Unfortunately it required revelations of toxic sexual misconduct from eight women to finally expose New York Governor Andrew Cuomo as a noxious, political charlatan. The charges expunged the fasctitoiusly nurtured veneer maintained by America's most pompous, narcissistic state leader.
The cheeky governor brushed aside the allegations with repugnant claims his casual flirtations were misinterpreted by the women. This is the same lout who once clamored that every woman's assertion of sexual misconduct deserved to be believed. Cuomo has evolved from #MeToo to #MisogynistInChief.
As a chorus of women echoed allegations, Cuomo issued a baneful statement saying he "teased people about their personal lives, their relationships, about getting married or not married," but didn't mean to offend anyone. He is a member of the Party of Woke. This is cloddish Neanderthal behavior.
Sources told The New York Times that Cuomo had the hutzpah to author a letter for his inner circle to distribute to former staffers aimed at tarnishing the credibility of one of his chief accusers. The maneuver speaks to the character of a ruthless, bullying politician.
The governor counted on a coddling media to allow him to escape unscathed. Instead the news cheerleaders were forced by the allegations to chisel the governor's facade. Many insiders, including the duplicitous media, had known for years about Cuomo's peccadilloes.
Media coverage of the sexual allegations dwarfed previous press reporting on the extent of his deadly nursing home scandal. The fawning media was determined to downplay the nursing home disaster to aid the governor's attempt to dodge responsibility, but the misconduct charges opened Pandora's box.
Cuomo should have been ousted months ago after his disastrous directive to ship COVID patients into the state's nursing homes, a decision that led to deaths of 14,500 elderly residents. As a result of the imbecilic decision, 37% of all Coronavirus fatalities in New York state occurred in nursing homes.
During the darkest days of the scourge, Cuomo spent most of his time puffing up his image for managing the health crisis. He authored a media-acclaimed book, "American Crisis: Leadership Lessons During the COVID-19 Pandemic." He presented himself as New York's savior in the best-seller.
In November, that bastion of progressive sycophancy, the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, awarded Cuomo an Emmy "in recognition of his leadership during the COVID-19 pandemic and his masterful use of TV to inform and calm people around the world."
What a charade. Cuomo's media performances were orchestrated to burnish his reputation while promoting his presidential ambitions. He yammered about how President Trump had failed the nation, while he, Cuomo, was a model of following science to implement life-saving, effective solutions.
After the nursing home fiasco, how could any leader claim he was following science as Cuomo often bragged? If Cuomo understood science, he would have made protecting the elderly, the most vulnerable to the virus, his top priority. Instead he left them defenseless against an insidious virus.
Cuomo's state Health Department last March issued a pernicious advisory requiring nursing homes to accept "the expedited receipt of residents returning from packed hospitals "if the patients were deemed medically stable." The document blessed by Cuomo also directed the following:
"No resident shall be denied re-admission or admission to the (nursing home) solely based on a confirmed or suspected diagnosis of COVID-19. (Nursing homes) are prohibited from requiring a hospitalized resident who is determined medically stable to be tested for COVID-19 prior to admission or re-admission."
To make it clear, the governor not only forced nursing homes to accept COVID patients, but his health department's order forbade the facilities to even test other incoming patients for the virus. This did not apply to hospitals, only to nursing homes. It is an unconscionable act of a detached political emperor.
His lethal mistake was unmasked when the New York State Attorney General Letitia James rocked Cuomo's political dynasty with a report faulting his administration for undercounting the Coronavirus deaths in nursing homes, suggesting a politically-motivated cover-up.
Cuomo's top aide Melissa DeRosa admitted the state withheld nursing home data from the state legislature because the governor was worried about a possible federal Department of Justice investigation into how Team Cuomo dealt with the crisis.
The New York Times, normally a reliable guardian of Cuomo's image, reported Cuomo and his team rewrote a report, removing the fact that more than 9,000 nursing home residents had died by June. The Times found the state health department's data was approximately 50% higher than public figures
While infected patients were whisked to nursing homes, the administration surely knew the facilities were ill-equipped to deal with protecting their own patients in the early stages of the outbreak. The attorney general's report tried to cover for Cuomo by blaming nursing homes for their unpreparedness.
This heartless decision set the stage for an epidemiological disaster of epic proportions.
As news of the catastrophe broke, Governor Cuomo created limited immunity provisions for health care professionals shielding them from the potential liability for their actions or omissions. The immunity covers nursing home owners. This is Cuomo at his sleaziest best.
According to campaign finance records, Cuomo accepted at least $126,000 from the Greater New York Hospital Association, other industry groups and their lobbyists in the months prior to his decision to grant legal protections from lawsuits and criminal prosecutions.
The legal shelter was stuffed at the eleventh hour in the annual state budget bill. Democrat Assemblyman Ron Kim made his feelings clear. "You can't put a toxic bill (amendment) like that in the budget without having full access to the governor's office," Kim pointed out.
At the time, New York media yawned. Nothing to see here.
Throughout the COVID emergency, Cuomo bellyached about the need for aid, citing the overcrowding at New York hospitals. President Trump dispatched the Mercy, a 1,000 bed floating Navy hospital, to New York Harbor. The federal government also erected 1,000 beds in the Javits Convention Center.
After his badgering, the conceited Cuomo thumbed his nose at the assistance, while the bodies of dead COVID victims were piled into refrigerated trucks. As far as can be determined, less than 100 patients ever set foot in either the Navy ship or the makeshift hospital at the convention center.
Classic Cuomo. Blame someone else for your mismanagement. Then stick them with the bill.
Lockdown Andrew's measures to staunch the spread of the virus were among the most extreme of any state. He virtually shutdown the state and shamed New Yorkers if they refused his regal dictates. So how did that all turn out for New York? Was the state safer under Cuomo's lockdown regime?
The data clearly illustrates Cuomo reigned over a stupendous failure. New York led all states in the number of fatalities per 100,000 population with 248. By comparison, Texas fatalities were 156 per 100,000; Florida, 148; and California, 137. Those three states are all larger than New York.
New York also suffered the worst economic toll. Pew Research Center estimates 126,00 New York residents fled the state between February of last year until December. The state lost 1,058,000 jobs during the crisis, second only to California. Texas and Florida lost half that many jobs.
A University of New Hampshire report on Gross Domestic Product, a measurement of economic activity, revealed that New York performance was far behind other states of similar size. From the fourth quarter of 2019 to the third quarter of 2020, here are the GDP figures for four states:
- New York -6.1%
- California -3.7%
- Texas -3.6%
- Florida -2.9%
In spite of his sorry performance, insolent Governor Cuomo almost broke both hands patting himself on the back in public without a hint of shame. If you are wondering how Cuomo survived such ignominious failure, look no further than an ingratiating media not interested in facts.
Thanks to eight courageous women, and counting, the impudent governor's true character can no longer be hidden. The fact the governor continues to swat away the allegations as just delusions by the accusers is testament to his pomposity. If he were a Republican, he would be gone from office.
Faced with mounting pressure from fellow Democrats, Cuomo finally acquiesced and agreed to appoint an "independent" probe. He named fellow Democrat state Attorney General James to head the investigation. She is hardly an independent public officer. Expect Cuomo to receive a wrist slap.
There is also open discussion of impeachment but Cuomo is a Democrat governor in a heavily partisan Democrat state. He is likely to ride out that storm, too. In New York, the Cuomo name is a golden calf to be worshiped by the political class. Few dare to challenge the vengeful governor.
That's a shame because Governor Andrew Cuomo should have been forced to resign months ago for the trail of bodies left in the wake of his political boosterism. Now the sexual harassment charges are an overriding reason to throw the bum out of office. Just do it, New York Democrats.
Drew - great blog. Excellent summary of this sad issue.
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