August 12, 2021

"Powerful people are more likely to interrupt others, not look at people when they are speaking, and to be rude, hostile, and humiliating."

"They are more self-centered, losing the capacity to even guess what others feel or want; power seems to take away not only compassion but the ability to even see other people’s needs. Not to put too fine a point on it, but people who are given power in psychology experiments are more likely to touch others inappropriately. New York’s current constitutional structure, in other words, sets up the state for abuse.... New York needs some constitutional restructuring, as a matter of both culture and law. The Legislature, not the executive branch, should be leading on the budget..... [Cuomo] never acted as a governor who thought about the real needs of the people of New York, never worried about those hurt by crumbling infrastructure, or what it was like to be a child in an overcrowded classroom—or how it felt to have your loved one’s death in a nursing home covered up. As his pathetic final performance made clear, for him it was always about his small, selfish, soul. Like Richard Nixon, he resigned whining. What we should learn from Andrew Cuomo’s tenure is that no one should ever be given such power to play with people’s lives. The first step toward that transformation is for the Legislature to proceed with his impeachment. Cuomo wants to resign so the facts won’t all be laid out—and so he can run for office again. He doesn’t deserve that kindness...."

Writes Zephyr Teachout, in "The Real Question Is Why Andrew Cuomo Took So Long to Fall/New York hasn’t had a governor leave in dignity in years—and that is not a fluke" (The Nation). 

Cuomo said he'd leave in 2 weeks, but remember that Trump was impeached when he had only 1 week left in his term. The proceedings continued after his term ended, until February 13th. It was stressed at the time that impeachment was not merely to remove a person from office. There was the same idea that Teachout stresses — laying out the facts and preventing running for office again.

On the subject of Cuomo's running for office again, here's something in the NYT this morning, "Cuomo Has $18 Million in Campaign Cash. What Can He Do With It?/The huge war chest is the most money retained by a departing New York politician in recent memory."

He cannot... use the funds to run for federal office or in New York City, where the campaign finance rules are more stringent.... He can also make political donations to candidates or to state and local party organizations and has the means to do so in many races.... And he is free to spend the money on anything that would be construed as campaign-related....

He could spend it on an effort at rehabilitating his image or even on travel, so long as the activities could be pegged in some way to his past government service or a future campaign for state office.... What is clear is that Mr. Cuomo could use the campaign funds to conduct polling or create political ads and test the waters for a comeback.

People driven out of Albany amid scandal or criminal investigation have often turned to their campaign coffers to cover legal fees, though campaign finance attorneys said there were limits to the practice....

And nothing requires Mr. Cuomo, who is 63, to spend the campaign money quickly. He is free to bide his time for as long as he would like....

38 comments:

Wilbur said...

I remember when Illinois had a string of governors - from both parties - who went to prison: Otto Kerner (then a Federal judge), Dan Walker, George Ryan, and Rod Blagojevich .

Four out of seven, hitting .571. Not bad.

Wilbur said...

And lest we forget what our "conservative" friend Jennifer Rubin at WAPO had to say about Cuomo on Twitter on 3/25/20 (because he wasn't Trump): "Watching Andrew Cuomo is inspiring, uplifting, fascinating. He weaves details and humor and math and common sense all together. He is magnificent. Just listen to him."

https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F0a7e2d6f-6d5e-4009-9e34-2c2ef2b5a5bf_500x414.jpeg

hawkeyedjb said...

It's not so much that power corrupts, but that the prospect of power attracts people of undesirable character. The founders of the nation knew this and designed a limited government in hopes of limiting the damage that can be done by a vicious or ignorant leader. Those who love power have labored for more than two centuries to wreck the Founders' gift to us.

Iman said...

It seems they will always have Dick Nixon to kick around…

Iman said...

If only Power and Kindness would be found together in the same room, same time more often.

TreeJoe said...

Wilbur: To be fair to Jennifer Rubin, Cuomo showed a masterclass on communications leadership during a crisis. I only hoped and prayed Trump did something similar, but he did not.

Cuomo was celebrated, rightfully so, for how well he communicated during that time. Unfortunately that celebration also encouraged and permitted his bad actions to be dismissed or minimized.

The fact he can leave office in disgrace but having some sort of control over $18 million contributed to his political efforts is disturbing at the least. At some point I simply ask: Why is that money contributed to the individual and not to the position or party-position? What happens when Cuomo dies?

Seems like this is about the worst combination of political money policy one can imagine, if one were focused on serving the public good.

Temujin said...

Already a stream of articles and a bevy of bouncing heads on TV speculating as to what he will do. Here's what will happen. An attempt at a show investigation on Cuomo's touchings will take place. A pronouncement will be made, telling everybody that his actions, though reprehensible, did not amount to a punishment greater than removal from office.

He will be the US Senator from New York in an upcoming election- 2-3 years out from now. And everyone who wanted to bed him a year ago when he was panicking and sending covid into nursing homes to kill seniors, will again be somehow sexually turned on by his strong comeback (see: Jennifer Rubin), and praises will be heaped onto the renewed and better-than-ever Cuomo.

Mark my words.

Ron Winkleheimer said...

He sent covid infected patients into nursing homes killing off an estimated 13,000 people so that he could avoid making Trump look good by using the readily available resources that Trump and conservative charities provided and to save some of his big donors money since a lot of the infected patients were on medicaid. But, he shore did talk purty.

Mike (MJB Wolf) said...

I watched the lousy presentations Coumo did last year and they were terrible public health communication, boring droning partisan blame-shifting and carnival barker bravado. A disgusting mix of puerile politics meant to cover for the fact he was herding old people together and killing them off. When he actually addressed the topic at hand he was more blunt and less tactful than any Trump tweet: the Luv Guv said, “If they died in a hospital or died in a nursing home who cares? They still died!” What leadership! Especially after not using the hospital ship Trump sent to NY or the two trauma centers set up in NYC. Of course one was a donation by that icky Franklin Graham. Gotta own the cons even when you’re in a crisis!

The Emmy he won for his crappy CYATV was more of a middle finger to Trump than a reward for exceptional programming.

Critter said...

The article follows a common leftist approach of blaming the circumstances, not the individual. It's the NY constitution that is at fault! What rubbish. People get the politicians that they vote for and deserve. If anything, New Yorkers should be asking: "What is wrong with me that I voted for and supported such an immoral man?" Yes, I say immoral for his callous action in sending thousands of elderly back into nursing homes to infect countless others with COVID and die. He knew, of course he did, what his actions might cause and did NOTHING for months to remedy it. Even if you believe that he didn't know, he is guilty of gross negligence, which can also be punishable under the law. That is a cardinal sin for which he refuses to acknowledge his responsibility. His sexual abuse was compounded by actively punishing any who might spill the beans. Echoes of Bill Clinton.

The article also attempts a false equivalency between Cuomo and Trump. The left always condemns Trump without listing any specifics (or repeating debunked lies). I do not believe that Trump as president did anything close to as immoral as did Cuomo. There, I said it. Comments with facts are welcome.

Jack

WWIII Joe Biden, Husk-Puppet + America's Putin said...

18 mill in campaign cash - He's a Democrat. Can't he just take it?

linsee said...

The Nixon whining – you don't have Nixon to kick around any more – wasn't when he resigned, it was in 1962 when he lost to Pat Brown in the governor's race.

Yancey Ward said...

I find it interesting that Teachout's twitter history apparently only begins on July 12th, and that there are no articles she appears to have written for The Nation between May of 2020 and January of this year.

JZ said...

John Podhoritz at Commentary magazine has been balancing his loathing for Cuomo with a realization that Cuomo was able to make things — big things — happen. He mentions LaGuardia airport and the Tappanzee bridge.

tim maguire said...

TreeJoe said...Cuomo was celebrated, rightfully so, for how well he communicated during that time.

Sure, he visited a holocaust upon his state's elderly, but he tweeted nice and that's what really matters.

tim in vermont said...

"He weaves details and humor and math and common sense all together."

Whoever wrote that quote was either making it up as part of their job as a propaganda merchant, or living in some kind of dreamland cult.

I watched his press conferences for a couple of days on broadcast TV out of Plattsburgh, NY, when things were the worst, and that's not how I remember it. I remember rambling and useless press conferences. I stopped tuning in pretty quickly when it became clear you wouldn't learn anything. It was kind of worried that he was talking about shutting down travel through New York State when that is the only way to get into or out of New England. That was the kind of nonsense he was spewing. People were worried that you would need to give a cop a reason to cross a bridge over the lake. I guess if jackboots make you horny...

Chuck said...

Mollie Hemingway -- who holds the position of "Senior Journalism Fellow" at Hillsdale College -- weighs in with the nuttiest re-Tweet of the week. Does "Ding ding ding" mean anything other than that Mollie supports the theory that Democrats submarined the career of Governor Andrew Cuomo, in order to clear a path for Vice President Kamala Harris to a Presidential nomination...?

https://twitter.com/MZHemingway/status/1425131245449646080

I think I would like to take Mollie's elective course in "Q Studies."

Tommy Duncan said...

TreeJoe said: "The fact he can leave office in disgrace but having some sort of control over $18 million contributed to his political efforts is disturbing at the least. At some point I simply ask: Why is that money contributed to the individual and not to the position or party-position? What happens when Cuomo dies?'

A recent Presidential Executive Order directs those funds to Hunter Biden at Cuomo's death, with 10% going to "the big guy".

Joe Smith said...

This goes to my point yesterday of why a serial sexual predator is allowed to leave in the same manner as Jenny in the steno pool. Some party hats, a bundt cake, a $50 gift card for Starbucks...

The hoarding of campaign cash seems akin to not taking vacation days and then cashing out at the end. Maybe pass a law with teeth that any leftover money in any politician's campaign account must be paid to the treasury of the state/feds when that politician retires. Let them have a five percent finders fee.

And Zephyr Teachout? Do you have a 'cool names' tag?

Joe Smith said...

"Cuomo was celebrated, rightfully so, for how well he communicated during that time. Unfortunately that celebration also encouraged and permitted his bad actions to be dismissed or minimized."

Sitting behind a desk, reading stats, and whining about not getting ventilators from the feds (read evil orange man), while proudly flashing his nipple studs is not great communications.

The man got everything he wanted including two massive hospital ships and a new hospital set up at the Javitz Center that went mostly unused. The number of patients treated in the hospital ships numbered in the tens.

There were no hard questions for Cuomo. While Trump was being shouted at and vilified at every turn, the media fawned over the Luv Guv, columnists swooned (Rubin), and Hollywood gave him an Emmy.

WWIII Joe Biden, Husk-Puppet + America's Putin said...

Temujin, Words, marked. Agreed.
The rehabilitation has already begun!

Robert Cook said...

"It's not so much that power corrupts, but that the prospect of power attracts people of undesirable character."

Well said and true, but power can corrupt those who were not necessarily possessed of undesirable character before attaining office. It is sufficient that a person lacks the strength of character to resist the inducements and pressures to become corrupted. Reviews I've read of Dennis Kucinich's recent book describe his telling of an almost unceasing system of graft, inside dealing, and favors-for-sale that he encountered immediately upon becoming mayor of Cleveland, Ohio. Most people who don't play along are marginalized and often fail to remain in office at all.

Howard said...

"Weak people are more likely to interrupt others, not look at people when they are speaking, and to be rude, hostile, and humiliating."

WWIII Joe Biden, Husk-Puppet + America's Putin said...

Dear Chuck(D),

Not all opinions that differ from yours = Q-anon.

Narr said...

He'll be back--tan, ready, and rested.

A degenerate leader for a degenerate people (I'm looking at you, New York City).




WWIII Joe Biden, Husk-Puppet + America's Putin said...

Robert Cook - that is the impression I get.
Politics is all about the internal favors and grift.

Our nation deserves better.

Yancey Ward said...

So, Robert, any theories as to why Kucinich didn't write that book 4 decades ago?

mccullough said...

$18 million is a nice parachute.

And he still must have some of the $5 million (before taxes) from his book deal from last year.

And a state pension.

Also, the Dems must have set him up with an account of at least $10 million to resign.

Cuomo is financially set. And Stormy Daniels is single.

Anon said...

"Powerful people are more likely to interrupt others, not look at people when they are speaking, and to be rude, hostile, and humiliating."

The dirty secret here is that many of the powerless like it.

"They are more self-centered, losing the capacity to even guess what others feel or want"

But of course Cuomo was very good at guessing what others want: just last year, women expressed their desire in public, Dems praised him as the man we need, he got an Emmy for crying out loud, and snagged a big book deal. He read his audience very well.

"people who are given power in psychology experiments are more likely to touch others inappropriately"

No doubt, but in the real world, what is inappropriate? It assumes standards of propriety. But among Dems, those are exclusively political. For example, nothing Creepy Joe ever did is "inappropriate." Dems don't even entertain any discussion of it.

Ceciliahere said...

With my back to the TV, I thought that Al Pacino was being interviewed. I turned to see why they were interviewing Pacino and it was the governor of New York talking about his daughters’ boyfriends and his mother’s sauce. He sat there holding court with the news media salivating for more pearls of wisdom. What a nauseating and disgusting sight!I I find it difficult to understand how the people of New York State voted this slime ball into office not once but three times! I was born and raised in NYC but I refuse to visit until a sensible mayor is in office and crime is under control so I can walk to a Broadway theater with my granddaughter and not be afraid of getting assaulted. What a mess the whole of New York has become under the Democrats… high crime and taxes with poor quality of life, etc. Only the rich who can afford private security can feel somewhat safe. I’m not sure who is worse…DeBlasio or Cuomo. I hope that the “citizens” of New York wake up and decide to vote for a candidate who doesn’t promise free stuff and no cash bail for criminals, but one who promises to put law and order back in place both in the state and the city. Until then, “Excelsior” (ever upward) and the “Empire State” is a sad joke.

WWIII Joe Biden, Husk-Puppet + America's Putin said...

Hunter Biden assures us his hard-on was all faked by the Russians.

rcocean said...

I think some women leftists wanted to give Cuomo a blow job for keeping abortion legal and killing 20,000 old people in 2020, but I could have misheard that. As stated above, the Left never blames Left politicans, they always start blathering about "The fault dear Brutus lies not in the disgraced Leftist but in our selves".

Or as they said in Repo Man "The lights are growing dim Otto. I know a life of crime has led me to this sorry fate, and yet, I blame society. Society made me what I am."

Mike Sylwester said...

JZ at 8:26 AM
He mentions LaGuardia airport and the Tappanzee bridge.

Andrew Cuomo re-named the bridge obnoxiously after his father. Now it is called the Mario M. Cuomo Bridge.

Political pressure already is growing to restore the name to the Tappan Zee Bridge.

Robert Cook said...

"I was born and raised in NYC but I refuse to visit until a sensible mayor is in office and crime is under control so I can walk to a Broadway theater with my granddaughter and not be afraid of getting assaulted. What a mess the whole of New York has become under the Democrats… high crime and taxes with poor quality of life, etc. Only the rich who can afford private security can feel somewhat safe."

I live in NYC and I am not rich. I certainly do not have and cannot afford private security. Yet, amazingly, I feel not just "somewhat safe," but safe in this city I've lived in and loved for 40 years. (I moved here from Florida when I was 25.)

Having lived here for 40 years means I was here throughout the 80s, when NYC was certainly more filthy and dangerous by far than today, and yet, even then, I felt safe in most places at most times. The crime levels in NYC today are well below what they were then. Certainly, there are many improvements to be made in the management of the city, and there has been a spike in street crimes, but the crime rates are still lower today than back then. Those who gripe how "terrible" everything is now, how "dangerous" it is, how "awful" the subways are, etc., simply have no remembrance of (or were not here in) the late 70s through early 90s.

Darrell said...

The electric chair for his nursing home murders would solve this problem nicely.

Ceciliahere said...

Robert, glad to hear that you think NYC is not as bad now as it was in the real bad old days. Then why is it that the moving vans on I95 are all headed South? Stay safe!

Bunkypotatohead said...

If there could be a Senator Ted Kennedy, there can be a Senator Andy Cuomo.
It's not like he left all those old folks to drown in the Hudson.

Robert Cook said...

"Robert, glad to hear that you think NYC is not as bad now as it was in the real bad old days. Then why is it that the moving vans on I95 are all headed South? Stay safe!"

Thank you for the well wishes, Ceceliahere! (BTW, because my wife wishes it, we will join those New Yorkers heading down south within the year, but I will always miss and love NYC!)

As for NYC's crime stats, this was in today's COUNTERPUNCH:

"+ The murder rate in New York City in July 2021 was 49% lower than the murder rate in New York City in July 2020. Where’s the press coverage?"