The special election to fill the Senate seat left vacant by the death of Frank Lautenberg is this Wednesday, October 16th (yes, Wednesday, not a Tuesday). Republican candidate Steve Lonegan’s main opponent is Newark Mayor Corey Booker.
We’ve got a huge fight ahead of us. Crooked though he is, Booker has a large following of blacks and minorities. New Jersey is a Democrat state, on the verge of being completely urbanized through the Agenda 21/Smart Growth/Regionalization plan. With Obama in the lead, it is a war on the suburbs and our way of life.
Every year, around the time the leaves change, before Halloween takes hold and it’s time to watch the Harry Potter series, I re-watch the Peter Jackson film, The Lord of the Rings, and re-read Tolkien’s trilogy. I’m such a fan of the book and the films that I bought the extended versions, which include deleted scenes.
There are actually four discs in each set, supplying every sort of detail on the filming that you can imagine. I was in the midst of housework and didn’t want to be distracted so playing the movie was no problem; I know it by heart. On a whim, I went through the directory to the Commentaries section, which is on the two main discs of the film. That would be just talking heads, I thought, and less distracting than the movie.
I couldn’t have been more wrong. What the actors’ commentary section does it take you through all three movies with the actors commenting, off-screen, about the film and particularly the added scenes. Billy Boyd (“Pippin”) and Dominic Monaghan (“Merry”) are absolutely hilarious. Andy Serkis also participates, going into his Gollum/Smeagol voice (“Smeagol”: I worked very hard, yesses I did. “Gollum:” No you didn’t; you whined the whole time [during the shooting of the stairs sequence] when are we going to take a break. We’re hungry. We wantses our lunch.”).
All the actors who played hobbits give commentary, as well as Christopher Lee, with his intimate knowledge of J.R.R. Tolkien and his works, Ian McKellan, Orlando Bloom (LOTR was his film debut), Sean Bean, Hugo Weaving, Karl Urban, Miranda Otto (“Eowyn’), Liv Tyler (“Arwen), and some of the minor characters who played villains. The only actors who don’t give commentary are Ian Holm and Viggo Mortensen.
All the actors have high praise for Mortensen and his commitment to his character, although they note that he took his role so seriously that in the battle scenes, the stunt people were terrified of him. “He was a maniac,” Sean Bean notes. “I wouldn’t want to fight the bloke in real life.”
Ironically, Miranda Otto, who plays the ambitious Eowyn, is a total girly-girl. “Oh, I loved that dress!” and “Oh that dress SO beautiful, but they only show half of it and I only wore it for a few hours.” Bernard Hill (“King Theoden”) turns out to be a rascal. The actors, he tells us, when they’re playing scenes where they’re thinking rather than speaking, as they’re filming play games with themselves. “I wonder what I’m thinking here?” he queries. “I brought in the cat. I turned off the lights.” Then a pause. “Oh boggers (a dirty work in UK English),” he exclaims. “I forgot to turn off the gas!”
For any fanatical fan of the film, who’s seen it so many times that they’ve memorized the film, this is a very funny, refreshing, and informative documentary. Many, if not most of the actors suffered serious injuries. Bloom broke a couple of ribs. Morgensen broke his toe and had a tooth knocked out. Sean Astin (“Sam”) stepped on a shard of glass in a river and had to be helicoptered out, Ian McKellan (“Gandalf”) hurt his back in the fight scene with Saruman and couldn’t ride his horse after that ,and Elijah Wood (“Frodo”) really was stabbed in the spider scene, with the prop penetrating nearly all the way to the spine. He spent three days in the hospital.
But that’s all LOTR fan stuff. The most telling moment, and best line of the entire documentary, comes in the last scene of the film. The actors are discussing how the two little children in the last scene with Sam and Rosie in Bagshot Row are actually Astin’s daughter, Alexandra, and Sarah McCleod’s daughter, Maisy. [The actors get the name of Sam and Rosie’s first daughter wrong. It’s Elanor, not Daisy.]
As the door closes and the actors finish up discussing the children, John Rhys-Davies (“Gimli” the dwarf) gives the best line of the entire documentary, summing up Tolkien’s message with extraordinary acumen.
“And that’s the great victory for the normal,” he tells us, “after earth-shattering events, in the end, decency, society, the bond of the families – babies – these are the destinies of Men.”
It almost could have been the last voice-over for the movie itself, if Jackson had chosen to do so. No one has to say so, really. As the Gamgee family goes home, that’s the idea. In this day and age, however, maybe it needs to be spoken, because people aren’t getting it.
Steve Lonegan has been pressing that message in his campaign. While Cory Booker has been hobnobbing with Hollywood stars out in California – about as far from New Jersey as you can get and still be in the United States – Lonegan has been campaigning in the state, raising funds, yes, but also meeting the real residents of the state, the tax-paying workers who’ve been carrying its burdens.
Nearly all of Newark’s budget and agencies are funded by our tax dollars, Lonegan’s campaign notes. When he became mayor of Bogota, NJ in 1996, Lonegan immediately cut municipal spending, eliminated wasteful and duplicative services, privatized some functions and instituted a more cost-efficient, user-friendly government. As a result, Bogota’s municipal spending remained constant for the entire 12 years of his tenure. He also kept debt and tax increases far below inflation despite massive state mandates and aid reductions to suburban towns like Bogota. Thanks to Steve’s strong, conservative leadership, Republicans kept council control for 11 straight elections, and Steve was reelected in 1999 and 2003 by double-digit margins over his Democratic opponents.
During his time as mayor, Lonegan also led statewide campaigns on behalf of New Jersey taxpayers. Whether it was fighting the Newark Arena, illegal state bonding, or proposed gasoline tax hikes, Steve was willing to take on leaders in both parties to do what was right for New Jersey’s working families. In 2006, Steve joined Americans for Prosperity as state director of the New Jersey chapter where he continued to fight for taxpayers and achieved a number of successes. He helped defeat an 8 percent sales tax increase on the statewide ballot, led the successful fight to stop Governor Corzine’s $38 billion toll hike, and led the defeat of taxpayer-financed legislative elections in the state.
Lonegan was one of the earliest opponents of the President’s Health Care law and organized thousands of New Jersey taxpayers to fight it. Steve supports full ObamaCare Repeal and will use his power as a United States Senator to block funding and implementation of this dangerous proposal. Cory Booker supports ObamaCare.
As Mayor, Lonegan kept taxes stable by freezing spending and new debt. He believes the Federal Government needs to take the same approach and supports major cuts in government welfare programs created and expanded in recent years, most particularly ObamaCare and other giveaways like free cell phones, 99-week unemployment handouts and welfare benefits that encourage people not to work and live off taxpayers. Booker supports President Obama’s bloated budgets, tax increase proposals and will vote to raise the national debt, even without any spending cuts.
Lonegan believes the Obama Administration’s harassment of citizens through the IRS and spying on citizens through the NSA needs to be stopped, and rejects the notion endorsed by Cory Booker, that government needs to increase spying on American citizens in order to fight criminals and terrorists.
He strongly opposed the Bank Bailout and the Auto Bailouts and believes government’s role is not to bail out businesses that cannot succeed. As Senator, Lonegan will continue his fight to repeal the Dodd-Frank Law that justifies future bailouts with intense job-killing regulations on the financial industry. Cory Booker endorsed the bank and auto bailouts and will vote for more if elected.
Lonegan believes the federal government role in education has been an overall negative and strongly opposes the Common Core curriculum standards and other attempts by Washington to regulate and control our local public schools. He is a strong supporter of school voucher and tax credit ideas that put parents in charge of their children’s education. Cory Booker opposes vouchers and tax credits and will support Common Core.
He supports the individual right to keep and bear arms and opposes new federal gun control laws. Cory Booker not only supports President Obama’s gun control proposals, but thinks they should go further.
Lonegan believes in the long-standing definition of marriage as a union between one man and one woman and opposes the federal government forcing gay marriage on states. Cory Booker supports the federal government mandating gay marriage on all 50 states, including all government benefits. As he is pro-marriage, Lonegan is also pro-life. Cory Booker supports unrestricted abortion for any reason at all, up to, and including the day of delivery, and funded by taxpayers.
As the grandson of immigrants from Italy and Ireland who came legally to this country, Lonegan opposes proposals to give amnesty and eventually citizenship to as many as eleven million illegal aliens. He believes we need to go back to the old system where immigrants were sponsored, and did not become a drain on taxpayers, and wants to make English our official language. Cory Booker supports amnesty for illegal aliens, welfare for non-citizens and will oppose making English our official language.
Lonegan has been a long-time advocate for keeping energy costs low by opposing the radical “Green” agenda that’s driving electric and gasoline prices through the roof. He rejects the notion that Americans should have to pay hundreds or even thousands of dollars each year to fight alleged “Global Warming.” Cory Booker endorses Cap and Trade Energy Taxes to fund speculative wind and solar power schemes.
The federal courts, Lonegan believes, have gone way too far in legitimizing big government and attacking our conservative values. As a U.S. Senator, he will oppose Supreme Court nominees like Elena Kagan and Sonya Sotomayor and look for more justices like Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas. Cory Booker believes the courts are a place for Social Engineering and will advocate and vote for more left-wing radicals on our federal bench.
Lonegan supports a strong national defense but opposes the notion that the United States should become the world’s policeman. As U.S. Senator, he will oppose UN treaties that take away our national sovereignty and oppose all efforts to make American troops serve under international agencies. Cory Booker has endorsed various UN treaties that would harm America’s ability to defend itself.
Israel is America’s closest ally in the Middle East and one of its closest allies and friends in the entire world. We not only share common strategic goals but also a shared belief in democracy, human rights and the rule of law. The United States must be a vocal supporter of Israel’s right to defend itself against terrorist violence and should not pressure Israel to enter into peace agreements or concessions that threaten Israel’s ability to defend itself. Also important to Israel’s security, The United States must do everything in its power to prevent Iran from achieving nuclear capabilities, including keeping the military option on the table. Cory Booker supports President Obama’s anti-Israel policies.
Lonegan praised House Republicans and veterans who removed the barriers which the Obama administration used to close several memorials on the Mall in Washington D.C., including the Vietnam Veterans Memorial and the National WWII Memorial.
“This despicable act of barricading the war memorials to veterans and the public is a shameful attempt by President Obama and his rubber stamps in Congress to ensure the government shutdown is painful and blame Republicans at the expense of the memory of those who gave their lives in their service to America,” Lonegan said.
“I call on Cory Booker to join me in denouncing the Obama administration’s shameful and disgraceful actions with regard to those who have served our country and those who have given their lives for our country. President Obama and his Congressional lackeys need to stop playing politics. They need to compromise with Republicans by supporting a one-year delay before implementing Obamacare,” he added.
“My opponent, Cory Booker, is running to be another Obama rubber-stamp who thinks that compromise means adopting his radical, left-wing beliefs,” Lonegan said. “New Jersey voters are going to stop him.”
Lonegan is also opposed to the attempt by cities like Newark to abrogate the right of suburbs to govern themselves. “There are too many little towns,” Progressive Liberals argue. They’ve already set to ruin a number of small towns like Wanaque, West Milford, and Boonton which now have gang problems, and are spreading to other towns like Bloomingdale and Pompton Lakes. With the gangs come not only violence, but drugs.
New Jersey used to be rather like Tolkien’s Eden-like Shire. Or at least a “Yankee Doodle” version of it, as actor Dominic Monaghan would put it. A land of rolling hills, meadows, forests, lakes, and little brooks. The residents lived quietly in modest homes and didn’t much care about the outside world, as my parents discovered when we moved to Bloomingdale.
Sooner or later, my mother predicted, the world would burst Bloomingdale’s protective little bubble (as she called it), insulated from the predations of the outside world. That was true, at least until the mid-Sixties. Bloomingdale was not quite as idyllic as The Shire: when the doors closed in the evening, from our house on the hill, we could hear the slap of leather belts, and the sound of beatings and little bodies being thrown against walls, and the inevitable weeping.
But then, our neighborhood had come from the city and brought with it its city ways. The incumbent residents opposed our development fiercely, but the city came again, and with it beatings, alcoholism, and drug abuse among the high school teenagers. That generation overcame the influence of the city and Bloomingdale and the other towns adopted the quiet, country ways again.
Now the city is ramrodding its way into our fortress. You can already see the evidence in the gutters and the brush along the roadsides. Heroes are in short supply. Stout, hardy heroes who aren’t afraid of battle. Steve Lonegan is that sort of candidate. There isn’t much he’s afraid of. His reputation precedes him. He really is what he says he is: a Conservative. GOP Moderates can vouch for it; they dislike him intensely. He’s not the type to compromise, according to rumor.
Lonegan really cares about New Jersey, particularly “The Shirefolk,” the quiet, suburban types who go about their business working and caring for their homes and families. At any rate, he’s about as good a candidate as we’re likely to get; one who’ll defend our God-given rights to life, liberty, the pursuit of happiness, and green lawns.
Get out there and vote, suburban, Conservative New Jerseyans, like you’ve never voted before. If Lonegan wins, it will be a great victory for normalcy, “decency, society, the bond of families,” and the true destiny of Americans, as the Founding Fathers laid it out over 200 years ago.
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