Read PolitickerNJ.com's Year End Review

DISNEY CHARACTER OF THE
YEAR
Nidia Rivera Lopez won a Jersey City
Council seat in May, and by July was
defending herself in a lawsuit that
alleged she lived in Florida. Her
defense: “Up until March of 2008,
Orlando has been my real home. Then
I had two operations, and I couldn’t
keep going back and forth all the time.
And I got a new husband, so I live up
there now [Jersey City]. But this is my
home too. All my clothes are here.”
SONG OF THE YEAR
From Alfred Doblin’s column on Joe
Ferriero in The Record, sung to the
tune of “My Way”:
And now, the end is near;
And so I face my final sentence.
My foes, no doubt will cheer,
But I will sneer without repentance.
I’ve played a game that’s mean.
I was a force, no one could stop me.
But now, it all is gone,
Chris Christie got me.
Regrets, they’re just for fools,
The little tools I used for glory,
Who knew I would be screwed,
By my legal bud named Denis Oury.
I schmoozed, cajoled and charmed,
Each man and gal who would allow
me,
But more, I wanted more,
But Chris Christie got me.
Yes, there were days when all was
good
When I did things I never should.
And then at night, I’d have my fill,
Drinking with kings at the Stony Hill.
I was sublime, now I’ll do time;
‘Cause Chris Christie got me.
I’ve pushed, I’ve shoved, I’ve steered.
I was a threat in every suburb.
And now, when all is done,
The “pol” who won’s Loretta Weinberg.
A Republican with eyes,
On the big prize made me a trophy.
And so to jail I may go.
Chris Christie got me.
So what if he wins, I’ll feel no guilt.
I will not cry for milk that’s split.
To say I should have been more
smart;
It’s too late now to fall apart.
I’m just a man from Old Tappan.
Chris Christie’s got me.
“It was the first time in
my life that I followed
anybody's orders since I
got out of the Army.”
— State Sen. Raymond Lesniak, on being
robbed by two intruders in the bedroom of
his Elizabeth home early Saturday
morning in April. (Star-Ledger, 4/19/09)
DO YOU KNOW WHO I AM?
Chris Christie’s driving record went
public this summer: “He was a little
loud at the prospect of being towed
and then calmed down,” Lambertville
Police Director Bruce Cocuzza said
about Christie’s 2005 traffic incident.
“He identified himself as a U.S.
Attorney but I don’t think the officer
on duty knew what that was.”
SPIN OF THE YEAR
“It was accidentally left in the loaner
car.” ― Independent gubernatorial
candidate Chris Daggett, on leaving a
loaded handgun behind. (10/21/09)
AGRICULTURAL AGENT OF
THE YEAR
“That’s bullshit. Bullshit. Bullshit.” ―
Senate Judiciary Chairman Paul Sarlo,
after the nomination of his friend,
Nicholas Fargo, was not released by
his own committee in December.
Fargo, nominated for a seat on the
Hudson County Tax Board, has four
jobs.
THE NOT QUITE AS DUMB
AS PETE CAMMARANO
AWARD
Assemblywoman Connie Wagner, who
defended a ‘Porn and Guns’ mailer
that attacks Republican Judith Fisher
for selling accounting software to
Playboy, and for Nicholas Lonzisero for
renting a store he owns to a gun shop.
“You know what? Everything in there
is true. Is it a little strong? Yes, it is.
But it’s a campaign, and that’s what
the campaign is about.”
THE STAR-LEDGER’S TOP 10
REASONS TO VOTE IN 2009
1. Our democracy — “by the people”
— depends on it.
2. To honor those who fought, and
died, to preserve that democracy.
3. To pay tribute to those who fought
for the voting rights of women and
African-Americans.
4. To vote for candidates you want to
elect.
5. To vote against those you don’t.
6. To cancel the liberal/conservative
vote of your spouse/kid/boss/coworker/neighbor/in-law.
7. To support the wise gubernatorial
endorsement of The Star-Ledger.
8. To vote against the knuckleheaded
gubernatorial endorsement of The
Star-Ledger.
9. To celebrate the end of political ads
and phone calls.
10. To earn the right to complain for
the next four years.
“I actually have to work
for a living. I have to
feed my family.”
― Assemblyman Rick Merkt (R-
Mendham), a candidate for the
Republican nomination for Governor, on
why he can't spend too much time
seeking votes for the Union County GOP
convention on Saturday. Merkt and
Franklin Mayor Brian D. Levine are
locked in a fight for third place in the
first-in-the-state convention to award the
organization line. (PolitickerNJ.com,
2/9/09)