April 26, 2007 - 10:54am

McGreevey Teaching Business Ethics?

I finally understand why New Jersey bears the brunt of all those late night talk show jokes.  I was surprised and disappointed to hear that Kean University, one of New Jersey’s finest institutions of higher learning, has asked Jim McGreevey, to join its faculty.

Jim McGreevey – under whom corruption reached new heights in New Jersey – teaching business ethics?  It may be hard to find an appropriate place for an ex-governor, but surely this can't be it.

McGreevey’s largest fundraiser, chief of staff, legal counsel, Commerce Secretary, State Police superintendent and homeland security advisor were all either supremely unqualified and forced out, forced to resign amidst scandal, indicted or jailed – not the model for ethical management. And certainly not a record that deserves the honor of teaching about the subject in a classroom to the next generation of business leaders.

Sadly, this is just the latest example of pension padding to hit New Jersey – when are we going to say that enough is enough?

The corruption scandals of the McGreevey Administration are simply too egregious for the former governor to have any legitimacy in a classroom dedicated to teaching the next generation about ethical business behavior.

While no one has ever accused the former governor of benefiting personally from the problems during his term, he must either not be able to recognize corruption when he sees it, be a monumentally bad judge of character or just not care.  None of which would recommend him for his current assignment.

Comments

Glad you have the pulse there


So let me get this straight - you are still on your high horse after:

  • Patting down a black suspect for a photo op;
  • Overseeing the State Police while racial profiling was a policy;
  • Slamming Florio's two cent sales tax increase as immoral and wrong, then only cutting it by once cent;
  • Devastating the state employee pension system by risking it on the stock market, then borrowing $2.9 billion to shore it up;
  • Oh, and about that debt -- it was financed by your husband's partners;
  • Hiring Parsons for auto inspections;
  • Privatizing the DMV with a company your family had invested in which made a bad situation worse;
  • Corruption and incompetence on the EZ Pass installation;
  • Telling rescue workers that the air around Ground Zero was safe when it was toxic;

Talk about the pot calling the kettle black.

04/26/07 11:15 am

red herring


McGreevey is a workaholic, and did quite a bit of work for Kean U's China program pro bono. That he's using this job to "pad his pension" is complete bull...

McGreevey made quite a few mistakes, but no one ever accused him of profiting personally from public service.

Whitman herself had a plum job at Rutgers I believe. Cashed a nice paycheck for teaching one day a week. Not that she needed the money, since her husband got rich during her tenure.

04/26/07 12:02 pm

Christie, take a deep breath . . .


preferably at ground zero!

After pimping for George Bush during the World Trade Center attacks, and pillaging New Jersey's pension fund to fool your constituents how dare you try for the high moral ground.

04/26/07 3:15 pm

McGreevey


Attacking Governor Whitman does not make Governor McGreevey any less corrupt nor his role as an ethics professor any more appropriate.

04/26/07 3:56 pm

Public finance 101, by Christine


Christie--Teaching ," Public finance Insolvency , state government ; 101 " Perhaps you can teach this course immediately after McGreevey's . Your fiscal policies still reverberate throughout NJ .

04/26/07 5:36 pm

Let us not forget


The under the table settlement of the case against Chucky Poo--during an election year no less. Yup, McGreevey's teaching ethics is a lot like Christy teaching Government Finance.

04/26/07 8:21 pm

How do you spell "cheap shot?" W-h-i-t-m-a-n


I'm no fan of Jim McGreevey.

But now I finally understand why former gov. Whitman has not established for herself high public standing since she resigned from the EPA, at which she obviously had little influence with the president: she has a gravitas deficit.

It isn't that her criticism against McGreevey is even unsound. I just laughed when I read the news about McGreevey's new stint.

But it was an easy shot for Whitman. Too easy. It took zero ... below zero courage. But also, she has had for years strong ties with high rolling contributors to the Republican Party. She doesn't have credibility in making her criticism because she has lied in bed with those who pay to play -- at the expense of the public interest.

A statesman she ain't.

04/27/07 8:12 am

Whitman on McGreevey


I navigated the politics.nj site for the first time tonight and my spirit was renewed when I read the comments from Anonymous and those of you who pointed out the reasons that Chritie Whitman should not be the person criticizing the ethics of Jim McGreevey. You guys said it all! Thank you

04/29/07 6:49 pm

More


     You guys did not say it all. You forgot to mention how cronies of Christie such as Hazel Gluck have made themselves rich using their cozy relationships with folks in government. Too many from the "moderate" wing of the GOP are just like the Democrats. They primarily view government as a means of making a living. This inevitably leads to bigger government instead of smaller government and that leads to the financial crisis that our state now faces.

05/03/07 9:44 am

Glass House


Let's not forget the no bid contracts Whitman negotiated for EZ Pass & the atuomobile inspection vendors. Both of those deals were huge train wrecks.

05/03/07 2:07 pm

Really?


You people honestly think that Christie Whitman, a decent human being whatever her political beliefs, is as bad as Jim McGreevey? Really? What is wrong with you people? This is why we keep electing corrupt politicians.

This man was giving strangers blowjobs at NJ rest stops behind his wife’s back. This man ran the most corrupt governer's office in New Jersey history. This man continues to embarrass and humiliate this state by keeping himself in the limelight. If he didn't resign in disgrace, he would likely be in jail where he belongs (and probably would want to be). You really think Christie Whitman, who at least had enough independence and integrity to stand up to the Bush administration on behalf of her beliefs, is as bad as Jim McGreedy??? The question becomes, are you blind or just plain ignorant...

05/04/07 11:03 am

Take the broader perspective


It is rather unseemly that Jim McGreevey now wears the mortarboard for ethics, as it were. Even allowing for the suffering of character he must have endured over the last 2+ years, are there no better candidates for this post? If he were alive today, Thomas Mann would be outraged. I discount this opinion just a little, though, with a caution to take the measure of one's character over a longer time interval and different circumstances. McGreevey's current fisticuffs in public with his ex over the ostensible best interest of their child is what repels me the most

05/10/07 9:59 am

Hey Christie, remember me?


I'm the Senior Investigator who reported corruption within Internal Affairs and gave you proof of the misconduct I documented. We were I.A., for crying out loud!

Remember, you sent my "confidential" disclosure back to my boss so she could investigate herself? I was ostracized and targeted by my supervisors, who were falsifying investigations, "adjusting" official reports, changing official logbooks, and forcing competent doctors to change their evaluations in order to rid the state of unwanted employees?  (by the way, I kept copies)

Well, read my book, Rose Tainted Justice, to see what the state looked like when you were destroying it. And I can't believe YOU, of all people, noted, "The corruption scandals of the McGreevey Administration are simply too egregious for the former governor to have any legitimacy in a classroom dedicated to teaching the next generation about ethical business behavior."

As true as that is, your name can be used interchangeably with "wheel-n-deal" McGreevey. You both prove the only difference between corrupt administrations is the name.  Why don't you both join that law firm, "Dewey, Cheatum, and Howe?"

06/06/07 8:37 pm

Liberal "Buzz-Word"


The most important thing I learned from the Jim McGreevey debacle is no matter what the offense, no matter how egregious and/or scandalous, no matter how many lives you put at risk, no matter how many people you betrayed, all you have to do is claim your "gay." That it makes it a-ok.

Cheating on your wife is wrong - unless your "gay." Picking up "men" in truck stops or turnpike rest areas to have sex with complete strangers in bathroom stalls is dysfunctional, reckless, risky, and sick behavior. But if your "gay" then this simply does not apply to you.

McGreevey placed someone completely unqualified (a Poet) in one of the most important positions in New Jersey - Homeland Security Advisor - that every person (to include children & infants) living in New Jersey places their saftey into their hands AND lied by saying he was "a security advisor from the Israel Defense Forces." This act alone would get any normal human being brought up on charges.... But if your "gay" and its your "gay lover" then all is forgiven.

Think of it under normal circumstances.... Let's say I am Governor. I cheat on my wife with Carmen Electra then place her in the position of New Jersey's Homeland Security Advisor. I announce her qualifications as being, let's say, ex-FBI.... I would be crucified then indicted on any and every charge applicable.

However, I would pull a rabbit out of a hat to get away with it because now I understand. How you ask?

I simply explain that I'm "gay" and that I am in love with one of her male family members....might even be able to keep my job.

06/13/07 8:25 pm