Local cross-dresser, idiotic headline and boring columnists

A moving truck from Philadelphia at the New Jersey entrance to the Lincoln Tunnel on Friday.

By Victor E. Sasson
Editor

The most remarkable thing about Roger Bowne of Pompton Lakes -- a 6-foot-3 man who cross-dressed in public for 30 years -- is that The Record's local news editors apparently ignored him until he died.

His obituary is just about the only interesting bit of reading in today's Sunday edition, which is weighed down by leaden campaign coverage, an idiotic Page 1 headline and boring columns from Staff Writers John Cichowski and Mike Kelly (L-1 and O-1).

The headline over the front-page photos of Barbara Buono and Governor Christie declares:

Last shots of campaign

So, are readers to believe the GOP bully and his Democratic challenger are taking a day off from campaigning on Monday, the day before the gubernatorial election? 

Aren't the last salvos going to be fired then? What moron wrote that headline, and what supervisor approved it?

Forked tongue

The supposed big news is that Christie is watching his infamous tongue, but what is unreported in this so-called analysis is the foul, expletive-filled language he must use in private (A-1).

Can you imagine what he says about the homosexuals, low-wage workers and teachers he targeted during his first term?

The Record's coverage of the campaign has failed miserably by ignoring Christie's terrible record, including his inability to revive the state's economy after the recession or to keep his promise to lower property taxes.

He's just 'Roger'

The Bowne obituary mentions only one publication that paid any attention to the cross-dresser, the magazine Weird N.J., which featured him in a photo spread in 2009, when his "legend peaked" (A-4).

Of course, there are a number of freaks among the paper's local news editors, and that might explain why Bowne escaped notice until now.

Still lazy

After an absence of a couple of weeks, Road Warrior John Cichowski is back with another column that ignores the commuting woes of the majority and focuses on a driver's complaint, this time about towing charges (L-1).

The lazy columnist misses the biggest lesson here: Don't neglect regular maintenance if you plan to drive your car into the ground.

More Kelly crap

What's the point of Kelly's O-1 column about Cory Booker, who was sworn in on Thursday as a U.S. senator?

Harrington Park and Bergen County's other overwhelmingly white suburbs may have tolerated an occasional mixed-race family such as the Bookers, but they certainly don't deserve any medals for integration.

Virtually all of the county's minorities live in three communities, Hackensack, Teaneck and Englewood.

That is no coincidence. Sadly, it the dark side of home rule The Record has ignored for decades.