Michael Doherty 
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Mon Sep 28, 2009 at 11:48:32 AM EDT
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Today is Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, holiest day on the Jewish calendar.
And in a stupid move that ends up revealing more than they want you to know about who they really are, NJ's most virulent anti-gay leaders chose today to stage a press event 11:30am at the State House opposing marriage equality. Yeah. This narrow little bunch, who claim broad religious support, obviously doesn't have it or someone might have suggested that Yom Kippur isn't a great day to attract attention to yourself. So much for their diversity.
My own (shoot me now) Sen. Mike Doherty leads today's anti-equality squad, which also includes Alison Litell McHose, Steve Lonegan, Richard Merkt, Gerald Cardinale, Steve Oroho, Gary Chiusano, and Carolee Adams of the Eagle Forum of NJ. They must be feeling the tide turning on them.
New Jersey Family Policy Council, led by Len Deo, is there too, with their mission to restore public opinion, attitudes, and behaviors to reflect a Judeo-Christian worldview.
And yet, today's news conference is being held on a holiday unsurpassed in its solemnity for the Jewish people.
That, from our own Jeff Gardner, who is also GSE's Vice-Chair. Chair Steven Goldstein is unavailable, observing Yom Kippur.
Among the 50 states, NJ has the second-highest percentage of Jewish citizens, behind only New York. Two-thirds of NJ's 21 counties rank in the top 100 counties in the size of their Jewish population. GSE stresses they don't expect all public figures refrain from public events today. But there's an obvious inconsistency in claiming religious support while not recognizing a major holy day.
Goldstein said yesterday: It is appropriate for me, in these hours before Yom Kippur, to wish everyone well. But that's too generous for me. I say New Jersey's anti-equality gang has more than enough sins to atone for, and they ought to head home, STFU, and give that some thought.
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Mon Oct 20, 2008 at 10:50:41 AM EDT
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What do you think it would do for the tourism industry if people went to the beach and as a bonus got to play in the chemical weapons:If New Jersey allows drilling for oil and natural gas off its coast, it may dredge up an ugly and dangerous past.
The U.S. Army has admitted to dumping 64 million pounds of chemical weapons into U.S. waters from World War I until the early 1970s. [...] Chemical agents such as mustard gas, sarin gas, arsenic, cyanide and VX nerve gas were all dumped off the Atlantic Coast, raising questions about safety and the volatility of weapons in those dump sites. Maybe we could make the dump sites a tourist attraction. Follow me below the fold to find out what other surprises drilling might bring and who has been leading the push in NJ.
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Thu Apr 26, 2007 at 11:10:07 PM EDT
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( - promoted by jmelli)
After losing election after election, the New Jersey GOP might be excused for finding alternative candidates for statewide elections, but the positions of their latest candidate du jour, Mike Doherty (R-Warren County), may completely surprise you. First, let's be clear about what's been happening with the less-than-impressive state Republican Party, which has been in disarray and lacking competitive funding for the November assembly and senate elections. The state GOP is now in a push-and-pull between the radical conservative branches of its electorate and that of the moderate side. After Forrester and Kean Jr. lost elections as moderates, the radical branch, with the same ideological thrust of fundamentalist conservatives who have taken over the national party, are now foaming at the mouth for a radical right-wing Republican to go against Sen. Frank Lautenberg in the 2008 senate election. They found their willing participant in far right conservative Assemblyman Mike Doherty, who has received 100% ratings from anti-abortion group New Jersey Right to Life and from the NRA.
Friends, as a Southerner, I have encountered some radical rightwingers in my life, but Doherty is on the level of Rick Santorum and Jim Inhofe in terms of his anti-minority and destructive policy agendas. To give you a sense of how Ass. Doherty is out-of-touch with our tolerant state, consider that he was recently protesting the Roe v. Wade abortion decision at the statehouse and attended a recent state talk. by pro-Bush, anti-science presidential candidate Sam Brownback. Like Brownback, Doherty is also vehemently anti-science, preferring a fundamentalist ideology that emphasizes anti-regulation: Doherty is against the Kyoto Treaty in combating global warming, and with life-saving research, states that The stem cell legislation signed into law today by the governor is yet another assault on the unborn in New Jersey at stem cell funding is immoral . Regarding the Supreme Court ruling that gave gays and lesbians further civil rights in the state, Doherty immediately went into reactionary, discriminatory mode, stating "I believe in the sanctity of the institution of marriage and I believe today's ruling undermines that institution.
And just this past week, Doherty proudly produced a press release from the anti-gay, anti-women, pro-abstinence-only sex ed organization New Jersey Family Policy Council for his "award" of legislator of the year from them. Further, Doherty, as did all Assembly Republicans, refused to hold the president accountable for his failures in Iraq and had a no-vote on the anti-surge amendment, too.
Of course, should Doherty get the nomination, and he seems to be the Republican frontrunner at this point, we already know what the 2008 party line will be: Doherty will champion himself as being committed to smaller government (of course, as a Corzine obstructionist, he hasn't passed substantial legislation to limit spending and only opposed plans) and as a moderate on hot-button issues. This will backfire, especially with such a principled, respected politician as Lautenberg running against him, and I imagine that the GOP will find themselves further in the wilderness in statewide politics if they nominate this radical fundamentalist.
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Thu Apr 26, 2007 at 10:57:51 AM EDT
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The first debate for the Democratic Presidential primaries is tonight on MSNBC at 7pm. It will be streamed live at msnbc.com, if have internet but not cable TV. Each candidate gets 11 minutes, so you can look forward to seeing as much of Mike Gravel as John Edwards.
New Jersey Congressmen voted on party lines on the Iraq War: The Democrats to fund the war with a withdrawal deadline, the Republicans with Dennis Kucinich to cut off funding. In fairness, Republicans do expect to later borrow the money to stay indefinitely.
Conservative Michael Doherty is the most likely challenger to Frank Lautenberg, according to politicsnj.com. The article says he hopes to run on fiscal conservatism and is "described as "hard-edged" by colleagues and prone to displays of anger." I'd like to hear fiscal conservatives discuss the fact that every four months we waste more money in Iraq than New Jersey owes. The article also discussees Republican perceptions of Tom Kean Jr. and the alternative of Bill Baroni.
Adult high schools have been closing across the state. Some community colleges have been offering GED classes to make up for the loss of opportunity.
The Daily Targum describes Rutgers students lobbying for student aid in Washington.
Gloucester, Salem and Cumberland counties are starting a joint program to prevent child abuse. The idea is to help financially stressed families before there is abuse. The funding comes from the state.
The Asbury Park Press is reporting rumors that a Monmouth County Republican freeholder candidate will be switched. Both candidates deny the rumor, and rumored replacement, DiBella, has stronger words:
It's my understanding the speculation is coming from the various blogs related to Monmouth County politics, and quite frankly in my opinion the blogs are nothing more than a compilation of rumors, lies and innuendo."
New Jersey has filed an appeal asking for the possibility of a terrorist attack to be considered in the relicensing review of the Oyster Creek nuclear power plant. Meanwhile, the Press of Atlantic City reports that a spokesman for Unplug Salem says that if PSEG would just build cooling towers to save the fish, Unplug Salem might stop. Vineland officials, by the way, are considering a new power plant (not nuclear!).
Senator Frank Lautenberg's Amtrak legislation passed the Senate Commerce Committee. You can read the details of the bill in Lautenberg's Amtrak press release.
Governor Codey has changed his original flooding disaster assistance request include the entire state. Representatives Andrews and LoBiondo had asked for the inclusion of South Jersey, and got quick results. Thanks!
This is an open thread, let us know what you are thinking!
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Tue Mar 06, 2007 at 09:29:55 AM EST
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Steven Goldstein responds to a group of lawmakers seeking to write discrimination into the state constitution:"The move to ban marriage for gay couples in the state has as much chance of succeeding as I have landing on Mars in the next hour."
For future reference, the leaders of this movement in the Assembly:
Assemblyman Michael Doherty, R-Warren/Hunterdon
Assemblywoman Alison Littell McHose, R-Sussex/Hunterdon/Morris
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Wed Dec 20, 2006 at 01:16:44 PM EST
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Via PoliticsNJ:Rep. Michael Ferguson has ruled out a bid for U.S. Senate against Frank Lautenberg. Chris Jones, Ferguson's Chief of Staff, says that the 36-year-old Ferguson will positively not run for statewide office in 2008, and will seek re-election to a fifth term in the House. State Sen. Thomas Kean, Jr., Assemblyman Bill Baroni and Assemblyman Michael Doherty are viewed as the most likely contenders for the nomination to challenge Lautenberg, who will be 84 when he seeks his fifth term. And Wally Edge says don't count Kean Jr back in it so soon.Had Ferguson lost to Stender, or had he run for the U.S. Senate, there was a good chance that State Senator Thomas Kean, Jr. would have run for the House instead. (He finished second in the 2000 primary, behind Ferguson.) Now the 38-year-old Kean must decide whether he is willing to chance a second statewide loss (something that usually signals the end of a political career) by running against Lautenberg -- or even against the more conservative rivals in a contested Republican primary. So, it's down to Baroni and Doherty. Any other strong contenders?
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Sun Apr 23, 2006 at 12:07:03 PM EDT
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The neverending chorus of GOP demands for more and more budget cuts came to a very brief halt yesterday. As part of the many proposed cuts to the state budget, Corzine wants to save $734,000 by shifting the burden of deer carcass removal on local and county roads to local municipalities.
As Fred Snowflack notes, the complaints came from Republicans representing areas that would be affected by the proposal: Predictably, there were howls of protests from the mostly Republican lawmakers who represent areas, northwest New Jersey comes to mind, where dead deer are likely to be found on local roads.
Queue the whining:
"This is just a redistribution of costs," said Assemblyman Guy Gregg, R-Morris. He correctly defined the effects of budget cuts. Someone give this man an economics degree. Interestingly, he only seems to object when the costs are redistributed towards his constituents.
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