In his speech yesterday NJ's governor, Jim McGreevey, announced he was resigning and that he was gay. Being gay has nothing to do with why he should resign; but, he has forced the two issues together in peoples' minds so as to force out of peoples' minds the real story here:
scandalous patronage.
This is a story of McGreevey's corruption, and he's tried to turn it into a story of his martyrdom as a "gay American." He placed his Israeli lover on the public payroll in a six-figure job as security adviser, and job Mr. Golan Cipel, as a poet, wasn't qualified for.
Imagine if you went to your employer and said, "I can't work here anymore. I'm gay." The reaction of my employer, for one, would be, "What the f#$% difference does being gay make?!"
But imagine then that you left it up to your colleagues to tell your boss, "Oh, by the way, he also took his boyfriend [or girlfriend] out on the company's credit card to Le Cirque every Friday night for years and let the person use the company postage machine, and showed the person all employees' records, and our company's financial statements."
An acquaintance of mine from politics, who's now back to journalism, Jonathan Capehart, observes in today's Daily News:
"Let me be clear. That McGreevey is hightailing it out of Trenton under an ethical cloud thicker than the smog over the New Jersey Turnpike makes me suspicious of his motives in wrapping himself in the rainbow flag. No doubt he wants to generate sympathy. When it comes to allegations of criminality, blackmail and sexual harassment, coming out of the closet cannot, should not and must not be a shield from scrutiny and possible prosecution."
Even the New York Post gets it right today:
"'It makes little difference that as governor I am gay,' McGreevey said. He's right. But the sad fact is that McGreevey seriously abused his public position and his responsibility to the people he governed. And that is why he had to resign."
A pat on the back for coming out of the closet, Jimmy, but beyond that, neither gay Americans nor the people of New Jersey will see little in your resignation speech that they should be grateful to you for.