August 14, 2004
Coming Out, Not Clean
Governor McGreevey is gay, cheated on his wife - that's the good news...
New Jersey Governor James McGreevey, who announced his resignation on Thursday, attempted to frame his troubles and departure around his affair with another man, and his identity as a homosexual - an attempt to burn a fire break before the real inferno roils up.
McGreevey has been embattled lately for a myriad of reasons - from a brutal tax policy to election fundraising corruption. But the coming firestorm, apparently involving pending legal action from a former employee who McGreevey moved from position to position in an apparent bout of overt sexual cronyism, is what this resignation is about - not his affair, nor his sexuality.
McGreevey decided to set off this bomb in public so he could shape the effects, rather than have it go off and simply leave him as a casualty. While some have lauded his candor, this was a transparently self-serving move - he's painted himself as a tragic, sympathetic figure who has failed his wife, and grittily reveals his personal sexuality in full view of the public.
That is a crock.
McGreevey revealed these things not because of the weight on his conscience, but because they were about to be revealed for him. That is not forthrightness, that is calculated political massage.
Posted by MEC2 at August 14, 2004 11:14 AM