The day after Golan Cipel announced, through counsel, that he would not sue Governor McGreevey for sexual harassment, Cipel stated, “I have no doubt that I would have won a civil case against the governor.” Still insisting on the righteousness of Cipel’s claim (and Cipel’s heterosexuality), one of Cipel’s attorneys talked of Cipel’s responding “forcefully and assertively” to fend off the governor’s most recent sexual advances.

The governor’s camp, not surprisingly, dismissed Cipel’s and his attorney’s statements. In fact, one of the governor’s most ardent supporters, state senator Raymond Lesniak, went so far as to say, “I challenged Lowy [Cipel’s attorney] repeatedly, through the press, to file a suit. I wanted to take Cipel’s deposition under oath.”**

Enough, already with the ridiculous posturing. We see this pathetic soap opera for what it is.

The real issue that remains on the table is the governor’s steadfast refusal to leave office before September 3rd. His leaving prior to that date would permit the citizens of this state to elect the person who will be the chief executive of the state through November 2005. Imagine the nerve of us actually wanting a say in who governs the state?

** Don’t make me laugh. First, Mr. Lesniak a state senator, most certainly would not represent Governor McGreevey in such a suit and therefore would not take Cipel’s deposition “under oath,” [They’re always taken under oath.]. And, second, if I were the client, I would not want Mr. Lesniak to take a deposition, even in a rear-end hit case.