NJ Governor McGreevey resigns

[GardenStateGirlie]

Originally Posted by gldstwmn

I heard that he was left with an illegal (under the state constitution) $5,000,000,000 debt from the Christie Todd Whitman administration that he had to resolve and that he also didn't raise taxes on the middle class but was trying to make up the deficit byt taxing gambling, cigarettes and the wealthiest 2% of residents in the state.

Trust me when I say taxes weren't just raised for the wealthy. He is equally as horrendous a Governor as ****man was in her second term. There have been many a shady dealing while he was in office and he surrounded himself with a lot of idiots. They both did a lot of damage to this state that will, no doubt, have long term effects.

[sparky]

Originally Posted by GardenStateGirlie

...I'm not too dissapointed that he'll be stepping down; however i'd rather it were for his bad decisions rather than the fact he's gay which most of us could care less about.

Oh, it was his bad decisions, all right. Number one and number two being getting married to those two women. I am sure the other bad decisions, in his personal life anyway, are legion.

I had never heard of the guy, but I agree that this smells funny. It just doesn't add up, and all I can say is Quelle Scandale.

Just more grist for the anit-gay army out there. But, I doubt many will think to look at the reasons why men like this don't come out. My sympathy for guys like him is pretty low. He is young, for crying out loud. It's not like he grew up in the depression. But, I will be looking for more information to fill in the blanks of this man's background. We already have the whole Catholic thing. Nothing like reading you're going to burn in hell forever every Sunday of your formative years to nudge you into hiding your true sexual identity.
I am also curious about his upbringing, his parents, and all that as well. Everyone has a different story to tell, and few are boring.

Can't wait to hear this one.

[gldstwmn]

Originally Posted by sparky

Oh, it was his bad decisions, all right. Number one and number two being getting married to those two women. I am sure the other bad decisions, in his personal life anyway, are legion.

I had never heard of the guy, but I agree that this smells funny. It just doesn't add up, and all I can say is Quelle Scandale.

Just more grist for the anit-gay army out there. But, I doubt many will think to look at the reasons why men like this don't come out. My sympathy for guys like him is pretty low. He is young, for crying out loud. It's not like he grew up in the depression. But, I will be looking for more information to fill in the blanks of this man's background. We already have the whole Catholic thing. Nothing like reading you're going to burn in hell forever every Sunday of your formative years to nudge you into hiding your true sexual identity.
I am also curious about his upbringing, his parents, and all that as well. Everyone has a different story to tell, and few are boring.

Can't wait to hear this one.

It's going to be good. And you're right, you can bet your last nickel, the right wing homophobes will spin this into something more frightening than Al Qaeda.

[strandinthewind]

Originally Posted by gldstwmn

It's going to be good. And you're right, you can bet your last nickel, the right wing homophobes will spin this into something more frightening than Al Qaeda.

You mean something like "Filthy little faggots - Un Christian sodomites - they are all sexual deviants and cannot help it - let's put them in concentration camps"

I wish this guy had been a stand up guy and a la Madonna and those nudie pics. said "yea - I am gay so what - Next!"

[gldstwmn]

Originally Posted by strandinthewind

You mean something like "Filthy little faggots - Un Christian sodomites - they are all sexual deviants and cannot help it - let's put them in concentration camps"

I wish this guy had been a stand up guy and a la Madonna and those nudie pics. said "yea - I am gay so what - Next!"

I know. East coast politics takes the cake. For a good laugh, Google Buddy Cianci.
This guy is definitely being frought down by unseen forces. It will be interesting to say the least. See, this is one reason why I admired President Clinton. He wasn't gonna back down over sex. The "Next" thing would've worked much better for him too, though.

[sparky]

Originally Posted by strandinthewind

I wish this guy had been a stand up guy and a la Madonna and those nudie pics. said "yea - I am gay so what - Next!"

That would require him packing some serious stones. But then again, if he had those, he wouldn't be in this predicament now.

[dissention]

Originally Posted by gldstwmn

It's going to be good. And you're right, you can bet your last nickel, the right wing homophobes will spin this into something more frightening than Al Qaeda.

Unfortunately, though, they're going to be able to do it effortlessly because of the rape claim, whether it's true or not the damage is done.

[gldstwmn]

Originally Posted by dissention

Unfortunately, though, they're going to be able to do it effortlessly because of the rape claim, whether it's true or not the damage is done.

That's why they can't hold a new election now. The race would be so tainted by this, it wouldn't even be fair.

[amber]

Originally Posted by gldstwmn

It's going to be good. And you're right, you can bet your last nickel, the right wing homophobes will spin this into something more frightening than Al Qaeda.

But really, it should be spun this way - If there WERE no right wing homophobes, and everyone was just allowed to be who they were all the time, then being gay wouldn't have put him in a compromising position.
AMber

[GardenStateGirlie]

Originally Posted by amber

But really, it should be spun this way - If there WERE no right wing homophobes, and everyone was just allowed to be who they were all the time, then being gay wouldn't have put him in a compromising position.
AMber

Being gay did not put him in the position he's in now....being an asshole did. Again, not about him being gay...he's using that as his way out. Smokescreen.

[GardenStateGirlie]

Just a footnote in the myriad of bull**** situations McSleezy has gotten himself into. Yea, he's REAL concerned about our debt.



Article from The Trentonian 12/10/2002

Now at least one of Gov. Jim McGreevey’s own family members, back in the old sod, is upset about the way the governor tried to stick taxpayers with the bill for his jaunt to Ireland last summer.

The woman, a cousin to the governor, said the whole affair made it appear is if she and her clan-members had "stolen something."

She said McGreevey’s behavior made the Old-World McGreeveys (spelled McGreevy) look like grabby freeloaders.

She insisted they are not.

At a family reunion in July, the governor had told family members at the pub outside Belfast, Northern Ireland, to eat, drink and be merry -- he was picking up the tab.

Actually McGreevey tried to get taxpayers to foot the bill.

But he got caught.

Now the state Democratic Committee will pay the tab, rescuing the governor at a cost of some $70,000.

Last night, a cozy fire warmed the Bronte Steak House in Loughbrickland, Northern Ireland.

The pub has been known for hearty meals and the widely read, 19th-Century sister-authors, the Brontes.

Add to that fame the $3,178 McGreevey-family soiree.

Last night was a busy one at the pub -- for a Monday in the countryside outside Banbridge.

Patrons kept the cook busy preparing the storied house specialty, a sauce made with fine Irish whiskey.

The Trentonian can disclose that McGreevey did NOT get looped at the family affair.

But that aside, the new wrinkle to the reunion story really has little to do with the way McGreevey "bagpiped" his claimed $20,000 "trade mission" into $105,000 worth of good times.

"Yes," we are quite aware of this story," said Gary McDonald, business editor of the Irish Times, a Belfast newspaper, published about half-an-hour’s drive from Banbridge.

It turns out that The Times and other dailies heard about the Jersey stink over McGreevey’s expenses.

So they sought out the governor’s cousins and other family members.

Here is what one paper reported about the meal and McGreevey’s laying it off on his taxpayer-fueled expense account.

Cousin Pauline McGreevy: "It was as if we had stolen something.

"...We’re quite ordinary folk. This was a big, big deal for us, and it seems like it was tarnished in some way."

The McGreevy clan-members were reported to have tried to pay their fair share.

But the governor assuaged their concerns, insisting through staffers that he would handle the bill.

"It’s taken care of," the revelers were told.

Said McDonald, a years-long resident of the area and a patron of the Bronte:

"One would really have to be a bit aggressive on the menu to run up a bill that size. It’s not an expensive place. But it has a very good reputation. Very good, country Irish cooking."

The Trentonian learned that an average supper at the Bronte costs about $25 to $35.

In a display of bad timing, all the sour news about the McGreevey trip broke right as the matron of the clan, Cissie McGivern, turned 90.

And that is a huge affair in village life of Northern Ireland.

What made matters worse was McGreevey’s much-balleyhooed glad-handing at Drumthwacket, the state mansion in Princeton, with Gerry Adams.

Adams, a darling of most Irish Americans, is president of Sinn Fein, which is the political wing of the pro-Catholic, anti-British Irish Republican Army, or IRA.

The old-sod McGreevys are Catholics, yes, but they reside largely in an area that is of mixed faiths.

Tolerance and moderation are the watchwords there. The area has been largely untouched by the years of religious killing.

There is in the town today a slightly unionist, or Protestant, pro-British, majority.

There are no Sinn Fein politicians, for instance, on the Banbridge Town Council.

So Adams is not seen in the community as a champion of their cause.

As one paper quoted Cousin Pauline as saying:

"I have lost very close friends as a result of shooting and bombing instigated by the IRA.

"If I had been beside Jim, I would have told him, ‘I don’t think this (the highly publicized embrace of Adams) is such a good idea.’"

The IRA has waged a guerrilla war against British rule of Northern Ireland, which London considers a British province.

Protestants backed by the British Army hold onto economic and political privilege in the province, dominating Catholics.

The United States has tried to broker a political agreement, but the IRA has balked at surrendering all of its weapons.

Plus, the post-Sept. 11 U.S. foreign policy against global terror has eased pressure on the British government to reduce its troop presence on Belfast streets.

The governor -- who is so pro-IRA he openly ridicules former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher -- had no comment on the family-reunion reports.

Pauline added that she viewed the matter essentially as a family tiff.

"We are very, very proud of Jim," she was quoted as saying.

The Bronte sisters penned widely read tomes such as "Wuthering Heights," "Jane Eyre," "Agnes Grey" and "Wildfell Hall."

The pub takes its name from their father, the Rev. Patrick Bronte, a stern evangelical who had preached in the area.

[dissention]

Originally Posted by GardenStateGirlie

Just a footnote in the myriad of bull**** situations McSleezy has gotten himself into. Yea, he's REAL concerned about our debt.

Article from The Trentonian 12/10/2002

If that's true, what an asshole.

[GardenStateGirlie]

Originally Posted by dissention

If that's true, what an asshole.

Oh, it's true and was kept hush hush by the NJ Dems. Clearly as a newly elected Governor, this wouldn't have put him in good standing with the citizens of NJ. It was a blip in the radar of the McGreevey term though.

[GardenStateGirlie]

Also, it's interesting to point out that NJ has no Lt. Gov. which means that the state of NJ majority leader for the Democratic party would be put into office to serve until November of 05' (when NJ is set to elect a new Gov.) UNLESS McGreevey resigns NOW (he's planning on resigning Nov. 15th). That would mean we'd have to have a state election and elect a new governor to serve the rest of the term. People are not going to stand for not being able to have a say in who the new governor will be and he is VERY slick by not resigning until Nov 15th so he can avoid a special election and keep a democrat in office until 05'. This whole situation MEGA shady and more is leaking out so i'll let you know when I hear more. This state has ALWAYS been a breeding ground for crooked politicians...Republican and Democrat...so again, this isn't too surprising but IMO, he is NOT resigning because he's gay; he's doing it to cover his ass and try and redeem himself for the mockery he's made of this state and the Democratic party during his term in office.

[gldstwmn]

Originally Posted by GardenStateGirlie

Also, it's interesting to point out that NJ has no Lt. Gov. which means that the state of NJ majority leader for the Democratic party would be put into office to serve until November of 05' (when NJ is set to elect a new Gov.) UNLESS McGreevey resigns NOW (he's planning on resigning Nov. 15th). That would mean we'd have to have a state election and elect a new governor to serve the rest of the term. People are not going to stand for not being able to have a say in who the new governor will be and he is VERY slick by not resigning until Nov 15th so he can avoid a special election and keep a democrat in office until 05'. This whole situation MEGA shady and more is leaking out so i'll let you know when I hear more. This state has ALWAYS been a breeding ground for crooked politicians...Republican and Democrat...so again, this isn't too surprising but IMO, he is NOT resigning because he's gay; he's doing it to cover his ass and try and redeem himself for the mockery he's made of this state and the Democratic party during his term in office.

Think about the money the taxpayers will save by not having to have two major elections in the next 15 months. This type of thing is not unusual.