I cannot join the chorus of voices calling Governor James McGreevey "courageous." Here's why: If he really did resign because he is gay and had an affair outside of his marriage, then leaving office isn't that brave. "I betrayed my wife (if indeed he did) and yes, I am gay; I have asked my family for forgiveness, and now I need to get on with running New Jersey" would have been the appropriate response. Resigning means that it is assumed that the people of New Jersey can't handle a public official's having an extramarital affair, and/or can't handle homosexuality. Resigning is an acknowledgment that those things really are a big deal and affect how someone governs, which is nonsense.
On the other hand, if McGreevey resigned because of other, alleged improprieties, then he has totally betrayed the GLBT movement and the broad civil rights movement in general by blaming his sexual preference for his resignation. If this scenario is the correct one, he is exploiting America's bigotry toward gays in order to get out of office before the indictments come in. Because yes, despite what many people think, it is better to be gay than to be a criminal.
I don't doubt that McGreevey's coming out was heart-felt, but that doesn't make it courageous.
On the other hand, if McGreevey resigned because of other, alleged improprieties, then he has totally betrayed the GLBT movement and the broad civil rights movement in general by blaming his sexual preference for his resignation. If this scenario is the correct one, he is exploiting America's bigotry toward gays in order to get out of office before the indictments come in. Because yes, despite what many people think, it is better to be gay than to be a criminal.
I don't doubt that McGreevey's coming out was heart-felt, but that doesn't make it courageous.
posted by Diane at 12:32 PM
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2 Comments:
I suspect he's resigning because the various scandals plaguing his administration, and because, at least on the surface, there is the strong appearance of impropriety, in that he seems to have hired an unqualified person with whom he was having an affair. I am not saying it is definitely true that he hired the person with the intent of hitting it, but it is clear that there's a lot more going on than his sexuality (Especially since the person in question is in fact unqualified, and is apparently willing to resort to blackmail).
Mainly, I would also draw attention to the fact that he is going to have to contend with the most vicious political establishment known to modern humans, namely, the modern republican party. I'm pretty sure that if he did stay, he'd be impeached or more likely (ala CA)recalled, regardless of what came out. And I'm fairly certain he wouldn't have survived the process. By resigning as he did, he managed to secure the Governor's mansion for the Democrats, which is in and of itself admirably loyal. (And frankly, anything that keeps the republicans grubby mitts off the power aparati is A-OK in my book). Also, by coming out in his resignation, he has managed to diffuse the blackmail attempt, garner public sympathy, and make sure his (alleged) actions don't taint his successor.
So I guess, to sum up, what I'm suggesting is that he didn't appear to be that great of a governor, but by going down this way, I think he's showing some very machiavelian intelligence.
I don't believe there's any betrayl. It's not like we're talking about a true seelout like Sully. But I do see your point about reserving praise for him. He isn't a hero, but at least he took one for the team, and that's got to say something.
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