"Why New Jersey Will Never Shed Our Rotten Reputation"

  I'm not exactly a World Traveler, but I have visited the Midwest (Michigan, Indiana, Minnesota, Wisconsin) many, many times over the years.  Additionally, I have friends from many different parts of the country other than the Midwest. And I can tell you this with total certainty: New Jersey has a bad reputation across America. Most think it's an ugly, desolate place filled with GANGSTERS and "The Sopranos" TV show, which took place in Jersey, certainly DID NOT HELP that perception.

I "never" watched that show (though I do plan to see the movie "The Many Saints of Newark," a Sopranos PREQUEL, if it ever comes out)!! That's because I'm FROM Newark, and the movie was made after James Gandolfini, the original "Sopranos" star, died. I don't ever recall a movie made about Newark, therefore for me it's "must see."

And I did watch five minutes of the FINAL "Sopranos" TV episode because my company cleaned the carpets in the restaurant where that final episode was filmed, the night before the filming. So I'm not a "Sopranos" EXPERT but I've read enough about the show to know it's filled with murders, "f-bombs" and immorality, and filmed entirely in my home state.

And now, our illustrious Governor (a DEMOCRAT of course) has actually named a rest stop on The Garden State Parkway (our pre-eminent road) after GANDOLFINI, the late star of "The Sopranos"!!  BRILLIANT. Here's Governor Murphy's Tweet....

 (Gandolfini's Rest Stop is in MONTVALE, which borders New York State, so it will be the first rest stop available to anyone traveling from the north, driving to or through New Jersey, heading south).

It's not just MURPHY but our PREVIOUS Governor, Chris Christie, a RINO Republican, foolishly honored Gandolfini as well. He had all the flags in the state lowered to half-staff when Gandolfini died.

MISSING FROM THE LIST ABOVE is Grover Cleveland, the 22nd and 24th President of the United States, our only President who served two non-consecutive terms. Considering that Cleveland was BORN in New Jersey and DIED in New Jersey, you'd think HE might have had one of the rest stops named after HIM!! 

But no...we have the actor who starred in The Sopranos, instead.

New Jersey will never shed our rotten reputation, I'm afraid.

"We" just don't seem to WANT to shed it!!