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Aug
12
2004

Get Out the Map II: Really? What Exit??…

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August 12, 2004

Does this mean that Mrs. McGreevey is now available?? ;)

In a surprise move, Jim McGreevey, the Governor of the State of New Jersey, resigned today at a press conference. McGreevey, married and a father of two, announced his resignation from the Governor’s office. The cable news outlets broke into their broadcasts to announce this development, and they all carried a similar Chiron graphic at the bottom of their telecast:
NJ GOVERNOR: “I’M A GAY AMERICAN.”
I’m sure you’ve heard of this by now even though it happened just a few short hours ago. Here’s a quick rundown of the highlights:

  • The Governor says that he’s grappled with his identity since childhood.
  • McGreevey isn’t leaving office until November 15.
  • He has admitted to an extra-marital affair with another man–who also worked for him.
  • A member of his administration has anonymously admitted that McGreevey was the target of an extortion attempt by the former state employee with whom he had his affair.
    The only problem is he never said why he was resigning. The networks all all equating his resignation with the fact that he’s admitted he’s gay. The media has drunk the Kool-Aid that McGreevey has conveniently poured for them.
    It doesn’t matter one bit that Jim McGreevey is gay, and it’s certainly no reason to resign. In fact, as a Democrat, it’s probably an even better political reason for him to stay on the job. There are openly gay elected officials even at the Federal level.
    OK, so he did something wrong in having an extra-marital affair. If Bill Clinton is any precedent, then at least in theory, the Chief Executive’s sex life isn’t grounds for dismissal from office. What he did is between the Governor and Mrs. McGreevey–however they decide to handle this situation.
    So, that all begs the question, why is the Governor leaving?
    Well, let’s start here: McGreevey has been dogged by scandals involving his top campaign donors. Quoting from the website of radio 1010 WINS in New York, “One scandal involved a fund-raiser charged with trying to extort $40,000 in donations from a farmer in exchange for help in getting a better price for his land.”
    Then, “real estate developer Charles Kushner, McGreevey’s biggest campaign contributor, was charged with trying to thwart a federal campaign-finance investigation by luring a grand jury witness — his own brother-in-law — into a compromising position with a prostitute and sending a video of the liaison to the man’s family.”
    USA Today has even more:

  • His first chief of staff, Gary Taffet, is under investigation, along with former McGreevey counsel Paul Levinsohn, for securing contracts to put up billboards on public property at the same time they were running McGreevey’s campaign. Taffet has also been charged with insider trading in an unrelated case.
  • Attorney General Peter Harvey was fined $1,500 in February and agreed to reimburse two boxing promoters $2,200 after obtaining free ringside passes for his wife and two guests in Atlantic City.
  • McGreevey’s commerce secretary, William Watley, quit earlier this month amid reports he funneled money to businesses owned by him and family members.
    Suffice it to say people in New Jersey were starting to doubt the Governor’s character based on the conduct of his contributors and staff.
    If McGreevey’s resignation had taken effect before September 15, New Jersey state law would have required a special gubernatorial election on November 2. Instead, he’s hanging out for a bit and then turning the reins over to Senate President Richard Codey will be appointed as acting governor.Sen. Jon Corzine is the intended 2005 gubernatorial candidate for the Democrats in New Jersey. They don’t want to risk the special election on November 2 because they’re pretty worried they’re going to lose.
    Five different scandals–not one of them mentioned as the reason for his resignation. Instead, he admitted to an affair and came out of the closet, making that sound like the reason for his resignation. His being gay has NOTHING to do with this resignation, and the media needs to report this situation for what it is and not just buy into the spin.
    If Jim McGreevey wants to come out to the world as a “gay American,” then that’s great. That’s his right to do so and I applaud his courage and hope that he’s able to maintain his relationship with his family.
    However, he shouldn’t use that to deflect the real reason for his departure and help the Democrats in New Jersey maintain the political status quo. The voters of New Jersey deserve better.
    William Smith
    ConservativeBlogger.com

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