This came up in the comments on the last post, and I couldn’t let you guys go more than a day or two without a post about Mario’s kid, who is still stinking up the joint around these parts. Here are the Democratic members of the New York Congressional Delegation who’ve called for Andrew Cuomo to resign:
- Rep. Kathleen Rice, D-Nassau County
- Rep. Yvette Clarke, D-Brooklyn
- Rep. Antonio Delgado, D-Rhinebeck
- Rep. Mondaire Jones, D-White Plains
- Rep. Carolyn Maloney, D-Manhattan
- Rep. Adriano Espaillat, D-Manhattan
- Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-Bronx
- Rep. Grace Meng, D-Queens
- Rep. Nydia Velazquez, D-Brooklyn
- Rep. Jerry Nadler, D-Manhattan
- Rep. Jamaal Bowman, D-Bronx
- Rep. Brian Higgins, D-Buffalo
- Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney, D-Cold Spring
- Rep. Paul Tonko, D-Amsterdam
That’s 14/19 Democrats. Here are the 5 missing:
- Hakeem Jeffries – a frequent contributor to the Cuomo show, leader of the House Democratic Caucus, and possible Speaker of the House in a few years.
- Joe Morelle – sadly, the replacement for Louise Slaughter in my district (NY-25). Morelle was formerly the Majority Leader of the New York Assembly.
- Gregory Meeks – named by CREW as one of the most corrupt legislators in Washington in 2013.
- Ritchie Torres – brand new Member of Congress, 32 year-old former NY City Council member.
- Thomas Suozzi – 2nd term in Congress, former Nassau County Executive.
I don’t know what Torres’ deal is, but it’s clear that politicians who have or had a close working relationship with Cuomo (Jeffries, Suozzi, Morelle) aren’t ready to write him off, yet. Meeks, well, is Meeks.
I’m no Cuomo whisperer, but I view any report of a possible resignation with the utmost of skepticism. FWIW, there’s an argument to be made that Cuomo’s COVID response was mediocre compared to a somewhat-comparable blue state (Washington). I want to drill into that more, later, but here’s an open thread.
Mo Salad
Number One, I order you to take a number two. — Butthead Picard
Feathers
Rebecca Traister on Andrew Cuomo
Emma from FL
Jesus. Show us in the doll where Cuomo touched you.
Me, I want a trial. All out in the open in a court of law. A crime is a crime, so charge him with something and let’s see what’s what.
Just Some Fuckhead
Meet The Cuomo’s from a week ago in Town & Country Magazine.
Chat Noir
@Feathers: This is horrifying.
Benw
Yeah, Cuomo should go.
Also, everyone remembers his pressers. But his stupid standoff with DeBlasio over who got to decide that NYC should quarantine cost the city weeks.
Brachiator
@Chat Noir:
IOW, much like state governments everywhere. I am in deeply cynical mode today. Former NJ Chris Christie’s operation was described in similar terms.
The thing is, an effective government operation knows when to put the political BS aside when necessary to get shit done. This is also true of some businesses. A bad operation is nothing but BS 24/7.
Edmund Dantes
Cuomo was always a “bad” Dem. anyone that would conspire to keep GOP in power so they don’t have to veto stuff that his party supports is not a good “Dem”.
Cameron
Cuomo sounds pretty unpleasant. Whether he’s committed crimes or done something (s) impeachable, I don’t know. I don’t live near NY and don’t really follow the news from there too much. He doesn’t appear to be the type to leave willingly, though. Since the President isn’t providing a lot of headline fodder, the Cuomo excellent adventures will probably make national news for a while.
Ken
“Oh, that’s just locker room talk.” — some idiot Villager IIRC.
Chat Noir
@Brachiator: The corporate world has a lot of this too. I speak from experience.
Just Some Fuckhead
I think the most damning thing in Rebecca Traister’s piece is that Cuomo is a computer idiot. These dinosaurs have to go.
Peale
I’m still in the “I’m not going to get too upset if he serves out his term, but please don’t ask me to vote for you again.” camp.
Princess
@Feathers: I think Cuomo should go, but that last person I will ever listen to about sexual harassment is Rebecca Traister, after she used Reade to try to torpedo Joe Biden. She lost all her credibility with me at that point on this issue. Her judgement is poor.
janesays
@Benw: It’s frustrating that our nation’s biggest city and one of our bluest states have such incredibly disappointing Democratic leaders. I’d expect as much from Republicans, but it stings when it’s two guys ostensibly on your team. Cuomo is a monster, but De Blasio is pretty much a complete failure, too. New York City and New York state will both be better off when neither one of these clowns is controlling the levers of power in their respective jurisdictions. Just hope the electorate doesn’t punish everybody with wingnut replacements.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Princess:
Amen, she has the worst case of Biden derangement syndrome outside of the nuttiest corners of Bernie-World. I was in my car the night RBG died, so I couldn’t rewind to get the full scope of her stupid on (of course) the Hayes show, but she pretty much managed, at least in her own mind, to blame Biden for the fact that trump was getting another Court pick. I used to be a fan, but somehow Biden’s victory seems to have broken her.
and in a better media world, Hayes would be called to account for his coverage of Reade.
moonbat
You’ve fell victim to one of the classic blunders. The first is never start a land war in Asia. The second and only slightly less well known is assuming the entire world is obsessed with what goes on in New York.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
as to Cuomo, I’m not a New Yorker, but it seems to me there are three separate issues:
1) he can’t seem to treat women, especially young ones, as people
2) he handled (as far as I can see) a really bad, on-going, medically and scientifically unpredictable situation as well as he could, which is not to say as well as anyone could, got better coverage than he should have because he was being compared to trump, and let it go to his head
3) he’s a raging, egomaniacal asshole
The third part is fueling all the accusations about the first two, the second one is the hardest to disentangle given the chaos when events took lplace, and it’s the first one that, if the accusations bear out, that should have the greatest weight with NY voters, of which I am not one.
If he put his hands on those women, that’s when “asshole” becomes “assault”, and he should go.
germy
(from the nymag article)
*Melissa DeRosa is Cuomo’s top aide.
Brachiator
@Chat Noir:
Absolutely. Early on I worked for a big ass newspaper. A great experience. The interesting thing was that there was a lot of politicking, but most managers knew not to let that get in the way of critical operations. One manager did not understand this, and caused a significant problem. He critically interfered with some key employees whose work was essential to the business. Even though this guy had some powerful mentors in the company, his ass was gone.
Another company I worked for let the bullshit interfere with everything. Company got bought out and there were sadly lots of layoffs. They previously had a good reputation in the industry, but let the politics and pettiness consume everything else.
Mary G
I have never understood why New Yorkers hire people like Cuomo and DeBlasio. They have both come across as grandstanding blowhards to me. Liberal Trumps.
And I love Rebecca Traister. She can write and has advocated for women for a long time. Sue me.
Bobby Thomson
Inslee did all of the right things and never got any credit because accurate record keeping made it look like only his state was being overrun. Cuomo is an asshole who stepped into the messaging vacuum left by Trump and got publicity because things in New York always get publicity.
VeniceRiley
Hillary for Governor!
laura
I’m an old and have have traipsed through pink collar, blue collar, academia, professional organizations. Every Single One was overpopulated with entitled, underachieving work avoiding bullshit artist, sex pests and the vast majority of them were white men. Watching other white men whisk them up the ladder despite the obvious lack of qualifications other than twas ever thus while all of us not thats makes me feel stabby.
Bobby Thomson
This, man, this.
Bobby Thomson
@Benw: I hate Cuomo as much as any Democrat, but wasn’t deBlasio the one pushing for NYC restaurants, etc. to stay open? I don’t know how you blame Cuomo for that.
James E Powell
@Feathers:
In the sub-head, Traister asks of Cuomo’s conduct, “Why was that celebrated for so long?” I’d guess it’s because the press/media tend to celebrate assholes. Cruelty is regularly equated with strength. Misogyny & racism are associated with “traditional values.” She should ask her colleagues in the press/media and put their answers on the record.
James E Powell
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
On 2), he lied and then lied about the lying. If we are going to define Democrats as the moral & practical choice, lying like that cannot be tolerated.
Anonymous At Work
Where are the Senators?
germy
germy
Well, Bezos is an expert, after all.
Baud
@germy:
Interesting. I don’t think I’ve heard Murray’s name throughout all of this until now.
Baud
@VeniceRiley:
It’s the least we can do.
germy
Boehner should give him a call.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@James E Powell: all counterfactuals is bunk, but I doubt (2) would be a national story without (3) and especially (1), and nobody would be talking about resignation. Hell, he’d probably be on track for that fourth term. But again: I’m not a NY voter.
@Anonymous At Work: praying he falls on his sword before the next reporter asks if he should
Does anyone ever ask John Thune, or the other one, if John Ravnsborg should resign? I had to google his name, and he killed somebody. Because he was reading QAnon while driving.
MagdaInBlack
@laura: Truth
The Pale Scot
@Cameron:
Ya know, if I was running things, I’d tell Drew to stay put and be a missile sponge sucking off attention to the Prez
Baud
@germy:
“That’s our job,” he added.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
Interesting. I wonder if Bernie was more effective with his own colleagues, or the House Progressive Caucus.
germy
@Baud:
“This is Nebraska! If there’s any killing to be done, we’ll do it.”
Baud
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
Por qué no los dos?
Definitely better to have him in the tent pissing out than the alternative.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Baud: also, the arcane details of getting a reconciliation bill are complicated, I believe, and I can see where Senator Hedgehog might be good at that.
germy
thank you, Joe:
CaseyL
Inslee was also giving daily briefings throughout the early lockdown, but (as with his Presidential run) no one outside the local media paid any attention. It’s a damn shame, as he’s a terrific Governor and has done an amazing job guiding the state through the pandemic.
Cuomo benefited by, number one, being the Governor of an important East Coast state. The MSM is always tilted in favor of East Coast news, since they’re all based there, and generally speaking I’m happy they leave us on the West Coast mostly alone.
Cuomo also benefited by being eager to get in T*s face, rhetorically, and highlighting T*’s indifference and incompetence. We needed that, we needed someone to be our national voice yelling back at the Malevolent Administration. He was, to use the old phrase, “our SOB” when we needed an SOB.
That doesn’t change the fact that he is indeed an SOB. Strange to see that after decades of kneecapping Democrats and generally assholish behavior to everyone around him, men and women, it’s (once again!) the women who may get him booted from office.
Baud
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: On one hand, I can see that. On the other, I recall he had trouble in 2016 talking about how he was going to implement his policies. Maybe he’s good at broad slogans and minutiae, but has a blind spot for the in-between.
Ken
Well, it is a gateway drug to high-fructose corn syrup, what with the munchies.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
Speaking of Senators who fly under the radar, Michael Bennet
takes a victory laptweets something.raven
@Mary G: Do you KNOW anybody from New York? Being an asshole is a state sport.
Cacti
Again, I’m going to say, the NY State Legislature has an impeachment power.
Let’s have some due process of law.
smedley the uncertain
Yup
germy
@raven:
It’s a fine art upstate.
Baud
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: Not bad for a moderate centrist neoliberal etc.
Tazj
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: Yes, I think I agree with what you are saying.
Living in WNY, outside of the city of Buffalo most people I come in contact with hate Cuomo and have always hated him but obviously not for the reasons most liberals and progressives do. They hate him because he’s a Democrat and the taxes are ruining New York, they hated the lock downs and didn’t see the need for them, and that mask wearing and social distancing and the talk of mass death were scare tactics to destroy the economy and Trump. Conservative religious people don’t like him because of abortion of course.
It’s been all Cuomo all the time on the local news since the summer it seems because of push back against the lockdowns and questions about schools reopening. There was a lot of criticism against him by the Empire Center about his handling of nursing homes during the pandemic. They would describe the Center as being nonpartisan, it’s not, it was spun off from the Manhattan Institute, which is a conservative think tank.
I don’t know if Cuomo’s handling of the pandemic was that good or not. He could have shut down NY earlier, even though he shut it down( 5 days?) I think after London Breed shut down San Francisco. Of course the virus grows exponentially so I know every day counts. I don’t know whether the order that made nursing homes take COVID patients was done to help the nursing homes’ profit margins(as Ron Kim says) or to preserve hospital beds in a chaotic time.
What I do know is that I’m skeptical of the Empire Center and Bill Hammond. Tish James’s first report on nursing homes during the pandemic showed a correlation between staffing levels and homes owned by private equity corporations and higher death rates at those homes. Hammond says wait not so fast we can’t come to those conclusions so fast because Cuomo withheld data. That appears to be true but I don’t know if that will change what should be done to improve nursing home care.
The sexual harassment claims against him are a separate issue and if true are horrible and a tremendous disappointment to say the least. I didn’t listen to his press conference today but it was reported to be terrible. I think because of these allegations he should resign. He has become too toxic for Democrats in NY.
Nicole
I can hold in my head both that Cuomo did a good job reassuring a very frightened state (and country) during a scary time and that he is likely also a creepy creepster who creeps.
When it comes to politicians, I tend to follow the Janet Jackson philosophy: What Have You Done for Me Lately? Cuomo appears not to be doing anything too good right now, so if he goes, he goes. I don’t think we owe loyalty to politicians.
Now that the media has worked their way through harassing most of the NY politicians for their opinions on Cuomo, maybe they’ll pursue some real news and find out what Randy Rainbow thinks of the situation.
Nicole
@raven:
Hey! I resemble that remark.
raven
@Nicole: Some of my best friends are New Yorkers and “busting balls” is a badge of honor for them!
A Ghost to Most
@raven: This may be the understatement of the day.
Nicole
@raven: :)
New Yorkers. We’ll willingly give you the shirt off our backs, but we’ll still call you a fucking asshole the whole time we’re doing it.
Nora
Piddling point: I don’t think Mondaire Jones is from White Plains; he’s my representative and NY 17 is to the north of White Plains, to the best of my knowledge. He just got elected this past November when Nita Lowey stepped down. She’d been our rep forever (or as long as my city was merged into the 17th from the 19th district a few years ago).
More important point about Cuomo: most of the New York Democrats I know never liked him because of that little trick he played with the renegade democrats throwing power in the legislature to the Republicans; if he’d wanted, he could have leaned on those supposed Democrats and got them to caucus with their party, and things would have been a lot more progressive in Blue State New York a long time ago. He didn’t do that because he didn’t really want to do those progressive things and he wanted to be able to blame the legislature.
We were glad to have him doing those press conferences and doing something about COVID when New York was being hit hard, and when TFG was blathering on about how it was all going to go away on its own by Easter 2020. We knew TFG was lying, because he was contradicting what we were seeing with our own eyes, and it was such a relief to have someone not gaslighting us. His being snotty toward TFG also earned him some points.
But there’s no one I know who doesn’t think he’s a jerk in general, and not fit to wipe his old man’s shoes on any level.
raven
@Nicole: My New Yorikin pal loves to call people “a piece of shit!
Nancy
I am hanging on to innocent until proven, but it is hard with all of the allegations. I don’t know enough to know. For a while local news was constantly showing the photo of the woman at the wedding. Apparently at a wedding he acted like a guest who’d had too much to drink. OTOH, he wasn’t her boss.
Kinda need some facts about all of the allegations. I still think that Al Franken resigned too soon.
James E Powell
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
You may be right. I’m not a NYer either and I do not know much about NY State politics.
The first time I ever heard of Cuomo is when he did the dirty deal with the NY State senate. It left an unfavorable impression that has never been erased
I know it annoys everyone that there is a double standard, but we Democrats need to be the party that doesn’t tolerate treating women like that. If we lose some people, we can replace them.
Ruckus
@Emma from FL:
This.
Expecting perfection from a human is pure folly.
Expecting that they will be anyone’s idea of perfection is pure folly.
Thinking they committed a crime and should just lose their job is pure folly.
Thinking they didn’t commit a crime and should lose their job because you would have done differently is pure folly. You don’t know what you would have done in the same circumstances as the collective you has likely never been in that situation.
Ruckus
@Nicole:
We have to remember that politicians work FOR US.
They get paid out of our taxes. They aren’t there for us to get special privileges but they are there to actually work for ALL of us, to create a better world we live in. Now many of them think they are there to better themselves and find a cushy place to retire from, so they will suck up to the wealthy. That is not their job in any way, but it is more common than not, I’m afraid. And a fair number are prejudiced and even hate a percentage of their jurisdiction. That’s not their job in any way either. As I’ve said elsewhere, humans are not perfect. Some are a lot, lot farther away from that than others.
Kent
We will never get all the fact about all of this. We will only get what is public. I personally think politicians should be above approach. As a 50-something male teacher I have been living with this issue my whole career. Not that I’ve ever been accused, I haven’t. I’m talking about living with boundaries that are obvious and clear. Power obviously goes to the heads of a lot of older males who just get used to getting away with shit over the years.
As for Franken. We don’t know what we don’t know. Only Franken himself knows how legit or illegit the accusations were, and how much other dirt might have been out there waiting to come out if he had not resigned. Maybe there was nothing. Maybe there was a long pattern. We will probably never know.
VeniceRiley
Accountability of public servants. I’m for it. Too many of these aholes disregard the public servant part when they’re in charge.
Jeffro
I think we need a new thread where we can focus on mocking Tucker Carlson, who actually said this after President Biden’s speech last night:
Steve in the ATL
Quick question: should I finish writing and then file this brief that is due today, or intead scroll through B-J and read what my imaginary internet friends have to say?
catclub
@James E Powell:
She should ask her colleagues [who did the celebrating!] in the press/media and put their answers on the record.
Benw
@Bobby Thomson: it was a mess. de Blasio wanted a shelter in place order first but Cuomo was all nah. Then Cuomo claims they wanted to close the schools but de Blasio said no they could handle it. Then de Blasio announced school closings in NYC, and the next day Cuomo was all no, here’s a different closing plan.
Nobody had any idea what was going on, and they didn’t finally close the schools until the 16th when the city was already screwed.
Another Scott
Speaking of issues that have not gone away…, STATNews:
There’s still too much of this stuff that we don’t understand, and we need to keep looking at the evidence.
Cuomo needs to go, also too. He’s not entitled to the job. It’s a position of trust. He’s violated the trust, violated clear rules and standards for behavior (and may have broken laws), is damaging the party, and no longer is effective in doing the job for New Yorkers.
Cheers,
Scott.
Steve in the ATL
@Bobby Thomson:
There is no good guy in your post, just a couple of assholes.
raven
@Steve in the ATL: Watch hoops, the Illini at 6:30!
catclub
@Jeffro:
“How dare you tell us we have to listen to an anti-abortion script, from our Doctor, written by the State legislature! ….. Oh, nevermind.”
Steve in the ATL
@raven: hope they crush anOSU in the Big Ten tournament!
catclub
@Another Scott:
wow, interesting! also terrifying.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Jeffro: Is Tucker still broadcasting from his country place in order to maintain social distancing from the proles and plebs who make his show work during the plague he tells the proles and plebs that make up his audience isn’t real?
dr. luba
Gretchen Whitmer did a better job than Cuomo, and she had a GOP gerrymandered Michigan legislature to deal with, as well as the Michigan militia.
We had the third largest outbreak at the start of the pandemic (up there with NY and NJ), but our per capita COVID death rate was only 157/100K compared to NY’s 248.
raven
@Steve in the ATL: The Bucs are about to win over the Boilers in OT
Kansas and UVA got cancelled on account of the covid.
germy
aliasofwestgate
@dr. luba: Whitmer was also part of the State Congress herself before she ran for Governor. She knew what she was stepping into from the start. No one counted on Covid, much less the freaking Militia crazies. But she was well aware of what she had to work with, and still does despite all the power grabs they keep pulling on her.
Something i’m proud of, since one of the last times i voted when i was still in Michigan was to get her into that Gov’s seat and avoid another bloody well Snyder.
Benw
@raven: I mentioned this in another thread, but Tech literally made the ACC tourney finals by winning 1 game!!
Nora Lenderbee
Sexual harassment allegations should be investigated. Otherwise, a politician is an asshole? Have another nothing burger. You don’t call for someone to resign if he’s done nothing worse than be a jerk.
James E Powell
@catclub:
Perhaps I should have made it explicit.
Jeffro
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: I have no idea, man, I just report…you decide ;)
Old School
@Benw: Florida State can do the same.
Jeffro
@catclub: yup, that too, LOL
It’s just so reflexively “IMMA GET MAD ABOUT AND DO THE OPPOSITE OF WHATEVER YOU SAY!” that you have to laugh.
Uncle Joe is telling folks they can have normal get-togethers again in just a few months and Tucker’s like, “UNH-UH, NO WE’RE NOT!!!”
Truly, “the opposite of whatever libs want, updated hourly”
Mary G
Somebody’s got her knickers in a twist:
The comments are half people who love Maggie; the other half not so much:
Fair Economist
I’m looking for the absence of Andrew Cuomo from the NY Governor’s office.
Mary G
schrodingers_cat
@Mary G: Yesterday it was Chait. These Beltway reporters were the Orange One’s real base.
Ken
@Mary G: I’ve heard of the insanity defense, is there a hopeless idiocy defense?
Gvg
Based on how long people are still bringing up Al Franken, I think there should be a full investigation, and then impeachment or pressure to step down in an orderly way. Beyond that, I am not a New Yorker and don’t really think they want the whole country to tell them what they should do.
Brachiator
@Mary G:
Funny, she didn’t become a reporter after Trump got elected either.
The entire “embed a reporter in the White House” thing is bullshit. You rarely got anything that was important, and it was clear that she was withholding any juicy bits for her inevitable book about her White House years.
Also clear that even though the Orange Beast would rage about “fake news,” he was flattered to be the focus of the NYT and fed them the information he wanted them to publish.
I think it was Sy Hersh who claimed that one of the reasons the NYT missed the significance of Watergate is that the editors had a regular afternoon call with Henry Kissinger, who assured them that there was nothing going on. The Times loved being an insider.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Mary G:
That is fucking glorious. I googled to see if this was one of the famous goons. I don’t recognize him but I found this.
Do you get to do that if you’re a defendant? I’m trying to imagine a non-tech, non-film version. “I kept a diary of the night the crime was committed, but you can’t see it”
Cameron
@Baud: Bernie (who I like) would have been a really shitty President. I think he’s already clicking with Joe Biden. Good things can happen.
PsiFighter37
Sue me, but I think Democrats are doing what they did to Al Franken with Cuomo – railroading him because it’s the politically expedient thing to do. People are less fussed because Cuomo is an asshole and doesn’t have anywhere close to the goodwill that Franken had. To boot, just look at Kirsten Gillibrand’s hypocrisy over the whole matter – pushes Franken under the bus as fast as possible, yet calls for an investigation of Cuomo instead and says nothing else.
it’s pretty fucking simple – just wait for the investigation to play out. How hard is that to do?
Geminid
Governor Cuomo’s an ass. But some of the animus towards him here seems to be based on his political positions. There is nothing at all wrong with that. Cuomo’s alliance with the four conservative State Senators clearly did not sit well with New York Democrats, who sent most if not all of the four packing in the next primaries. New York Democrats may get a chance to express their appraisal of Cuomo if and when he runs for Governor again.
But when mr. mix tries to make the five New York Representatives who have not called for Cuomo’s resignation the subjects of condemnation, I cannot help but think he has an axe to grind. Greg Meeks was elected Chairman of the House Foreign Relations Commitee despite the 2012 CREW rating the front pager speaks of. But Meeks is pro-Israel, and a moderate who has pushed back at the Justice Democrats. Hakeem Jefferies also incurred leftwingers hostility when he won out over Barbara Lee in the November 2018 Caucus election, and they still resent his status as front runner for the next Speakership. Some of them even tell the credulous that Speaker Pelosi has failed to “groom” a successor. Representative Suozzi and the other two also do not toe the “progressive line,” such as it is. But if the disingenuous mr. mix had an ideological axe to grind, would he admit it?
Mary G
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Mary G: wow
ETA:
James E Powell
@Mary G:
Man, Maggie is just pathetic.
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@PsiFighter37:
Franken could have stayed for that investigation, but he didn’t and resigned instead. Funny that. Probably because he was afraid something worse he did might come out. A lot has come out about Cuomo recently. I’m not super familiar with all of it, but it’s seems to be suggesting a pattern where Cuomo doesn’t respect women very much and has at the very least implicitly threatened those under him with retaliation
Served
He’s toast and it’s for the better. Seeing huge state-level Dem dinosaurs topple this year is long overdue. Madigan in Illinois and Cuomo in New York are both examples of blue states where we can and should do better.
Mary G
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: They waited for the Friday night news dump. Cuomo’s probably got some things on them.
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
It’s also very telling and funny that if you go into the replies to that tweet, most of them focus exclusively on Gillibrand. Gee, I wonder why? ?
Another Scott
@PsiFighter37: The trouble with political investigations is that they can take months or years. And subjects can refuse to cooperate with no consequences.
ProPublica:
Obviously, state law would apply in Cuomo’s case, and I don’t know the details, but would be surprised if any ethics investigation could demand his cooperation without him fighting back.
tl;dr – Cui bono? These ethics investigations are usually hamstrung by the people who set them up (sometimes for good reason – would you want MTG investigating you with the power of a mini-DOJ?). Yes, politicians shouldn’t be hounded out of office by unfounded allegations. But the ethics investigation system is too often broken.
Yup.
Cheers,
Scott.
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@Another Scott:
This is also an excellent point. These types of investigations have no actual teeth if the subjects don’t want to cooperate
Geminid
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): Franken could have hung in there, and if he didn’t that is not neccessarily an admission of guilt. A Senate Ethics Committee hearing might well have recommended a reprimand. Then the Democrats of Minnesota would have had their say in a primary last year.
I suspect Franken would not have been renominated. There were several accusers. One described, to a reporter, posing for a picture with Franken at a fair. When the photographer took the picture, Franken squeezed her ass, she said. Then, Franken said, “Take another one,” and did it again.
debbie
Has anyone proven that photo of Cuomo cradling his assistant’s face in his hands was a Photoshop? I thought not. He must go.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Geminid: one of our regulars knows some people who were in the SNL orbit back in the day, and they were not surprised this all came out
the only thing that surprises me, in that light, is that nothing came out sooner
I’ve read or listened to a few books about that era– I’m listening to Alan Zweibel’s memoir now, Gilda Radner’s main writing partner– and Franken always comes across as the guy kind of on the sidelines, watching the madness
Tazj
Governor Whitmer is pointing out the double standard that exists on these kind of allegations between Democrats and Republicans. She talked about how Trump stayed in office for four years amid many allegations. She thinks there should be an investigation and then if they’re found to be true he should resign. This is from Politico.
I said I wanted him to resign because I don’t see how he can survive this without damaging Democrats and the state. I also don’t want to be blinded by my partisanship to the bad things he could have done and people he could have hurt.
However, there are people who’s opinion I value who think that he shouldn’t resign. They don’t think that way because he’s necessarily innocent they just think that we need to get to what we can of the truth before just pushing people out. I don’t think the investigation by AG Tish James is like an ethics investigation where Cuomo can avoid and obfuscate, and she won’t be bullied by him.
Tom Watson is a Democratic strategist from New York. He has stated that Democrats should let the investigation by Tish James proceed and then abide by her decision.
Geminid
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: I respected Al Franken as a serious, hardworking Senator. I understand that he took his resignation hard. I would not wish depression on anyone, and I was glad to see that he had bounced back some.
Geminid
@Geminid: The front pager I criticize above does do some good, informative posts. That takes work, and I appreciate his efforts.
The Moar You Know
Dems need to stop asking their pols to resign over shit that Republicans don’t care about.
Cuomo is not Al Franken but he’s effective, otherwise Republicans wouldn’t howl about him all the time. Just would like to stop seeing us taking out our own. Make the GOP do the dirty work. And if they can’t, then fuck ’em.
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@The Moar You Know:
I’m sure our voters would just love that approach. Republicans and their base don’t generally care about this stuff because they’re awful people. It wouldn’t work the same way for us because we expect more of our leaders
Ascap_scab
Torres is now resign.
My statement concerning Governor Cuomo: https://t.co/qY95IDmf22
J R in WV
If I’m not mistaken, Cuomo worked in the NY State Legislature with Republicans, in order to keep progressive Democratic programs from succeeding in NY State.
On top of his abuse of his subordinates, both male and female.
None of this is actually about sex, it’s about power and the ability to abuse power. This is why he can abuse his male employees as easily as his female employees.
In either case, Fuck Him with a corn hoe~!!!~ He’s done — turn off the rotisserie!
Miss Bianca
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: My Senator!!
I am going to try to get an interview with him on the child tax credit.
Denali
Looks like Cuomo is going to go. I am sad, not because I like him, but because what I see is a man who has given a lot this past year to keep us informed about the co-vid crisis. He stepped up to the plate when many governors looked the other way. Why is he being railroaded to resign now on the basis of allegations which have not been proven in a court? Why does my vote not count? Why is he the focus instead of the criminal Trump? This tendency of Democrats to turn on their elected leaders has happened recently both locally and at the state level. Who is next- Nancy Pelosi? It really disheartens me. There is a place for loyalty.
hilts
As a New Yorker, it’s disgusting to see so many commenters to this thread from other states willing to give Cuomo a free pass for the nursing home scandal. He fucked up royally in responding to COVID and his incompetence and arrogance led to thousands of unnecessary deaths.
Setting aside the sexual harassment charges, Cuomo should resign because of the nursing home fiasco. He’s an arrogant prick who mishandled the response to COVID, tried to cover up his mistakes, and then had the nerve to write a book boasting about his response to the pandemic.
https://www.cityandstateny.com/articles/policy/health-care/timeline-cuomos-handling-covid-19-nursing-homes.html
https://www.statnews.com/2021/02/26/cuomos-nursing-home-fiasco-ethical-perils-pandemic-policymaking/
S. Cerevisiae
Dead thread but I have to shout out the title and the new Kansas album The Absence Of Presence, if anyone is a fan this new album is actually damn good. Although the best rock album from 2020 is Blue Öyster Cult’s The Symbol Remains ???❤️
Another Scott
@J R in WV:
Repost:
Cheers,
Scott.
Nancy
@Kent: Rational response, thanks.
And you are my first ever Balloon-Juice comment reply.