Good point... Do you think they were exceptions to the rule? Is there really a rule? Perhaps I'm wrong.
Probably more to it than we are hearing. Just having an affair is not something to resign over. He will probably get re-elected in the future because he came out so honestly. DD
comment from Kerry's camp : "Senator Kerry is a great admirer of Governor McGreevey, and will be working over the next weeks and months to build on an already strong personal and political relationship." developing...
Ask 100 married women, and I would imagine that an overwhelming majority would say that learning that thier husband was sleeping with a man on the side is far worse than learning he was sleeping with a woman.
of course if it was reversed, the overwhelming majority of married men would be aroused by their wives sleeping with another woman seriously though, if our society wasn't so homophobic to begin with, we'd have far fewer of these situations.
As it pertains to my post it has very little to do with homophobia. It has more to do with the jilted spouse feeling an enhanced sense of inadequacy.
i think you missed my point which is that gay men would not be marrying straight women if our society was more accepting of gay relationships. and IMO, it's not inadequacy as much as it is feeling like your entire relationship has been a lie.
What, has he flip-flopped since then? Sorry, that was Leno-eqsue but I couldn't resist. It's late, I'm a little punchy.
I would disagree on the grounds that society IS more tolerant of gay relationships. My best female friend and her significant other are a favorite double date for me and my wife for movies, concerts, pool, etc. Now as far as a politician is concerned, that is a wholly different matter.
read in the paper today that mcgreevey has actually been married twice. guy was really overcompensating... nytimes editorial this AM: http://www.nytimes.com/2004/08/13/opinion/13fri1.html?pagewanted=print&position= -- The New York Times August 13, 2004 The Governor's Secret Sooner or later, it was bound to happen: a major elected official's calling a press conference to tell constituents that he or she is gay. Yesterday, New Jersey's governor, James McGreevey, described his coming to grips with his sexual orientation with uncommon grace and dignity, offering an extraordinary glimpse into the private torment that can accompany a public life lived in the closet. "My truth is that I am a gay American,'' he said. If that had been the beginning and the end of the story, we would be celebrating Mr. McGreevey's candor, not assessing his resignation. But the story - like Mr. McGreevey's statement - was incomplete. The governor's announcement was reportedly driven by the threat of a sexual harassment lawsuit by a former aide, Golan Cipel. Mr. McGreevey, who has two children from his two marriages and whose wife stood next to him during his press conference, acknowledged that he had committed adultery with another man. He did not say that the man in question had worked for his administration. Gay or straight, that kind of relationship raises troubling questions, apart from the issue of whether it was consensual. Mr. Cipel was originally appointed as the governor's homeland security adviser, a job for which he had no discernable qualifications. If Mr. McGreevey put someone in that critical post because of a personal relationship, that would be an outrage, regardless of his sexual orientation. The timing of the governor's coming out was apparently driven by the potential lawsuit, and the timing of his resignation - Nov. 15 - was driven by a desire to avoid an interim election. As it stands, the State Senate president, Richard Codey, another Democrat, will inherit the executive office until the end of 2005. While the mechanics of trying to hold gubernatorial primaries and an election this year would be daunting, Mr. McGreevey's strategy doesn't serve New Jersey residents well. The state will be led by an embattled governor mired in personal and legal problems for three months. Then, because of the peculiarities of New Jersey's Constitution, Mr. Codey will simultaneously lead the Senate and the executive branch - an enormous amount of power for someone whose voter mandate comes only from a State Senate district in Essex County. Mr. McGreevey's governorship has, in a way, been similar to his dramatic performance yesterday. His goals were noble, and some of his accomplishments laudable - like the millionaire's tax he pushed through as a partial solution to the problem of the state's huge deficit, and his efforts to protect critically important watershed areas. But the story has always been marred by ethical questions swirling around his office. The cast of characters is long, and the details unsavory. They include a trash hauler and fund-raiser charged in a scheme to extort money from a farmer, and another fund-raiser who is accused of using a prostitute to try to silence a witness in a federal investigation. The governor, tape-recorded without his knowledge in a private meeting, was linked to one scandal when he uttered the word "Machiavelli," which prosecutors claimed was a code word. He has maintained that the use of the word was a coincidence. In the murky politics surrounding him, being gay may be the least complicated issue Mr. McGreevey could address - and that may explain why he did not delve into the other troubles in his speech.
the one aspect of this that really bothers me is not the gay affair, or even the apparent cronyism, or other possible corruption, but rather the suggestion, made implicit by the governor's remarks, that being gay precludes one from being an effective governor. as admirable as the way he came out, he sent an extremely mixed message, and that's regrettable. far better to have either said i'm gay, but that's not the issue, fighting these other charges will hinder my ability to serve the state, so i'm resigning. or, i'm gay, big deal, and i'm going to fight these scurrilous charges. as it was he tried to have it both ways, coming out, but not really addressing the real reasons he's resigning, leaving the impression he's doing so because he's gay. even if the rest of the country hasn't fully moved beyond such thoughts, surely a gay politician has.
Very strange. The news said speculation is centering around the idea that he resigned because he felt the aide would blackmail him in some way.
Yeah, apparently this is why this all came out. McCreevey contacted the FBI after he claims the aide attempted to extort $5 million from him.
It's a shame he let his personal life affect his public life, but I couldn't care less about what the governor of New Jersey does with his jimmy. Though the irony is duly noted.
Granted, folks' personal lives should be their own business, BUT when you are in a position of authority, any significant indiscretion can come back to bite you and affect your leadership abilities. For example, blackmail attempts could arise and the threat of blackmail or exposure could lead to credibility questions as to the decisions a leader has made regardless of the reason. Our leaders should not put themselves into positions where their personal lives can affect their ability to lead. When they commit indiscretions, then their personal lives DO (unfortunately) become our business because the possibility exists, it could affect us.
If this was just a matter of the governor having an extramarital affair -- regardless of the gender of the other person -- I don't understand why he would have to resign (unless he just wanted to). But it really seems to me that infidelity and homosexuality are part of this in only a peripheral way. In fact, if anything, it seems to me that he is hiding behind his sexual identity in order to shield himself from the actual problem. This is all about abuse of power, in my opinion. If he was straight and single, and had appointed his girlfriend to such an important position, I would have just as much of a problem with it. It seems to me that too many people are getting side-tracked on the infidelity/homosexuality aspect of this story. I don't believe for a moment that the point of the press conference yesterday was to merely confess that he is a homosexual American or that he had cheated on his wife. He was heading off the other problems at the pass. I don't remember his precise words, but he basically said that the infidelity/homsexuality is the reason he's stepping down. As more information comes out, it appears that there is another issue that he did not address yesterday. If anything, I think his confession merely gives him a chance to hold out until after the election. If these other issues came out first, I think he would have had to step down ASAP. As it is now, I think he may be able to ride it out until after the election.
