Governor McGreevey (D-NJ) resigned this afternoon after a former male aide apparently tried to extort money from McGreevey in return for not revealing their affair. McGreevey’s resignation is online through the CBS affiliate in New York.
Governor McGreevey (D-NJ) resigned this afternoon after a former male aide apparently tried to extort money from McGreevey in return for not revealing their affair. McGreevey’s resignation is online through the CBS affiliate in New York.
The extortion wasn't a good thing...but all I can say, is hey, if he'd upheld his vows to his wife, it wouldn't have become an issue. I sense he'll use the 'coming out' as a way to excuse his infidelity. It's also nice strategy to make his resignation effective AFTER election day to insure the appointment of another Democrat (for a year) rather than face an election with a highly popular Republican in the mix.
ReplyDeleteJason, re: the affair, his comments in his resignation speech: "It was wrong. It was foolish. It was inexcusable." I think that addresses your comment that, "I sense he'll use the 'coming out' as a way to excuse his infidelity."
ReplyDeleteAs for the timing of the resignation itself, I'd love to know more about Golan Cipel's motivations for his extortion attempt. In principle, however, if McGreevy's stepping down, it should be effective immediately.
I know, I listened to him after hearing the rumor he was resigning and the allegations. When he first started talking, I honestly thought to myself, "this guy sounds like he's coming out of the closet"...and then, bam! If only the winning lotto numbers were that easy to forsee.
ReplyDeleteLet me be clear about my statement re: the excuse I forsee. I heard alot of cheering in the background when he finished, and I'm willing to bet the gay lobby will lift him up as a hero. As such, I'm anticipating they'll excuse his actions on the grounds, "he was just confused, it's not his fault - you'd know if you were one of us"...and the real issue will be lost in the gay pride marches. Was more of myself "thinking out loud" than anything.
I agree that if he deems his actions worthy of resignation, how does he justify 3 more months of continued service paid for by taxpayers?
Seems like trouble was already brewing. From the CNN story on his resignation:
ReplyDeleteA Quinnipiac University poll released August 4 showed McGreevey's approval among state voters fell sharply after two Democratic fund-raisers were indicted on federal charges in July -- one of them accused of lining up prostitutes to discredit a witness in a tax fraud investigation, the other accused of extortion.
Resigning for the gay affair is probably a better out than getting indicted.
I don't know if I qualify as the "gay lobby," but I found McGreevey's comments about being in the closet genuine and moving. Having said that, I have mixed opinions on his resignation.
ReplyDeleteOn the one hand, if he was being subject to extortion, he did the right thing by resigning. It doesn't matter so much that he timed his resignation to give Dems a political advantage; the important thing was to thwart the effect of extortion on the people of New Jersey. He did that at a high personal cost.
The other hand, though, is extremely disappointed that his resignation could be interepreted as resigning because he's gay. It sends a message that gay people can't be chief executives. I would have much preferred to see him announce that he was gay, explain the reason for the announcement, and continue as Governor. Apparently, there are a lot of other factors involved (including his unpopularity and scandals in NJ), so I don't know if it was possible to make that statement. It would have been nice. As it is, it just reinforces the homophobes in their belief that you can't trust gays in government.
If all politicians had to resign because they'd had affairs, gay or otherwise, there'd be few politicians left on either side of the aisle.
ReplyDeleteThere is something more here, and I wonder if we'll ever find out.