UPDATE: Reporters question Murphy's ambitious plan, veracity of Trump tell-all

Cartoonist Daryl Cagle commenting on the GOP elephant in the room, in this case a racist President Trump in the Oval Office. "You either stand with America's values of Dignity, Justice and Equality for all -- or you stand with a racist president and administration," the Democratic donkey says. "Let's do both," the elephant replies.

COLUMNIST CHALLENGES BOOK

CALLING TRUMP A MADMAN

-- HACKENSACK, N.J.

Editor's note: In one of his first acts in office on Tuesday, Governor Murphy signed an executive order demanding equal pay for women in New Jersey.

By VICTOR E. SASSON

EDITOR

Democrat Phil Murphy was sworn in on Tuesday as New Jersey's 56th governor, signaling a new direction for the Garden State and ending an 8-year reign of terror by the worst chief executive in New Jersey history.

Murphy's plan -- including legalizing marijuana, creating a state bank, raising the minimum wage to $15 and offering free community college -- only seems ambitious given all the damage conservative ogre Chris Christie did to New Jersey.

When you look at how the GOP thug wrecked state finances, mass transit, the environment and health  care, among other programs, Murphy's progressive agenda may seem impossible to achieve.

But the new governor has a Democratic majority in the state Legislature on his side, and a major ally in New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who, like Murphy, has pledged to resist all of the reckless policies of President Trump.

Slanted coverage

Sadly, reporters and columnists at The Record, my local daily newspaper, have kept up a drumbeat of doubt when writing about Murphy.

A profile on Sunday's front page appeared under block letters:

"FEARLESS PHIL"

The sub-headline:

"Murphy eager to rush

into fire of politics"

Actually, during the campaign, Murphy was all about issues -- not politics -- and The Record's relentless focus on the partisan divide in Trenton and Washington doesn't bode well for readers. 

Murphy as Sisyphus

The Gannett editors running The Record can't help themselves, using more than half of Tuesday's front page to tell readers Murphy is doomed to fail.

Inexplicably, a Page 1 story on key issues Murphy will face after his inauguration uses an enormous illustration of a Sisyphus-like figure:

In Greek mythology, Sisyphus was condemned to ceaselessly roll an enormous boulder to the top of a steep hill, only to watch it come back and hit him, repeating the action for eternity.

Praise for Christie

In the story -- "CHALLENGES ALL AROUND" --reporters Dustin Racioppi and Nicholas Pugliese fall all over themselves trying to praise Christie's two terms in office:

"Despite the accomplishments of his Republican predecessor Chris Christie -- an improved economy, slowed growth of property tax bills [and] pension and health benefits reforms for public workers...."

But the reporters then contradict themselves, noting New Jersey "remains mired in costly, entrenched problems," including "a strained budget [and] a pension system in crisis."

Of course, these inept reporters never explain why state workers' pensions are "in crisis" after Christie supposedly reformed the very same system.

'Liberal direction' 

Racioppi was assigned to cover Christie, and judging from his slanted reporting during and after the 2017 gubernatorial campaign, grew to admire the GOP bully and his lieutenant governor, who lost to Murphy.

Today, in The Record's lead Page 1 story, the reporter couldn't wait to slap a "liberal" label on Murphy:

"Taking control from Chris Christie" on Tuesday, Murphy pledged "to steer the state in a new, liberal direction...," Racioppi said.

50 more vetoes

Also on Tuesday's front page, The Record reports Christie signed more than 100 bills into law on Monday, but executed "pocket vetoes" on 50 more.

That would bring Christie's unofficial total to more than 650 vetoes -- a record for any New Jersey governor.

'Fire and Fury'

In an Opinion front column on Sunday, The Record's Mike Kelly cites "errors of fact and judgment" by author Michael Wolff, and concludes he doesn't "trust" the sensational Wolff book, "Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House."

But Kelly's reporting is hardly original, appearing many days after similar criticism from CNN's Jake Tapper, Chuck Todd of "Meet the Press" and Fox News, among others.

Wolff isn't the first to report on this chaotic, divisive presidency or suggest Trump is not only incompetent, but mentally unfit for the job.

And the deeply conservative Kelly had readers rolling their eyes when he claimed, "I'm hardly a Trump fan...."

Really? I can't recall Kelly blasting Trump as a racist, con man, serial liar and tax dodger who has divided the country more than at any time since the Civil War. 

But I do recall Kelly's reports during the 2016 presidential campaign, and his repeated pot shots at the record of Barack Obama, our first black president. 

Martin Luther King

On Monday, The Record's coverage of Martin Luther King's birthday completely missed the point.

The sub-headline said:

"Nearly 50 years after his death, Martin

 Luther King Jr.'s message

 still rings true."

But the real lesson is that nearly 50 years after his death, King's dream of racial equality is even farther away from being realized now that we have a racist president and a GOP-controlled Congress in power.

Bannon subpoenaed

Stephen K. Bannon, Trump's former chief strategist, has been subpoenaed by special counsel Robert S. Mueller III, The New York Times reported on Tuesday.

Bannon is expected to testify before a grand jury as part of the investigation into possible links between Trump associates and Russia.

This is the first subpoena served on a member of Trump's inner circle in the probe of Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election, The Times said.

I am looking forward to a vacation from all of the lies, insanity of Trump presidency

Cartoonists Milt Priggee, above, and Dave Granlund, below, on President Trump's endorsement of white supremacist groups.

-- HACKENSACK, N.J.

By VICTOR E. SASSON

EDITOR

After the nuclear confrontation with North Korea, the deaths in Charlottesville, Va.; President Trump's defense of white nationalist groups, and the exit of the despicable Steve Bannon, our European vacation couldn't come at a better time.

As far as I know, our destination isn't among the countries Trump has trashed, and I'll be able to watch the news in a language that is totally foreign to me.

Coverage of Trump's failing presidency has been scathing:

On Tuesday, The New York Times Editorial Board thundered:

"Mr. Trump makes a spectacle of himself"

President Trump "simply can't help himself -- especially when cornered," The Times said, adding: 

"Given one more chance to forcefully condemn the neo-Nazis and white supremacists whose rally in Charlottesville, Va., end in violence and a counterprotester's death, Mr. Trump angrily insisted, as he had suggested on Saturday, that both sides were equally to blame -- a false equivalency that not just his critics but also an increasing number of his supporters have urged him to abandon."

Times Columnist Paul Krugman angrily labeled the president as "Un-American" after Trump's first statements blamed both sides for what happened.

'No place in America'

U.S. Rep. Leonard Lance, a New Jersey Republican, scolded Trump on Twitter, the president's favorite forum:

"Mr. President, there is only one side: AGAINST white supremacists, neo-Nazis, anti-Semites & KKK. They have no place in America or GOP."

Meanwhile, The Washington Post's Fact Checker examined Trump's claim about the U.S. nuclear arsenal:

"As part of his saber-rattling with North Korea ..., President Trump said: 'My first order as President was to renovate and modernize our nuclear arsenal. It is now far stronger and more powerful than ever before.'"

The Post awarded Four Pinocchios to Trump, saying, "No, President Trump, you did not modernize the U.S. nuclear arsenal in six month." 

In this cartoon from Ingrid Rice, hate groups crawl out from under a rock resembling Trump's head, likely the one he'll want added to Mount Rushmore.

New media

On Friday, The Richmond Times-Dispatch in Virginia published an investigation, based on interviews with participants:

How the Charlottesville disaster unfolded

The news media also have been busy interviewing people who voted for Trump to see if they still have his back.

That's a colossal waste of time. Who cares?

The voters they should be interviewing are the millions of Democrats who stayed home last Nov. 8, either because they believed polls predicting a victory for Hillary Clinton or swallowed GOP propaganda about the Democratic candidate.

These non-voting Democrats should be ashamed of themselves in view of the Trump scourge that has been visited on us. 

Charlottesville also introduced new and old phrases framing the violence.

"Antifa" is short for anti-fascists and "emulates historic anti-fascist actors in Europe," The Associated Press reported.

The "alt-right movement," supported by Bannon, "has been described as a mix of racism, white nationalism, populism and anti-Semiticism," The AP said.

"It emphasizes preserving and protecting the white race in the United States."

The Record

At my local daily newspaper, The Record of Woodland Park, the lead story today is the departure of Bannon, the adviser who was the inspiration for Trump's attempts to ban all Muslim immigration to the United States.

The clunky headline:

"BANNON GONE AT WHITE HOUSE"

Any good copy editor knows using "at White House" is totally unnecessary in a Bannon headline, but I guess the Gannett editor couldn't figure out a better head for what is supposed to be the premier page of the paper.

Also on Page 1 today is a teaser promising a recap of "the week that was" in Sunday's paper. 

"COMING SUNDAY"

"From 'fire and fury' to exit of key Trump adviser Steve Bannon, we recap the week that was."

But why wait? Newspapers traditionally consider today as the last day of the week; why isn't the recap running today in the print edition?

Cartoonist Sean Delonas, formerly of the New York Post, invokes Trump's blaming "both sides" for the violence in Charlottesville, Va., comments that generated a firestorm of criticism from both Democrats and Republicans.

Robert E. Lee

The focus of the protests and counterprotests in Charlottesville, Va., was removal of a statue of Robert E. Lee, a slaveholder who was the top Confederate general during the Civil War.

One historian justified the removal of Lee monuments, noting the general committed what he called armed treason against the United States.

But at The Record, Columnist Mike Kelly had a better idea than writing about Lee or protester Heather Heyer, the woman killed by a car during violent clashes with Ku Klux Klan members and neo-Nazis; or Trump's mixed messages about the hate groups that have been emboldened by his election.

Kelly's front page column on Thursday was about a New Jersey monument totally unrelated to the controversy over the removal of Confederate statues in New Orleans, Charlottesville and other cities.

This monument was erected by the U.S. government in 1910 to memorialize 2,436 Confederate soldiers captured at the bloody Gettysburg battle who died of dysentery, typhoid, malaria and malnutrition in a prisoner-of-war camp.

Readers searching for the "nut graph" -- journalism jargon for the paragraph that provides context for the column -- came upon this on the continuation page:

"An 85-foot granite obelisk offers a nuanced twist on the national debate over whether to tear down Confederate monuments."

The Record's Page 1 story downplays Trump role in growing anti-Semitism

This cartoon from Steve Sack of the Minneapolis Star Tribune apparently refers to President Trump warning North Korea that an armada was sailing toward the rogue nation, but it turned out U.S. warships were moving in the opposite direction -- toward Australia.

In this February cartoon, Jeff Darcy of The Plain Dealer notes Trump denounced anti-Semitism -- after another wave of bomb threats at Jewish centers and vandalism at Jewish cemeteries -- but only after daughter Ivanka tweeted about "religious tolerance" and protecting "our houses of worship & religious centers."

Plus: What happened

 to the 'By' in bylines?

-- HACKENSACK, N.J.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

President Trump is flanked by strategist Steve Bannon, who has been accused of embracing the alt-right, a loose network of white nationalists and anti-Semites, and a globe-trotting Orthodox Jewish son-in-law who has assumed a major role in the administration.

Seven days after he was inaugurated in January, Trump was criticized by the Anti-Defamation League for failing to mention in a statement he issued on Holocaust Remembrance Day that the Nazis killed 6 million Jews -- not just "innocent people."

During a 2016 presidential campaign filled with hate speech from Trump, his supporters attacked Jewish reporters covering rallies, and at least one received a death threat. 

Trump missing

Now, a Page 1 story in The Record on a spike in anti-Semitic "intimidation and vandalism" in New Jersey and the nation in 2016 doesn't mention Trump until deep into the continuation of the story on 6A:

"The [Anti-Defamation League] report linked 34 cases last year to the presidential race, including graffiti found in Denver last May that said, 'Kill the Jews, vote Trump,'" The Associated Press reported.

"ADL Chief Executive Jonathan Greenblat was among the most vocal Jewish leaders pressing Donald Trump, as a candidate and president, to do more to combat anti-Semitism," the story says.

Bye-bye to 'By'

I've just noticed how Gannett dropped the "By" in reporters' bylines when the print edition was redesigned in mid-November.

A story on Nov. 15, 2016, would carry this byline: "By HANNAN ADELY, STAFF WRITER."

After the unannounced Nov. 16 redesign, only "HANNAN ADELY, STAFF WRITER," plus her Twitter handle, appeared, as in her story on today's front page.

The other day, her byline lost the "H" and only "ANNAN ADELY" appeared.