New Jersey Governor Quits, Comes Out As Gay

Gov. McGreevey announces resignation after telling of affair

(CNN) -- Dropping a political bombshell, New Jersey Gov. Jim McGreevey announced his resignation Thursday after revealing that he is gay and that he carried on an adulterous affair with a man.

Speaking at a packed press conference in the Statehouse in Trenton, New Jersey, McGreevey admitted to an affair with a man and asked for his family's forgiveness.

"It was wrong. It was foolish. It was inexcusable," he said.And McGreevey said he was stepping down from the state's highest office.

McGreevey said his affair and sexuality -- "if kept secret" -- would leave the governor's office "vulnerable to rumors, false allegations and threats of disclosure."

McGreevey, a first-term Democrat, took office in January 2002. His term wasn't due to expire until January 2006.

Senate President Richard Codey, another Democrat, will replace McGreevey as the state's chief executive; the state has no lieutenant governor's office.

A Quinnipiac University poll released August 4 showed McGreevey's approval among state voters fell sharply after two Democratic fund-raisers were indicted on federal charges in July -- one of them accused of lining up prostitutes to discredit a witness in a tax fraud investigation, the other accused of extortion.

McGreevey and his wife, Dina, have a 2-year-old daughter, and he has another daughter from a previous marriage

Source

The republicans will now beat their chest to rally the bible thumpers :rolleyes: and this will give Rush Limbo a woody :lol:

This would never have happened if he had been allowed to marry a man in the first place :lol:

He has his reasons for doing what he has on the political side. I don't approve of adultery however i don't see a connection between this and the way he did his job. I confess i know little of the man and his record politically for better or worse.

Being gay doesn't mean that one is incabable of doing a good job.

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Originally posted by vidcc@12 August 2004 - 18:00
This would never have happened if he had been allowed to marry a man in the first place :lol:

He has his reasons for doing what he has on the political side. I don't approve of adultery however i don't see a connection between this and the way he did his job. I confess i know little of the man and his record politically for better or worse.

Being gay doesn't mean that one is incabable of doing a good job.

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He apparently has the gumption to resign due to the fact his male paramour was moved to attempt blackmail, and he realized his vulnerablity thereto.

I wish him luck and willingly tip my hat to his decision not to sublimate the interests of the people of New Jersey to his own.

I hope he is treated with respect within and without his political party. ;)

I have to agree J2K4.

I have to respect anyone, that will not submit to Blackmail and will Resign with honour if his judgement is called into question.

As vidcc has said, it doesnt matter what colour, sex or sexuality you are to do the job. I disagree however in what they do in their personal life does not affect the job.. If they are openly Gay, then fine..however if they are "In the Closet...".....

If they put themselves in a position where they can be Blackmailed, then they should not be in office.

This guy wouldnt stand for being Blackmailed, the very fact he came out of the closet so to speak, to stop himself being in that position.... to me, makes him a very GOOD candidate for the job.

Its a shame therefore, that he has to resign.

I would agree with the Rat Face. The fact that he has resigned means he probably is the right person for the job. Ironic isn't it?

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Originally posted by Rat Faced@13 August 2004 - 13:50
If they are openly Gay, then fine..however if they are "In the Closet...".....

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Firstly when i posted my original the blackmail part hadn't been raised, or at least nothing was mentioned on the news report i had seen.

@ Rat why should anyone have to be open about their sexuality? it's nobodies concern. Do you think that a homosexual that didn't admit it when running for office should resign because had someone just "outed" him? of course not

I see here a man that had an adulterous affair...why should it be any worse because it was a homsexual adulterous affair.
He did the right thing and came out to avoid the "scandal" but i still see no reason why the homosexuality part should make any difference.

now he himself has stated that it was affecting his ability to do his job, but i feel that it was the blackmail rather than the homosexuality that caused this. I see no difference between this and the same situation had he had an attempted blackmail for a hetrosexual affair.

Now the political mischief makers are calling for this man to leave NOW, instead of november.
The truth is out so the reason for the scandal is no longer an issue to his ability to continue until november.

vidcc,

you misunderstand...

I said, that the guy came out of the closet to stop himself being blackmailed...

The fact he did this makes him GOOD for a Public Office.

Its a shame he's resigning.

ANYTHING that leaves a public official open to Blackmail is bad... whether its a hetro affair or he's a Gay "In the Closet" for whatever reason, or he's hiding any other type of skelton in his/her closet that he finds strong enough to be Blackmailed about.

If they are open and above board, they cannot be blackmailed.... its that simple.


I dont give a crap whether they are having affairs left, right and centre with men, women or sheep.... as long as they arent trying to hide the fact and leaving themselves open.

One of the things I found endearing about Clinton, was he was so damn indiscrete... no one could Blackmail him over his affairs.

They were headliners usually :lol:


I'd agree, its no ones business what someones sexuality is.

However, there are people that will take advantage of this, unfortunatly... that is the way of the world :(

If you have already told the world your Gay, then fine... otherwise stay celibate until your terms over...

didn't misunderstand.. just asking why the homosexuality bit should make any difference to the crime

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Originally posted by vidcc@13 August 2004 - 16:52
didn't misunderstand.. just asking why the homosexuality bit should make any difference to the crime

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What crime?

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Originally posted by Busyman+13 August 2004 - 14:59--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (Busyman @ 13 August 2004 - 14:59)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'> <!--QuoteBegin-vidcc@13 August 2004 - 16:52
didn&#39;t misunderstand.. just asking why the homosexuality bit should make any difference to the crime

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What crime? [/b][/quote]
Not crime in the law and order can be sent to prison sense. It&#39;s just a term when something wrong has been done

Finding out there&#39;s more to this than initially reported.

I&#39;ll post tomorrow when I have more time.

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Originally posted by Rat Faced@13 August 2004 - 15:37

I said, that the guy came out of the closet to stop himself being blackmailed...

The fact he did this makes him GOOD for a Public Office.

Its a shame he&#39;s resigning.

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I&#39;ll amend that for you, Rat.

It&#39;s a shame he&#39;s resigning, but cynically, he&#39;s not leaving office until late enough in the year for his post to be filled by his appointment rather than allowing the people of the State of New Jersey to vote on his replacement.

Funny; if he&#39;s so vulnerable (given that he&#39;s made a clean breast of it) he must resign, why not leave now and eliminate the "danger"?

What&#39;s really hilarious is that he contacted the FBI to report the blackmail attempt only to find out they&#39;d already been eyeballing the situation.

His appointment of his lover (An Israeli National, who couldn&#39;t attain American citizenship; he should&#39;ve entered the country via Mexico, eh?), a totally unqualified individual, to the highest state post as representative of the Dept. of Homeland Security is amongst the most inept, thoughtless, and outright dangerous political mis-steps I&#39;ve ever heard of.

So:

Kudos for being responsible in resigning, but for every other aspect of this fiasco, I think a public flogging followed by summary execution is in order.

Whatta jerk.

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His appointment of his lover (An Israeli National, who couldn&#39;t attain American citizenship; he should&#39;ve entered the country via Mexico, eh?), a totally unqualified individual, to the highest state post as representative of the Dept. of Homeland Security is amongst the most inept, thoughtless, and outright dangerous political mis-steps I&#39;ve ever heard of.

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If this is the case, then how could he legally hold a State Post?

Surely you must be a US Citizen in order to pay the Taxes that would be payable with a legitimate job?

In any event, if this is correct, wether a US Citizen or not...its a clear case of Nepotism.

However I see no difference between appointing someone because they are your "Lover" or because they made "Donations" either directly or indirectly... That appears to be the American system.

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Originally posted by Rat Faced@14 August 2004 - 15:24
If this is the case, then how could he legally hold a State Post?

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Remember, the "State post" was in New Jersey, possibly the most corrupt state in the U.S.

The exception IS the rule in New Jersey.

McGreevey was under investigation almost from the moment he took office, apparently.

I don&#39;t even give him credit for having the gall to step down; I&#39;m pretty sure he was forced to by the DNC bosses due to the investigation. The idea to resign after November 15 is probably their doing too.

His former lover was suppose to file a sexual harassment suit the next day.

it does appear to be getting curioser and curiouser..being investegated deeper than a 50 year olds medical exam

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Originally posted by vidcc@14 August 2004 - 22:52
it does appear to be getting curioser and curiouser..being investegated deeper than a 50 year olds medical exam

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I <s>represent</s> resent that. :ph34r:

Would it not have been better to have called a re-election, if that is allowed?

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Originally posted by bigboab+14 August 2004 - 17:57--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (bigboab @ 14 August 2004 - 17:57)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'> <!--QuoteBegin-vidcc@14 August 2004 - 22:52
it does appear to be getting curioser and curiouser..being investegated deeper than a 50 year olds medical exam

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I <s>represent</s> resent that. :ph34r:

Would it not have been better to have called a re-election, if that is allowed? [/b][/quote]
So any right-thinking individual would conclude.

If he hangs in, though, he can hand-pick his successor.

The Dems are generally a lock in Jersey, but they don&#39;t even want a Republican on the menu.

I don&#39;t wonder why, do you? ;)