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this is an op ed from the govenor about why he is staying in office. One thing jumps out at you his claim that due to threat of terrorism during the republican convention there should be a continuity of leadership. <b>Wait is this the same leadership that was willing endager the whole state with an unqualified homeland security director who was the govenor's boy toy? If I were kerry I would be screaming this guy is makine a mockery of the Democratic Party Nationally and could cost him New Jersey. If I were Bush I would be running ads with the boyfriends picture and ask some tough questions about the state democratic party's judgement on the security of the state. Hey it is 15 electoral college votes.</b>

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August 22, 2004
OP-ED CONTRIBUTOR
I Still Have Work to Do
By JAMES E. McGREEVEY

Trenton — Ten days ago, I made a very difficult personal decision to announce my sexuality and resignation as governor of New Jersey. I also apologized to my wife for my failure to respect the covenant of our marriage, and to the citizens of New Jersey for allowing my professional decisions to be distracted by my personal life. I accepted full responsibility for the sins, transgressions and errors in judgment I exhibited during my tenure and will work to correct the consequences.

To all those many thousands of individuals, Republican and Democrat, who called with words of kindness, I simply say thank you. If any good is to come from this episode - as distinct from the accomplishments of my administration - hopefully, it is that New Jersey and increasingly America recognizes that sexuality is an individual imprint and not a statement of competency and capability.

While there are many different and sometimes competing influences, it is my humble hope that my "coming out" could, in some small way, help those gay Americans who have yet to become open with their sexuality. To be gay, for me, was not a choice, but simply stating a reality. Now at peace with arguably one of the most important truths of my life, it is my prayer that I will now be free to live openly and integrate my sexuality with my daily life. This integration will hopefully help my actions, my thoughts and my heart to be in alignment going forward, keeping me from the pitfalls of a divided self or secret truths.

Much has been said about my decision not to resign immediately, but to set Nov. 15 as the effective date of my resignation. My initial inclination was to accept responsibility, apologize and move on quickly. The more I reflected, however, the more I realized that leaving office abruptly would be an abandonment of responsibility.

I fully believe in the importance of elections within a participatory democracy. There can be no greater instrument for ensuring the strength and foundation of our system of government than the electoral process. Recognizing that principle, nonetheless, I can identify two specific reasons for choosing to remain governor until Nov. 15.

First, there are immediate public policy considerations and actions, which need to be completed. Simply put, there are demands and projects which need to be addressed and put in place now.

Having accepted responsibility for my actions by proffering my resignation didn't necessarily mean that I was required to abandon midstream important initiatives that this administration holds dear.

For instance, our work to establish a stem cell institute between the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey and Rutgers University is on the cusp of becoming a reality that will be a source of hope to those who are confronting incurable disease.

Our landmark legislation that preserves 400,000 acres of the pristine Highland watershed land now requires the establishment of a mechanism to protect drinking water for more than 5 million residents. A property tax constitutional commission must be appointed to provide for a balanced, thoughtful examination as to the prospects of property tax reforms. The irony is that having no political agenda allows me to make certain difficult decisions regarding the scope and structure of constitutional change.

<b><u>Moreover, security concerns in light of the heightened level of terror alerts surrounding the Republican National Convention also argue for continuity of leadership.</u></b>

The second major reason is that our 1947 state constitution establishes the Senate president as the official who would succeed a governor in an unexpired term. I acknowledge that the constitution would permit a special election to occur if I were to resign at or about the first week of September. But the constitution does not outline provisions or state requirements for the timing of a resignation. <b>While the constitution does provide the mechanism for an election, the decision of when to make that resignation effective is a personal one.</b>

I made this decision in the context of what I thought was in the best interest of the state. I truly believe that an orderly transition is important for continuity and stability. An acting governor is more inclined by title to finish the good work that has been started. Moreover, in this case, there will still be an election next year as called for in the constitution. There is a great cost to staging an election hastily; even a statewide race could get lost in a national election year and the momentum and investment made in still developing initiatives would most likely be diminished.

This decision was a difficult one and it was made with serious deliberation. While I see the merits of both sides of the debate, I stand firm with my decision. My obligation is to complete the important work already started and to achieve an effective transition of state government.

James E. McGreevey is the Democratic governor of New Jersey.<b></b><u></u>

Golden Golan's rise & fall
http://www.nydailynews.com/front/story/ ... 2868c.html
Pals tell of charismatic go-getter

BY ELLEN TUMPOSKY and MATTHEW KALMAN
SPECIAL TO THE NEWS

Former McGreevey aide Golan Cipel is focus of press coverage outside parents’ home in Rishon LeZion, Israel.
RISHON LeZION, Israel - Once a key adviser to a powerful governor, Golan Cipel is confined to his childhood home, besieged by the press and labeled a gay blackmailer by his former mentor.

Friends and family members are reeling from the dizzying fall from grace of the go-getter who left Israel to make his mark in U.S. politics.

He grew up in this city of 230,000, which is 20 minutes from Tel Aviv and has a proud history as the first Zionist settlement in Israel and the place where the national anthem, "Hatikva," was composed and the national flag designed.

He attended high school at WIZO Nachlat Yehuda Youth Village, where a classmate, Avi Niv, remembers him as "the kind of guy you went to when you needed to organize things."

He didn't recall Cipel having a girlfriend, but did remember Cipel showing an interest in girls.

"I remember when we were 15 or 16, a girl asked him for a piece of chocolate, and he said, 'Let's go behind the gym and see you without your shirt, and then I'll give you some chocolate.' She went."

Cipel was active in the youth wing of Israel's Labor Party, which was where he first met Meir Nitzan, mayor of Rishon LeZion for the past 21 years. "I knew him from the age of 16," said Nitzan, 72. "He was always very organized, well-dressed. You cannot miss him."

Cipel's father, Avraham, worked in the Israeli aircraft industry and now, retired, drives a taxi. His mother, Leah, is a receptionist at an army base. They also have another son and a daughter who is married to Israeli TV personality Rehovot Savion.

Nitzan said Cipel's politics are progressive.

"His ideology is the ideology of the Labor Party," Nitzan said. "We would like to have peace with our neighbors." But on a personal level, he said, Cipel was motivated by ambition, not a social conscience.

"He is very calculating - a typical American, even though he is born in Israel, always thinking how he can promote his career," Nitzan said. "That is the most important thing in his life."

Cipel served in the navy as an officer and then moved to a secret position in intelligence, Niv said. Afterward, he worked for Avi Yehezkel, a Labor member of the Knesset, then moved to New York in 1994 and was studying while working as a spokesman for the Israeli Consulate.

He took a job as the spokesman for his hometown in early 1999. His assistant Floria Rozenblat, 39, said his charisma had an immediate impact.

"When I accompanied him to meetings, he was always the center of the group. People are jealous of him," she said. "He always looked good, dressed well." She said he "swept me away with his dedication to work."

At first, she said, people in the office laughed at him when he turned up in a shirt and tie - unheard of in Israel, where casual dress is the norm.

"Step by step," Rozenblat said, "he started to wear black jeans and a polo shirt."

She said they always talked about relationships and that Cipel told her of two affairs with women in New York - one was married, the other a high-powered career woman.

"He very much wants a family. He just hasn't met the right woman," she insisted.

She said she has "very warm feelings" for him, but they were never lovers. He never would have slept with his staffer, she said. And Rozenblat - a vivacious divorcee with a teenage daughter - said Cipel could have done better than her.

"Why should he take a woman who is older than him and already has a child?" she asked.

Rina Shiponi, 65, the head of international relations for the mayor, made the arrangements for the visit in 2000 by New Jersey politicians that included James McGreevey, then mayor of Woodbridge, N.J., and a candidate for governor.

"I asked Golan to sit at his table. That's how it started," she said. "He was very taken by Golan. Everyone who talks to Golan is taken by him." He was so popular in the office, she said, that even the cleaning lady bought him a shirt as a going-away present when he left the job.

Nitzan said Cipel came to him the day after the visit and said he had been offered a role in McGreevey's gubernatorial campaign. Cipel visited the United States twice before deciding to make the move in early 2001. According to Shiponi, it wasn't the $110,000 salary that attracted him: "He was ambitious, but not after money."

Nitzan suggested to him that as he was making a big life change, it was time to think about settling down.

He said he never thought that Cipel was gay - "he is very appreciated by women" - though when the story broke, his city councilors asked him, "You don't know what a bisexual is?" he said with a laugh.

Cipel was fired from his job with McGreevey in the summer of 2002. It was only in recent months that friends sensed he was in trouble, though they didn't know why.

After the storm broke, he returned to Israel to be with his family.

"He was in very bad shape," said Shiponi, who called him when he arrived. "He said, 'Rina, believe me, I was living in hell.' He said, 'You know very well I'm straight.' He was almost crying," she said.

"He's very vulnerable right now," said a source who is close to him. "He is really a simple guy that got into a trap set by a bunch of very strong people. It's their agenda to demolish him."

Originally published on August 22, 2004

<BLOCKQUOTE id=quote><font size=1 face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id=quote>quote:<hr height=1 noshade id=quote>While there are many different and sometimes competing influences, it is my humble hope that my "coming out" could, in some small way, help those gay Americans who have yet to become open with their sexuality. To be gay, for me, was not a choice, but simply stating a reality. Now at peace with arguably one of the most important truths of my life, it is my prayer that I will now be free to live openly and integrate my sexuality with my daily life. This integration will hopefully help my actions, my thoughts and my heart to be in alignment going forward, keeping me from the pitfalls of a divided self or secret truths.<hr height=1 noshade id=quote></BLOCKQUOTE id=quote></font id=quote><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" size=2 id=quote>

This is predictable. His defense is that he is a victim of a homophopbic society that forced him into a double life. I'm afraid I have already made up my mind that he is an out of control criminal that thinks he is above all laws, naturual and societal. He has betrayed his wife and family with his infidelity, and has betrayed the people of New Jersey with corruption. Shut up and go to jail you freak.



THE CRAPTOR ENGINEERING TEAM <img src=icon_smile_big.gif border=0 align=middle>
"The F-22...It's the poo"

_________________
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Well said Stress.

Very well said.

"I came here to kick ass and chew bubblegum...and i'm all out of bubblegum".