Opinion

Often when a reporter uses phrases like "declined to answer questions", "had no comment for this article", and "did not respond to requests for an interview", it's usually not good for the person the story is about. 

At least it did not bode well for those who refused to answer questions posed by The Record's Jeff Pillets in a series of articles he wrote about EnCap that has recently earned him accolades from his peers.  The EnCap series was also "selected as a finalist in the Pulitzer Prize for Local Reporting," (The Record, 8/22/08).

So it seems like a double standard when North Jersey Media Group Vice-President/Editor Frank Scandale declined to confirm or deny any investigation of Pillets by the New Jersey State Police for allegedly swiping some documents from the Department of Environmental Protection.

Instead Scandale punted PolitickerNJ.com's inquires to the Attorney General Office's who also declined to comment. 

But of course.  That's standard operating procedure for law enforcement folks.  It's not for a newspaper organization.

To view more cartoons by Politicker.com editorial cartoonist Rob Tornoe, click here.

So, the federal government will bail out Freddie Mac, Fannie Mae, and give $700 billion bucks for failed mortgages. With so much of New Jersey tied in to the New York City financial markets, you know we're gonna get socked you know where. Someone's gonna suggest that we dump our long held idea of "home rule" -- if we have any homes left -- and save money by merging communities.  
 
We have 566 local governments, "Home rule" can be very expensive, indeed. So, maybe some of our towns near and far will attempt mergers. And merging would require new names for the new emergent town. But some towns, should be cautioned about their new town names.
 
For example, if Wayne in Passaic County and Newton in Sussex County merged, the town could be called Wayne-Newton. The residents will certainly chant "Danke Shoen" for that plan!

To view more cartoons by Politicker.com editorial cartoonist Rob Tornoe, click here.

To view more cartoons by Politicker.com editorial cartoonist Rob Tornoe, click here.

Bergen County is apparently immune from the "change" bug that has swept the rest of the nation.

Not even a federal investigation and eight-count indictment could convince Bergen County Democrats to dump their long-time corrupt leader Joe Ferriero. Note how three Democrats responded to calls from other elected officials for their chairman to step down:

"Steve Rothman ought to know better...he knows the constitutional presumption of innocence." -Freeholder David Ganz

"Everybody's presumed innocent..." -Surrogate Michael Dressler

"We all have the presumption of innocence..." -Sheriff Leo McGuire

If this were college, they'd be expelled for plagiarism, but in Ferriero's Bergen County that kind of lemming-like ability to follow orders is demanded and rewarded. It's embarrassing to see these supposedly grown men get played like fiddles by the state's new poster boy for corruption, but they've been doing it for so long they don't know anything else.

So, I’m sipping a cup of Wawa hazelnut coffee yesterday scrolling PolitickerNJ on my laptop when I see this ominous headline: Publisher says Star Ledger could be sold or closed by January.

My first thought was Yikes! I can’t imagine Jersey without the Ledger.  What will Christie do to keep his name recognition numbers up?

My second thought after seeing the Star Ledger’s own story in its business section today was it’s admirable the Ledger assign a veteran reporter to write a real news story about its own business troubles.  

They say that if you put a billion monkeys in front of a billion typewriters for a billion years, one of them will write a Shakespearean play. Or maybe throw feces at each other -- but then they'd look like a political campaign.

So, searching the web for the answer to the question: "What's the difference between Sarah Palin and Dick Cheney?" I found at least a billion sites that gave the same answer: Lipstick. LOL.

So, now that Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin has officially been anointed as Republican VP candidate Palin, it's time to figure out the actual differences between Palin and the current vice president.

The media has worked overtime reporting on revenue-raising proposals -- from leasing the state's toll roads to almost anything with a money stream including the lottery -- all in the name of budget balancing. 

Little to no attention has been paid to the notion of leasing the state-owned public broadcast licenses. Depending on who you talk to, estimates range from a few million dollars to more than $100 million dollars. Cha ching!

So it's no wonder the proposed conversion of NJN from a state-licensed facility to a community-licensed one is a bit controversial.

To view more cartoons by Politicker.com editorial cartoonist Rob Tornoe, click here.