Right In Jersey: Frank Pallone's Retirement Party

On Feb 12th, I joined the Bayshore Tea Party and Jersey Shore Tea Party for a symbolic protest and Congressman Frank Pallone's (NJ-6) office in Long Branch. Despite the heavy snow, the cold, and it being a business day, about 30 people gathered. It was very peaceful, with people holding signs and flags, while most passing cars were honking and giving us thumbs up (only a couple of them yelled profanities at us).

Pallone's staff was very polite and curteous. They welcomed us into the office, and we even got a private tour of the historic building. Only thing I didn't understand is why they needed 7 paid staffers (paid by us, the taxpayers) slacking around, and I assume he has the same staff at each of his offices.

Frank Pallone lately pretends not to hear what his constituents are saying

Upstairs in front of Frankie's office. The "tour guide" on the right was freaking out about having her picture taken because she was afraid it would show up on some conservative website.

Staffers at work

The theme of this protest was giving Frankie a pink slip, after 22 years of supporting the most left-wing policies in Congress. His stance is becoming increasingly unpopular in his gerrymandered district, and Chris Christie easily won the 6th district last November. The climax of the rally was bringing a pink cake into the office. The staff was very amused by this, initially they said they love cake, but then they realized how embarrassing this would be and tried to convince us to leave. We had paper plates, knives, forks, very well prepared, but they didn't know how to hide the cake any faster and prevent us from taking pictures. I have to stress how friendly this was. We were outnumbering them by at least 3 to 1, and we were all laughing. They said they're not allowed to receive free gifts, we said we can bill them for it, and eventually left.

The pink slip delivered in the downstairs office

The celebratory cake

We still ate the cake at a tailgating party, and it was pretty good. It's funny that the parking lot was across from a funeral home, and the owner came to tell us that people can't come out of a wake to see us eating cake. Not sure if there's regulation in NJ against eating cake in front of a funeral home, but the guy called the cops, which probably arrived after we were done.

Two candidates were present there. One was David Corsi, who's running in the 12th district against Rush Holt, and the other was Fabrizio Bivona, a 9/11 first responder who just announced his intentions of challenging Frank Pallone. Also to be noted, I was interviewed by an Asbury Park Press reporter. She asked my opinion about the healthcare bill and she was trying to argue with me what it is good for us. I thought reporters are supposed to "report", not spread the message.