Tuesday, September 19, 2006

Thoughts on McGreevey

Elaine and I were both going to write about something. But she ended up finding something else so I'm going to write about it. There was a piece online that was "Oh that Jim McGreevey's so embarrassing." Apparently there's some debate on this in some gay circles. I can't offer "the" or "a" gay view. I'm straight. So here are my thoughts and take them or blow them.

Jim McGreevey was on Oprah today. He's the New Jersey governor that had a sexual relationship with someone who worked for him. He went public (with his then-wife standing beside him) and such Moral Paragons as Christie Todd Whitman (of the 'get thee back to Ground Zero -- it's fine and dandy' fame) began insisting he had to step down. He did. He divorced. He's got a new partner (male, Mark O'Donnell) and a new book.

So what did I think about Jim McGreevey? I could relate to him. As he is today, I could relate to him and I could relate to what he was talking about. I'm a lot younger than him, but even in this supposed new world, I know "gay" was the word you didn't want to be called ("gay" or worse). I knew it growing up. Coaches didn't yell "throws like a girl" at my teams. They said things like "butt pirates," "sugar britches," and more. And I grew up in the "new world." So I can imagine how it could be for someone McGreevey's age.

So when he was talking about not wanting to be the perceived 'bad' thing, I could understand that. I also wondered how much of it was due to being gay?

When I'd hear that stuff, I'd take it as an insult (the way it was meant) and get mad. But I wasn't thinking, "Do they know?" If you're gay, that kind of b.s. takes on a different level and I thought he was getting at that.

I also wanted to talk about the guy who denies being his lover. Oprah said he was invited to respond, this guy, through his lawyer but didn't want to and she noted what's in the press today.
I'm going to comment on that b.s. because that's all it is.

The guy's name is Golan Cipel and thanks to Ty for finding the article for me. I saw it on Yahoo as an AP on Yahoo story and those things disappear real quick. Ty found an article from one of the paper's out there and e-mailed it to me. (Or, the same article, but running in a paper so it may be up a little longer.) Cipel was the assistant to McGreevey.

Cipel says he's not gay, that he was harrassed.

B.S.

If he's not gay, he's bi-sexual or he's a someone who uses anything to advance. Walking through the claims of the harrassment in the AP article:

In the statement, Cipel said a drunken McGreevey once tried to force himself on him. In a second incident, McGreevey, lying in bed recovering from a broken leg, masturbated in front of him, Cipel said.

WTF. No straight guy is going to be, "Uh, what do I do?" Somebody forces themsevles on you and you're not gay, if you're a man, you say no. They whip it out later, you're out of there. There is no third incident.

Cipel said it was the third incident that forced him to leave his job.
He said that occurred when he was accompanying McGreevey in a van on a trip to Washington, D.C. The governor was lying on a mattress in the van and Cipel was sitting in a back seat when suddenly McGreevey grabbed his leg and began masturbating, Cipel said.
After a struggle, Cipel pulled his leg back and was poised to kick McGreevey in the throat when the governor let go, Cipel wrote. Three state troopers were in the vehicle, he said.

I read that crap and thought, "I don't know anyone who would say something like this." Then I remember my old teammate from high school that I bumped into a few months back. He's gay and out now. He wasn't then. So I asked him and his opinion was the guy, Cipel, wasn't an innocent. He was either curious or participating. He also questioned whether a straight man would threaten to go public?

"I could see him getting out of there, if he was straight," my friend said, "but there's no way he would go public with it if he were straght."

He talked about all the times we were told to 'toughen up' when we were physically hurt or down by coaches growing up. He says a straight guy would've walked away and would've walked away without dragging himself publicly into the whole thing. He called the guy "a drama queen."

Three instances? I don't know a straight guy that would work for some guy under a "three strikes you're out" policy. You'd be out of there. And if the guy couldn't grasp your no, then you weren't saying it loud enough the other two times.

Now Cipel may not be your average guy and, if that's the case, maybe he's telling the truth. But I don't think so. Men can be harrassed. I'm not saying they can't be. But I think if Cipel's the straight guy he's claiming to be, then he would have responded differently during and after.


Cipel said that when they reached Washington, he was shocked to find himself booked into the same hotel room as McGreevey. He said he locked himself in the bathroom and spent a fitful night trying to sleep on the floor.

That's something a woman with little options or nervous might do, I don't see a grown man doing that. Not if he's straight. A straight guy would have gotten out of there, not gone to the bathroom to sleep behind a locked door and to "fitful" all night to get to sleep.

So I don't buy it. The guy was over thirty when he said he was being harrassed. If you're a man, and you're not gay, and some guy starts masturbating and grabbing you, after he's already made a pass at you, you get out of there if it's harrassment. I can understand some confusion if it was a woman doing it. There would be the whole "Am I pussy? Am I a wuss?" because it's a woman offering sex. And I'm not trying to offend anyone with the p-word, but I'm saying what would be in my head and most guy's heads. An attractive woman (McGreevey's a good looking guy) is hitting on you. She's your boss and it might take you by surprise. But a man hits on you, masturbates in front of you, twice, you're already out of there. You're not a scared little girl hiding behind a locked bathroom door all night. And that's what you would have been raised to think "little girl" if you acted that way.

I have no problem believing that Anita Hill was sexually harrassed by Clarance Thomas. But women were raised differently. And since Cipel's over a decade older than I am, I'm guessing he was raised with a lot more macho crap than I was. Cipel is post-Anita Hill. If he was really sexually harrassed, her example should have been one for him. I called Tony and six other friends and asked them what they would do. Everyone said they'd say no once and think it was over. If it happened again, they'd be out the door. That was on a pass. When I told them that Cipel claims the second incident involved McGreevey whipping it out and going to town in front of him, they said no way in hell.

A woman might believe in Cipel's story because of the way she was raised. But I don't buy it. Cipel was raised in a much more anti-gay environment than I was. He was over thirty when it happened. He took a job, according to him, and kept it from the guy that was doing this. Cipel says nothing happened. If that's true, Cipel may have been a little hustler who thought he could flirt a little, leave McGreevey hoping and stall. But it seems more likely to me that he had some sort of relationship with McGreevey. Maybe they jerked each other off. But I just don't see Cipel's story as true. I don't see McGreevey doing that and doing it with state troopers present. It's unbelievable. Clarence Thomas wasn't harrassing Anita Hill in front of other people.

The story just goes out the reality window. Now if Cipel was gay, I might see the story differently. But a straight guy just wouldn't put up with that. And McGreevey's lawyer turned the matter over to the FBI when McGreevey was still in office, saying Cipel was trying to blackmail him. The guy's not married, has no kids, so what's to stop him from picking up and getting another job? If your boss hits on you and you don't like it, you get out. It can be different for women, I realize that. But if you're a guy, you turn down the first offer. When the second alleged incident occurs, you start sending out that resume. There's no third time.

Here's C.I.'s "Iraq snapshot:"

Tuesday, September 19, 2006, violence and chaos continue in Iraq, Bully Boy went to the United Nations and so did activists, a soldier pleads guilty to a war crime, Camp Democracy continues in Washington, DC and, in Australia, Shelley Kovco tells the military inquiry into the Aprtil 21st Baghdad death of her husband, "'Sorry' just doesn't cut it after the first time."
Starting in Australia, on April 21, 2006, Jake Kovco became the first Australian soldier to die in Iraq. For months now, a military inquiry into his death and the problems immediately after (including the destruction of evidence and losing his body) has been ongoing.
Belinda Tasker (Herald-Sun) reports that the head of the inquiry, Group Captain Warren Cook, has stated: "It is the intenion of the board to say . . . Jake Kovco did not committ suicide. . . . I can't make it any plainer than that."
Eleanor Hall (ABC's The World Today) summarized: "It wasn't suicide. In a surprise announcement this morning, the Preisdent of the Board inquiring into the death of Private Jake Kovco in Iraq interrupted an address from one of the Kovco lawyers to say that he had already ruled out that the young soldier deliberately took his own life."
Dan Box (The Australian) reports that Colonel Leslie Young ("representing [Jake] Kovco's interests") declared that the hearing should issue a finding of accidental death or "return an open verdict" due to the destruction and loss of evidence. Box quotes Young: ""Have you ever received direct evidence that Jake was handling his weapon when it discharged? The answer is no."
This follows (see yesterday's snapshot) the statements made by Judy Kovco, mother of Jake Kovco, to Kerry O'Brien in an interview on ABC's 7:30 Report. Judy Kovco discussed her feelings regarding the inquiry, how "the evidence so far, there is no way known, no, he did not shoot himself" and that she believes the military would cover up "an accidental shooting by somebody else or a murder". Conor Duffy (ABC's The World Today) reported that the announcement of no finding of suicide came as Lieutenant Colonel Holles "was speaking for Jake Kovco's parents, Martin and Judy, and he began addressing the board and tell them why they shouldn't find suicide."
Following the announcement that the inquiry would not issue a finding of suicide, Shelly Kovco, Jake Kovco's widow, addressed the inquiry.
ABC's PM provides a recreation of some of her statements including: "I had explained to Tyie that Daddy's mates were bringing him home so that we could say goodbye. I then had to explain to my son why we weren't picking Daddy up. No mother ever wants to tell their children their Daddy has died and they won't see him again. But out on top of that, they didn't bring Daddy home, it was another man, we have to go get Daddy in a couple of days, is pretty hard and confusing on him and me."
Tyrie is the young son of Shelley and Jake Kovco (under five-years-old) and the couple also has a younger daughter, Alana (a one-year-old).
Conor Duffy reported on the statements to Eleanor Hall (ABC's The World Today), "Eleanor, so far Shelley Kovco has remained silent throught the entire three months of the inquiry, and today she was dressed in black and she gave an emotional address, and it really revealed the extent of her anger and the sense of betrayal she feels towards the Defence Force and to the Government."
Belinda Tasker (Herald-Sun) reports that it was a five-page statement and that Shelley Kovco was "[s]obbing as she read" it. The statement directly addressed Brendan Nelson's actions. Nelson is the Defense Minister and his breathless, uninformed gushing to the media helped no one (and may have tarnished his own 'rising star'). Dan Box (The Australian) reports her stating, "Brendan Nelson has said Jake was cleaning his pistol, and then he changed his story . . . These things shouldn't have been said to the media until the truth was known."
Shelley Kovco also addressed the pain caused by some of the rumors that were circulated. (We didn't note them here when they were circulating as gospel, we won't note them now but we will note that she addressed them, and the pain they caused, in her statement.) Belinda Tasker reports that Shelley Kovco stated "she did not hold either of her husband's roommates, Pt Ray Johnson and Pte Rob Shore, repsonsible for his death . . . Likewise, she said she did not believe another soldier, Pte Steve Carr, whose DNA was found on Pte Kovco's pistol, was to blame."
Also speaking was David Small, Shelley Kovco's father. Dan Box (The Australian) reports he spoke "outside the inquiry" to reporters and "said the family held Alastar Adams, the Australian consular official in Kuwait City who sealed Kovco's casket, responsible for the confusion over the body's transport." And what did Small say to the inquiry? Conor Duffy, on ABC's PM, reported: "Shelley Kovco was followed onto the stand by her father David Small, a former military man who also attacked the Defence force, saying the bungled repatriation had almost caused him to return his medals. . . He also attacked the facilities used to return Private Kovco's remains to Autralia, saying staff at the Kuwaiti morgue was illiterate and little more than fridge mechanics and cleaners." Small is quoted stating: "We have no reason to believe that Jake's death is anything but a tragic accident. However, we think that something has been withheld, perhaps with misquided good intentions. For Shelley and the kids' sake, if anyone knows anything that hasn't been said please come forward now and not in some years time as it will only increase the pain."
According to Dan Box (The Australian), it will be "about six weeks" before the board of the inquiry turns "a final report . . . [over] to the chief of the defence force, Air Chief Marshal Angus Houston".
Meanwhile, as noted by Aileen Alfandary on KPFA's The Morning Show, today, Bully Boy went to the United Nations (and spoke to French president Jacques Chirac, before speech making). Bully Boy went to the United Nations and so did activists "calling for an immediate end to the war in Iraq" (Alfandary). Alfandary spoke to Leslie Cagan (United for Peace and Justice) moments before the protests were to begin. Cagan: "We are out on the streets of New York because President Bush is addressing the UN General Assembly and we're here to say no to his war, it's time to end the war, bring all the troops home and no new wars."
As CBS and AP note, Bully Boy's speech included the cry "Stand up for peace." No word on whether that was greeted by UN delegates with snorts of derision or boos and hisses.
Gertrue Chavez-Dreyfuss (Reuters) reports on what took place outside with
"[t]housands of protesters including former American soldiers rallied . . . urging the U.S. government to end the war in Iraq and bring the troops home." The article quotes Raed Jarrar, "People in Iraq also want to end the war. We want our country back."
From the Bully Boy to another war war criminal -- in England, Corporal Donald Payne pleaded guilty "to inhumanely treating civilians detained in Iraq between Sept 13 and Sept 16 2003 in Basra, Iraq" (Telegraph of London). The Guardian notes that Payne ("one of seven British troops who went on trial today facing charges linked to the death of an Iraqi civilian") was pleading guilty to chrages that "relate to the death of Baha Musa, 26, an Iraqi civilian in Basra". Jeremey Lovell (Reuters) reports that Musa is said to have had "93 injuries on his body, including a broken nose and ribs" and that "another detainee was so badly beaten that he nearly died of kidney failure."
This as Reuters reports British military has announced that two British soldiers died in Iraq on Monday (British Iraq fatalities now stand at 118) and the BBC reports that the Secretary General of the UN, Kofi Annan, is calling "for urgent actions from Iraqi leaders and the international community to bring Iraq back from the brink." The brink? As AFP notes, "Violence continued unabated Tuesday" in Iraq.
Bombings?
CBS and AP report, in Baghdad, 10 people are dead and 19 wounded as a result of a "rocket attack". A car bomb, AFP reports, claimed the lives of two more people in Baghdad. Outside Baghdad, Reuters reports one dead (two wounded) from a car bomb al-Rasheed; two dead (seven wounded) in Mahmudiya from mortar attacks; and, in Baquba, two dead from a roadside bomb.
Shootings?
AFP notes a police officer was shot dead in Baquba. Reuters notes that eleven people were shot dead today "across Baquba" and that two people were killed in Najaf.
Corpses?
Reuters reports that 11 corpses were discovered in Mahmudiya.
Meanwhile, AFP reports that John Abizaid ("US Central Command chief") told Congress that he thinks "this level probably will have to be sustained through the spring and then we'll re-evaluate". He was speaking of the fact that 140,000 US troops are currently in Iraq. Lolita C. Baldor (AP) reports that Abizaid also spoke of the option of adding more troops "or extending the Iraq deployments of other units if needed." Apparently no one's supposed to remember the talk at the end of 2005 -- about drawing down the numbers. In June, the number was 127,000. It's now 140,000 -- like everything else the Bully Boy attempts, it goes the wrong way.
In peace news, Camp Democracy continues its activities in Washington DC -- free and open to the public and open through October 1st. Camp Democracy's activities today revolved around media activism and tomorrow's activities focus around Women's Peace Day and is joint-sponsored by NOW and CODEPINK (among those scheduled to participate is Howard Zinn). . A complete schedule can be found here.
And, in Berkeley, Judith Scherr (Berkeley Daily Planet) reports on the agenda for this evening's city council meeting which includes a vote on the "resolution to support Lt. Ehren Watada". Ehren Watada is the first commissioned officer to publicly refuse to deploy to Iraq. In August, an Article 32 hearing was held. Last Friday, the military tried to sneak in a new charge ("conduct unbecoming an officer" for statements made at at the Veterans for Peace conference held in Seattle -- here at CounterPunch and here at Truthout). More information on Watada can be found at Courage to Resist and ThankYouLt.org.



















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