An open letter to NJ state Senator Stephen Sweeney

Comical (0.00 / 0)

For the Right , abortion was always the litmus test ,and liberals and "progresives " railed against that with venom.

"Check their body of work" we cried!  

Now the Left has made the Marraige Equality issue its litmus test.

This silly letter is a perfect example. Does the author of this letter know that Sweeney represents one of the most conservative swing Districts in the State? Does the author of this silly letter know that had Sweeney listened to those he represents in the 3rd District he would have HAD TO vote no? Does the author of this silly letter know that if the bill needed one more vote Sweeney would have been that vote DESPITE THE WISHES OF HIS DISTRICT?

If the Left begins to impose a litmus test then be prepared for many other issues,some much more important to all the residents ofthe State , to suffer.

This Bill was not lost because of Sweeney ,it was lost because UNFORTUNATELY  the majority of State residents do not support it.

I see no outrage against the two minority members Turner and Rice. Why? Turner votes against many "progressive issues but she is never attacked.

If the author of this letter is a one issue judge similiar to the NRA people and the abortion people ,then so be it.

But if not then let us judge people on their body of work.  

   

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by: firstamend07 @ Sat Jan 09, 2010 at 14:22:41 PM CST

then he should have voted no n/t (4.00 / 1)

Jay_Lass on Twitter.

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by: Jay Lassiter @ Sat Jan 09, 2010 at 15:18:54 PM CST

[ Parent ]

More BS Spin From The Sycophant..... (0.00 / 0)

...if Sweeney is precluded from ever taking any kind of principled progressive postition in the Senate because his district is so radically conservative then what the fuck is he doing trying so hard to be LEADER!!!

Your spin is not credible.   If Sweeney had come to the right vote on this even folks like me would have had to have re-evaluated him as a person and as a political leader.....but, sadly, he surprised no one.

It's clear that the Norcross machine wants to ne on good working terms with the Christie machine and that Sweeney's abstention was a not so clever ploy that allowed the bill to fail.

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by: Nick Lento @ Sat Jan 09, 2010 at 16:05:42 PM CST

[ Parent ]

Completely missing the point... (4.00 / 2)

The right does imposes litmus tests and they get their way, don't they? Yet we are expected to roll over and play dead. Yeah, let's see how well that works for us..

But that isn't even the point of my "comical" letter. It is that for an alleged leader to fail to cast any vote - something he even now admits was a mistake - is an example of lack of leadership.

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by: Aegletes @ Sat Jan 09, 2010 at 19:45:51 PM CST

[ Parent ]

Sweeney owes you nothing (4.00 / 1)

As a voting Senator Sweeney owes his vote only to the 3rd District. His District is one of the most conservative swing Districts in the State.

By all rights he should have voted the wishes of his District,which would have been NO,but he did not.

His non-vote was basedcompletely on the excellent arguments about justice and fairness that the supporters of the Bill presented.

The people here got him off the NO vote. But they did not get him off far enough to vote YES ,unless he was the deciding vote. Make no mistake, if he was #21 he would have voted YES.

Go after Sweeney if you want but the real enemies are two State Senators who always talk about civil rights,but only civil rights for blacks.

Turner and Rice are the two biggest hypocrits in Trenton.

But I see no big outrage on this site about them.

Your venom is misplaced.        

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by: firstamend07 @ Sun Jan 10, 2010 at 08:30:44 AM CST

[ Parent ]

Assumptions, assumptions (0.00 / 0)

You assume we haven't expressed our outrage directly (as opposed to just venting it here) to Turner and Rice. You assume wrong. The fact remains that Sweeney isn't just a senator. He's the incoming leader of the Senate. Have we become so cynical that we expect nothing better than a senator to abstain on such a critical matter? Perhaps you wish to give the senate's new president a pass. The rest of us don't.

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by: Aegletes @ Sun Jan 10, 2010 at 10:17:03 AM CST

[ Parent ]

No Pass (0.00 / 1)

He should have voted his Districts wishes which was NO! But he did not because he left open the option to be the 21st vote for passage.

Like I said before. He is the representative of the 3rd district and last Thurssday he was not the Senate President.

He owes you nothing. He owes his seat tothe people of the 3rd district and that mainly Catholic, socially conservative District would have demanded that he vote No.

As far as going after the two members of the Black Caucus who actually  worked against that Bill I have seen none of the venom that you say is there.

 

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by: firstamend07 @ Sun Jan 10, 2010 at 12:14:17 PM CST

[ Parent ]

Are you Sweeney? (3.00 / 1)

How could you possibly KNOW he would have been the 21st vote. That's the point here. Without actually VOTING, he can SAY whatever he wants.

Again, if he had come out like a man and said...

"I represent my constituents, and my constituents are against this bill, so I am voting no, regardless of my personal preference."

I would really not have a problem. But this bullshit of not voting and then SAYING,
"Well, really guys, I know I didn't vote but you should support me and continue to contribute to my campaigns because if ever gets to 20 votes, I'll be sure to be the 21st..."

Totally ridiculous.... totally.

Actions speak louder than words.

"Where ever you go, there you are." - Buckaroo Bonzai

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by: William Weber (WjcW) @ Tue Jan 12, 2010 at 08:04:52 AM CST

[ Parent ]

Actually (0.00 / 0)

as a person holding a leadership position in the Democratic Party, he does owe every Democrat something.  Since I left the Democratic Party over this sort of spinelessness, I'm not one of them.  But your snottiness towards the author of this letter doesn't help anything.  

Well, actually, it helps show that you really are an a-hole.

To hell with what she wants, let's make Rosi Efthim the next DSC chair.

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by: Thurman Hart @ Tue Jan 12, 2010 at 14:52:27 PM CST

[ Parent ]

Redd, Rice Sr., and Turner are George Wallaces (0.00 / 0)

I have been quite vocal in my outrage against them, but that doesn't change the fact that Sweeney and the other Democrats who voted No or did not vote are cowards and should be primaried in 2011.

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by: rachael'sdad @ Sat Jan 09, 2010 at 22:43:39 PM CST

[ Parent ]

Thank You So Much Senator Sweeney... (0.00 / 0)

...for proving me right in all my criticisms of you.

My sense is that you are an intelligent and generally decent person, but that you have allowed your loyalty to the essentially corrupt political machinery of the Norcross/Christie nexus to cloud any connection you may have once had to your Conscience.    

I dare say that you are too smart and too informed to be a bigot...and that makes your failure to lead on this issue all the more dsappointing.  Clearly, your lack of support was purely politically self serving...and that makes it stink all the more.

You will find, in the years to come, that you chose the losing side of history.

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by: Nick Lento @ Sat Jan 09, 2010 at 15:56:33 PM CST