Stupid is as Stupid Builds

Steven Hayward, commenting on the serial gaffes by both the Romney and Santorum campaigns, as well as a Republican member of the Ways and Means Committee, asks whether everyone took stupid pills this week.

New Jersey is one of the bluest states of the union. Essex County, whose largest city, Newark, bestrides local politics like an impoverished colossus, is one of the bluest counties in the state.

The county has a zoo. Yes, a zoo: the Turtleback Zoo, consisting of about 20 acres in West Orange. I have nothing against zoos, and Turtleback has been a fixture in West Orange for decades.

But our fearless leaders, in their infinite wisdom, have decreed that the recently renovated zoo is not yet good enough. So today, they broke ground on a $5.5 million expansion so tha we could have sea lions to look at and sting rays and sharks to pet.

Sea lions.

Petting sharks.

Five and a half million */!!** dollars.

Isn't New Jersey that state with all the crumbling infrastructure I hear about that is so unsafe and expensive to maintain and that should be replaced? Why, yes it is.

That National Guard general in New Orleans created a sensation by telling the press not to get stuck on stupid. Here in Essex County, we seem to be stuck on Seaworld.