During Democrat James McGreevey’s successful run for the governorship of New Jersey, McGreevey said he supported a five-year moratorium on the hunting of bears. As governor, however, McGreevey did not attempt to interfere with the New Jersey Fish and Game Council to reinstate a bear hunt this year in order to control the population of bears in the state.
In the ensuing hunt, 328 bears were killed. Under New Jersey law, the governor does not have the ability to revoke or stop a hunt directly, but he could have used his political clout and influence to try to forestall the hunt if he had wanted to. Then-New Jersey Gov. Christie Todd Whitman did just that in 2000 to help stop a planned bear hunt.
Animal rights activist, not surprisingly, are angry with McGreevey for apparently changing his mind about whether a bear hunt was necessary and have ratcheted up the rhetoric against him. For example, a press release from the New Jersey Animal Rights Alliance and the Bear Education and Research Group said,
In an attempt to climb out of the dismal pit that is his approval ratings, Governor James E. McGreevey is unveiling a new slogan for the state of the state address: “Promises Made, Promises Kept.”
“Sounds nice”, states Stuart Chaifetz of NJARA, “but it’s as false as the promises he made. This is a man who promised not to allow bear hunting, and yet a mere month ago he allowed the slaughter of 328 bears.”
It is important to understand that this was not just a campaign promise, but a major reason why tens of thousands of people worked for his election and voted for him.
“He not only lied”, states Lynda Smith of the Bear Group, “he stole our votes. The reality is that since he lied to us about the bears, he’ll lie about anything.”
Since the Governor is looking for a new slogan, Here’s one that is at least honest: “McGreevey Lied, Bears Died.”
In December about 100 anti-bear hunt activists gathered at Wawayanda State and carried signs referring to McGreevey with language like “Adolf McGreevey” while chanting “Never Again!”
Source:
Promise – Broken. Governor McGreevey’s New Slogan Is Worst Form of Hypocrisy. Press Release, New Jersey Animal Rights Alliance/BEAR Group, January 2004.