A Frail Flower Blooms in the Garden State

Base10 apologizes for not posting for a few days. But away we go...

Friday brought some stunning news out of New Jersey. Governor Jim McGreevey has anounced his resignation effective November 15 because of an homosexual affair that he had with an aide. The aide, Golan Cipel, was both the Governor's Homeland Security and then a "Special Advisor" when it was revealed he could not get security clearance because he is not a US citizen. The McGreevey camp is claiming that Cipel was trying to blackmail him, demanding $5 million to remain quiet. Cipel on the otherhand is saying he is the victim of sexual harrassment.

McGreevey is obviously trying to position himself as both a victim and as a potential future candidate. Indeed, many newspapers are suggesting that the Governor's dalliances were really no secret. Isn't the real issue here not that McGreevey is gay, but that he gave his lover a six-fugure patronage job at taxpayer expense? McGreevey's newfound gay pride seems to be no more than a politically expedient front. For example check out this quote in the Times piece:

Mr. McGreevey soon began preparing a speech to make to the public about his life and current circumstances. In doing so, he began conferring with directors at the Human Rights Campaign, a prominent gay advocacy group in Washington with which Mr. Fox was familiar. The most dramatic line the governor eventually uttered — "I am a gay American" — was developed by the group and was a poll-tested phrase used to reframe the debate about gay causes from one about sexual liberation to one about civil rights.

And it seems to have worked. Check out this quote from Steven Goldstein, chairman of Garden State Equality reported in CBS News:

There are millions of lesbians and gay citizens of America who know how very hard it is to come out as an openly lesbian or gay person, but to have to do so in such a public fashion like this, I cannot even imagine what the governor has gone through. My heart is filled with emotion and compassion and I know I speak for the whole lesbian and gay community not only for the governor but for his entire wonderful family.

The other issue about the resignation is the timing. McGreevey is delaying the resignation to avoid a special election should he resign before November. The NJ GOP is fuming and wants him to leave now.

UPDATE: Best cartoon depiction of the McGreevey Affair.
- posted by Base10 @ 10:39 AM