In the Spring of 1998 I was in Freak Party I was finishing my final classes of Nursing school, studying to take my NJ Nursing Boards to gain my RN License and simultaneously preparing a short college area tour of the east coast USA (From NJ to Florida & back). On a rare break from all this I was watching the Channel 12 local news in the home I grew up in in Matawan NJ w/ my Roman Catholic Eucharistic Minister father. I looked up to see a then Senate seat holder & Mayor of Woodbridge Township NJ Jim McGreevey at a town affair kneeling to greet a child & smiling at the camera. I knew nothing about this man at the time but I said to my father “That guy is gay how did he get the votes to become a Mayor?” My father became irate saying how could I say that about him he is a married man w/ children & a Catholic & is refusing communion because of his Pro-Choice political stand. Apparently he did know something about him. I stood my ground saying “I don’t care what he claims to stand for he is gay.” Stating that I am an expert in theses affairs since I went to Audio Engineering school in Greenwich Village NYC as my official gay outing credentials, mostly just to agitate him a bit more since it amused me he got so upset about what I though was honestly an observation that wasn’t meant to effect anyone one way or the other outside of our conversation. That inspired me to write theses words “LIKE A HOMO POLITICIAN NEVER GOING TO ADMIT TO IT, LIKE A HOMO POLITICIAN NEVER GONNA SAY I DID IT, NEVER GONNA SAY I UNDERAGE KISSED, NEVER HAD A HABIT I COULD NOT KICK, LIKE A HOMO POLITICIAN, I SURE NEVER INHALED IT”. Speaking to the deception not the lifestyle or preference to which I have no right to object to.
Simultaneously in America at the time, then President Bill Clinton was in the middle of the whole Monica Lewinsky scandal. I was personally enraged by this entire mess from the public opinion, to the media coverage, to the fascist attach on peoples private lives, to the breach of friendship & trust, to the special appointments of investigation & the general deception as an aftermath of the affair. Mostly I was angry that nobody was speaking to the real point - that a persons choices, behaviors and actions in private life and public office all speak to his character & that every decision “Slick Willy” made from that point on had to be viewed w/ a queer eye (pun intended) by the entire world rendering him IMO completely ineffective in decision making that effected not only America but the world community as a whole since we are looked upon as the political & moral compass in human rights & justice to name just two areas. Therefore we as a world community we were left vulnerable on many levels since he was (and remains) obviously willing to compromise every molecule of his being & to do whatever he had to keep hold of his position of power; THESE DECISIONS WERE NOW DRIVEN AT LEAST IN PART BY HIS NEED TO SPIN OUT OF THE MUDHOLE HE DUG HIMSELF INTO, SO WHAT AMOUNT OF THAT KIND OF COMPROMISE ARE YOU WILLING TO ACCEPT, I personally can accept zero amount. That night, even though it had been months since the story first broke, every sitcom & late night talk show host made jokes about the President & this incident; Mr. Leno & Mr. Letterman seemed to miss the significance of this to call out just a few pawns in the game. All that trigger me to write these words “IF WE LAUGH ABOUT IT ON THE LATE TALK SHOW, IT'S JUST THAT MUCH EASIER TO JUST THEM GO” since I believe they were deliberately making light of the situation to sway public opinion & support their parent companies “distract & spend” agenda. Remember things were going good then financially, lots of jobs were around, lots of disposable income, house loans were being handed out to anyone who could sign the paperwork aided by thug tactics in the shadows & the concept of Derivatives was being fully realized back then, all which today slammed to the ground & is devastating the American & in turn the world economy while todays power whores spew rhetoric & false hope. Could some of theses decisions or lack of long view been avoided if the leader of the free world had not been distracted w/ cigar dances & the covering up of a soiled dress, we will never know for sure – but the smart money says way more then likely YES.
In December of that year Freak Party had disbanded (BTW both the tour & my License exam went smashingly - Joseph Riggio, RN officially since Feb. 26th 1997) & I sat on those words leaving them on 2 separate scraps of paper for all that time. Jump forward if you will to 2001, Jim McGreevey became the 52 Governor of NJ running his campaign on a mostly liberal platform. Now jump forward to 2003, I started another band, Monkey Dancer, & dominating the news at that time was the Roman Catholic Priest pedophilia sexual abuse scandals, which haunt that institution to this day on an even grander scale. The main problem I continue to have w/ this remains that the Church refuses to even validate this issue in any way by, in essence, ignoring that any wrong doing takes place excusing the accused by simply relocating them when scandal surfaces and retiring or burying them w/ honors. Back then I was inspired to write theses words “LIKE A PRIEST BEHIND THE PULPIT NEVER GOING TO ADMIT TO IT, LIKE A PRIEST BEHIND THE PULPIT NEVER GONNA SAY I DID IT, NEVER GONNA SAY I ONE TIME KISSED, NEVER CAN I SAY I LIKED IT, LIKE A PRIEST BEHIND THE PULPIT, I SURE NEVER LICKED A HABIT” (last line really being the kicker, seems to ignite fury in some I was nearly attached by someone after performing that line once, the tongue antics on stage didn’t help I guess). These words quickly followed “IF THEY PREACH AGAINST IT AT YOUR SUNDAY SCHOOL, WHEN YOUR BEST FRIEND DOES IT, IT'S JUST THAT MUCH MORE COOL” I added the verses “(1) YOUR PRESIDENT HAS SET HORRIFIC PRECEDENT, YOUR PRIMEMINISTER SEEMS QUITE SINISTER, YOUR SHAH HAS GONE TOO FAR, YOUR KING KNOWS NOT A THING & (2) YOUR CHURCH TREATS ME LIKE A JERK, YOUR TEMPLE HAS MADE ME MENTAL, YOUR MOSQUE SEEMS LIKE A CROCK, YOUR KINGDOM HALL SERVES NOT AT ALL” respectively feeling the two were linked together this way & presented it to the MD boys and entitled it HOMO POLITICIAN. While explaining the path to writing the lyrics to the band, Chris (bassist) protested “Man that’s fucked up my dad did a lot of construction work for Woodbridge & McGreevey & even met his wife & kids you don’t know he is gay.” I restated my position & my credential as I did to my father years back, but this time to laughter & we proceeded to record the first version of this ever evolving song for our original 3 song demo.
Flash forward yet again to Aug 12th 2004 & Jim McGreevey only after being threatened to be outed by a lover admits that his truth is that he “is a gay American” w/ his sedated wife & disgraced politicos by his side (not to mention his not so well shielded children). Chris calls me screaming “Holy Shit You Were Right!!!” after the news breaks. He also sent the song to “The Jersey Guys” from radio station NJ 101.5 FM. Still another leap forward 6/7/2009 to 6/9/2009 the station played the song to promote their outing of gay NJ politicians segment while my other band Honey Thick was recording a second version of the song for their original CD/EP “Who Does That?”
Meanwhile throughout this entire time more & more politicians continue to be exposed for their backdoor & bathroom romps while holding on dearly to their conservative & family value platforms to the shock of the mindless fools who continue to believe the lies they sell and trust them to represent them so long as they look the part, say the words & smile & wave to the camera forgetting that actions are what truly speak of a persons character. To add to the irony of all this I was both amused and disappointed to hear that in April 2007 Kean University, one of New Jersey’s institutions of higher learning, asked Jim McGreevey to join its faculty as, get this, a Professor of Business Ethics and to really kick it up one he is personally pursuing a Master of Divinity degree, a requirement to becoming an Episcopal Priest which he states is his ultimate aspiration.
This segues nicely into the church today. The level of hipppocracy in 2010 is detestable, how do we deal w/ the prime cover up agent in such a despicable set of actions - I know make him the big chief, the infallible decision maker, the moral head of an entire religion, the spokesman of a deity on earth - the Pope! How does he use his new position to continue to suppress the rights of females & the very people he offers safe haven to w/in his own institution! Please don’t misunderstand sexual prowess, preference & lifestyle are not the issues here, deceit & dishonesty are the problems. If these people can’t be true to themselves & their families how can they be true to a sacred oath or a constituency?
Final Take : 1- Be honest to yourself 2- Believe in yourself not false promises or profits 3- Love who you want but, start w/ yourself
That's my conclusion tell me yours here >>
Stay Funky !!
Joseph Riggio
Keyport, NJ USA
