THE WORLD IS TO BLAME: Former New Jersey governor Jim McGreevey is eager for us to know the depravities of his personal life, so he has published a book with all the sordid details of the extent to which he tried to keep his homosexuality a secret — including from the woman he married even though he knew he wanted to be with men. There's something else McGreevy wants us to know — that none of it is his fault, oh no. Check out his tortured syntax:

"The closet starves a man, and when he gets a chance he gorges till it sickens him," he writes in his book, titled "The Confession."

It's the fault of the closet, you see. McGreevey had no choice but to keep his gayness hidden, don't ya know. Thus forced to remain in the shadows, there he was starved and therefore had no alternative but to cruise truck stops for anonymous sex. More blame for anyone but Jim:

While his parents' working-class Irish-Catholic identity comforted him, he knew "deep down . . . that this American ideal excluded me."

Get it? It's not that McGreevey himself fell short of a certain American ideal — heavens no, the ideal "excluded" poor, beleagured Jim. Look: I don't argue the point that many homosexuals fear coming out. Just how about taking responsibility for the choices we make in response to our fears about how society will respond if we reveal who we really are? How about knocking off the really lousy habit of blaming circumstances for the choices we make — like lying to a woman so she'll be your wife so you can pursue your political career at all costs?