A BATTLE OF THE JERSEY QUEENS

There are always so many topics about which I could write that it is hard to choose. But, today, I am going to divert from the national scene and write about New Jersey news.

Going on right now in New Jersey is the divorce trial of former Governor Jim McGreevey and his wife Dina Matos McGreevey. The newspapers like to refer to Jim as the former gay governor and say that he was forced to resign because of his supposed gay affair. I have always believed that the gay thing was just a convenient excuse to get him out of office. His administration was so corrupt that the Democratic powers to be knew he would not win re-election and that he probably would not step aside willingly given that they had their “savior” waiting in the wings – Jon Corzine.

As for the whole Golan Cipel affair, I have mixed feelings about that as I believe the truth lies somewhere in between what Jim and Golan say it is. But, it was always a suspicious relationship given that Jim goes to Israel, meets Golan, and then all of the sudden Golan ends up in Woodbridge working for Jim and living right around the corner while only making about $12k a year. Who lives in New Jersey for $12k a year (I know that it an elitist question given that there are plenty of folks who scrape by on that amount and less). Then Jim becomes the governor and Golan moves from Woodbridge to a posh West Windsor condo which Jim himself inspects to see if it is suitable. Golan gets the great job in the Governor’s Office (Director of Homeland Security at nearly 10x his previous salary!) for which he has no qualifications and even when he is forced out still lands a couple other six-figure jobs. I remember at the time saying that if Jim had not had such a big ego he could have done what other governors had done and placed his special friend in a project specialist title in any office in state government. In fact, I would have gladly had him on my staff where he could have been excused to the Governor’s Office all the time as long as kept the filled position in my budget (I actually believe I met Golan once at a happy hour with some friends from OMB). At any rate, this whole relationship raised red flags from the beginning.

Then, of course, was the famous incident where Jim broke his leg while he and Dina were walking on the beach. I have maintained that there was no way he could have broken his leg that badly just by walking on the beach. My guess is that he and Golan were doing something and Dina was flown in for cover. Jim, Dina, and Golan all vehemently deny this claim (as I was not the only one to think this), but it still registers as suspicious to me.

So, moving forward, Jim resigns and he and Dina go their separate ways. Here is where Dina made a very strategic error. Granted, her situation was different from Hillary’s and Silda Spitzer’s, but both of those women not only stood by their husbands but stayed with them. Hillary is probably the better example here. Hillary knew what she had invested in Bill and by staying with him and not divorcing him she is now there to share in the millions he has made. Should they now get divorced her payout is certainly much greater than it would have been if she divorced him when they left The White House.

Dina, however, let Jim go and now she is expecting Jim to pay her for the lost years at Drumthwacket which she calculates to be $600,000. Further, she says that Jim has the potential of earning more money (he is now a seminary student studying to be an Episcopal priest). Therefore, he should be out there hustling so he can pay her more alimony so she can live in style to which she became accustomed while in the Governor’s Mansion. Oh yes, she is also upset that her book did not do as well as his for which she blames Jim. And, finally, she, of course, never knew or suspected that Jim is gay.

Let’s start with her not knowing about Jim’s gayness. I am not a political insider and do not know Jim (although he knew my name briefly during his first run as we attended a few of the same events). And, even though I did not know concretely that Jim was gay, I certainly suspected it and heard more than rumors from others. I mean just putting together the Cipel pieces is enough to raise the gay flag. In short, Dina comes across as a real dingbat.

This whole thing that he owes her for the two missed years in office is laughable to say the least. What would have happened if Jim died in office? Would Dina sue the state for the lost time? First Lady is purely ceremonial, comes with no income and is tied to the electoral fate of the husband. To think that in private life she should have drivers, butlers, administrative staff and the like is so beyond anything sane given that they lived in a two bedroom townhouse when they were married. She should have stayed with the man and pimped him out – a true life Will and Grace!

But, it also points to the character or lack thereof of Dina. I remember reading back before Jim was elected governor the questions surrounding her. How was it that she and Jim hooked up so fast and so conveniently before his second gubernatorial campaign (he was single when he first ran)? Why did they get married in DC when they are both from New Jersey? Here it was speculated that they were both thinking beyond Trenton and dreaming already of The White House.

To me the bottom line is that Dina was using Jim as her ticket to glory as much as Jim was using her as his beard. In the end they both got what they deserved. It makes you wonder who is the bigger queen – Dina or Jim?