Swedes ask what is Prez Trump smoking? Vladimir Putin's dick, says Steven Colbert

Satirist Steven Colbert, one of President Trump's harshest critics, has hosted a late-night talk show on CBS since September 2015.

-- HACKENSACK, N.J.

By VICTOR E. SASSON

EDITOR

Judging from his public statements, President Trump is living in a scary world:

To get into the United States, Islamic terrorists are masquerading as refugees from Syria or as immigrants from other Muslim countries.

Illegal aliens are pouring across our southern border by the hundreds of thousands, and only a $20 billion-plus wall can stop them.

And Sweden -- even Sweden -- has seen a spike in crime after taking in hundreds of thousands of immigrants, the president told supporters at a campaign-style rally in Florida on Saturday.

That report was debunked by Sweden's current and former foreign minister, and the latter asked in a tweet, "Sweden? Terror attack? What has he [Trump] been smoking?"

Satirist Steven Colbert had an answer on Monday night (Presidents' Day), "Uh, Vladimir Putin's dick!" 

That last word was bleeped out, but the audience roared in surprise and delight.

Colbert has been ripping into the president, but that comment hit the jackpot amid an investigation of Trump campaign contacts with Russia, Russian hacking of Democratic National Committee emails and the president's praise of Putin's leadership style.

See: Colbert's monologue on Presidents' Day

Today's paper

Editor Richard A. Green's news judgment continues to baffle readers, especially given the tumultuous first month of the Trump administration.

Today's front page is dominated by a stupid sports column exploring the "Toal saga," which to commuters rhymes with toll plaza.

There's a feature on our mild February weather endangering plants and animals (1A).

And Green puts Governor Christie's coming budget address at the bottom of Page 1, despite his unconstitutional proposal for giving the same amount of state education aid to rich and poor students alike (1A).

Meanwhile, an Opinion column uses a photo of a "Not My President's Day" protest in Portland, Oregon, instead of a photo of the "Not My President's Day" protest in Hackensack (9A).

A selfie of Food Editor Esther Davidowitz.

Another food crawl

Better Living presents another "food crawl," this one in Hoboken, but there's no caption describing the large photo on today's section cover (1BL).

To non-meat eaters, the photo shows two plates that appear to be filled with turds.

Inside, readers won't find any prices listed in the copy about a dozen Hoboken restaurants and pizzerias, but they will find a photo of Food Editor Esther Davidowitz. 

Readers push back

Readers of the print edition continue to complain about any negative coverage of Trump:

In a "review" on NorthJersey.com's Facebook page, James Waksmundzki of Passaic city posted a photo of his subscription cancellation:

"No more anti-Trump ... no more pro NJ bail reform ... Propaganda newsletter bye-bye," he wrote on Feb. 12.