The gay governor of New Jersey

What a mess. New Jersey Governor James McGreevey, married to a woman and a father of two, announced that he will resign from office under a cloud of scandal.

Not only did McGreevey face political heat from alleged illegal fund-raising by supporters and staff members, but now this bombshell: he cheated on his wife. But that's not all. He had the affair with another man. And it appears that man was threatening McGreevey with a public lawsuit or blackmail. If that wasn't enough, here's another kicker.

The man whom McGreevey may have had the affair with was a high level "consultant" whom the state paid a salary of over $100,000 a year for advising on homeland security issues. That was controversial in and of itself because the consultant, a 33-year old Israeli-born citizen, couldn't even get security clearance!

It is unfortunate if the media's take home message from this story is: if you are gay, you cannot serve as governor. McGreevey, for what it's worth, said explicitly that being gay had nothing to do with serving as governor. The implication was the US is ready for a gay governor. But the extra-marital affair--plus the added drama of the affair being with another man who was already under political scrutiny--would be too distracting for the governor's office to continue under McGreevey's leadership.

Okay, so McGreevey resigned because of the affair.

Boy, what a drama queen. You wouldn't have been able to write it better in Hollywood movie.