Cuomo
Written by Nick Caraway
It is amazing that in the era of 24 hour news, the internet, and social media we are nowhere closer to a world with fuller context than we were before. Andrew Cuomo is only the latest politician to be embroiled in scandal. We all know he won’t be the last. His story and our story has so many layers and so many sides that one can scarcely tell where to start.
There is the obvious question of whether he is guilty of harassment or worse. As usually happens in situations like this, the vultures are circling. More and more people are coming forward with their own stories to tell. This obviously cuts both ways. Sometimes it is because you have a horrible person and people finally have the courage to report incidents that also happened to them. Sometimes it is merely blood in the water and the sharks are circling.
From there, there is the question of where to go from here. There is the simple question of what would be appropriate in a perfect world with the knowledge that there is a huge double standard. Democrats guilty of bad behavior fall on their sword. Republicans guilty of bad behavior get a seat on the Supreme Court and a seat in the oval office. Should that even matter?
I’m definitely not a tit for tat kind of person. It’s one thing to point out a double standard, but it is quite something else to allow that to govern our actual day to day activities. Either we advise someone in Cuomo’s position to resign or we don’t. If we think there is a path forward for him then there is a path forward for people in situations like him to move forward. If there isn’t one for him then there isn’t one for anyone in a similar situation.
What makes it harder is that we all know of situations where people were falsely accused. When it becomes multiple accusers then you could easily have both simultaneously. It’s difficult to strike the balance between presuming innocence while also giving the accuser the benefit of the doubt. Both sides deserve consideration. I know people have strong opinions on this topic and I invite all thoughts. Having a strong opinion doesn’t necessarily mean we know the wisest course of action.”
Nick
Growing up, simple minded guys made remarks. All the females I know ignored and brushed them off while smiling and being nice. The females talked and we all knew who to avoid. But, at some point assholes need to be called out when they are doing it.
1My DD was a temp while a student. She was in one office for weeks. The male boss kept calling her sweetie. She told him numerous times to cut it out. She finally said ‘the reason you call me sweetie is because you can’t remember my name’. Sweetie stopped that instant.
I’m still pissed about Franken. That picture was so staged, you can see the hands of others, and his brother took the shot, so 2 other people were standing within 4 feet of him pretending to grab her breast. It wasn’t at all funny. But it also was not assault.
If Cuomo thinks touching females is ok, I wonder if his sister, wives and/or daughters, aunties, cousins and trusted female employees need to tell them to stop that chit.
DH had a work group where the female employees had to sit on their boss’s lap to get their paychecks. This was 25 years ago at a Fortune 100 company. When DH was assigned the group, somebody told him. DH showed up on payday and told the bastard if it ever happened again he would be terminated on the spot. And also get rid of the girly mugs and calendars in the office. BUT, what shocked DH more is that the women had been doing it for years. Other males in the office were aware of the practice. Nobody told him to stop it.
I’m wary of knee-jerk reactions. Several years ago, I had a client who had been in prison for 17 years after being convicted of a series of truly horrible-sounding sexual assaults on his step-daughter. The young woman was very convincing, and backed her story up with all kinds of corroborating details. But after a good deal of digging, we found strong but very deeply buried evidence that made me (and, more to the point, the court — we got him a new trial) about 98% sure that she made every word of it up. My point, I guess, is that it’s a mistake to automatically believe ANYBODY.
2I don’t like Cuomo but that’s just my opinion and doesn’t matter. Narcissism is part of the job description for most politicians. I have a serious problem with the nursing home reporting issue. Assisted living facilities are state regulated but nursing homes are federally regulated. Deaths are reported to the Social Security Administration. I know from experience that many facilities of both types seem to think reporting deaths is optional since they’re rarely called on it and it’s treated as bad PR. I’m not even sure how NY would compile that kind of data.
While he may be guilty of harassment, all of this late piling on is always suspect to me. I too am still pissed about the way Al Franken was railroaded. The photo was in bad taste but it turns out the woman was known for treating men as objects herself. I took the time to research all of Franken’s accusers’ including news reports and their social media pages. Every last one of them was a Trump supporter, including the one in the photo. I wonder why that information was never published. We lost one of our finest senators but I’m glad the whole thing blew up in Gillibrand’s face.
3The first 2 Cuomo complainants may have had a case. The next 3, I’m scratching my head.
Are they being pushed forward by Cuomo’s apparatchiks to make the original complainants look bad?
There was a woman I used to see around town. Didn’t know anything about her, even her name, except that he was a militant feminist. One day she approached the door to a grocery store at the same time as a man. He stepped back and held the door open for her. “Shut the door,” she said.
My daddy used to say,”It’s a good thing people have different tastes or nobody could get married.”
4I’m still pissed about Al Franken, too. He was a good senator. And what pisses me even more is that Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand who was the first Dem. to ask for his resignation now wants to give Cuono a pass. Doesn’t think that is “the conversation we should be having right now.”
51) Innocent until proven guilty, in a court of law, not opinion.
2) Cast the first stone…?
6I have no doubt there is plenty of sexual assault going on. But it’s a different world now. Cell phones and cameras on eye glass frames can catch the bastards.And some female family members teach the young boys proper behavior toward others.
And we all remember Tawana Brawley, and know women who would do the same thing.
IMO, SEn. Gillibrand saw herself as a rising star in the Democratic party a used the photo to get rid of her competition.
7Am I the only one who is suspicious of the timing? Cuomo made trump look bad, and now Cuomo is made to look bad? These women all come out of the woodwork at the same time? I guess I am just a skeptic.
8I live in NY.
9My concern is that Republicans are doing this. Curious as to why these women did not come forward during the Trump administration where they would have been welcomed.
I am concerned because NY is finally going after Trump.
If Cuomo is forced to resign, and a Republican is elected, Trump and his family is as good as pardoned.
Diane @ 8,
THIS.
10Diane@8–I have the same concerns. The timing is very suspect. The nursing home story is very bad, if true. Let the investigations play out.
11I am 70 and I know what old fish smells like and kids the stories of these women have been wrapped in paper a long time!!
12Delayed reporting was set up for children to finally tell their stories when old enough. These Women are pretenders! They wait for optimum damage, optimum financial reward or just plane optimum mean. .
This is not the same as 15 year old being raped at a party, or a woman being raped at a party by a future President. This is a woman wearing a backless dress and then saying she doesn’t want to be touched or being kissed but not saying anything at the time.
I am sick of them saying nothing at the time. Put your big girl panties on and speak up or shut up!!!
I agree with Halster @ 3 in that being a narcissist is a common trait of many politicians, and probably high profile aggressive ones (also a trait of many powerful business leaders in my experience). I don’t think I’m going out on a limb saying he used very poor judgment in relationships with his subordinates (as I saw in my business career as well). It’s very hard to justify on any level, but getting all the facts via the AG’s investigation is the only way to go. The accusers need to be questioned and verified if possible.
13It’s hard not to see the irony in the repugnantican party and voters just brushing off trumpfs documented and admitted sexual escapades BEFORE he was elected.
In NY, it seems a bipartisan condemnation, but the investigation needs to go forward before final judgments are made. At the end of the day, however, the damage is probably already done and he’s going to have a hard time going forward.
Too soon Nick, as the QOP would false flag anything. As this article indicates, we should remember Eliot Spitzer as well as Al Franken. Would Roger Stone throw some shit out there in NY to protect the ***king moron? It is well within the QOP playbook to use the #MeToo movement against us much as they used opposition to the draft in the 60s to create a false narrative.
https://crooksandliars.com/2021/03/cuomo-conspiracy-theory-worth-considering
The QOP has made conspiracy theories their home, so those of us with fair minds are loathe to “go there.”
14And then there is this:
https://crooksandliars.com/2021/03/cuomo-conspiracy-theory-worth-considering
15Disappointing piece, Nick. The obvious thing to do is let the investigation play out.
16Not rehearse the various excuses for not believing women.
I don’t disbelieve the woman who met Cuomo for a few seconds in a hotel lobby. I just conclude she’s a nut.
17Nick, I have noticed over my many years that various cultures do have this instantaneous hugging/kissing thing when meeting someone, no matter who. However, a smart man would under current conditions take a good look at his cultural habits and do something about them to keep him out of the headlines.
18Fair points Maggie, Jane, and Msb.
I suppose I am not evaluating the veracity of any specific accuser here or making any excuses for Cuomo. It’s just a pattern I’ve noticed when these cases arise. One accuser seems to open the door for many. Obviously, that could be geniune or not.
19Some people lead sheltered lives. When Dylan Thomas toured America, his pickup line was “Can I jump you?”
Although he was a homely, unwashed drunk with rotting teeth, a large fraction of the women he asked said yes.
But some people want to rewrite history to make Monica Lewinsky a victim, despite her announcement that she was going to Washington to earn her presidential kneepads.
Whatever happened to women’s empowerment?
Some of these “accusations” against Cuomo do not need to be investigated. The woman in the lobby, f’rinstance. We can accept her statement at face value and understand that that was not sexual or any other kind of harassment.
20Let’s give the “last word” to cartoonist Mike Luckovich:
https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-00RmDLufaH8/YERb3mIbEII/AAAAAAAAMpY/_wkFn2W0iYwafCkJzBddLLnNt26enq7bgCLcBGAsYHQ/s800/cartoon16-mike-030321.jpg
21I appreciate that, Nick.
22But the hallmark of really serious abusers is the number of their victims: e.g. Cosby, Weinstein, Epstein, Trump, etc. So the courage of one victim to speak up gives courage to others, as many women know that making such an accusation will bring them lots of trouble, including rape and death threats, accusations of gold-digging, lying and/or insanity. I believe that Christine Blasey Ford is still unable to return to her home.
So let’s see what the investigation finds, and not cast aspersions without information.
Thus far, this appears to be a “public” argument. Charges are made, but not through a personnel/HR system, not in civil or criminal courts.
There clearly is enough to trigger an investigation, but I would be more enthusiastic about one carried out without headlines.
At the very least, there is enough information for Cuomo to decide if he will run for another term. Other politicians have a chance to consider if they want to make a run for office. Presumably, the scandals would be evaluated by donors, party officials and voters.
Because lawyers are involved, evaluation in court is likely.
Until the report is done, until there are court filings and potentially trials, assessing veracity would be better done by those who can see the principal people in person, not from those of us viewing or reading at a distance. Let it play out.
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