Spadea — Boston Globe's attack on NJ was a 'wake-up call'

Fake news alert! The President is not on vacation! He's out of the White House for 17 days, that's true. But negotiating sanctions and economic policy while displaced from the HVAC work being done at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. is certainly not a vacation.

The Boston Globe thought to run a pleasant article about the President's so-called vacation and targeted the location as if that would be the last place on earth that anyone would take a vacation. Let's just take at face value the premise that this is a vacation, which it clearly is not.

Then let's take the attack on Jersey. Snookie, spray tans, traffic and "The Sopranos." Which of these attacks isn't true? We really have earned a bit of a bad reputation through the years through stereotypes exacerbated by reality television. Why is everyone so upset at the Globe? This is far less an attack on Jersey than it is a slight on President Trump.

The funny thing is Bedminster, like so many other wealthier towns in Jersey, has very little in common with the reality-show stereotypes. Funny that many of the same people defending Jersey against Boston — knocking the people, the town and the sports teams — are the same people quick to bash Jersey for traffic, shore culture and taxes. As far as sports, let's get a dose of reality...even if you love the Eagles, Giants or the Jets, can you really make an argument that the Patriots and their coach/quarterback combo are one of the best professional football has ever seen?

New Jerseyans are arguably the most self-loathing people in America! We love to attack and hate the way our state is run, how we treat out-of-staters and then celebrate the fact that so many have an "Exit Plan."

Wanna get mad at the Globe for pointing out the truth about how we are perceived? Go ahead. Meanwhile, as one of the many who are #DigginIn, I take this as another wake-up call to fight for change. Our state has a lot wrong with it, and I am fighting every day to fix it. What do you think our boardwalk-fighting, state house-fixing, nacho-eating; pocket-lining, beach chair-sitting governor has done to the reputation of our state?

Stop attacking New Englanders for pointing out what we all know to be true. We gotta fix our reputation. The road to recovery starts in 163 days from today. For now, leave the Bostonians alone and get back to work fighting to make our state better.

*Full Disclosure, Bill Spadea's wife Jodi is from New England.

Spadea — Boston Globe’s attack on NJ was a ‘wake-up call’