A truck with supplies for survivors of the tornedo in Moore, Oklahoma will be accepting donations Wednesday, for 12 noon until 7 PM at The Scrub Shop, 41 Church St, Keansburg.

Items needed include:

Feminine products, and gift cards to Wal-Mart, Lowes, Home Depot and,

First aid kits

Toiletries and hygiene products

Shovels and rakes

Contractor bags

Wipes/hand sanitizers

Diapers

Formula

Work gloves

Individually wrapped snacks

New under clothes

Sleeping bags

Additionally, the Keyport IHOP, 106 Rt 36, Keyport,  is collecting gift cards for the RAINE Foundation.  Home Depot, Lowes, Visa, WalMart, etc. Checks made out to RAINE Foundation will also be accepted.  There is a lockbox in the IHOP, which is open 24 hours, to drop off gift cards and checks.  RAINE is on there way to Oklahoma.

State Senator Joe Kyrillos’ campaign responded to his Leigh-Ann Bellew’s recent press release denouncing Kyrillos’ condemnation of the IRS’s targeting conservative groups as hypocritical, by calling the release, and his challenger, silly and foolish.

The Senator’s spokesman, Niles Barnhart, issued the following statement to MMM:

It is a silly press release from a silly candidate who told people she was a lawyer, yet never went to law school, and tells people she is a conservative, yet court records show she took out 20 credit cards running up nearly $140,000 in debt and then filed for bankruptcy.

 Senator Kyrillos believes the IRS abuse is outrageous. He is preparing a resolution in the Legislature that urges the appointment of an independent counsel to get to the bottom of this unfair attack on Tea Party and conservative organizations.

Barnhart said that Kyrillos would not be responding “every time Bellew issues a foolish press release.

MMM did not call Bellew or her campaign for a response, because they haven’t returned our last 11 phone calls.

Photo credit: nomblog.com

Senate President Steve Sweeney referred to Assemblyman Jason O’Donnell, Barbara Buono’s choice to be the new Democratic State Chairman, as “Cryan’s beard” yesterday while condemning the choice as divisive.  Buono is the presumptive Democratic gubernatorial nominee.  By tradition the gubernatorial nominee of both parties chooses the state chairman of the party. Cryan is former Democratic State Chairman, Assemblyman Joe Cryan.

“Beard” is a slang term for a person, most often a woman, who is used, knowingly or unknowingly, as a date or spouse to conceal their ‘partner’s’ homosexuality.

Can you imagine the media outcry if Governor Chris Christie or another prominent Republican denounced an advisory as a beard?

The Star Ledger used Sweeney’s beard quote and explained the term as meaning “a close relationship between the two North Jersey Democrats.”  The Record’s  Charles Stile wrote that Sweeney meant that O’Donnell is Cryan’s “front man.”  Gannett’s Bob Ingle wrote that Sweeney’s slur meant that Cryan and O’Donnell “have an alliance.”

Jay Lassiter laughed at Sweeney’s vocabulary. “If Steve knew what that term really meant there’s no doubt he’d have chosen a more appropriate euphemism,” said Lassiter, a medical marijuana, gay rights activist and PolitickerNJ columnist with a chuckle, “I had to look it up to confirm it mean what I thought it meant.”

Garden State Equality spokesman TJ Helmstetter  at first denied knowing that the Senate President called the Democratic Chairman designee a beard. “No comment, we don’t want to get involved in that,” Helmstetter said when told of Sweeney’s remarks.

“Everyone knows what Sweeney meant,” said a senior Democratic operative who asked not to be named, “Steve’s not calling Jason, gay. He’s married and has kids. He’s saying Jason is fronting for Cryan.”

Another Democratic operative said, “It’s not as if Sweeney called for O’Donnell to be hit in the head with a bat,” a reference to Christie’s 2011 off the cuff remark calling for the press corps t0 “take a bat” to State Senator Loretta Weinberg.

“No one thought that Christie literally meant that Weinberg should be beaten with a bat,” MMM said to the Democrat. “True, but that was a violent comment, Sweeney wasn’t gay bashing,” the operative said. “No,” he said when asked if the Democratic press release machine and the media would be attacking Christie for calling someone a beard.

Lassiter was a bit more forthcoming when asked, hypothetically, if the media and Democrats would be attacking Christie for calling someone a beard.

“I don’t think Christie would have misused this term. He would have found a proper insult.”

Bayshore Tea Party Group co-founder Barbara Gonzalez pinning Sen. Joe Kyrillos during happier times.

After over three weeks of media silence, the Bellew for Senate campaign issued a scathing 920 word press release this afternoon accusing State Senator Joe Kyrillos and Assembly members Amy Handlin and Declan O’Scanlon of hypocrisy, liberalism, slander, ducking debates and being mean.

Also blasted by Bellew Jersey, was “an organized army of cronies (that) have waged a campaign of personal attacks and character assassination on members of the Tea Party.”

“They have used surrogates in a legion of non-journalistic blogs and Internet attack machines to call the Tea Party “nut jobs.” To the Tea Party, this closely resembles Obama campaign style tactics of personal destruction. In fact, it mirrors what the IRS is now in trouble for doing – trying to silence their critics. Conservatives know this destroys any credibility Joe Kyrillos, Declan O’Scanlan, and Amy Handlin and their liberal Republican establishment team could possibly claim to have in support of the patriots fighting for limited government.”

The release, which was sent out by and paid for by Bellew for State Senate, quotes Senate Candidate Leigh-Ann Bellew, Bayshore Tea Party Group co-founder Barbara Gonzalez, and Assembly Candidate Steven Boracchia.   Assembly Candidate Edna Walsh was mentioned but not quoted in the statement which can be read in its entirety here.

The Tea Party Group and their candidates were ostensibly set off by a joint press release that Kyrillos, Handlin and O’Scanlon sent out on Friday expressing their outrage over the recent IRS scandal over targeting Tea Party groups throughout the nation for intense scrutiny and demanding that the Obama Administration be held accountable for the IRS’s behavior.  The 13th District Legislator’s release can be read in its entirety here.

By my reading, the Bellew/Bayshore Tea Party team’s complaints don’t match up with the Legislator’s release, which did not defend Tea Party groups, but rather condemned the IRS actions and the Obama Administration’s suspected complicity.

I assume the unnamed “non-journalistic blogs and Internet attack machines” means MMM and CNJPolitics.  I can’t speak for or about CNJPolitics, but I stand by the fairness with which MMM has covered the LD 13 primary.

She hasn’t officially secured the Democratic nomination yet and the wheels are falling off State Senator Barbara Buono’s gubernatorial campaign.

Buono will be the nominee.  Her only competition on the ballot is Troy Webster, an aide to East Orange Mayor Robert Bowser.  Webster isn’t really running for governor.  He agreed to through his hat in the ring on the same slate as Bowser for ballot positioning purposes in the primary.

But the wheels are falling off the Buono wagon. She can’t raise money.  She defiantly divided the party and broke with the legislative leadership with her choice of State Democratic Chairman. MSNBC’s Chris Matthews dubbed her Dawn Quixote.

Buono is on track to be the first major party candidate not to qualify for state matching funds for her campaign. She named Assemblyman Jason O’Donnell her choice as State Chairman, against the advice of Senate President Steve Sweeney and over the objections of Assembly Speaker Shelia Oliver.  A prominent Monmouth County Democrat told MMM “Buono should never go on TV again,” after her appearance on Matthew’s Hardball.

Just when things couldn’t get any worse for Buono they did. Over the weekend former  Democratic Governor Brendan Byrne, on a teleconference with former Republican Governor Tom Kean, told The Star Ledger that Buono should consider dropping out of the gubernatorial race.

GOV. BYRNE: Buono is way behind. I was way behind in 1977 and I was thinking, if it gets worse, I’m going to withdraw. It didn’t get worse. As a matter fact, it got better. But at one point I thought of dropping out in favor of a better-positioned candidate. I don’t know whether that consideration would appeal to Buono, but I would advise she make that evaluation.

Kean drove the point home.

GOV. KEAN: You were a good candidate. She’s not. The able candidates in the Democratic party all decided not to run this year, so they were left without a strong candidate. She stepped forward and now the party is living with the consequences of that. And they may be felt up and down the ticket.

No New Jersey Governor has completed two full terms since Byrne and Kean did it, back to back, from 1974 through 1990.

Byrne stuck the fork a little deeper into Buono in remarks to Star Ledger editor Tom Moran.

Byrne says that even if Buono were replaced, perhaps by a member of Congress, Christie would still be a heavy favorite. Byrne just wants to be sure Christie’s victory isn’t historic enough to give Republicans control of the Legislature, as well.

“It’s more about saving the undercard, finding someone who can come closer,” he said. “Barbara is a nice lady and I love her. But this is not the year for her.”

As she was with Sweeney and Oliver over the choice of party chairman, Buono is defiant. In a signal that she won’t drop out, she told Moran that she has always been underestimated and that Byrne would feel differently if he joined her on the campaign trail and saw how We The People are reacting to her.   Buono hasn’t learned what every politician who has lost an election knows…voters lie. They are polite and encouraging when the meet you and then go vote for someone else or not at all.   Real support is measured in money and reliable poll numbers.

Buono will not withdraw.  She will go down in flames and take many incumbent legislators with her.

If Democratic leaders really want to dump Buono in order to avoid a down ballot slaughter, they should shift gears now and get Webster elected in the primary.

Webster will deal and resign the nomination in favor on a member of Congress as Byrne suggests. They would have to burn State Senator Nia Gill if they embrace Webster.  Gill’s primary challenger Mark Alexander, a former Obama operative, is running on the Webster/Bowser slate in Essex County, but they might consider Gill a small price to pay to retain control of the legislature.

As we wrote in January, Congressman Frank Pallone should be the Democratic nominee.  He would lose to Christie, but limit the down ballot bleeding.  He would endear himself to party leaders throughout the state and better position himself for the prize he really wants, the U.S. Senate seat that is up for grabs in 2014 that everyone assumes already belongs to Newark Mayor Cory Booker.

Or, the Democratic leadership could stick with Buono on the top of the ticket and hope that the Trenton Republicans do their best not to win Democratic seats in the legislature and win control.  That is a good bet too.

Sen. Joe Kyrillos and Mayor Fred Rast greeting voters in Atlantic Highlands. Photo by Art Gallagher. Click for larger view.

State Senator Joe Kyrillos said he won the U.S. Senate primary without the Bayshore Tea Party support, “by the largest margin in half a century,” and that he is confident that 13th legislative district Republicans will nominate him for another term in the June 4th primary election.

“We’re working hard,” Kyrillos said of himself and his running mates, “probably harder than we need to, but it is energizing and gratifying to meet with so many constituents.”

Kyrillos left the Golden, Arnone and DiMaso Armed Forces Day ‘friend raiser’ yesterday to hit the streets of Atlantic Highlands with Mayor Fred Rast.

Rast was a supporter of Bayshore Tea Party backed candidates in previous GOP primaries.  “Not this time,” said Rast as he and Kyrillos greeted residents at garage sales along Highland Ave.

Kyrillos said he saw no evidence that the BTPG backed challengers were making an impact on the campaign trail.

The challengers cancelled their door to door efforts today due to the weather.  Instead they made phone calls and had a picnic at Assembly candidate Edna Walsh’s house.

“We’ve had primaries before in Monmouth County that we did not take seriously,” Bennett said,”and bad things happened.  This time we’re running as if we are 25 points behind.”

State Senator Joe Kyrillos asked the assembled Republicans to make sure their friends and families come out and vote on June 4 for himself and Assembly members Amy Handlin and Declan O’Scanlon, in addition to Golden, Arnone and DiMaso.

Deputy Freeholder Director Serena DiMaso, former mayors Eddie Farve or Bay St. Louis, MS and Brett Warr of Gulfport, MS and former CNN correspondent Kathleen Koch

DiMaso introduced former CNN correspondent Kathleen Koch, former mayors Eddie Farve of Bay St. Louis, MS and Brett Warr of Gulfport, MS, as well as former Congressman Gene Taylor.  The group was visiting New Jersey to support the Bayshore Conference of Mayors, touring the destruction of Superstorm Sandy in Mantoloking and the rebuilding of the Seaside Heights boardwalk.

Golden used the presence of the guests from Mississippi to talk about his department’s response to Sandy. “We had no deaths or serious injuries in Monmouth County.  In Katrina, there were almost 2000 deaths,” he said.

Golden praised Arnone, DiMaso and the other freeholders for putting the health and safety of Monmouth County residents first during storm, telling how they gave him emergency authorization, via conference call, to spend $75,000 to bring police and first responders from Mississippi to assist local law enforcement in the aftermath of Sandy. “We got all of the money reimbursed by FEMA,” Golden said to laughter and applause.

Arnone took a shot at the Bayshore Tea Party backed slate of candidates that are challenging the incumbents in the GOP primary.  “I’m not sure they are on our side (Republican side),” said Arnone is a reference to the fact that the challengers have asked the Monmouth County Democrats for money to fund their campaign.

“We could have used Sandy as an excuse to raise taxes, but collectively we choice not to do that the Monmouth County residents.  We cut $6 million from the budget, and that is just this year.  Since we Republicans won total control of the freeholder board there have been no tax increases.  ZERO, ZERO. That is fiscal conservatives,” declared Arnone. “I don’t know what those so-called conservatives challenging us are up to, but if they win this primary, things could get very bad,” implying that Bayshore Tea Party Group candidates could repeat their pattern of winning primaries but losing general elections.

The Bayshore Tea Party backed candidates challenging the Monmouth Republican incumbents are Leigh-Ann Bellew for Senate in the 13th legisilative district, Enda Walsh and Steven Boracchia for Assembly in the 13th, Dan Peters for Sheriff and freeholder candidates Ed Pekarsky and Brian Largey.

With Governor Chris Christie racking up endorsements from Democratic elected officials, State Senator Barbara Buono, the cash strapped presumptive Democratic nominee for governor, has resorted to false advertising on facebook.

She is claiming Republican blogger Art Gallagher’s endorsement.

Gallagher is the publisher of MoreMonmouthMusings and a frequent contributor to SaveJersey.

Rather than protest or “unlike” Barbarba Buono for NJ, Gallagher encourages his facebook friends and followers to click on the link when they see it. “By clicking on Barbara Buono’s ad, her campaign will be charged more money by facebook,” Gallagher said to himself while writing this article, “that will weaken her campaign further and give facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg more money to donate to Christie.”

New York’s highest court decided in 1992 the law which prohibited females exposing their breasts below the top of the areola violated the equal protection clauses of the Federal and New York Constitutions.  The equal protection clause is part of the 14th amendment of the U.S. Constitution.

Topless advocate Moira Johston says that baring breasts is a human rights issue and a health issue.  She says public toplessness would reduce the incidents of breast cancer. (Warning, the link features Johnston speaking topless, which is considered nude in New Jersey, but not in New York.)

New Jersey’s courts have taken a different view of female public toplessness.

In September of 2011 the Appellate Division of the New Jersey Superior Court upheld a Spring Lake Borough ordinance that considers female toplessness lewd and indecent.  Affirming a 2001 case, the Court ruled that there is no constitutional right for women to appear topless in public and that and restrictions on the exposure of the female breast are supported by the important governmental interest in safeguarding the public’s moral sensibilities.

As the summer season approaches, female beach goers and roadside rallyers are advised to keep their tops on in New Jersey.

They picked up some great tickets for you to see America’s favorite pastime.  Give them a call, 1-800-BOATRIDE / 1-800-262-8743,  to reserve your all-in-one ticket packages and ride in style aboard a Seastreak ferry to Yankees Stadium this weekend at half-price!

Tell them MoreMonmouthMusings sent you.