Just go away
Okay, we all knew this was coming and how it was going to be pitched. That doesn’t make it any less vile:
A tell-all book by the nation’s first openly gay governor is in the works, a New York publisher said Thursday.
The as-yet-untitled memoir by former New Jersey Gov. James E. McGreevey will be published by ReganBooks, an imprint of publishing house HarperCollins.…
“Jim McGreevey has a rare opportunity, and the courage, to tell the whole truth about his life,” Regan wrote. “In this deeply honest and revealing book, he will describe how he wrestled with his sexuality and his faith–from the expectations he faced as a young man to the divided persona he created in order to meet them.”
Courage, my white faggot ass! For one thing, calling McGreevey “the nation’s first openly gay governor” is misleading, since he announced his sexuality as a lead-in to announcing his resignation. He didn’t serve a single openly gay day that he wasn’t already committed to leaving office (when it was most convenient for his party) and thus never risked taking political hits for his homosexuality when it might have mattered. And give me a break–gays serving in Iraq under “Don’t ask, don’t tell” are showing courage. Gays who are willing to go on talk radio and defend our way of life to callers who tell them they’re a pox on society are showing courage. McGreevey isn’t showing the slightest bit of courage by adding to the already bloated genre of gay coming-of-age stories.
He could, however, do so by being up-front about how his mishandling of his own sexuality affected his performance as governor. As a lifelong Pennsylvanian, I blithely make New Jersey jokes all the time, but that’s all in jest. The fact is that 10 million Americans were depending on his administration to protect them against terrorism as best it could, and he went and hired an incompetent cutie as security head who, being an Israeli citizen, apparently couldn’t even get adequate security clearance to do his job. And that’s not the only act of corruption of which McGreevey’s of. I’d gladly pay money–I’d pre-order–a book in which he decided to get all “deeply honest and revealing” about that.
It’s kind of sad that the man has to trumpet his sexuality to make money…. Especially as it may be the only honest thing he has left in his life….
And even that he made public as part of a smoke-and-mirrors attempt to divert attention from a different kind of political scandal that was brewing. I’m willing to believe that just about anyone is redeemable; that’s one of the best aspects of the American mindset. But for it to work, you need ruthless self-criticism and a willingness to address past wrongs, and it does not exactly appear that McGreevey is surrounding himself with the sort of people who are going to push him in that direction. It’s a shame.
But but but… he was compelled to do that. The oppressive society in which we live wouldn’t have allowed him to get the secretary he wanted to boink on the payroll any other way.
What I want, in a kind of war of the worlds showdown, is women’s groups.
Celebrity death match: Gay Rights Advocates vs N.O.W.
Funny how NOW always seem to be missing in situations like this, when a woman is wronged.
He was married. He’s an adulterer.
His wife. Betcha she has a few words to say on this issue. Now THAT would be a book.
It was not clear what the future held for the McGreeveys’ marriage. Through the governor’s spokesman, Matos McGreevey declined requests for an interview Friday.
NOT CLEAR? What is wrong with the world?
This stand-by-yer-man stuff is getting really annoying.
Read the last sentence in this article. Spew alert.
Wow. Both those articles need non-stop spew alerts. I especially like the gentlemanly way he accepts responsibility for the dissolution of his first marriage:
The line, you chivalrous thing, is “It saddens me that I put Kari in the position of being under such pressure while she was just trying to run our family and household.” It helps if you mean it, but even if you don’t, it keeps you from sounding like a heartless, arrogant urbanite.
And the line you actually indicated in the other article deserves some kind of Cosmic Understatement award.
Speaking of spewing, I snarfed at this:
“What I want, in a kind of war of the worlds showdown, is women’s groups.
“Celebrity death match: Gay Rights Advocates vs N.O.W.”
You could probably get it to work if you told each side that the other was made up of Republicans. Everyone would be shot/stabbed/strangled in no time, and maybe we could start over with a modicum of sanity.
BTW, Connie dear, was that a slip of the keyboard, or did you just call gays women? /: )
As a resident of NJ while McGreevey was gov, amen to everything you all said about him as gov. McGreevey was and is a pathetic excuse for a human being, and his being gay is irrelevant in that assessment. This book is just an effort to cloak him in some kind of nobility (the Noble Sufferer For The Cause) in hopes of rehabilitating him for some career, possibly even in politics, and it’s an insult to everyone concerned. McGreevey’s whole administration was mired in misconduct, and most of it had zero to do with being gay – for example, I seriously doubt being in the closet would compell him to spend thousands of NJ tax dollars making phone calls while on a “state trip” to Ireland, or accepting lobbists’ money for other trips. But somehow, I’m sure, he’ll find a way.
Having worked in NJ government on the local level, I can honestly say that it was a scary thing. And that’s from someone who was raised knowing about Kentucky politics. Where other than NJ can you be a local city mayor AND a state representative who makes decisions about what kind of state funds flow into your city? It just… boggles.
Gays women? Of course not. Have you SEEN those NOW people?
Sean, I have to support Connie. I am a woman, many of my friends are women, I’ve seen NOW people and, let me tell you, they are no women. For me to accept their female status I require more than a down-trou check. I demand DNA exams.
Completely OT, and meant to post this on your “anniversary” post — went to movie with kiddies and I swear one of the adds before the movie was a gay (and very romantic) pick up. More — hence, I was going to post this on your anniversary post — it was a gay international pickup. I wish I could remember the brand to post the link. It was for a phone/translation service. Three guys in an office, one of them (I think — can’t swear) Japanese. One of the other guys dials on phone, and starts singing in, I think, Japanese (didn’t sound quite right but I used to know exactly six words of Japanese. Not enough to judge.) Translation subtitles are “why do birds suddenly appear, everytime you are near, etc.” Other guy turns around with this STUNNED look, like “Oh, so that’s what you’ve been trying to hint all along. Why didn’t you SAY?” and hesitantly joins in. Meanwhile the third guy starts singing along in English, oblivious to the charged glances behind him.
Hard to explain but very good acting made commercial both funny and sweet. And kids — and probably a lot of adults — just didn’t get it. So, no one was offended.
Win. Win. (Not that there was much to be offended about in this case) To me — having been involved in similar, though hetro, situation — the payoff was the “I get it!” moment.
Anyway — predictably thought of you. Congrats on anniversary. Hope it was good.
Susanna, I’m sorry that you no longer live on the direct line between JFK Airport and my parents’ place, which makes it hard to visit you. I’m glad you’re no longer contending with NJ politics. Also affirmative on the part about the connection between McGreevey’s sexuality and his political performance: being gay is an obstacle if you want a high-powered political career. Some people take obstacles as free passes for being dishonest. Others work to rise above them. I regret what McGreevey’s choice says about his character, though it’s probably better for the people of New Jersey to be rid of him sooner rather than later.
Connie and Portia, I was kind of playing off Connie’s sentence structure–I know that wasn’t what she meant to say. Having grown up with a mother who had a…colorful…name to call Gloria Steinem whenever she appeared on TV, I can say that your judgment is not an unfamiliar one.
BTW, if you find out what that ad was for, let me know. It’d be interesting to see whether it was in Japanese. And thanks for the good wishes.