J. Aden Lewis
Let’s be perfectly clear: Gov. McGreevey is not resigning because he is gay. He is resigning because he kept his lover on the government payroll to the tune of hundreds of thousands of New Jersey taxpayers’ dollars while at the same time compromising our state’s safety.
This scandal makes Bill Clinton look like an Eagle Scout. Although, like Clinton, McGreevey didn’t admit his affair until he was forced to, Clinton simply lied about sex. McGreevey, on the other hand, lied about issues that put every New Jersey citizen at risk.
As we’ve recently seen, New Jersey faces serious and well-documented terrorist threats. To help combat these threats, McGreevey appointed the now-infamous Golan Cipel to the post of state homeland security adviser, a position for which Cipel was woefully unqualified.
Indeed, because Cipel was not a U.S. citizen, he was unable to get the proper security clearances necessary to handle the sensitive intelligence information required by the job. McGreevey’s appointment of Cipel was reckless, irresponsible and negligent.
It’s as if, during his affair, Bill Clinton would have appointed Monica Lewinsky to be secretary of defense!
Oh, and Cipel earned about $110,000 of New Jersey’s public money in a state that needs to borrow billions to balance its budget.
In his coming-out speech, our rhetorically elegant governor said, "At a point in every person’s life, one has to look deeply into the mirror of one’s soul and decide one’s unique truth in the world, not as we may want to see it or hope to see it, but as it is. And so my truth is that I’m a gay American."
No, governor, your truth is that you’re crooked and unethical. Your mere presence in the governor’s
mansion disgraces our state.
Your resignation should not wait until Nov. 15. It should take effect immediately.
J. Aden Lewis is a resident of Metuchen