New Jersey not Getting Jacked

Good rainy afternoon, Stroock's Books reader(s) and damn you, Canadian Blue Jays. Our fellow North American is gloating. 

It's wet, and rainy and miserable out there. Was that thunder?

We were up early for some reason, annoyingly so. 

We were going to make this a morning post but couldn't think of much to write so we waited till the afternoon. See how that works? 

Vice President Vance (48)is absolutely correct. One can't be more right than the veep is here, not outside of laboratory conditions: 'Vice President JD Vance sharply criticized Israeli lawmakers for pushing a West Bank annexation vote during his Jerusalem diplomatic visit.' Okay, Ideally the West Bank Person presence in Judea/Samaria would be reduced to a half dozen disconnected municipalities (Ramallah, Nablus, etc etc). Which is the 'Palestinian' situation in Lebanon. But that ain't gonna happen. 

By the way, the Haredi are holding a massive protest against the draft today. Hundreds of thousands are in the streets, says The Times of Israel. Jerks; the Haredi not The Times of Israel.

Over at Steyn Online, the great Laura Rosen Cohen echoes something this blog has been saying for a couple of years now, 'What is also true is that Western Jewry, in particular American Jews (and Canadians, they are just not as influential) are fossilized. They are still reliving the glory days of North American Jewry and that, my friends, is over. ' To put it the Stroockian way, the Golden Age of Jews in America is over.

Jersey beat: Mikie 49, Jack-48. 2005 Will would have insisted Mikie is winning, given that most polls show a tie or Mikie 4-5 points ahead. 2025 Will doesn't really think those rules apply anymore. But we've yet to see a poll with Jack ahead. [Why are you not making a prediction?-Ed] Because we don't want to write the Will was Wrong post. [Wuss-Ed], exactly.  What do we think? Ask us election morning. Gut feel? Mikie wins....

Wait a minute, a WPIX poll* has Jack at 48 and Mikie at 47. WPIX notes, 'Governor Phil Murphy’s approval continues to be underwater at 34%. President Donald Trump holds a 45% approval rating.' If true, well you know...Or not. Now WPIX says Mikie is a head by a point? We give up but stand by our gut feeling. 

Wait another minute, Suffolk: Mikie 46, Jack 42.

And waiting yet another minute, Quinnipiac says Mikie 51, Jack 43. That we don't believe at all.  

Nevertheless all these polls show the same winner. 

If reader(s) think the reformers and the right are rising inexorably to victory, think again. The Brussels Signal reports on Dutch snap elections:  'In a dramatic comeback, the Liberal Democrats (D66) party has claimed a narrow but decisive win in the Netherlands’ snap general election, eclipsing Geert Wilders’ hard-right Party for Freedom (PVV).' The establishment types won in the Netherlands. Last summer they won in Canada. They can win elsewhere. Which is why we approach talk of Farage and reform destroying Two Tier Kier and the British Labour party with great caution. 

DOGE Report: We read the Battle of Derry's first chapter and are surprisingly pleased. Actually, we shouldn't be too surprised, we busted our hump on the Battle of Derry before moving on. Okay, we've read chapter II now and are also surprisingly pleased. 

It seems in Ireland, Northern Ireland, and Londonderry, most people call the city Derry, even the Prods. We think we're just going to title the Derry chapters 'Derry' even though the city is officially 'Londonderry'. Nothing can be easy in Ireland, can it? Exit quote: for every solution, the Irish will find a problem. 

*Local mega-tv station. Think Atlanta's TBS, or Chicago's WGN, but in New York.  WPIX broadcast the Yankees until the late 90s....holy cow. IYKYK.