Campaign Sign for New Jersey Congressman Vandalized With Swastikas and Racist Graffiti

No one state or area in the US has a mandate or is immune to people who hate. I grew up in Newark, NJ and in the 60's, when at the shore we had to be careful not to stray into Ocean Grove, especially after dark as they liked to beat on us Jewish kids. Read Phillip Roth to get a taste of NJ hate. My wife has relatives in NJ who voted for trump.

Obviously, a single individual can accomplish this disgraceful, malicious, hateful, vile vandalism; as such, this may or may not reflect on the community at large. But one does have to wonder, where they get the idea that this is acceptable?

People have a general view of New Jersey as a semi-cosmopolitan region. It is in fact, surprisingly provincial and always has been. Though sidled up to Manhattan, it never ceased to amaze me that just across the river, suddenly, you were met by an endless series of underdeveloped humans. Such is still the case, although with the advent of the internet most have learned to appear civilized or at least walk erect. There are large swaths of Republican country in New Jersey. This particular area, Hunterdon County, is heavily Republican, has been for half a century now, and won't be changing any time soon. Tying 'Trumpisms' and anti-left dogma to anti-semitic iconography is what makes this incident distinctive. I would imagine the phraseology could be searched online, then narrowed down to individuals in the general area. That would narrow the pool of culprits down to a manageable investigation.