Online forums such as those of the Star-Ledger are popular hangouts for gadflies, kibitzers and assorted others. The posts can be funny, informative, or caustic. The posters can be people who use their own name, hide behind an alias, or pretend to be others to spread disinformation.
So, what's the case with the following conversation, sent to me by a PT reader browsing the Ledger's Union County forums?
One Father Ted in Rahway, began a thread -- or conversation -- with this entry about Luxury townhouses being built in Rahway. If you visit the link, you will see several people have chimed in on the conversation -- here are their profiles and their posts:
Here is the complete post of 'Mayor Kennedy':
- OneDumbDem and his/her post
- Pebbie [who shares no personal information] and his/her post
- Hildegarde [who also is bashful about personal info] and her [homophobic?] post
- New2This2 [also info-shy] responds to Hildegarde with this thoughtful post
- RedNotebook [anonymous also] is surprised at the prices - half a million - in his/her post
- RHS72 [no info, is there a trend here?] cites schools serving the townhouses in his/her post
- And then comes the kicker, MayorKennedy responds with a post that seems outrageous on its face
- which garners a response from 339NBroad [who at least has a sense of humor] and his/her post
- and, lastly, the anonymous BlueLaws and his/her post
1747.6. NO KIDS ALLOWEDLots of towns are concerned about the burden new apartment or condo construction may put on their schools and other social services, which 'Mayor Kennedy' echoes. Plainfield's chance may come.
by MayorKennedy, 6/21/06 17:11 ET
Re: Luxury Townhouses by FatherTed, 6/21/06
The new luxury apartments are designed for individuals, not families with children. We have also built 300 age restricted units, so there will be no influx of children to impact upon our schools.
ALSO... the apartments have an 'English Only' clause in every lease, so no residents who primarily speak foreign languages will be permitted to rent the new housing in Rahway.
This was measure adopted by the planning board in 2003, despite opposition by local Republicans who were trying to curry favor with immigrant groups at the time.
Rahway police also have a squad assigned to taking action against illegal immigrants. This is a low key operation, but it has had great success. In just five weeks, 235 foreigners have been arrested and turned over to the Homeland Security agency formerly known as INS.
Where it gets outrageous is the English-only comment -- which, on its face, seems to fly in the face of US and NJ civil rights laws. Or am I mistaken?
As for the Rahway PD having a squad targeting illegal immigrants, there has been no coverage of same in the media. Has the Ledger missed one here? This is aside from whether local PDs should be enforcing federal laws in this regard -- which is the subject of a heated debate in public safety circles.
Now, is 'Mayor Kennedy' really Mayor Kennedy? That is where forums get interesting. The profile seems genuine enough. But it is easy as 1-2-3 to sign up under any screen name one wishes [providing it's not already taken], without providing any confirmable information, and say anything one wants in the name of that persona.
If this post is by the real Mayor Kennedy, you have to wonder what's going on in Rahway. If it's not, you have to wonder who wants to trash the Mayor's reputation. I, for one, can't believe it is. No elected official would be this insensitive.
In any case, it's certainly NOT a beautiful day in the neighborhood for everyone!
-- Dan Damon
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1 comment:
I doubt that any elected official who wishes to be taken seriously would ever want to hang out on those forums. I certainly wouldn't want my kids to visit the place.
From reading all of the personal attacks, I would guess that "MayorKennedy" is a troll designed to get a rise out of people and is not the Mayor.
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