A stunning admission by Gov. James E. McGreevey (D-New Jersey) today. "I am a gay American," he said at a press conference announcing his resignation, which is effective Nov. 15. Why not resign now? Because if he resigns within sixty days of a general election, he replacement would be elected this November, not next. With NJ in play in the Presidential election, the state's democrats don't want to get more voters to the polls who might vote Republican.
I'm hearing on the radio the man McGreevey had an affair with he promoted to head the homeland security department of New Jersey, a man with not only had zero law enforcement experience, but who also was denied a security clearance. Is it possible McGreevey was being blackmailed? The word is his lover is filing a sexual harassment lawsuit. What a scandal!
Maybe so...but it could just be a smokescreen for the financial lapses....
Sounds a bit like Bishop Robert "No Eucharistic Adoration" Lynch of St. Petersburg/Tampa promoting a triathlete with no PR experience to be his diocesan spokesman a few years ago. After the married man had had enough of Lynch taking him on trips and forcing him to share hotel rooms, constantly being showered with expensive gifts, and other unwelcome attention, the guy finally resigned and sued Lynch for sexual harassment for $100,000.
McGreevey's walking a fine line. Once the harassee sues, dirty laundry could become public. He may find that he can't remain governor until Nov. 15 to protect his party.
I think there's also more to the McGreevey resignation than simply the seuxal aspect. McGreevey's various corruption scandals relating to fundraising may have more to them than we know. We'll find out in coming months.
Sal,
The D-Uranus thing is a pretty vulgar joke. Is it really appropriate for a blog like Catholic Light?
What a dirty mind you have! I admit I didn't get THAT aspect of the joke until just now. I merely thought it was an allusion to McGreevey's record of governing as though he were from another planet.
Franklin,
Given the context of Governor's announcement, I thought the dirty interpretation was pretty obvious. It's possible that Sal didn't intend it that way, but that seems unlikely since there are seven other planets he could have used as McGreevy's point of origin.
Oh, I'm not saying you are wrong, or that he didn't mean it that way, merely that if he did, then the two of you seem to be on the same wavelength.
What a bunch of pervy fellas!
You know, if only we allowed governors to marry, we wouldn't have sexual harassment problems like this.
Sorry, someone had to make the joke.=)
Scandal abounds on this one. Reuters has more details here.
Just the high points, though:
1.) McGreevey had a "Catholic upbringing," which is suggested as playing a role in his "identity" anxiety. (No doubt all those "inhibitions", dontcha know?)
2.) He's on record as opposing gay marriage, and had his AG stop the town of Asbury Park from issuing marriage certificates. (Can you hear the chorus of accusations of hypocrisy from the advocates of the most recent sacrament of the Left?)
3.) He's being sued for sexual misconduct by his boyfriend. (How is that possible in "an adult consensual affair"?)
4.) Not only did the boyfriend get a plum job ($110,000 /yr), but he's an Israeli national. (Is it really in the best interests of the people of NJ to have their Homeland Security overseen by a foreign national?)
5.) The boyfriend was one of McGreevy's campaign aides, and is a federal investigation already in progress into, um, "certain irregularities" (nudge, nudge, wink, wink) associated with that campaign.
I expect the press will turn this into an opportunity to beat the drum for gay marriage [bad], and to expose corruption in the whole new Homeland Security bureaucracy [good].
PLEASE someone---notice that Democrats NEVER take National Security seriously!!!
To appoint his lover---who couldn't even get National Security clearence himself---this is unspeakable.
Sheila,
That is the real reason he's resigning; that and other corruption rampant in his administration. He's just spinning himself as a gay martyr to save face and to get standing ovations from the media.