TruthNews Commentary, August 17, 2004

Only a Democrat would use a sex scandal to cover up a corruption scandal.

New Jersey governor Jim McGreevey, an obscure political figure until Thursday, came out of the closet to announce that he was resigning because he'd had an affair with another man. The event made national news as McGreevey announced to the nation, "My truth is that I am a gay American."

Well, ho hum. This is about as newsworthy as if the governor announced that he were short. Who cares if the governor of New Jersey is gay, straight, bisexual, or whatever other sexual orientation there might be? Well, maybe the people of New Jersey care, but the event hardly seems worthy of resigning over. For a Republican, groping a woman 20 years ago is evidence of rampant hypocrisy and moral turpitude, but when a Democrat announces that he's cheated on his wife by having sex with another man, it could be a tactic to get more votes -- "vote for me, I'm gay!"

So why is this guy resigning, rather than riding the wave of publicity generated by his announcement to another term as governor? Well, as usual, there's more to the story than was covered in the news media on Thursday.

McGreevey's supporters claim that he resigned because his former homosexual lover tried to blackmail him. This is a man that McGreevey put on the state payroll in a critical homeland security post. The security advisor claims that he's straight, that McGreevey made repeated sexual advances toward him, and that he's suing McGreevey for sexual harassment. Neither version of the story puts McGreevey in a very favorable light. Whether he's a corrupt politician who put his lover on the state payroll, or simply a person in power who tried to put the moves on a defenseless subordinate, he still comes out looking like a cad.

However, this wasn't McGreevey's first brush with scandal:

• One of McGreevey's fundraisers, a gent by the name of David D'Amiano, was indicted on federal charges July 6 for extorting $40,000 from a farmer negotiating with the state.

• The top donor to McGreevey's 2001 gubernatorial campaign, Charles Kushner, was charged with hiring a prostitute to obstruct a federal investigation. Prosecutors allege that Kushner paid the prostitute $25,000 to lure a witness -- Kushner's own brother-in-law -- into a compromising position, videotaping it, and sending the tape to the man's wife.

• McGreevey's nominee for police superintendent, Joseph Santiago, turned out to have a criminal record for assault and was forced to step aside. It seems that McGreevey was using the "It takes a thief to catch a thief" philosophy -- only in this case, using a mugger to catch muggers.

Although McGreevey has announced his resignation, he doesn't actually plan to leave office until two months from now, on November 15. By postponing his resignation until after the election, McGreevey is ensuring that he'll be succeeded by a fellow Democrat -- specifically, the president of the New Jersey State Senate, Richard J. Codey, who will become acting governor until McGreevey's term ends January 2006. If McGreevey resigned now, the people would elect a new governor in November. McGreevey doesn't want that, though. The people of New Jersey might actually think that they live in a democracy.

We're not sure what McGreevey meant when he said, "My truth is that I am a gay American." He could have just said, "I'm a gay American." Presumably he meant, "My version of the truth is that I'm a gay American." As opposed to, for example, "The truth is that I'm a corrupt, philandering, sexual harasser who put people on the state payroll so I could hit on them."

One wonders what's next for McGreevey. Perhaps if John Kerry is elected president, he'll appoint McGreevey as the first openly gay cabinet member -- maybe the Secretary of Homeland Security, since McGreevey seems to have such expertise in that topic. And if Kerry loses, McGreevey can always become a priest.