What? You mean that guy’s still governor of New York?

cuomo

About a week ago, I ran across the name of Andrew Cuomo in The New York Times, and saw that they still referred to him as “governor.” (Or maybe just “Gov.” before his name. I can’t find the piece right now.)

I hadn’t seen the name in awhile, and my first reaction was, Really? That guy is still governor of the state of New York?

And when I got this notification on my phone this morning, I had the same thought again: “New York Gov. Cuomo Sexually Harassed Multiple Women, Investigation Finds.

Well, actually, I had two thoughts. The first one was to the statement in the headline itself: Yeah, we all knew that.

The second thought was Really? You mean that guy is still governor up there?

Perhaps you will have other thoughts. Personally, I dismissed this sleazeball quite a while back. I see that I last made a reference to him here, in an open thread on March 10:

What about that Cuomo guy? — I’ve never paid much attention to this guy, which was probably wise on my part. I’m not hearing anything good about him. And I don’t just mean the nursing-home deaths. I mean, who hires a 25-year-old “health adviser?” This guy does, if he likes her looks. Wow. Have you seen the picture included with this story about the gov making his unwelcome moves on a tiny, vulnerable, appalled young woman? He looks like Dracula with his latest victim. What a jerk. By the way, I have a problem with the hed to that Gail Collins column I linked to above: “Sex and the Single Governor.” He married Kerry Kennedy in 1990 and they have three kids. Yeah, they divorced in 2005. But he’s Catholic; she’s Catholic. He’s not “single.”

Yo, New York: Deal with your problem. We have enough headaches dealing with the various absurdities cranked out on a regular basis by our own governor. I don’t have time to waste worrying about yours

29 thoughts on “What? You mean that guy’s still governor of New York?

  1. Brad Warthen Post author

    In case you have the stomach for it, here’s the full report.

    Personally, I didn’t even bother reading the WSJ story about it until after posting the above. My post, after all, was just reacting to the headline. But then I did read it, and saw this:

    Mr. Cuomo requested Ms. James’s probe in March after two women made public accusations against him. He rebuffed calls for his resignation by his fellow Democrats—including U.S. Sens. Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand —and said people should wait for the facts.

    Well, the facts are now in. Or rather, the report is in. Of course, Cuomo and his people have tried to question the validity of the report on the basis that this Ms. James may run for governor.

    Run for governor? Well, somebody needs to. Someone besides Cuomo, that is…

  2. Barry

    Don’t suspect he will resign.

    Trump showed all you have to do is deny deny deny and attack and you’ll be ok.

    1. Bryan Caskey

      Agree. Cuomo has far too much regard for himself and far too much sense of entitlement to resign. He’ll take the Trump strategy of simply refusing to engage on controversy and dare the legislature to impeach and remove him.

      1. Brad Warthen Post author

        Oh, how I miss the days when even Richard Nixon had the honor to resign when it was the proper thing to do. Without being impeached…

        By the way, did any of y’all look at that appalling picture referenced above? Look at the poor girl’s face!

        What a creature he is. What a complete scrub…

    2. Leon

      Isn’t that essentially what Bill Clinton did? He should have resigned and saved our nation the embarrassment of his Oval Office liaison with Monica Lewinsky and his lies about it afterwards. No wonder Cuomo won’t resign. Clinton got away with it so why can’t he.

      1. Brad Warthen Post author

        Yes, of course that’s what Clinton should have done. Which we said editorially at the time, in 1998. To my knowledge, we were tied for being the first paper to say he should resign when we learned he had lied about all that. The Orlando Sentinel said it the same day we did. Of course, in those days it was hard to know exactly what every paper was doing on a given day, but that’s how I remember it.

        He wasn’t going to do it, of course. He didn’t have the sense of honor and duty to the country that Richard Nixon had. At least THAT should have made him feel ashamed…

        1. Bryan Caskey

          We are living in a post-shame society. Or perhaps more accurately, post-guilt.

          Western societies are more characterized by guilt rather than shame. I think of a shame culture as an Eastern thing. For instance, the Japanese idea of “losing face” or feeling shame is different than the guilt we feel in Western societies.

        2. Ken

          “the sense of honor and duty to the country that Richard Nixon had.”

          What utter nonsense. Nixon didn’t resign out of a sense of honor and duty. He resigned because Republican Senators notified him that he was about to have his ashes hauled for multiple violations of law that posed a threat to our Constitutional order.

      2. Barry

        Clinton should have resigned. That goes without saying.

        Trump’s disclosure of liking to grab women by their private parts and admission of trying hard to have sex with a married Nancy O’Dell should have resulted in Conservatives turning their backs on him and relegating him to the dustbin of campaign implosions.

        Cuomo should have already resigned. His “video” yesterday was beyond ludicrous.

  3. bud

    I doubt Cuomo will resign. It will be interesting to see if Cuomo gets re-elected next year. I suspect not. Democrats just don’t put up with this crap the way Republicans do. The two parties really are different. Both NY senators have already called for his resignation. Yet both FL senators supported Trump in his impeachment trial.

        1. Bryan Caskey

          I don’t care if he lived on Neptune when he was impeached a second time. He’s a New Yorker. Always has been, always will be.

    1. Barry

      There is no reason to resign

      Missouri‘s former governor resigned after he tied up his mistress and kidnapped her, then lied about it to the citizens of Missouri. (He also lied about ever having an affair even though it was a very poorly kept secret in Missouri that the pro family values GOP Governor was committing adultery)

      now Republican voters in Missouri are likely going to elect him as the state next US Senator from Missouri.

  4. Mark Stewart

    Meanwhile, we have McMaster and Alan Wilson standing on the insane supposition that cities, school districts and universities have no right to take actions which protect their communities.

    How did we get to such an absurd place where masks and vaccines are seen as some kind of political litmus test? Can you imagine Alan Wilson going to war against polio? Yeah, nevermind, he definitely would have done so if he thought there was some sort of gain to be had in it.

    Is this all just to deflect everyone’s attention from the Quinn investigation which continues to dog them both? If so, it makes their actions criminal. But regardless it’s simply callous stupidity to risk not only adults but children to prove a Trumpian point even Lindsey Graham doesn’t want to make.

    1. Bryan Caskey

      Counterpoint: There is state law that prohibits institutions of higher education that receive state funds (directly or indirectly) from requiring vaccines or wearing masks as a condition of attendance.

      Perhaps your disagreement is not with the AG, who is simply stating what the law is, but moreso with the legislature that makes the law.

      1. Mark Stewart

        The legislature passes lots of theatrical nonsense that no one bothers to enforce.

        But I agree, the legislature should be held to the fire over this – not that it is likely to even pass judicial review. But that takes time – which is why Wilson and McMaster’s actions are so troubling. And why they should be called out for them.

      2. Barry

        Counterpoint:

        USC could use private funds. USC uses private funds for all sorts of things not authorized by the General Assembly. They paid off Muschamp with some private funds. The legislature didn’t authorize those funds either.

        The budget proviso doesn’t say institutions that receive state funds. It’s says “may not use any funds appropriated or authorized pursuant to this act”

        Alan Wilson admitted that the proviso was badly worded. Well, yeah, it was really badly worded if you think it prevented USC from requiring masks. It’s too bad he didn’t tell the GA to write a better law instead of having USC jump through hoops to decipher the INTENT of the GA.

        Here is the text of the budget proviso that the GA passed- which expires after 1 year.

        117.190. (GP: Masks at Higher Education Facilities) A public institution of higher learning, including a technical college, may not use any funds appropriated or authorized pursuant to this act to require that its students have received the COVID-19 vaccination in order to be present at the institution’s facilities without being required to wear a facemask. This prohibition extends to the announcement or enforcement of any such policy.

        Law school professor Thomas Crocker said the same thing- USC could impose the mask mandate.

        1. Mark Stewart

          Since the issue now is vaccines AND masks the situation the legislature hypothesized is entirely moot.

          Alan Wilson is attempting to legislate his own opinion – which, surprise, surprise – is once again misguided and manipulated and not connected with the facts at hands.

          Can we please laugh this guy out of state government?

      3. Barry

        “ Perhaps your disagreement is not with the AG, who is simply stating what the law is, ”

        Yeah, Alan Wilson would never let his personal opinion influence his opinion on the law. We all were reminded of how faithful he is to the law when he joined the ridiculously stupid Texas lawsuit to invalidate the election.

        After all, Alan Wilson and his supporters would never have any problem with other states telling South Carolina how to run our elections. Yet that’s what he was trying to do to other states.

        Reminder, Texas’ lawsuit leaned heavily on discredited claims of election fraud and included dubious claims of fraud that were not backed up by evidence before any court. The lawsuit also included claims that had already been dismissed by several courts. In other words, it was a joke to most everyone except a handful of GOP Attorney Generals.

        Yeah, that’s the lawsuit Alan “just the facts” Wilson joined. Ahem……

        You seem to also be unaware that Wilson has not been silent about his disagreement with masks.

        So pardon if some folks don’t take his opinion of the law all that seriously on its face.

  5. Barry

    Meanwhile, in Missouri…

    Republican Gov. Mike Parson has pardoned Mark and Patricia McCloskey. They were the duo that pointed weapons at social justice marchers. The McCloskeys pleaded guilty to misdemeanor offenses, with Mark being charged with fourth-degree assault and Patricia being charged with second-degree harassment.Mark acknowledged that he had committed a crime and also said that he would do it again. Mark and Patricia be same Fox News favorites and had support from Donald Trump. Mark is now a Republican candidate for Senate.

    Missouri Gov. Mike Parson did not take the opportunity to release a Kansas City man who has spent 43 years behind bars for a crime prosecutors and 1 judge say he did not commit and stated he was actually innocent. Parson left Kevin Strickland off the latest list of pardons.

    Strickland was convicted of killing 3 people in 1978 by an all white jury on the evidence of 1 witness, Cynthia Douglas , who later recanted her testimony. Two other men eventually admitted to the murder and both stated Strickland was not present or involved.

    Strickland’s team, led by the Midwest Innocence Project and international law firm Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner has filed a motion with the Missouri Supreme Court but was denied.

      1. Barry

        Why?

        I mean I’m just tickled that Republicans all of a sudden are concerned about sexual-harassment again. It seems to be a sudden and miraculous change.

        So no comment on the curious Decision of the Missouri Governor?

      2. Barry

        It’s not “What about”

        it’s a reminder to never, ever take advice or worry about issues of morality from Republicans and conservatives

        Reminder.

        Eric Greitens Is an Accused Sexual Predator. Will That Matter to Missouri Republicans?
        The former Rhodes Scholar and Navy Seal lost the governorship after accusations of sexual assault. Now he wants rehabilitation in the U.S Senate.

        Greitens resigned the governorship in 2018 after an affair with his hairdresser, accusations of physical abuse, an indictment for privacy invasion (followed by dismissal of the charges), a damning legislative investigation, and the beginning of impeachment proceedings. The state’s GOP establishment, including Blunt and the Show Me state’s other senator, Republican Josh Hawley, shunned the former Democrat.

        But Greitens’s exile was short-lived. In March, the 47-year-old, now divorced from his wife Sheena Chestnut, announced his 2022 candidacy on Fox News

        Now he’s a favorite of Republicans who seem to have had a sudden change of heart, and are now ignoring his abusive past.

        https://washingtonmonthly.com/2021/07/21/eric-greitens-is-an-accused-sexual-predator-will-that-matter-to-missouri-republicans/

        1. Barry

          Reminder- Trump never called for Greiten to resign.

          Biden has called for Cuomo to resign.

          Now, in hopes of saving himself, Greitens is claiming that he had an affair with the hairdresser.

          “The former family values candidate, Greitens, finally admitted to a sexual affair with his hairdresser. The Missouri House committee of five Republicans and two Democrats found that he pressured her to have oral sex while she sobbed uncontrollably. That he hit her on several occasions, and called her a “little whore” right after blindfolding her, taping her to some exercise rings, taking her picture, and threatening to spread that image everywhere if she ever so much as repeated his name.

          What a romantic, right?”

          No wonder this gem is leading the Republican polling in Missouri. – No wonder they want to talk so much about Cuomo.

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