Our mission has only just begun...

Walking away from this election, there are a few core lessons I have learned-

1. There is no greater threat to democracy than an ill-informed voter
2. Campaign finance reform is the single most important priority for which we must fight
3. We need to clean house in NJ
4. The Media needs to learn a lesson
5. The continued efforts to corporatize America must stop.

As a result of these core lessons, I would like to propose and plead with my fellow residents to stand up and help reclaim control of our state and country. Being involved once a year and then voting along party lines, selecting candidates at random, or asking poll workers for whom you should vote as you enter the booth, cannot continue.

We also have got to stop trying to push a three-wheeled car up a mountain. We all have initiatives and changes we want our elected officials to pursue. However, until we repair the foundation, the only people these politicians will help, in general, are themselves and their donors.

I invite you to please email me with your contact information (mypoliticalpizza@gmail.com) so that we can collaborate and learn more about how together, we can bring change to New Jersey. In my view though, it starts with the following-

Educate, Communicate, and Advocate

The information I source is available to anyone...there’s no magic trick. Please consider adopting a mentality of “I’ll believe it when I see it,” applying this approach to EVERYTHING you’re told. Be it a friend, family member, politician, or horse whisperer, when someone tells you something...unless they can show you the proof, reserve your judgment until you can see the proof for yourself.

SEE THE PROOF, LEARN THE TRUTH!

Similarly, embrace the humility of being wrong. When presented with facts, be open-minded enough to consider a viewpoint that differs from your own. Debate is healthy. It is a principle of democracy. But it doesn’t work when all viewpoints are not based in fact.

Force Elected Officials to Employ Campaign Finance Reform

One of the biggest problems we have is that elected officials control the laws, including those that impact themselves. This must change. Let's consider FOIA (Freedom of Information Act). The purpose of FOIA was to promote transparency so that Americans could keep a watchful eye on the behavior of their elected officials in Washington DC. This is important but did you know that members of Congress exempted themselves from being included? The truth in advertising legislation is another example where Congress is exempt from being liable for lying in political ads.

Locally, at the state level, and nationally, we need campaign finance reform. The influence of money in politics over the needs of Americans is outright sick. These politicians get their wheels greased so much and absolutely do not even care in the slightest. Take Sen. John A Barrasso. Sen. Barrasso is the U.S. Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works. The primary goals of this committee is to find ways to protect our environment. Yet, Big Oil has donated over $250,000 to his campaigns since 1995(1). Senator Cory Booker has recently began supporting Medicare-For-All. He did this because he knew by cosponsoring the legislation he would look good to Progressives, while knowing it will never pass in either house. The man has made nearly $400,000 from Big Pharma and we are to believe he won't put their wishes against our needs(2)?

We Need to Clean House in NJ

Hidden deep inside the political spectrum, you may find a few shining stars. However, for the most part, politicians are proof that evil is real. After having the displeasure of meeting the following people and/or learning more about them, I am convinced, beyond description, that we must organize and make a concerted effort to replace the following useless, corrupt, losers-

William C. Laforet (Mayor of Mahwah) - I wasn't sure what was even left to say about this scumbag after Election Day. Thankfully, he chose to answer some questions by a reporter, which included-

"I don't know if it has any meaning for me. They just didn't get the votes. I don't think this vote was applicable to me at all," Laforet said. "I don't see this as being reflective on my performance and it won't change our path as a township(3)."

This man is either completely delusional or truly does believe he is above the law. Granted, a previous recall effort failed but you know what? In my view, what will be reflective of Laforet's performance will be how successful our residents are this time around, when he is successfully thrown out of office. The Mayor was also quoted as saying "I have three years left(3)." Not a chance.

In response to Laforet's idiotic statements, Town Council President, Robert Hermansen said-

"I am glad the mayor believes he is doing a great job, the voters [Tuesday] did not think so," Hermansen said. "The things he is doing well are creating controversy and lying to the residents(3)."

Enough said.

James Tedesco III (County Executive) - I attended an event this past weekend with two of my fellow Mahwah residents. Tedesco was there, as well, and as he saw me walking out in my attempt to speak with Senator Cory Booker, he didn't know that a camera was rolling right behind me as he exclaims "he is trouble" (referencing me). As a result, I have started researching more about this man, over and above what we already know.

Mary Amoroso (Bergen County Freeholder) - I don't think I have ever, ever met a more disingenuous and phony person, ever! From her condescending tone, to her obnoxious smile being within 5 feet of Amoroso is maddening. I need not mention that her husband is Jim McQueeny, a man who broke NJ election laws but who, according to Politico, is slated to be in Murphy's administration. Man...I would hate to see what their Thanksgiving Dinner table looks like.

In a previous article, I already shared information on others that need to be removed from any form of influential role but I want to reiterate my specific concern over Todd Sherer. This man has a history of hanging out with some shady characters, one of which is Mahwah's corrupt, lying, disgrace of a Mayor, whom he drove around town with on Election Day, to drop off donuts at polling stations. His placement on Insider NJ's list of the 25 Most Powerful Municipal Chairs in the State of New Jersey doesn't make me proud of Mahwah, it makes me extremely worried for it.

There is little to feel confident about with Sherer at the helm of anything. And after watching him speak last week and then practically latch onto Cory Booker given what was perceived as, the possible fear I might expose him for who I believe him to really be to the Senator, I have never felt more confident that if we could pull back more layers to this onion, we would likely find that he is rotten to the core. It is also sort of ironic that Sherer, a Hedge Fund Manager, by Trade, has become heavily involved in investments into the Marijuana industry. Given Murphy's stance on this topic (he's very much in favor of it), the timing is just such an amazing coincidence.

Schooling the Media

The mainstream media has continued to fail at its core and intended duty to inform their audiences with objective information, as well as in uncovering corruption and questionable behavior. If anything, they are now contributing to it. How I think we must address this I will have to detail at a later time...but here's some info on how dedespicable they have been throughout the campaign.

Back in July, I was interviewed by WPIX and asked if I could shed some light on a certain topic. The interviewer asked me a bunch of questions and the moment the camera turned off, she said "I better go learn about this so I know what it actually is before filing my report." Throughout the following months, I continued to speak with 'journalists' who needed to file 1:30 reports to their stations while the latest drama between the Kardashians ate up five minutes of airtime that evening. I understand that the media needs to consider ratings and not pissing off their sponsors but at some point, when is journalism going to matter, even a little?

The biggest problem this election season was with USA Today Local (parent company of nj.com, lohud.com, northjersey.com, the Journal News, the Star Ledger, and TOO many others). The specific writers on my shortlist that must be held accountable for their flagrant irresponsibility, includes Alfred Doblin, Tom Nobile, and Steve Lieberman. In reaching out to their Associate Counsel (lawyer), I shared black and white examples of articles where these writers broke their own company's ethics policy. The response I received demonstrated such poor judgment for a lawyer, where he confused the definitions of the words facts and opinions.

In addition to untrue reporting, Nobile and Doblin, specifically, ignored calls and messages from sitting Council Members in our state while subsequently citing quotes from people like Laforet the next day.

On top of that, we also learned that Jim McQueeny, once worked as the Washington DC correspondent for the Star Ledger and based on the years when he was there, it is easy to deduce that he was friendly with Doblin. Doblin is now an Editor and quite influential at their company.

Did I mention that McQueeny is also friendly with Cory Booker? When I questioned one of Booker's team members about an article that both the Senator and Rep. Gottheimer co-authored...specifically where they sourced their information...his exact words to me were, "this was all widely reported." It seems that Booker and Gottheimer (both of whom are lawyers), never bothered to source any actual evidence before writing the article.

Here are a few recommended news sources. Allow me to quickly state that I am recommending these because I appreciate their honesty. I don't, necessarily, agree with every viewpoint or statement they make. I also don't care if they are left-leaning or right...I care that they are honest. There isn't much production value with most of these...but there is, however, actual evidence of everything that is stated/written.

SEE THE PROOF, LEARN THE TRUTH!

(If there is no link, please enter the text as a search term on youtube.com)

• Judicial Watch
• The Intercept
• truthagainst the machine
• Jordan Chariton
• Jimmy Dore
• Humanist Report
• Secular Talk

I'd love to receive your recommendations, as well. Please feel free to email me: mypoliticalpizza@gmail.com.

Stop Corporatizing America.

USA Today Local is just one of the thousands of examples of how dangerous it is when there are no independent voices who can be heard as loud as any other or when advertisers have the ability to influence the news. The lawyer I mentioned above, from USA Today Local, upon replying didn't even cite the correct ethics policy. Their company is too big to have such an influential voice on a comparatively small geo-footprint.

I want to recommend a book to you with the preface that you will want to ensure you don't eat anything before reading it. One of my heroes, Bob Hoffman, wrote a book called BadMen. Have you ever wondered why Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and all the others are free? You're about to find out. This is all the result of corporatization. The owners of these companies are able to lobby and manipulate elected officials and ultimately get damn near everything they want.

What can you do about this all? Well, that's a hard question to answer because too many steps need to come first. But if you're all motivated, let's rev our engines...because it's go time.

The election may be over...but reclaiming our state has only just begun. Who's with me?

Side note

One positive that came out of this election is that I was able to learn a lot about Assemblywoman Holly Schepisi. Even though I am convinced I will never be able to spell her last name without looking it up, Holly represents the exception to the rule. Not only is she brilliant but she is specifically gifted on topics that are of vital significance to our state and country.

It is my belief that Holly should go up against Josh Gottheimer when he is up for reelection. Not only do I think Holly can win but unlike Gottheimer, I think she'll actually help our state and region.

This is 110% my opinion and thought. There is no hidden agenda here. But I'd like there to be some agenda as having Holly representing us in DC would be the best gift we could ask for as citizens. Just my two cents.

1. https://www.opensecrets.org/me...

2. https://www.opensecrets.org/me...

3. https://patch.com/new-jersey/m...