Still playing catchup! It's tough to write about stuff like this. And scary too! But I missed out on an important local news item (many stories, actually) about New Jersey Governor Jim McGreevey's, um, lover? Boyfriend? Consultant? Victim?

The old newspapers have been lying around still wrapped in plastic, and this morning when it was time to put out the recycling bin I realized I had to remove the plastic, and then I saw them -- there were blazing headlines in the Philadelphia Inquirer all last week!

Like these:

These "mysteries" are now old news, and I don't want to bore my readers, so I'll just limit this recap to a few choice quotes.

In a pattern all too predictable in politics, Cipel cast himself as a victim:

....I've come to understand that I was a victim and just as importantly, I was the victim whose oppressor was one of the most powerful politicians and made sure to let me know my future was in his hands....

Meanwhile, McGreevey tried in vain to cast himself as Abraham Lincoln:

McGreevey noted that Lincoln said at the time that "each new generation moves society forward and brings ideas that change the world."

Scary? In a way, it is. But I am not sure I agree with Mr. Cipel's assessment:

"Think about how scary it is when we are talking about a powerful man like the governor of the state of New Jersey."

But to be fair, Monica "worked" and so did Golan. It really wouldn't be a recap if I didn't include something about his "job":

"I was not, under any circumstances, responsible for internal security under the governor," Cipel told Haaretz.

Cipel, who returned to Israel on Monday, described himself as a kind of scheduling secretary on security matters for the Governor's Office.

His salary: $110,000 a year.

"When people wanted to arrange a meeting, I was supposed to arrange it," Cipel told the newspaper. "I did not participate in confidential meetings, nor did I receive classified documents."

Remember, this came into public focus only because the gay angle titillated the attention of the public. I wonder how many other complete nonentities there are who consume $110,000 in tax dollars per year for doing absolutely nothing, without any qualifications.

As I said before, the routine nature of such corruption is the real story, and I find it offensive that it's being buried in layers and layers of phony victimization.

Are there any real victims to be found here?

How about gay men who live their lives in dignity without resorting to victim role-playing games at taxpayer's expense? (At least the family courts don't yet have jurisdiction over such nonsense.)

And how about New Jersey taxpayers?