It Looks Like They Woke Up At Da Snoozepaper

First, daTruthSquad will readily admit that da relationship between this blog and da local Snoozepaper has been strained for a number of years.

Back when da husband of Manalapan committeewoman Queen Michelle, Ruler of Manalapanistan uttered his now infamous phrase, "BECAUSE I HATE ITALIANS," Da local paper, covered by then-so-called-alleged-reporter Cathy Barratta and overseen by then-chief-bottle-washer Bozo Bean decided da whole situation was, as they called it, a "non-starter."

Unfortunately for da Snoozer leadership, they completely ignored da uproar that ensued after that hateful statement was made.

Also unfortunately for da Snoozer, just about every major newspaper, radio and TV station thought otherwise, sending more reporters to Manalapan than when a tornado touched down in the northern part of town. They blamed this blog for what happened, which isn't much different from da Queen blaming an Irish-American for her husband saying his anti-Italian infamous phrase. Da then-Snoozer leader, instead of doing da right thing, instead went as far as to claim this blog pulled "da wings off flies," while all da while, da flies were circling over da Snoozepaper.

In one so-called editorial by Bozo himself, he even said he wouldn't mind too much if we drove off a cliff, and even offered to get behind and push.

There were alleged-news stories about how this blog will be brought to its knees by a lawsuit, and after never materialized, another story about how a former mayor would take this blog down. That was when George Bush was president, and da Commissar was in power. Bush is out of office -- and da Commissar was sent packing by da voters -- and this blog is still blogging!

To be fair, there have been glimmers of hope at da Snoozer from time to time. One of those times was when actual-reporter Mark Rosman wrote a news story that became evidence against Manalapan Township in da now-famous "Township of Manalapan vs Da Mosked Man" lawsuit, showing that da financial numbers of that Manalapan Township Committee leaders were giving out didn't add up.

To recap that historic report by Rosman, his non-biased investigation showed that as many as four lawyers were on da clock in this case -- AT TAXPATER EXPENSE -- not just one as was being claimed -- and that at a time when Manalapan politicians were saying everything was being done on a "contingency fee" and it wasn't costing da town residents a dime, Rosman claimed he personally saw two bills that totaled "more than $6,400" for just one lawyer --- charging $350 per hour!!!!!

As we all know now, that case cost so much money over 25 months that Manalapan residents will probably never know da whole cost -- except that current-Mayor Andy Boy went on da record saying well before da half-way mark in da 25 months, da case had already cost Manalapan taxpayers "over $100,000 dollars!," proving daTruthSquad right yet again.

But, ever since intrepid reporter Rosman became da chief reporter covering Manalapan, it seems that innuendo-style reporting has been replaced with actual events being covered. Da most recent article in da Snoozer was quietly one of their most important.

In a story titled "ELEC website has information about campaign donations," da Snoozer gives readers a step-by-step way to investigate for themselves what is really going on in local politics. It includes the web address for ELEC, which, as our readers know, is readily utilized by daTruthSquad for information about candidates and their donation trail. From ELEC, we have found who has filed their reports on time - and who hasn't. We've uncovered who gave donations to whom - and followed that pay-to-play trail, and who received what - and how much.

You have to admit this is a gutsy maneuver by da Snoozer, which at least one embedded source has said comes from a newspaper that has fallen out of favor with da Manalapan political leadership. Information like this can now make any reader a blogger, or at da very least, an investigative reporter.

DaTruthSquad hopes that everyone uses da ELEC website to read into da local, county, district and state candidates. Even more so, feel free to research back and look back at past candidates. As an example, you can research very easily reports filed by da many Michelle Roth campaigns for all da elected offices she has tried to attain. Did she and her people file their reports on time? Who were the big donors? Who got money for "work" performed for da campaign? How much were expenses? Were reports even filed on time, or were they late - a violation of ELEC protocol? All of these questions, and others, can be answered using da ELEC site.

DaTruthSquad must admit a story like this took courage to print. It may not seem like it, but handing out to readers a vital source of election information is both courageous and eye-opening. It also shows that we may have to seriously remove da "Snooze" from da Snoozepaper.

It appears Manalapan may have a solid local newspaper after all. We at daTruthSquad hope this is da case. One reason - it seems that Mark Rosman is now driving da bus with no backseat drivers.

And that's daTruth.