The Seamy Side of State Politics

I’m in the midst of reading The Soprano State: New Jersey’s Culture of Corruption. It’s written by a couple of seasoned reporters from Gannett who have covered politics in Trenton for years. The book does an excellent job of describing the dirty dealings in Jersey from McGreevey’s appointment of an unqualified boytoy to the head of Homeland Defense to the behind-the-scenes political bosses who pull the strings to Corzine’s soft spot for Carla Katz, the head of the largest state union.

The book has a patchwork feel. There was clearly a lot of cut and paste action going on with their old columns. They even go back and forth with their pronouns in the book, sometimes referring to themselves in the first person and other times in the third person. The book could have also benefited from some analysis about why New Jersey is ranked up with Louisiana and Rhode Island as one of most corrupt states in the union. Still, their description of the parade of vanities and greed in New Jersey is a very valuable resource.

It also is good for a chuckle. With all the discussion of Spitzer, we must revisit the excellence of the McGreevey scandal.

According to the book, reporters knew about McGreevey’s gayness for a long time. Their first clue was that he fired the old staff and hired good looking, younger men to take their positions. He moved the state police out of the Governor’s mansion to avoid their eyes. There was the mysterious broken leg on the beach incident. The reporters noted that there were suspicions about McGreevey’s sexuality from when he first started in state politics.

A lifelong Democrat, McGreevey was appointed head of the state parole board by a Republican. When questioned about accomplishments during that period, insiders said he brought in a leather sofa for his office and there were a lot of good-looking young men around. No one drew a conclusion, at least publicly.

So, all you leather sofa owners, you are totally gay.

But aside from much chuckling about McGreevey’s interest in young boys, the book points out that McGreevey used his influence to fatten his wallet at state taxpayers’ expense.

Despite public scandal after public scandal in our state, things operate in the same old ways. The pay to play deals continue, political bosses still pull the strings, and our political leaders are still letting their penises interfere with the job. What is to be done?

UPDATE: From the NYT, why politicians keep getting involved in sex scandals.