Author: hankkalet

Hank Kalet is a poet and freelance journalist. He is the economic needs reporter for NJ Spotlight, teaches journalism at Rutgers University and writing at Middlesex County College and Brookdale Community College. He writes a semi-monthly column for the Progressive Populist. He is a lifelong fan of the New York Mets and New York Knicks, drinks too much coffee and attends as many Bruce Springsteen concerts as his meager finances will allow. He lives in South Brunswick with his wife Annie.

An epidemic of hypocrisy

Gov. Mark Sanford joins U.S. Sen. John Ensign in the deep waters of hypocrisy, admitting today that he, too, has been having an affair. None of this would matter to me were it not for them both proclaiming themselves to be “family values” conservatives.

Sanford was considered a major player for the Republican nomination for president for 2012 (part of the absurd Washington parlor game that tried to line up candidates before the incumbent has even had time to unpack his socks) and Ensign allegedly was considering his own run. I’m assuming, at this point, that the likelihood of either seeking the White House is pretty slim, though admitting an affair didn’t hurt Bill Clinton. The Democrats, however, have not hammered their opponents with family values — that has been the GOP’s bag and is likely to be a weight around both of their necks, sinking their chances.

So who’s left? Newt Gingrich? Fred Thompson? Rush Limbaugh? Sarah Palin? Yeah, right. Tim Pawlenty appears the go-to guy at the moment, but then it’s way too early to speculate.

Dispatches: We’re all a-Twitter

This week’s Dispatches is about our use of Twitter and the changing newscape.

Runner’s diary, Tuesday

Two days in a row — a victory of sorts. Yes, I got my fat tuchus out the door and on the road, doing the standard three-mile loop down Ridge, onto Perrine and then Schalks Crossing. I won’t pretend it was easy. But I pulled it off and then did some light lifting. I’m taking this one day at a time with the goal being to slowly add the mileage until I can get back to where I was more than a year ago.

iPod: Bill Moyers’ Journal

Monmouth holds out on MOM — foolishly

The Monmouth County Board of Chosen Freeholders (don’t you love the absurdly arcane name) is now doing what officials there have accused folks in Middlesex County of doing for years: Obstructing progress.

The freeholders unanimously passed the resolution affirming “support for the Monmouth Junction alternative and opposition to the Manchester to Red Bank line” on June 11. The vote came two weeks after a NJ Transit spokesman claimed the agency had won the backing of Freeholder John D’Amico and other county representatives for the Red Bank line.

D’Amico said that his support had been conditional because the rail agency had deemed “better alternatives” as too expensive to meet federal requirements.

“Better alternatives,” of course, is just a code-phrase for “not in my backyard.” Better, in this case, would mean first sending a line meant to take people north to New York west through southern Middlesex County, adding operating costs and travel time to an already too-expensive to build project.

In any case, this is just a last-ditch attempt to change NJ Transit’s mind — something that is unlikely to happen at this point, when you consider how the players have realigned themselves. Ocean County is on board with the new route and, while Monmouth is officially opposed, I’m not at all convinced that the people in Western Monmouth are all that upset about how this thing is playing out.

And then there is The Asbury Park Press, the state’s second-largest paper and the voice of Monmouth and Ocean counties. The paper had been a staunch supporter of the Middlesex alternative (which would have run through Jamesburg, Monroe and South Brunswick); it has since changed its thinking, calling the freeholder vote “a short-sighted, cutting-off-your-nose-to-spite-your-face decision.”

If the freeholders refuse to come around and recognize the value the Red Bank line would have for Ocean and Monmouth counties — and the futility of holding out for an even scaled-back Monmouth Junction alternative — NJ Transit should proceed with the project anyway.

I couldn’t agree more.

Bruised, battered and broken

A quiz: How many of the Mets’ opening day starters have spent time on the disabled list? Well, as of tonight, it’s five — add Carlos Beltran to the list. Only Luis Castillo, Daniel Murphy and David Wright have stayed healthy — and Murphy lost his leftfield job because he proved to be an awful outfielder.

Three important pitchers — starters Oliver Perez and John Maine and setup man JJ Putz — also are out of commission.

In addition to starting shortstop Jose Reyes, second-stringer Alex Cora and third-string shortstop Ramon Martinez have been on the shelf.

They’re still above .500, but if they don’t get healthy they won’t be for long.