resurrectionsong

August 12, 2004

McGreevey's Resignation

This isn't meant to be overly judgmental, but I have a few thoughts that I wanted to quickly air about Governor McGreevey resignation/coming out today.

1. I don't care if you are straight or gay, cheating on your spouse is wrong. In and of itself, this doesn't necessarily mean that I believe a resignation is always necessary (although when it involves an abuse of the power of your elected position, a resignation is the honorable thing to do).

2. If the allegations of sexual harasment of one of his appointees is true, then McGreevey is doing the right thing. It's far too early to say whether the allegation holds weight, though.

3. His coming out shouldn't be a cover for misuse of the power of his office. Sexual harassment of an employee is serious business. While I applaud McGreevey for doing the right thing--that is, sparing his office a nasty legal battle during which his ability to govern would be seriously undercut--if he did what he is accused of, he has committed a crime.

4. His coming out shouldn't be an occasion for gay-bashing. Anti-gay opportunists shouldn't see this as some vindication for straights or an indictment of gays. After all, we'll always have Bill Clinton on our side of the sexual fence, and his behavior has been less than stellar (and, yes, that's an opportunistic slam about Clinton, and, yes, there are numerous other examples I could have chosen).

Perhaps that won't happen. Perhaps I'm worried about both sides of that argument a little too much. The fact is, I don't believe his sexual orientation should be the central concern here; what the conversation should revolve around is what he did or didn't do that was contrary to any reasonable standard of ethics for a man in his position.

McGreevey is no hero for the damage he's done and about to do to his family, but he is, at least in this instance, an honorable man who could easily have stayed in office and made a bad situation even worse.

Posted by zombyboy at August 12, 2004 04:37 PM | TrackBack

Comments

I agree. His sexual orientation is immaterial.

My gut reaction is that there were too many allegations coming from too many angles to be worth fighting (infidelity, harassment of subordinate, and some corruption accusations), even if none of them are true.

Kinda like how Jack Ryan had to resign his campaign in Illinois based on unproven allegations in a supposedly sealed divorce document that neither party wanted opened and had zero impact on his ability to serve...

Posted by: nathan at August 12, 2004 05:31 PM

Yeah, kinda like that...

Posted by: zombyboy at August 12, 2004 05:34 PM

Honorable man? I respectfully disagree. McGreevey's tenure in office has been filled with deceitfulness since the day he was inaugurated. Here is another politician who has used the power of his office to gain sexual favors. What the Democrats learned from Clinton is that if you tough-it-out and lie enough, you can get away with anything.

The honorable thing would have been to not enter into a marriage where you knew you couldn't keep your vows; to not break campaign finance laws; to not have hired a man because you want to go to bed with him; to have not lied about the credentials of the one you lust after; and, when the truth begins to come out, to not continue lying about the whole sordid affair and dragging your family and state through the mud.

I have no sympathy for McGreevey whatsoever. His life was one big lie that he kept perpetuating, and it is his constituents who have, and will continue pay the price. The State of New Jersey will end up footing the bill for Cipel's lawsuit, all because McGreevey refused to be honorable.

Posted by: Remy Logan at August 12, 2004 05:38 PM

As I said, I think he's being honorable in the decision to resign--much of the rest of what you've said I agree with.

The great majority of my sympathy is reserved for his (second) wife and children.

Posted by: zombyboy at August 12, 2004 05:43 PM

I don't think there's anything honorable about it. I think that Gov. McGreedy simply tried to push the focus from 'I'm a crook' to 'I'm gay', with the subtext of 'those nasty, prudish Republicans peeping into my bedroom'.
Ever notice that when one of us Pubbies gets caught up in a sex scandal it's always something sexual like Strom Thurmand getting a little on the side or Jack Ryan trying for a little sex club action while with a Donk it always seems to somehow involve the taxpayer's dime? What's up with that?

Posted by: Peter at August 13, 2004 11:14 AM

The more I read, the less honorable he seems.

He apparently hired an uncleared person to be a security advisor, sexually harassed a subordinate, cheated on his wife, then attempted to pre-empt criticism before any of the allegations about this could come to light by announcing his resignation in terms of anticipating being hounded out of office because he is gay. What the heck does, "I am a gay American" have to do with infidelity and sexual harassment? Is he really implying that being gay means not being able to stop yourself from cheating and harassing...?
And then there's the whole deal of resigning at the point that means New Jersey gets stuck with an appointed governer for two years without getting a chance to vote for him...

I may be wrong in some details, but that's what I've garnered from various commentary. Let me know if I'm wrong on any point.

Posted by: Nathan at August 14, 2004 09:45 AM

I agree with Nathan. The "honorable" thing to do would have been to resign immediately and allow - you know - democracy to take place.

Posted by: bryan at August 14, 2004 01:07 PM