When Lt. Governor Sheila Oliver suddenly died last summer? We knew nothing, including the nature of her mysterious illness, whether the legislature had been informed of her circumstances, and the reason why she was left in charge (at least nominally) of our state and its executive functions while Governor Murphy was abroad sunning his saggy, ugly ass in Italy during her final moments in this realm of existence. Some “journalists” even pushed back at the notion that the public had a right to know. It was cute.
History may be repeating itself. I hope not, but that’s what it sounds like.
About one week ago, the office of Congressman Donald Payne of Newark reported that the Democrat legislator was experiencing “improvement” and had a “good” prognosis AND, to boot, was expected to make a “full recovery” following a cardiac event.
“Congressman Donald M. Payne, Jr. suffered a cardiac episode based on complications from his diabetes last week,” the updated Wednesday statement explained. “Today, he is in stable condition at a local hospital and continues to be under doctor’s care. While we hope for a full recovery, we ask everyone to keep him in your prayers.”
Obviously we hope that Congressman Payne fares better than the late Sheila Oliver, but once again the people of New Jersey find themselves in the pathetic situation of being LIED TO about the health of a major, high-ranking public official, a situation made all the more insane given the extremely-close partisan divide in the U.S. House of Representatives.
Are we still living in the United States? Or the mid-20th century Soviet Union when the personal affairs of high-ranking party members was covered up to manage the public?
They don’t tell us anything because they don’t think we deserve to know, folks. That’s a problem.