No wonder advisers to New Jersey governor Jim McGreevey are telling him to "tough out" the scandal, much in the manner of Clinton during his impeachment. Liberals in general and gay rights groups in particular are squawking over the controversy surrounding McGreevey because they don't believe personal and governmental responsibility should be the standard by which this case gets resolved.
The reason the McGreevey affair matters? Because it places heavy questions on his ability to govern responsibly. It is fitting to examine the nature under which his special assistant on Homeland Security issues, Isreali Golan Cipel, resigned. Cipel maintains that he was fired and made to "look ridiculous" by McGreevey and his staff and pressured (this including personal threats) to return quietly to Israel. This is material enough for a case worthy of investigation, even if Cipel's claims of sexual harassment get dismissed.
Let's also now add to this the fact that a major donor to McGreevey pleaded guilty to tax violations and witness tampering, and you get a pretty clear idea of just how tattered the governorship of New Jersey really is.
So this is not just about a man who had the courage to admit he was gay. He was going to be "outed" soon anyway as the scandal broke, so he decided to twist things by coming out - not of his own volition - in a press conference, his wife smiling goofily by his side. As with the race card, the sexuality card is a major player in Democratic politics, and McGreevey is hoping for an ace.
But, as ever, gay rights lobbies aren't paying heed to the facts surrounding the McGreevey scandal, choosing instead to make the governor their latest standard-bearer.
"He came out in a very open and human way," claims Lambda Legal spokesman Michael Adams. No, Mssr. Adams, the governor came out in a very sneaky, underhanded way. He is playing upon the sympathies of the gay community, and you and many of your cohorts are buying his whole sordid story.
Article comments
1 - Hal Pawluk
I agree with you on this one, and I'd have preferred his resigning now so an election could have been held this fall.
We may not agree on Rodney Alexander, a Republican (now) who pulled a trick I think is at least as dishonest. He was a Democrat, taking their money, until 15 minutes before the end of the qualifying period for his House seat then switched his registration to Republican, leaving no time for Democrats to field a candidate.
From what I read about this, his action was in violation of Louisiana law, but I see today that a lawsuit got transfered to a federal judge (I have no idea on how to keep Louisiana politics straight).
Anyhow, for what it's worth, they're both the kind of politician this country would be better of without, in my book.
2 - Michael Croft
I'm not convinced that there isn't a connection between this and the case against Kushner. I think he played the "my truth is I am a Gay American" card to shift focus.
For all that it's a distraction from the question of whether his truth is also that he's a "Corrupt American", it was a well-played political show. But yeah, I'd like honest representation in Trenton, gay or straight doesn't matter.
3 - RJ
"We may not agree on Rodney Alexander, a Republican (now) who pulled a trick I think is at least as dishonest. He was a Democrat, taking their money, until 15 minutes before the end of the qualifying period for his House seat then switched his registration to Republican, leaving no time for Democrats to field a candidate."
Pretty sleazy, yes. Right up there with "Mr. Independence," Jim Jeffords, who decided he was no longer a Republican very quickly after winning a six-year term to the US Senate as a ... Republican (and taking hundreds of thousands of dollars in campaign contributions from people who thought they were helping to elect an actual Republican, and not a Democrat in Independent's clothing...).
4 - Mac Diva
This episode is about the filthier than a pig sty thing known as politics in New Jersey, period. As someone who once tromped that muddy and bloody turf as a journalist, I can assure you there ain't nothing new about pay offs, kick backs, under the table and in the bed. Pick your sleaziness and New Jersey just might beat Louisiana to the table. Nor is the corruption about partisanship. It is about itself.
Michael Croft and Hal Pawluk, Blogcritics with brains, gets it. McGreevey is an all to typical New Jersey pol. That means compromised in more ways than a hermaphrodite prostitute. Yes, I accept the truth of his sudden admission to having been on the down-low for years. But, it was done for convenience. If the focus remains on 'Wow! I wonder who was on top?' the sizeable array of dubious acts he engaged in during his tenure may not result in investigation or indictment of his friends . . . or himself. Perhaps McGreevey would have come out of the closet at some point anyway, but he found a way for his confession to do double duty.
5 - Mac Diva
Oops! I forgot to address the slur against the entire gay and African-American populations of the U.S. in the last grafs.
It is true that McGreevey signed a bill in January that recognizes same-sex partnerships. This, apparently, is all it takes to gain unquestioning support from some members of gay rights lobbies.
I just think it's sad. It would be nice if everyone, regardless of their racial or sexual identity, would take the time to examine what the McGreevey scandal is all about. But instead, as we famously saw with O.J. Simpson nine years ago, a whole community of people who focus on only one aspect of their lives are willing to subvert facts for group-mentality ideology - and in the case of McGreevey, infidelity, sexual harassment and underhanded governmental shenanigans be damned.
This is completely unjustified. All African-Americans no more believed O.J. Simpson was innocent than all white people believed he was guilty. (Some African-Americans did believe Simpson guilty, but support the verdict because it did to white victims what the system has done to black victims of whites for forever.) Nor do all gay Americans support the chicanery of Jim McGreevey. These are the kind of insulting claims that make the Right about as welcome among minorities as dead skunks.
Typo correction to previous comment: "get it."
6 - boomcrashbaby
It is true that McGreevey signed a bill in January that recognizes same-sex partnerships. This, apparently, is all it takes to gain unquestioning support from some members of gay rights lobbies.
There is nowhere in the article from yahoo, that you linked to, that substantiates this claim. It is patently false. You do not know why the gay community is rallying behind McGreevey. This is your assumption and it's just flat out wrong, Mark.
The article states that the gay community acknowledges he's done wrong, possibly even illegal activities. The article makes it clear that the gay community does not support that. How you could gloss over that is beyond me. The article even states that some members of the gay community request he step down now. How you could gloss over that is beyond me.
The gay community is rallying behind an individual who SAYS he has had a lifetime of questioning and the closet. The gay community KNOWS what that is like, and NOBODY else can comprehend it. The gay community KNOWS that such a psychological burden CAN lead someone to exactly where McGreevy is today. The gay community that knows the closet, also knows, like the community of abused women know, what such mistakes such a psychological burden can lead people to make.
Now, is he telling the truth about the burden or is he seeking sympathy from the gay community in an attempt to deflect attention from his apparent crimes? There is NO WAY to tell at this point. Anything else is guesswork and we do NOT disregard the basic American principle of Innocent Until PROVEN Guilty. And if it comes, we will consider him guilty. But NOT before.
combining comments:
These are the kind of insulting claims that make the Right about as welcome among minorities as dead skunks
Amen, Mac Diva. People are questioning how I derive my opinion of conservatives on other blogs. THIS is how. Conservatives rant full of assumptions, fallacies, and harmful rhetoric, based on nothing but a view from their own ideological lens, painting us all with a broad brush. Sorry folks, you get what you sow, and it comes back to you.
When I first came to this site, I was commended often for being civil in the face of adversity. I'm becoming less so, the more I read many of the blogs posted here, and maybe it's time I get back to my own blog, and go to more exclusively 'pro-liberal' blogs. The constant rhetoric, assumptions and falsehood from the Right is just tiring and depressing. It can make one forget there are still honest, caring people in the world. What we have here is somebody who is NOT of the gay community telling the world the gay communities motivation and getting NO facts (from the links posted) to substantiate said claims. Falwell would be proud.
We are all supposed to be in this (life) together. But look - White religious conservatives have Europe hating them (see anti-Americanism thread). They have people in other countries hating them. (see any Jim Carruthers comment and know that he is not alone) They have minorities of race or orientation angry at them. They now have the millions of immigrants in this country mad at them. They have Islamic fundamentalists filled with deadly hatred towards them. The world perception of them could not be lower. AND STILL, nobody stops to think of why this is. (and I mean RATIONALLY think, put your emotions and the sudden defensive wall that comes up, aside and look at what is going on).
But you still won't see it. There ain't no more room in the basement folks.
7 - RJ
So, Boom, I guess you think Americans DESERVE to be hated?
And why is that?
8 - Wldfillie
Who really cares if he's gay. The point is a gay man had no right to get married to a woman then have a child, then decide to "come out of the closet" when his daughter is so young. If he really loved that child he would have unselfishly stuck it out until she was older and perhaps able to handle this mess that he's made. I don't blame Dina for being very angry he married her perhaps so he could have a political career she's another victim of the fallout of his mess.