Backlash to Trump presidency is filling The Record's news and editorial columns

Cartoonist Rick McKee of The Augusta Chronicle in Georgia on President Trump's titanic battle with the federal judiciary over his Muslim and refugee ban.

-- HACKENSACK, N.J.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITION

Today's edition of The Record must be a first -- readers find stories on President Trump or backlash to his policies on 11 out of 12 pages in the main news section.

It would have been all 12 pages of the A-section, if the last one wasn't fully taken up by an advertisement.

You'll even find Trump commentary in the Road Warrior column on incontinent drivers (1L and 2L), and in Mike Kelly's column on the film "Paterson" (Opinion).

Mexico's growing share of the auto market "is a sore spot for ... Trump," AP auto writer Dee-Ann Durban reports on today's Business section cover, even though "low-cost production helps keep sticker prices lower" (1B).

ACA to gun violence

On the Opinion front, Rep. Frank Pallone Jr., D-Monmouth, argues the Affordable Care Act is working both nationally and in New Jersey, so Trump and fellow Republicans shouldn't repeal it (1O).

I don't like the flip headline on Kelly's column today:

"To make American great again, we need poetry"

The veteran reporter starts his column by discussing the main character in "Paterson." 

"He drives a bus in downtown Paterson .... He also writes poetry ... and during lunch breaks ... he sits on a bench overlooking [the] Great Falls."

Then, apropos of nothing, Kelly launches into a multi-paragraph attack on "the Trump soap opera" (1O and 4O).

For diversity

Inside Opinion, an editorial commends the Clifton School District for "its commitment to educating students regardless of immigration status" (2O).

On the same page, a column by one of the editorial writers, Bruce Lowry, also discusses the film "Paterson," and declares:

"A new era of civil unrest is catching hold [in Paterson] and across the nation as people from all walks of life come to grips with the realities of a Trump presidency" (2O).

On the opposite page, a USA Today series, "I am an American -- We are One Nation," introduces readers to "an exceptional American who unites, rather than divides, our communities" (3O).

In letters to the editor of the Woodland Park daily, Marc Schaeffer of Wyckoff urges Trump to sign an executive order to protect "our most vulnerable citizens" from gun violence.

Schaeffer cites research by Children's Hospital of Pennsylvania showing that, in 2013 alone, 1,670 children died by gunshot and an additional 9,718 were injured (3O).

Real estate promos

Of course, there's no mention of Trump in the shamelessly promotional Real Estate section.

Readers will find a glowing profile of Realtor Joshua Baris on the cover, and page after advertising page filled with photos of Realtors who have smashed sales records.

There's no hint the home-selling industry is filled with greedy bankers, unscrupulous real estate agents and dishonest contractors. 

Photos from Thursday's Winter Storm Niko, above and below.

An unmarked police car in Hackensack.

Local news?

In more than 13 years as the so-called commuting columnist, Staff Writer John Cichowski has refused to do any heavy lifting.

He's routinely avoided tackling the biggest issues, such as mass transit operating at capacity, and growing traffic congestion at the Hudson River crossings.

His Road Warrior column today is literally full of shit (1L).

On behalf of incontinent drivers, the veteran reporter criticizes the lack of highway rest areas with bathrooms, and discusses whether Trump will build more shit houses as part of his promised infrastructure "stimulus package" (2L).