I'm not good at posting links but Huffpost reporting, and her's the title
Barbra Streisand Says 1 Thing Should Be Shown On TV Every Day To Debunk Trump's Lies-
Cuomo resigns. Kathy Hochul become first female governor of NY
Latest installment in the Fall of the House of Cuomo: he's actually stepping down (his resignation is effective in 2 weeks). This is big news. As recently as this weekend, Democratic leaders were wringing their hands over Cuomo's seeming intransigence. I bet that the recent departures of his closest aides changed his mind.
Ever since Letitia James released the findings of her office's investigation last week, my intuitive senses have been tingling. I'm being told to pay close attention to the drama out of Albany, since Cuomo's demise says a lot about what's awaiting other prominent figures who owe their popularity to pyramids of lies (you all know who I'm referring to). It also says a lot about the illusion of the savior: Cuomo tried to endear himself to the public by presenting himself as the Wizard With All the Answers during the worst of the pandemic, when the federal government was dithering. This "CNN approach" worked until it didn't.
Most importantly, the Cuomo scandal is an example of exponentiality. Auras of invincibility can disintegrate in a matter of days, and this extends to the whole edifice of exploitative capitalism. We all want society to abandon the zombie practices that are leading our species to extinction. It turns out that we can abandon those mindsets quite swiftly once certain variables reach a tipping point.
@lynnventura @jessi1978 I'd be interested in hearing your thoughts on this.
Former New Yorker here, AND distant cousin to the Cuomos, so I won't comment much except to say GOOD that he is resigning and I hope he gets some counseling to help him discern the difference between signs of Italian affection and gross harassment. BTW, I had MANY Italian relatives who would pinch me, grab my face, kiss me unbidden, etc. I got good at pushing them off by age 5. I'm sorry that Mario & Matilda didn't teach their boys better. (I'm related thru Matilda.)
I agree that the rats jumping ship is what woke him up.
Bottom line, boys are gross. ?
Next topic: Around the world some areas are falling prey to extremism of one kind or another. this past week Kandahar was recaptured by the Taliban, and they are headed to Kabul next. Some people here in the US continue to ignore the dangers of our own forms of extremism. Many in my own circle refuse to believe that a civil war can happen here, I think it probably will, most likely in the next 4-10 years. Modern civil wars start small and local, as do many inter-society conflicts. Which brings me to Portland OR.
Portland is a "blue" oasis in a sea of red. The PNW of the US in particular is full of militaristic, fascist, evangelical, racist extremists. Portland has become a target for them and it is being regularly overrun by them. Antifascists do their best to counter protest and even fight back when they need to, but it is not enough. Last weekend was another such overrunning. And it wasn't even in the mainstream media anywhere. Reminder that one year ago it was BLM protests that brought on right wing based violence. Check it out, and be aware this may be coming soon to a city near you:
I am glad that he resigned. I know Zeldin and the Republicans were hoping he would stay on so they can use it for their campaign. We had Zeldin and T this weekend and Trump throwing his support for Zeldin. I hope he does not win. I’m in Suffolk County and Democrats lost big in the last election.
@coyote -- Here are my thoughts:
I'm actually a little sad. NY'ers all knew Cuomo was a bully and a jerk, but I never pegged him as a perv. So this whole thing has been disappointing. The worst is he targeted younger women, probably because older women would have told him to go eff himself. Part of the responsibility that comes with being an older adult is to mentor younger adults, and to think he preyed on younger women makes me sad, angry and sick.
Cuomo has/had a fearlessness I wish more dems had, but he didn't use it for good, at least not as much as he could have. That's sad and a missed opportunity. I remember when Elliot Spitzer got himself elected gov after 12 long years of a Republican in Albany, how NY Dems were overjoyed, only to see him abruptly resign over another scandal. Then David Patterson replaced him and fought hard to push through marriage equality (way before the SCOTUS decision) but failed. At that time I thought, we'll never see marriage equality in NY in my lifetime. Yet Cuomo got it through I believe in his first year. He had that kind of power, and he used it for something good. Yes, shortly thereafter SCOTUS decided Obergefell, but that was a bit of a shock. Had they gone the other way NY would have marriage equality, because of Cuomo.
I hate the asymmetrical way in which Dems purge their own (thinking also of Al Franken) yet republicans like Gaetz and Jim Jordan remain in office. Dems condemn this sort of stuff, republicans reward it. That makes me angry. We rightly hold ourselves to a higher standard, but I just hate that that republicans flout decency so flagrantly.
Bottom line -- Cuomo needed to go. What he did was a violation of all sort of trust and decency, not to mention laws. I'm just sad at what could have been if he'd just been the man he should have been. To those of us who were in a state of panic when NY was the epicenter of the pandemic last year, his daily briefings were incredibly comforting. He stood up to Trump during that time, without fear. What a waste.
Thank you very much for alerting our attention to this situation. I am actually surprised the media didn't pick up on this story. It is indeed scary. I don't understand why people can go around armed like that and I live in a red state.
I hate the asymmetrical way in which Dems purge their own (thinking also of Al Franken) yet republicans like Gaetz and Jim Jordan remain in office. Dems condemn this sort of stuff, republicans reward it. That makes me angry. We rightly hold ourselves to a higher standard, but I just hate that that republicans flout decency so flagrantly.
Bottom line -- Cuomo needed to go. What he did was a violation of all sort of trust and decency, not to mention laws. I'm just sad at what could have been if he'd just been the man he should have been. To those of us who were in a state of panic when NY was the epicenter of the pandemic last year, his daily briefings were incredibly comforting. He stood up to Trump during that time, without fear. What a waste.
Man, you said exactly what I was thinking, only much better than I could have said it. Thank you!
@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