Monday, March 17th, 2008
It apparently was not enough that James McGreevey was a crooked governor. We here in New Jersey keep reading about each detail of his divorce proceedings. This isn’t news. We already know he is morally bankrupt.
Today’s “news” was all about his former limo driver and the claim that he was involved in threesomes with the McGreeveys for two years while James McGreevey was mayor of Woodbridge.
Immediately his wife denied the reports. Then the “Gay American” confirmed it.
Two thoughts come to mind:
- Who cares? Stop reporting this garbage. The McGreeveys are unworthy of notice.
- The man who cheated on his wife, had a gay lover on the taxpayer payroll, lives with a man (who traveled with the limo driver to China), and confirmed threesomes today is still in seminary to be an Episcopal priest. There is something seriously wrong with that!
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Thursday, September 20th, 2007
Dina Matos McGreevey, estranged wife of former New Jersey Governor James McGreevey, submitted a 17-page filing in the ongoing divorce proceeding. According to the Asbury Park Press:
The complaint compared her current “by no means extravagant” living arrangements to the amenities she enjoyed as first lady, including trips abroad, bodyguards, cars with drivers, access to helicopters, a mansion equipped with groundskeepers, cooks and housekeepers, and the governor’s summer home at Island Beach State Park with “wonderful views” of the bay and ocean.
Forgive me for not sharing Matos McGreevey’s grief. The amenities she enjoyed as first lady were compliments of the taxpayers of New Jersey. Certainly she cannot think that she is entitled to those amenities. Perhaps she enjoyed living high on the hog, much like her estranged husband did. Those perks are gone because the taxpayers no longer fund the corruption of her husband’s administration.
It sounds like Matos McGreevey is cut from the same fabric as her husband is: entitlements and living off the taxpayers. Good riddance!
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Saturday, September 1st, 2007
Who would have thought that Dina Matos McGreevey would speak such wisdom?
In order to be a leader, whether it’s a leader of a state, a nation or a church, you need to have some sort of moral compass
Her estranged husband, former New Jersey governor, Jim “I’m a Gay American” McGreevey, has enrolled in an Epsicopal seminary. A priest is a spiritual leader, one who guides parishioners. That relationship is predicated on the priest having guidance to offer.
In McGreevey’s case, that guidance includes corruption from the governor’s mansion, tried to appoint his boyfriend as head of homeland security, is on a federal wiretap using a codeword to announce a deal was agreed to, hired young men for his staff at extraordinary salaries and told them to write their own job descriptions, cruised for sex with men in public bathrooms, finagles his way back on the public payroll and pension roll by teaching an ethics class, hangs a 50″×40″ photograph a naked man above his bed and then has his daughter view it, wrote a book that documents how he lied to his wives and to the entire state of New Jersey and how his lies influenced policy, and is amid a bitter divorce suit with his estranged wife.
What guidance do suspect he will impart upon parishioners? Would you trust counsel from Father Jim?
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Friday, May 4th, 2007
When Gert and I were married the ceremony was in the Episcopal church. I was reared Episcopalian and that was the church we had attended when we dated. The Episcopal faith was always explained to me as being a slightly more liberal Catholicism. The most notable difference was that Episcopalians permitted divorce.
Then in my youth, the Episcopal faith permitted female priests. Again, that is something most folks can accept and it never seemed a huge issue to me.
Of course, I knew the Catholic faith was steadfast in its faith. When I attended a Catholic school, I was told directly I was not welcomed at the alter. And that began a struggle that I now understand, but fought to understand for a long time. Catholics do not permit any non-Catholic to receive communion in their church. Episcopalians are much more welcoming in this manner. My friend Oli had no issue receiving communion at the Episcopal school we attended, but I was not welcomed to do so at his wedding. It seemed, well, a hardcore policy.
After Gert and I were married we continued to attend the Episcopal church. About a year later, we began discussing our family plans. That discussion brought us to religion. Gert is a Roman Catholic and she expressed her desire to return to her church. That then had an impact on our family discussion. How were we going to raise our children?
For a while, we went with the idea that Mommy would attend one church and Daddy would attend another and that the children would split their time between the two. We were naive in that thinking.
Gert began attending some Catholic churches in the area to see where she was comfortable. She struggled finding such a church. She was going to just go to the church she grew up in, but admittedly that was now a bit far given where we purchased our home. Eventually she tried the “big” Catholic church in town and liked something about it. She liked it enough to invite me.
The Episcopal church we attended was in dire straits. It was a small congregation (albeit larger than the 15-person congregation of another church I attended when I first came to town) and it was not able to pay its way. That meant the diocese subsidized the church. Fortunately, the church had a retired priest as an interim. He joked when he hit the decade mark about what interim meant. Father Vanaman was a good man who provided lots of counsel to me. He, like almost everyone else in the church, was elderly. As Gert and I contemplated our family plans, we did recognize that our children would not have a wonderful children’s program available.
So I visited the Catholic church with Gert and was very much impressed. Those who know me know I like my church service “churchy” and Father Carmel is the epitome of that. Incense, a thick Italian accent, pomp and circumstance. The church had it all. Furthermore, there is a Catholic school associated with this parish.
I had been investigating my faith at this time. What did I believe in? What was important?
It just so happens that the Episcopal church was amid a significant change in what it believes at this time. The church was set to confirm Gene Washington as the bishop of New Hampshire. Bishop Washington was openly gay.
I do believe in tolerance and forgiveness. I do not, however, believe that a church should uphold this behavior as exemplary. A bishop is the definition of a role model. Washington did not meet that criteria for me.
Father Vanaman and the rest of our congregation were adamantly opposed to the church’s action here. As a matter of fact, many Epsicopalians throughout the United States were. It was not long before a fractured church was seen. The larger Anglican church was equally dismayed with this decision too and pressure was applied. To no end, it turns out as Robinson was confirmed and the Episcopal church adopted language that made it very clear it had broken with the Anglican church.
As for me, I sought the counsel of Father Vanaman and Father Carmel. After much research, discussion, and prayer, I decided to convert to the Catholic faith. I enrolled in RCIA and further investigated my faith. Due to another issue beyond my control that I will not detail here, it was a long process. But eventually I made it! 
What has happened to the Episcopal church? Apparently, it is now the sanctuary for gay community. Former New Jersey Governor McGreevey announced that he converted to the Episcopal faith from Catholicism last Sunday. Furthermore, McGreevey is entering the a seminary to become an Episcopal priest.
This is wrong on so many levels. McGreevey is the poster boy for political corruption. He was driven out of office because of his lies. He announced he was “a Gay American” and left his wife to shack up with a man. They hang a 50×40 photograph a naked man above their bed for his daughter to view. McGreevey then airs all his corruption for all to see, continues to battle his estranged wife, and somehow gets a gig to teach an ethics class at a state university to pad his pension. Now he wants to be a counselor to others, the religious leader of people’s faith. And the Episcopal church seems willing to let him have a go at it.
The Episcopal church has changed and for me I found a home where I am comfortable. There is no way I could rectify my faith with this week’s announcement from McGreevey.
I pray for the man, but I do not respect his decision.
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Friday, April 20th, 2007
How ethical is it to show your daughter a“life-size photograph of a nude male model”? How ethical is it to have your daughter sleep in your bed with your gay lover?
Former Governor James McGreevey is alleged to have done these his estranged wife claimed in papers filed for their divorce.
Larry King: You pick up some men at a truck stop or they pick you up?
McGreevey: Yes.
Larry King: And you didn’t even know their name maybe?
McGreevey: No. You don’t know anything about them.
This is the man who is bumping his retirement by teaching an ethics class at a state university. Actually, the class is named, Ethics, Law, and Leadership. Your tax dollars, dear reader, is funding this. McGreevey is a sorry authority to teach this class.
According to Kean University president, Dawood Farahi:
For a university like us to have the ability of a former governor — for what we pay him — it’s an opportunity for our students we shouldn’t miss.
Farahi lacks judgment and needs to be called on it immediately. There is no reason for McGreevey to ever receive another dollar from the taxpayers of New Jersey. He broke our trust and deserves no opportunity to right himself on the backs of the taxpayers.
And listening to Dina Matos McGreevey, it sounds like his judgment is just as flawed today as it was when he was office.
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