@lynnventura Very, very well said. All of it.
I'll be honest. Cuomo's conduct is precisely why I never joined a political party when I became old enough to register to vote; I didn't want group identity to obscure my perception of abhorrent behavior. So the asymmetry between Team Red and Team Blue doesn't necessarily bother me. The GOP's unwillingness to call out their own is a byproduct of a political system that shoves people into warring camps. Political parties tap into a primal human need for community, especially in times like these, when so many other forms of genuine community are in shambles. The ambivalence and even vitriol some self-identified Democrats are expressing towards Cuomo's ouster (recounted in news articles) indicates that the seed of blind-protection-of-those-belonging-to-your-own-group exists in Team Blue as well. A binary that obscures peoples' perceptions and fosters endless warfare is what really bothers me.
Even before claims of sexual harassment started surfacing, Cuomo's mobster-ish tactics and arrogance were in plain view. We should never condone that sort of energy from an elected official, regardless of whether that official is signing progressive legislation into law. Hopefully this drama out of New York will hasten the end of the paradigm of the gruff, hyper-masculine politician.
Has anyone red this article by Mary Trump? I’m wondering what folks think given the predictions many have stated for this year and next.
https://newrepublic.com/article/163115/donald-trump-plot-against-america
I completely respect not wanting to join a political party, and you make some very good points, @coyote. I do feel, however, that the GOP is a danger to democracy. It is an insurgent, undemocratic, neofascist party and I just don't see the same on the other side. Yes, the democratic party has its issues, some of them big ones, but they aren't trying to destroy the country. The GOP is and has been for decades. It may look like they just morphed into a radical party fairly recently, but you can really trace their descent into sheer madness over the course of decades.
I remember as a 17-year-old listening to Ronald Reagan and being terrified of him. He coddled racists and enticed the religious right into political action. We've been suffering the after-effects for decades. Reagan made me register as a democrat because whatever he was, I wanted something that was its opposite. Many democratic politicians have disappointed me, but none have made me feel like Reagan and his ilk have.
In any event, again, I totally respect your take, @coyote, and I join you in hoping that Cuomo's departure gives NY a chance to rid itself of toxic masculinity in politics. Wouldn't it get great to see women rising in NY state?
@lynnventura
Your'e correct about the long history concerning the GOP. I wasn't trying to make a false equivalency. But I think it's possible to hold two ideas at the same time: the poisonous actions of the GOP have tangible, definitive sources, yet binary partisan politics is at the point where the seed for warfare is always lurking. (We can see this in other countries as well.)
There are visions on this site that see a Black woman as NY governor after 2022. So Letitia James or Andrea Stewart-Cousins?
I joined to vote in primaries. Some states only let you if you are registered.
@tybin I saw this earlier today. She is a remarkable writer and documents the collective pain very well. It helped me resolve shock from the day.
@tybin I read the article because you shared it, and I appreciate you for doing so. It's a good reminder that we still have work to do to stay out of those woods in particular.
If I live to be a million years of age, I will never understand the way this mans brain is wired: https://www.cnn.com/videos/business/2021/08/13/mike-lindell-symposium-osullivan-pkg-ac360-vpx.cnn