowa caucus serving as a key barometer for the 2016 Presidential field of candidates, there was little doubt that Christie was not going to look a gift pig in the mouth [sorry horse lovers]—he promptly vetoed the bill.

Dems and some left-leaning media had a field day with the story—portraying Christie as more in tune with the preferences of the voters of a State other than his own. As if saving a pig’s bacon from the fire was the most pressing issue on the plates of New Jersey residents, who live in a State with one of the nation’s worst economies. Hurting New Jerseyans are more concerned with pocketbook issues and laws effecting the family budget rather than laws offering a blanket of protection for pigs living in cramped quarters—doubtful the NJ electorate was buying into this pig in a poke.

Christie categorized the bill as “a solution in search of a problem,” and an incredible waste of time. He employed some of the same strategy that he used against teachers—demonizing the activists who were supporting the legislation. He labeled them as a group more interested in advocating for a meatless diet. The pigs didn’t’ seem to mind.

At the end of the day, the Dems served up an issue that would only help Christie by making him look good in a State where he needs to cultivate support in—Iowa. Christie is not running for a statewide office in New Jersey again, and he is likely to romp in the State’s presidential primary election.

One is left to wonder if the cows from the Chick-fill-A commercial will soon be making an appearance under the New Jersey Statehouse’s golden dome.

Ferguson and the Prelude to a National Police Force

     The Grand Jury decision to not indict Ferguson Police Officer Darren Wilson for any untoward conduct in the shooting death of an African American robbery and assault suspect, Michael Brown, sparked turmoil throughout the country. One of the New Jersey media’s most distinguished columnists and editors, Tom Moran of the Star-Ledger, captured the sentiments which might be resonating right now with a majority of Americans in his column titled: Why I Won’t Raise My Hands Over Michael Brown’s Shooting.

It will be interesting to see if the Ferguson shooting and the Staten Island, NY police incident involving the death of Eric Garner—killed while in a police chokehold—become the catalyst for President Obama to nationalize local police departments. This was an issue raised early on in Obama’s campaign for President, and then after he landed in the White House. Speaking in July 2008, in Colorado, Obama stated, “We cannot continue to rely only on our military in order to achieve the national security objectives that we’ve set. We’ve got to have a civilian national security force that’s just as powerful, just as strong, just as well-funded. “

The Presidents interpreters claim he was speaking about revitalizing the Peace Corps, but having just witnessed the “you can keep your doctor” and “insurance premiums will be cheaper” debacle following the Affordable Healthcare Act, can you really trust them…or the President? Especially after the chief architect for the law, Jonathan Gruber, admits that he lied to the public about the bill because “the American people are too stupid.”

Federalizing our local police would be a gross assault on the Constitution, and a precursor for the use of martial law. This is serious business, on the level of treason. Let’s hope that Congress has the guts to keep the President in check. This would be akin to how, leading up to WWII, the Brownshirts were used as the national police force for a certain German political party.

I will be elaborating further upon these issues in future blogs.