In Trump, we got an Emperor With No Brains, but news media still humor him

Essex County kicked off the 41st annual Cherry Blossom Festival at Branch Brook Park in Newark today, above and below. The event has blossomed in recent years, adding entertainment, demonstrations of Japanese cultural traditions and vendors selling everything from bonsai trees to barbecue.

-- HACKENSACK, N.J. 

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

Did you see the one-on-one TV interview with President Trump, who enthused about a piece of chocolate cake he was served moments before telling his interviewer about a missile attack on Iraq?

The reporter was taken aback, but corrected the president, as she would her doddering uncle, reminding him the cruise missiles were launched against Syria, not Iraq.

Early reports quoted officials saying Syrian warplanes were destroyed by the April 6 missile strike, which was in retaliation for a deadly chemical weapons attack that killed more than 80 people.

But later it came out that none of the missiles hit runways, allowing the Syrian government to resume the attacks the next day.

Of course, Trump was mocked on the Internet for the chocolate-cake reference, but I didn't see much push back in the news media, including The Record of Woodland Park. 

Now, Trump appears intent on bringing us to the brink of a nuclear confrontation with North Korea.

This is a president whose grasp of world affairs, economics, health care, the environment and so many other issues is infantile.

He acts as if he is still running "The Apprentice."

Entertainment at the Cherry Blossom Festival included the James Moody Jazz Orchestra, teens who have dedicated themselves to learning the art of jazz under the auspices of the New Jersey Performing Arts Cener.

Other events included demonstrations of how to wear a kimono and how to prepare sushi.

Vendors set up their tents on the parking lot of the park's welcome center.

The media

On NorthJersey.com, Columnist Mike Kelly's reaction to all the madness in Washington is to hit the road with a photographer "to assess President Trump's first 100 days in office," which includes "a report on how divided our nation is now."

That sounds like old news to me, but none of his interviews with "ordinary people" in four states has hit the print edition yet.

On Page 1, Staff Writer Paul Berger brings us yet another report on the region's rail system, which he insists is "at a breaking point" (1A).

This is basically a regurgitation of Berger's story on the front page just three days ago.

And the big photo of wrong-way Amtrak CEO Charles Moorman looking out the back of a train is barely distinguishable from the one that ran on Thursday's 1A.

Where was The Record's outrage in 2010, when Governor Christie unilaterally canceled work on two Hudson River rail tunnels, which were scheduled to be finished next year?

Saturday's lead story quoted former Vice President Joe Biden taking a swipe at the GOP thug for shutting down the project, noting, "There's still purgatory."

Local news?

What was a story about Quest Diagnostics' 50th anniversary doing on the Local news front on Saturday?

Inside, there were two especially bad headlines:

"Paterson
man accused
of posing as 
cop in court"

No. The suspect posed as a sheriff's officer during an attempted robbery, not while in court. But he did appear in court to face the charges on Thursday.

"Ringwood woman wanted
for disposing of body found"

Actually, the woman was "found and arrested," according to the lead paragraph of the story, so the headline should have said:

"Ringwood woman held
in disposal of dead body"

Malik Williams

An editorial today claims a lump sum payment of $180,000 by Bergen County, Garfield and two police officers means Malik Williams "is finally put to rest," according to the headline on 2O.

On Dec. 10, 2011, Williams, 19, who was black, was shot five times by two white police officers who fired a total of nine rounds inside a garage where he was hiding -- a shooting that "still seems unjustified," The Record's editorial board says.

But the news story and editorial never report whether the Williams family will get all of the $180,000.

Under court rules, the family's lawyer is entitled to a third or more of the settlement -- or at least $60,o00 -- so that would leave only $120,000 for the survivors, including his girlfriend and young son.

Bergen news?

Seven news stories from Passaic County appear in the Local news section delivered to Bergen County readers today.

Inexplicably, the closing of a Wayne restaurant is reported on the first page of the section (1L).

One of the 7 Bergen stories in the section reports on deer-population control in Saddle River, a wealthy suburb that has successfully limited the number of blacks and other minorities living there (7L).

The Record cut expanded local obits, now praises 'towering figure' in running world

This AP photo shows President Trump greeting Italian Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni as he arrived at the White House on Thursday. Later, Trump called Italian opera legend Luciano Pavarotti, who died in 2007, "a great friend." 

-- HACKENSACK, N.J.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

In the latest round of layoffs about a month ago, The Record let go of the only reporter who was writing expanded obituaries and profiles of other prominent local residents who are still active in their 90s.

Yet, in the first local obituary since the departure of Staff Writer Jay Levin, Editor Richard A. Green wastes half of Page 1 today on the death of a track coach whom the vast majority of readers never heard of (1A).

Tom Fleming, 65, also was a two-time winner of the New York Marathon when the race was run in Central Park -- more than 40 years ago. 

How does that make him a "towering figure" in the world of running?

And he lived in Bloomfield, which isn't even in The Record's circulation area.

The Fleming obituary, written by a part-time sports reporter, includes the use of a euphemism, "he passed away" -- which has long been banned by newspapers -- instead of "died" (1A).

Trump senility

It's bad enough a senile President Trump called a dead opera singer "a great friend" on Thursday (5A).

After the Rolling Stones, Adele and R.E.M. told Trump to stop using their music during the 2016 campaign, the family of Luciano Pavarotti in Italy made the same request regarding an aria.

Pavarotti died in 2007 at the age of 71.

Background checks

A letter to the editor on Thursday noted April 16 marked the 10th anniversary of the mass shooting at Virginia Tech University, where a gunman killed 32 people, including a student from Holmdel.

"There have been more than 250 school shootings in America in the last five years alone.

"How many [more] must die because lax background-check laws allow the dangerously mentally ill to legally obtain guns," said Brett Sabo, the letter writer.

"We must keep guns out of the wrong hands."

In an online column Thursday, Mike Kelly wrote about the shooting of a Cleveland grandfather by an "angry man" -- captured live on Facebook -- and called for the cleanup of the social networking site.

Kelly makes no mention of the need for universal background checks.

In a Sunday column, Kelly inexplicably compared the doctor who was dragged off a United Airlines flight to Rodney King, who was beaten by racist Los Angeles police officers after a high-speed chase in 1991.

Perhaps this veteran columnist has a screw or two loose.

Wrong-way CEO

Amtrak CEO Charles W. Moorman had Staff Writer Paul Berger eating out of his hands in a Page 1 story on Thursday.

Berger reported Moorman rode "in a special carriage on the back of an Amtrak train" and looked at the Northeast Corridor rail line receding in the distance.

Berger, who was seated next to the rail executive, didn't question why Moorman was staring at where Amtrak has been -- including two major derailments at New York Penn Station in recent weeks -- instead of where the passenger railroad should be going.

The reporter also didn't question the choice of Moorman to head Amtrak after spending four decades at a "freight railroad operation."

Food Editor Esther Davidowitz calls a hummus restaurant in Englewood "this darling, tiny spot."

Kosher-food scam

In today's Better Living section, Food Editor Esther Davidowitz perpetrates bait-and-switch with a feature on kosher restaurants in Bergen County (1BL, 10BL and 11 BL).

Davidowitz never explains why food prepared according to Jewish religious and dietary laws costs so much more than non-kosher food.

There is nothing in her article that would justify the high prices. She never says whether the kosher meat and poultry served in the restaurants she praises is organic or even naturally raised.

Apparently, the cut taken by rabbis and ritual slaughterers gets added to the bill.

Which explains why you'd have to fork over $11 for humble hummus at Hummus Elite in Englewood or pay an outrageous $49 for an entree of veal medallions at NoBo Wine & Grill in Teaneck.

Just imagine how those poor calves suffered to fatten the bottom line of kosher restaurant owners.

The Record: A letter contains sticker shock about my 7-day home delivery subsciption

A cartoon from Pat Bagley of the Salt Lake Tribune compares President Trump to a docile breed entered in the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show by shirtless Russian dictator Vladimir Putin.

-- HACKENSACK, N.J.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

Until I received a letter from The Record, I wasn't aware I am paying more than $100 a year for 7-day home delivery of the once-great daily newspaper I worked for until 2008.

That's $104 or 28 cents an issue, said a woman who took my call this morning after I was put on hold for more than 15 minutes and listened to music from the Ridgewood Symphony Orchestra.

After June 4, my home delivery subscription will go up only 40 cents, to $104.40 (charged to my credit card at $8.70 a month), she said.

And there is no charge for access to NorthJersey.com, which is even more poorly edited than the print edition, if you can imagine that.

That's double the $51.48 a year I paid in 2010, when I still received a discount for being a former employee.

But the woman hastened to add the "regular rate" for 7-day home delivery is $457.60.

Why didn't I know how much I paid for the Woodland Park daily?

My account is enrolled in auto pay, and renews automatically.

The letter also informed me I "will receive 4 premium editions throughout the year, which will be charged at $1 each."

Idle boasts

While I was on hold, a recorded message played over and over again, touting The Record's "restaurant reviews," which ended last November with the departure of critic Elisa Ung.

Today's Better Living section contains not a restaurant review, but a story on "North Jersey's Best Chicken Sandwiches" (1BL, 10BL and 11BL).

If you don't eat poultry or meat, screw you, Food Editor Esther Davidowitz seems to be saying.

The message also boasted of "the best local news coverage anywhere" -- a patently ridiculous statement even when the Borg family owned the paper.

Today's paper

President Trump continues his assault on the news media and "fake news" after former Gen. Michael Flynn resigned as national security adviser (1A).

A long Page 1 story on the suspensions of the high school principal and nine other high-level district employees in Englewood never explains what is wrong with "more than 3,000 graduation credit and grade changes in the previous year" (1A).

Paul Berger, a transportation reporter who covers the Port Authority, continues to spend more time reporting on the woes of unarmed guards at the George Washington Bridge than he does on the commuters who are caught in horrendous traffic jams at the bridge and other Hudson River crossings (1A).

He also has ignored reporting on a quick fix for a lack of rush-hour seats on NJ Transit buses and afternoon delays at the midtown-Manhattan bus terminal:

More exclusive Lincoln Tunnel bus lanes (both in the morning and afternoon) on Route 495.

About one-third of the first Business page in the L-section was missing when we found our copy of The Record, which was tossed far from the familiar spot in our driveway today. The missing third of the page ended up in the A-section, next to the editorials.

Local news 

Governor Christie's White House dreams were dashed by the Bridgegate scandal, and now a Bergen County judge has cleared the way for an official misconduct complaint against him to proceed to trial (1L).

The GOP thug has tried to put Bridgegate behind him by launching a number of initiatives to address "the epidemic of addition" to prescription drugs (Thursday's front page).

Also on the Local front, Staff Writer John Cichowski continues to base his so-called commuting column on a small number of wackos who email him incessantly so they can see their names in print (1L).

Today's Road Warrior column celebrates Neanderthal drivers who disable such collision-avoidance systems as backup cameras, adaptive cruise control, blind-spot monitoring and lane-departure warnings.