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.

Self-preservation and political principle

The GOP has been up in arms about the defection of Arlen Specter to the Democrats, saying the 28-year Senate veteran’s embrace of the majority party was a move of self-preservation and political expediency and not one of principle.

As if anyone thought otherwise.

What I find striking about this argument is not the venom directed at Specter — that’s pretty standard in the political world — but that the GOP seems to be acknowledging its own irrelevence. In arguing that Specter switched because he couldn’t win re-election next year as a Republican, isn’t the party also saying that the Republican brand has little value — at least in Pennsylvania?

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Meet the mediocrities

This baseball season is not shaping up the way I’d have liked it to, with the brilliant pitching of Johan Santana being wasted again. He is 3-1 in five starts, but has given up just eight earned runs. The Mets have scored just 11 runs for him in those starts, blew a game for him with shoddy fielding and an otherwise spotless bullpen gave one up last night.

The last couple of days for the bullpen haven’t been sterling, but the relievers can be forgiven. It’s not their fault that the Mets find themselves fighting just to reach .500 as the month of April comes to a close. It is the lack of power and clutch hitting — and some dreadful starting pitching aside from Santana (before this week, the starters had trouble putting more than one solid start together in a row).

This is a better team than it is showing and will probably go on a run. But the middle of the rotation must step up — or Omar Minaya has to go out and find another arm.

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Doggie diary: The story of Rosie and Sophie Wake me up before you go-go

I really wish they'd wait at until 6:15 to get me out of bed — especially if all they plan to do is keep watch over the yard. Today, they were up at 5:45 and wouldn't let me lie back down.

So, I'm figuring this will be a long day. It certainly feels that way already and it's only 7:38.

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Email me at grassroots at comcast dot net.

Seeking thoughts on immigration

I am beginning work on a series of columns on illegal immigration in the suburbs of Central Jersey, focusing on the difficulties the undocumented face and looking at:

  • whether undocumented students who graduated from New Jersey high schools should charged in-state tuition at state schools (currently, they pay out-of-state tuition);
  • whether immigration status should be considered when drive’s licenses are issues;
  • the services that are available and needed, especially at a time of economic upheaval.

I’ve got a long list of interviews lined up, but I’d like to hear from readers of this blog and of the various Packet newspapers, so send me an e-mail at hkalet@centraljersey.com and tell me what you think.

Email me at grassroots at comcast dot net.