Cry me a Jersey river

I've never been a fan of "gay American" Jim McGreevey, the disgraced former governor of New Jersey who played the queer card once he got into trouble for hiring a unqualified former beau to head the state's homeland security department.

Now McGreevey -- a father of two -- is coming out of the closet for cash, receiving $500,000 to tell his story, which at first glance appears to be in line with his self-serving reputation.

The newly released book excerpts do not mention the former aide whom sources close to McGreevey have identified as the man with whom he had an extramarital affair.

Nor do the excerpts detail his two marriages, or even the scandal that became public knowledge during an Aug. 12, 2004, televised news conference, in which McGreevey acknowledged a gay affair and said he would resign.

But the book is thick with salacious detail -- such as his anonymous trysts at Garden State rest areas, just the kind of thing a kid wants to be reading about their dad. Of course I'm sure McGreevey will be applauded as courageous for detailing his painful struggle with homosexuality.

Certainly I can empathize, but I've heard -- and lived -- that tale before. I might be more interested if McGreevey didn't use his sexual orientation as an excuse for his misconduct while in office, like choosing cronyism over New Jersey's security. Deal with that, and maybe I'll give him the sympathy he so obviously craves.