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| Cartoonist Nate Beeler of The Columbus Dispatch in Ohio suggests that before their meeting on Friday in Hamburg, Germany, President Trump rolled out the red carpet for Russian dictator Vladimir Putin, who allegedly meddled in the Nov. 8 presidential election. |
-- HACKENSACK, N.J.
By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR
No one in their right mind should be buying a USA Today report of a "stunning" agreement between President Trump and Russian dictator Vladimir Putin not to meddle "in each other's" future elections.
That so-called accord -- reported on Page 1 of The Record on Saturday -- is merely a distraction as a special counsel and intelligence officials continue to investigate Russian meddling in the Nov. 8 presidential election.
Before the election, Trump himself invited the Russians to hack Hillary Clinton's emails, and that country's cyber terrorists did break into the computers of the Democratic National Committee.
The intent was to injure Clinton and aid a Trump victory, The Washington Post has reported, adding President Obama didn't retaliate against the Russians until December out of concern "he might himself be seen as trying to manipulate the election."
Obama expelled 35 diplomats and closed two Russian compounds.
Old news
By today, the Trump-Putin meeting and Russia's interference in the presidential election is old news at the Woodland Park daily, which continues its hysterical front-page reporting on the impact of track repairs in New York's Penn Station.
The U.S. investigation is far from over, yet today's Opinion section doesn't carry an editorial condemning Putin for trying to hurt Clinton and help Trump.
Nor, does The Record question the positive spin put on the meeting by Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, former head of Exxon Mobil, which does a tremendous amount of business in Russia.
Meanwhile, Columnist Mike Kelly's column harks back to the New Jersey government shutdown, and Governor Christie's "full manspread" a week ago on the beach in Island Beach State Park (1O).
On Friday, The New Yorker ran John Cassidy's story under this headline:
"THE TRUMP-PUTIN BROMANCE IS BACK ON"
"Putin had gotten what he wanted from the meeting: a commitment from the U.S. to move from the election controversy and normalize relations," Cassidy reported.
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| In a reference to the Coppertone ad, cartoonist Steve Sack of the Minneapolis Star Tribune shows how the news media exposed Governor Christie hogging the beach all for himself, family and friends on July 2. |
Business as usual
Saturday's Better Living section published a highly promotional story praising North Jersey landscape and pool designers.
The stupid headline -- "7 stunning Bergen backyards that will make you happy it's summer" -- suggests the seven backyards and pools are open to the public, which I'm sure isn't the case.
So, why would readers be "happy it's summer"? It makes no sense.
In an email, a reader of The Sasson Report said:
"What is going on -- an ad for pool designers? What reader will ever see these pools or have anything to do with them? It is only the super rich -- what a waste of space."
Lists, not journalism
Gannett Co. bought The Record about a year ago from the Borg family, who laughed all the way to the bank to deposit more than $40 million (July 6, 2016).
Then, just as Gannett has done with its newly acquired newspapers across the country, Editor-cum-Hatchet Man Richard A. Green cut the staff to the bone.
By the end of March, more than 350 employees of North Jersey Media Group were shown the door.
Now, all readers seem to get are lists when it comes to food, lifestyle and travel stories, like Saturday's seven backyards, and today's "O Canada, 150 things to see and do up north" in the Travel section.
Friday's Better Living centerfold raved about "9 great summer date spots."
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