"Mamdani has privately lamented that the trappings of being the Democratic nominee, with its chauffeured SUVs and security..."

"... take him away from the hand-to-hand contact that propelled his primary win. And the campaign has wrestled internally with the question of whether or not Mamdani should position himself as more of a normie Democrat.... Then came the news that Trump wanted to intervene on Cuomo’s behalf. Had Adams or Sliwa simply quietly dropped out and ended up with an administration appointment months down the line, the link between them and Trump wouldn’t have been as clear. But the ham-handed and nearly public machinations by Trump and people supportive of Cuomo have been so shameless that it’s fair to wonder if the whole thing is a psyop, a scheme to secretly boost Mamdani so that Trump can have him as a foil. Regardless, Trump casting himself as Cuomo’s virtual running mate lit a fire for the Mamdani campaign.... 'This is no longer a race between Zohran and an opponent trying to cobble together a coalition of voters who don’t like him,' said Morris Katz, a senior Mamdani adviser. 'It’s a race between Zohran and Donald Trump.'"

Writes David Freedlander, in "Trump Bump/The president has jumped into the mayoral race. But is he helping Cuomo or Mamdani" (New York Magazine).

Of course, Mamdani takes advantage of the existing law, living in rent-stabilized apartment, paying a mere $2,300 a month for a 1-bedroom in Queens.

But Andrew Cuomo is challenging him. "[M]ove out immediately," he wrote on X. "[G]ive your affordable housing back to an unhoused family who need it. Leaders must show moral clarity. Time to move out."

Where is Cuomo, in his "moral clarity," living these days? And would he be forefronting this issue if he had scored the nomination, as he'd expected? I think it's only because Mamdani got the nomination that Cuomo talking about rent-stabilization, which is a problem, but not one that could be solved by trying to guilt-trip the beneficiaries of it to move out of their apartments.

This reminds me of the time Hillary Clinton tried to shame Donald Trump out of using the tax advantages that are written into the law:

"Fearful of Mamdani, with his calls for free buses, free child care, city-owned grocery stores, and a rent freeze, all paid for by tax increases on corporations and the wealthy, the city’s one percent..."

"... tried to map out how to respond. There may not be much they can do. All the money in the world didn’t save Cuomo from being smoked in the primary by someone who is just a few years away from a nascent career in rap music. If both Cuomo and Adams and Guardian Angels founder Curtis Sliwa run, as they all say they will, the anti-Mamdani vote will also be split. Adams has already signaled he is willing to go places Cuomo was not by calling Mamdani an antisemite and mocking his youthful campaign volunteers as outsiders who are gentrifying the neighborhoods of his working-class base. Unsure how to proceed in the general election, the city’s C-suites are bracing for a Mayor Mamdani...."

From "Zohran Mamdani on Why He Won/He beat Andrew Cuomo and the elite by upending how the city’s politics was supposed to work" (NY Magazine).

"There may not be much they can do"... because consider what they've already done. As Ezra Klein says in his new podcast episode, "Mamdani, Trump and the End of the Old Politics" (Podscribe): "Andrew Cuomo ran a [primary] campaign that was based on a tried and true strategy of buying attention. He had this gigantic super PAC with tens of millions of dollars purchasing all the advertising money can buy absolutely dominating airwaves with negative ads about Zoran Mamdan." We hear Cuomo's ad: "His own words, Zoran. Mamdani wants to defund the police. Zoran Mamdani is a 33-year-old dangerously inexperienced legislator who's passed just three bills. Zoran Mamdani, a risk New York can't afford. Paid for by Fix the City."

That didn't work in the primary. 

Who votes and who doesn't vote when it's incredibly hot?

I see it's going to be record-breakingly hot in New York City today — 100 degrees.

And today is the NYC primary: "The contest has narrowed into a two-man sprint between Andrew M. Cuomo, the state’s scandal-plagued former governor, and Zohran Mamdani, an assemblyman and democratic socialist with a short track record, with a crowded field of nine rivals trailing behind. Polls suggest the outcome is a tossup" (NYT).

That's a stark choice — whether to go out at all and, if so, Cuomo or Mamdani. I would think a lot of people would find both men unappealing and, of this group, the it's-too-hot decision is highly attractive. Then there are the people who actually long for Cuomo/Mamdani. Of this group, is it the Mamdani type or the Cuomo type who stand up to the challenge of facing intense physical discomfort for their man. 

I see the Cuomo group as pragmatic and the Mamdani group as passionate. Not sure how that interfaces with heat. The heat is personal, specific — about you, right now. In that light, I'll predict Cuomo prevails. But he needs to prevail with more than 50% or that "ranked-choice" voting could throw the nomination to Mamdani. 

"Lefty upstart Zohran Mamdani has leapfrogged over former Gov. Andrew Cuomo in the city’s ranked choice Democratic primary for mayor..."

"... according to a stunning new poll released Monday. In its hypothetical initial round of voting, Cuomo’s lead shrinks to 3 percentage points, with 35% of likely Democratic voters supporting him compared to 32% for Mamdani and 13% for city Comptroller Brad Lander, the Emerson College Polling/Pix 11/The Hill survey found.... [S]ince no one garners the more than 50% of the vote needed to win outright, the ranked choice system kicks in. That means that even if a voter’s first choice is eliminated in successive rounds of calculations, their other picks could still be in the mix and emerge as the eventual overall winner. Mamdani finally surpasses Cuomo in the eighth round [!!!!!] of the simulated ranked choice voting — 51.8% to 48.2% — in the latest poll conducted June 18-20...."

I'm reading "Shocking poll shows Mamdani overtaking Cuomo in NYC’s ranked choice primary" (NY Post).

"It felt like the New York Times didn’t understand New York City. It was this strangely conservative law-and-order, traditionalist view..."

".. that totally missed the reality of the city today. My view is people are hurting and affordability is the issue and the Times just does not understand what everyday people are going through. They’ve disconnected from New York City more and more with every passing year. Obviously, they decided they didn’t care enough about New York City to make an editorial endorsement and then they show up with this wimpy, disingenuous editorial basically justifying why people should vote for someone corrupt in Andrew Cuomo, and not even recognizing that other new leaders had worthy ideas. I mean, the whole thing was like, 'Let’s invalidate new young leaders,' right? It was unbelievably ageist and out of touch."

Said Bill de Blasio, quoted in "Bill de Blasio on Andrew Cuomo and That Nasty Times Op-Ed/The former mayor has a few things to get off his chest" (NY Magazine).

Andrew Cuomo "blames the leftists in the State Legislature, who never liked him no matter how many left-wing priorities he passed..."

"... gay marriage, a $15 minimum wage, paid family leave, a fracking ban, free state-college tuition, legal marijuana, and stricter gun laws—and who were lying in wait to take him down. The allegations [of sexual harassment] were just a pretext, in his view, especially at a moment when the progressive wing of the party had the upper hand in the Democratic coalition."

From "The (Partial) Reinvention of Andrew Cuomo/He says he’s grown and learned. His brute-force takeover of the mayor’s race, at least, looks familiar" (NY Magazine).

"Cuomo... maintains that much of the whole affair was concocted by [state attorney general Letitia] James, whom Cuomo endorsed for the position and who, in a kind of gubernatorial attempted coup, ran for the job herself after he resigned.... 'That women’s issue was so electric that once somebody lights that fuse, you can’t stop it in that environment. Politicians were like dominoes—boop, boop, boop, boop,' he said, mimicking with his fingers the tumbling of the play tiles...."

"I was in my kitchen and he said something, and the minute he said it, I knew what he’d just said. And every window and door closed. And that was it… He knows what it is; I know what it is."

Said Sandra Lee, to US Magazine, quoted in "Andrew Cuomo uttered mystery remark to ex Sandra Lee that ended relationship, famous chef reveals" (NY Post).

This was a 10-year relationship, but he said something wrong. Sure, there were other problems, but there was that one thing he said that the minute he said it, she knew that was it —  every window and door closed.

Ever say something like that? You might have continued in the relationship, working out your difficulties, but then you went and said one thing. What was the thing? Do you remember the thing or have you shut every window and door on it? And is there one thing — never yet said — that if it were said, it would shut every window and door to your heart, even if it were said by the most dearly loved person in your life?

You know, it's pure chance that Andrew Cuomo came up in 2 posts this morning. Remember when he was idolized, when famous people called themselves Cuomosexuals, and when some members of the party that's supposedly "saving democracy" had the idea that the Covid emergency created a way to oust Trump from the presidency and install Cuomo?

Then, a year later, in 2021, we got things like "The ‘Cuomosexual’ phenomenon was disgraceful. We’re politicians’ bosses, not their fans" (by Alyssa Rosenberg in WaPo). And look at us today —  not me, but maybe you — fans of Trump/Kamala. 

"Eyeliner"/"Yeah, I can work that into a post about JD Vance."

Meade gave a 1-word response — "eyeliner" — to this longish quote I'd texted him:

"Harry Truman, with bipartisan support, militarized the economy so that we might be forever at war. It was just decided that we were going to stay in the war racket -- that's how we went broke. Now we have an enemy-of-the-month club. If it's not Noriega, it's Bishop in Grenada; Qaddafi, whose eyeliner is very ominous; Saddam, just like Hitler. When they get into their bunkers they always find a copy of 'Mein Kampf,' a portrait of Hitler, women's underdrawers — which they wear —  a couple of dead Boy Scouts and three mistresses, because they do both terrible things."

Is "eyeliner" what jumped out at you in that feast of words — "Qaddafi, whose eyeliner is very ominous"? Who speaks like that and drops in a phrase as apt and poetical as "whose eyeliner is very ominous"? It was Gore Vidal, in a 1995 NYT piece called "Gore Vidal Receives a Visitor," which I'm reading because... it doesn't matter why I'm reading that! It's full of great stuff. I just wanted to give you those 3 sentences."

Anyway... eyeliner. Are you up to speed on the subject of JD Vance wearing eyeliner? Let me help:

"Roberta A. Kaplan, the celebrated lawyer who took on former President Donald J. Trump... is stepping down from the law firm she founded..."

"... after clashing with her partners over her treatment of colleagues... Her departure was announced after The Times informed her personal lawyers that it was preparing to publish an article about Ms. Kaplan that would shine a light on complaints about what some employees said was an unprofessional office culture that she presided over.... Ms. Kaplan and her wife are deeply connected to the Democratic Party and she has been a heroic figure to many liberal activists.... Several people whom she worked with told The Times that she had insulted employees, inappropriately commented on their looks and threatened to derail people’s careers...."

Writes David Enrich, in "Prominent Lawyer Roberta Kaplan Departs Firm After Clash With Colleagues/The well-connected attorney, who founded a powerhouse firm at the dawn of the #MeToo era, has faced complaints that she mistreated and insulted other lawyers" (NYT).

Kaplan represented E. Jean Carroll against Donald Trump and won a $83 million verdict. The law firm she founded was supposedly "driven by a progressive mission and free of the macho culture" found in other law firms (as the NYT put it).

We're told that these complaints about Kaplan coincided with her response to Andrew Cuomo's request for her advice on how to fight allegations that he had committed sexual harassment. Interesting. I think Andrew Cuomo is due for a comeback. He should — as rumored — run for mayor of NYC. Perhaps Kaplan can help. Rehabilitate yourself and him in one grand endeavor.

Wow. Whose side is Andrew Cuomo on? Or is the point so clear, it doesn't matter? Or he's laying the groundwork for 2028?

BREAKING: The former Democrat Governor of New York just admitted live on air that the Trump case would've never been brought if Trump wasn't running for President

"I'm telling you, that case would have never been brought. And that's what's offensive to people. And it should be."… pic.twitter.com/KHrq7asKNh

— George (@BehizyTweets) June 22, 2024

What I hear him saying between the lines: I was the one with good sense, and you made me cede the ground to these clowns. Look what they've done. Don't you miss me?

Jawbone.

"One day Sampson was walking alone/He looked down on the ground and he saw an old jawbone/He lifted up that jawbone and he swung it over his head/And when he got to moving ten thousand was dead" — Peter, Paul & Mary.

"Oh, Jawbone, when did you first go wrong? Oh, Jawbone, where is it you belong?" — The Band.

From "Moral Suasion" (Wikipedia):

"Jawboning"... is the use of authority to persuade various entities to act in certain ways, which is sometimes underpinned by the implicit threat of future government regulation. In the United States, during the Democratic administrations of Presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson, officials tried to deal with the mounting inflationary pressures by direct government influence or jawboning.... 

From an amicus brief in National Rifle Association v. Vullo, one of 2 free-speech cases up for oral argument in the Supreme Court today:

"The justice department found [Andrew] Cuomo 'repeatedly subjected' women in his office to non-consensual sexual contact, ogling and gender-based nicknames...."

From "DOJ says Andrew Cuomo sexually harassed 13 women/The former governor’s lawyer says he was never interviewed" (Politico).

I read the entire article because I wanted to see what "gender-based nicknames" were regarded as sexual harassment. Names are generally gender-based. When does a nickname go wrong for being gender-based?

But the article does not tell us any particular names that crossed the line.

ADDED: It occurs to me that my puzzlement is a consequence of the present-day penchant for saying "gender" when you mean "sex." If it said Cuomo subjected women to sexualizing nicknames, I would easily understand. My mother would call me "Miss Ann" or "Suzy Q" — both gendered, neither at all sexual. 

Thoughts on Albany.

Thoughts on Albany... pic.twitter.com/60BSmY2VNT

— Joe Pera (@JosephPera) October 11, 2022

ADDED: If you've forgotten "ciao, bella," refresh your recollection here.

Also, as suggested by someone over at Twitter: 

"Obvious efforts to circumvent the law for example an unreasonably small portion of soup, a serving of canned beans, a handful of lettuce... will be treated as a violation of the law."

Said the New York State Liquor Authority, quoted in "No ‘Cuomo chips’ allowed: ‘Substantial food’ needed for to-go booze" (NY Post). 

"Cuomo chips" refers to the way bars and restaurants responded to a Cuomo-era requirement that bars and restaurants serve food along with liquor.

In response, the owner of Saratoga Springs’ Harvey’s Irish Pub automatically put $1 “Cuomo Chips” on customers’ tabs so they weren’t required to fork over the money for a full meal when patrons just wanted to sip on a beer or cocktail....

At first, the chips were deemed good enough, then Cuomo said they weren't: 

How damaged is NY Governor Kathy Hochul?

The NYT has this by Luis Ferré-Sadurní, "Hochul Picked a Running Mate. Now She Has to Pick Another One. Lt. Gov. Brian Benjamin’s resignation in the face of a criminal indictment creates a major political test for Gov. Kathy Hochul":

The search [for lieutenant governor] was relatively swift, with Ms. Hochul, a white Democrat from Buffalo, homing in on elected officials of color from downstate. She picked Brian Benjamin, a Black state senator from Harlem who was expected to help Ms. Hochul broaden her appeal in New York City, announcing her choice at a campaign-style rally in Upper Manhattan in August. 

The move came despite a string of ethics questions that had followed Mr. Benjamin and that centered on some dubious campaign finance practices during his time as senator and his unsuccessful run for city comptroller last year.... 

Mr. Benjamin’s arrest appeared to blindside Ms. Hochul, disrupting her schedule just as she was increasing her time on the campaign trail this week. The arrest coincided with a mass shooting at a Brooklyn subway station, and Ms. Hochul had to call off a union fund-raiser in Manhattan and a news conference on Long Island....

And what did she say at that news conference? How did that go? The NYT just said she had to interrupt her campaigning and moved on to the possibility that Andrew Cuomo might run for governor again. That "would most likely be a steep climb for him," we're told. It's for the reader to wonder how much less steep that the climb suddenly got.

The damage to Hochul looks much more lurid over at the NY Post. Here's Bob McManus in "Kathy Hochul’s terrible judgment leads to one terrible day." McManus begins by trashing that press conference (video at the link):

"Former Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo sued New York’s ethics commission on Friday, contending that its efforts to force him to turn over the proceeds of a $5.1 million book deal were a violation of his constitutional rights."

I'm reading "Cuomo Sues Ethics Panel to Block It From Seizing Book Profits/The lawsuit is the latest example of Andrew Cuomo’s aggressive stance as he returns to public life seven months after resigning as New Yorks governor." 

Aggressive stance! If the government had been aggressive and charged him with a crime, there would be more of a basis for seizing the money he's made from writing a book. It's not aggressive to want to hold onto the proceeds of your book!

"In the spring of 2020... [i]f ​ever there was a time for news organizations to educate and inform the public, this was it. Instead, Zucker apparently believed..."

"... it was the perfect time to exploit the situation for political gain and to help the network's ratings. Andrew Cuomo benefited from briefings that made him​ appear to be the adult in the room ​regarding COVID-19 and Trump ​appear to be the villain. ​Cuomo got a $5.1 million book deal as a result. Chris Cuomo and Zucker/Gollust/CNN benefited from marathon interviews with ​Cuomo's governor/brother, which didn't touch the governor's alleged nursing home scandal. Ratings soared. So, was Zucker's departure ​simply about a consensual relationship with a co-worker?... Moving forward, what's next for CNN when the company falls under the Discovery Channel umbrella later this year? Let's hear from its soon-to-be largest shareholder, John Malone of Liberty Media. 'I would like to see CNN evolve back to the kind of journalism that it started with, and actually have journalists, which would be unique and refreshing,' Malone said...."

From "CNN's collapse is now complete" by Joe Concha (at The Hill).

Let's take a quick look at the Wikipedia page of John Malone, "an American billionaire businessman, landowner and philanthropist." We're told his "political beliefs have been described as libertarian, and "he is on the board of directors for the Cato Institute." Also:

Malone reportedly shuns the limelight and glamorous lifestyle and takes his family vacations alongside long time friend Gary Biskup, in a recreational vehicle. However, in business dealings he has been dubbed "Darth Vader," a nickname allegedly given to him by Al Gore.... In 1994, Wired portrayed Malone on their cover as "Mad Max" from The Road Warrior....

Here's the "amazing Wired interview," if you want to read about the "cable wars" of the early 1990s.

"This Fox weather bitch... Any help painting her as a far right crazy?"

Chris Cuomo allegedly texted an Andrew Cuomo staffer, quoted in "Chris Cuomo allegedly blasted Janice Dean as ‘that Fox weather bitch’ in smear plot" (NY Post). 

The "weather bitch" he wanted to discredited Fox News, meteorologist Janice Dean, had criticized Governor Cuomo for his policy of putting Covid patients in nursing homes. Her husband's elderly parents had died of Covid in March and April of 2020, and she said this in March 2021 on "Fox and Friends":

“We knew he was covering up the numbers and now we are getting more and more information and facts to prove this is true. And the fact that his top aide Melissa de Rosa was in on it to help cover up the numbers, to downplay them.... They have never apologized to the families, 15,000 that deserve an apology. The only thing the governor is going to be sorry about is that he got caught. You know what — he needs to go to jail and all of those around him.... Promoting that book and making money off of COVID and the deaths of our loved ones is disgusting, corrupt and it needs to be investigated."

Interviewed yesterday, Dean said: 

"A former co-worker of Chris Cuomo made a sexual misconduct allegation against the former CNN anchor..."

"... who was fired Saturday for misleading the cable network about the extent of the role he played trying to mitigate the sexual harassment accusations that took down his brother, former Gov. Andrew Cuomo.... The disclosure came as an outside law firm was probing new documents released by by New York’s top prosecutor Monday that suggested the younger Cuomo was more involved trying to control damage to his brother’s political career than he previously said. The woman who leveled the unknown accusations against Chris Cuomo, 51, was a former 'junior colleague' at another news network, according to Debra Katz, the accuser’s lawyer, the paper said.... Katz... told the paper her client 'came forward because she was disgusted by Chris Cuomo’s on-air statements in response to the allegations made against his brother, Governor Andrew Cuomo.' Specifically, Katz reportedly cited a March 1 broadcast where the anchor said 'I have always cared very deeply about these issues, and profoundly so. I just wanted to tell you that.'"

The NY Post reports.