A New Role Model for the Left

New Jersey Governor Resigns, Admits Gay Affair.

Doesn't that sounds like somebody talking about a cocktail party from the 1930's? "It was a gay affair, I tell you! Glenn Miller's Orchestra really had the joint jumpin'!"

In a stunning declaration, Gov. James E. McGreevey announced his resignation Thursday and acknowledged that he had an affair with another man. "My truth is that I am a gay American," he said with his wife by his side at a nationally televised news conference.

Thank God he cleared that up - I was about to question his patriotism! Wait, there's more!

"Shamefully, I engaged in adult consensual affairs with another man, which violates my bonds of matrimony," the twice-married father of two said. "It was wrong, it was foolish, it was inexcusable."

McGreevey, 47, refused to answer questions at the Statehouse news conference. He said "it makes little difference that as governor I am gay," but added that staying in office and keeping the affair and his sexual orientation secret will leave the governor's office "vulnerable to rumors, false allegations and threats of disclosure."

How could he be any more vulnerable to rumors or allegations? Once he's outed, shouldn't he just go back to work? Don't the children of New Jersey need a gay democratic Governor more than any other kind of Governor? And where did this all start for the Governor, you ask?

As a candidate and governor, the former altar boy proudly discussed his Catholic faith but publicly disagreed with church leaders over his support for abortion rights and same-sex partnerships. He pushed for the state's domestic partnership law, which went into effect this year.

In an announcement that at times was deeply introspective, McGreevey referred to his lifelong struggles with his sexuality.

Now, I'm not trying to say anything about the Catholics, but...

It certainly sounds like the good Governor was taken in by a con man, granted, apparently a really hot con man, who portrayed himself as a security specialist. Maybe what he meant was that the Governor could feel "secure" in his loving arms.

Two sources close to McGreevey, both speaking on condition of anonymity, said the man involved in the affair was Golan Cipel, an Israeli poet who worked briefly for the governor as a homeland security adviser despite having no security experience.

One source, a senior McGreevey political adviser, said Cipel threatened McGreevey several weeks ago that unless he was paid "millions of dollars," Cipel would file a lawsuit against the governor charging him with sexual harassment.

That source said a lawyer for Cipel "indicated that should the money be paid, Cipel would disappear until after the 2005 election."

The second source, a high-ranking member of the McGreevey administration, said Cipel made several threats about a lawsuit and demanded "an exorbitant sum of money to make it go away." Cabinet members and administration officials learned of that threat Wednesday night, the official said.

As the good Mrs. Holmes pointed out last night, while enraptured by the "I'm a Gay American" speech, at least all this pain and suffering heaped upon the good people of New Jersey was because it was a love affair. It's better that it was for true love rather than some type of seedy carnal pleasure.

And where is the rainbow lobby on this?

Gay rights groups expressed support and compassion for McGreevey, but their reactions were tinged with sorrow because McGreevey announced his resignation just as he became the nation's first openly gay governor.

"It is a very sad to thing to watch. It is kind of stunning, sad to me that in 2004 people are still having to struggle because of homophobia in society to come to terms with who they are," said Kevin Cathcart, executive director of Lambda Legal.

Sadly, Lambda Lobby, you miss the point once again. This would be a character issue whether the love affair was with a man or a woman. I realize that's hard for your ilk to wrap your minds around, but it's about what extra-marital affairs say about a person's character - not that they are *gasp* gay. But then again, one of your primary goals is to put the final nail in the coffin of traditional marriage, so this story only goes to bolster your position on how tyrannical the institution truly is. Good luck, Governor.