Mario’s kid has himself in a shitpot of trouble, mainly of his own making. First, the facts: New York under-reported the number of patients that were transferred from hospitals to nursing homes early in the pandemic. Second, the admission, by Melissa DeRosa, Secretary to the Governor, that a DOJ inquiry caused the Governor’s office to set aside a report to the Assembly last Fall, and it basically fell between the cracks, has been reported as a coverup. (Here’s a timeline and transcript of her comments.)
I’ve watched quite a few episodes of the Cuomo Show (his press conferences), and it’s been clear since last Summer at the latest that the press has onto this issue. Cuomo and his staff have consistently ducked their questions.
Setting aside the coverup or delay, what Cuomo did at the start of the pandemic when cases were skyrocketing was to push nursing home residents back to the homes to free up hospital beds and staff. That decision, which in hindsight was wrong, was made when he faced the possibilities of overflowing hospitals throughout the state, and the bare fact of some overwhelmed hospitals in the New York City area. Frankly, I would have probably made the same decision had I been in his shoes. And, to be clear, there was no undercount of overall COVID deaths.
The problem is that Cuomo’s gigantor ego would not let him admit that he made a mistake that was clear in hindsight. Instead, he and his administration have slow-played this. From my vantage point, Cuomo lost the plot late Summer/early Fall, when it looked like things were going well, and New York had put the pandemic in the rear-view mirror. That’s when he issued a silly poster and wrote a book. Both of those actions are in keeping with being awfully high on his own supply, which has been one of the many reasons that Cuomo is never going to be anything more than Governor of New York.
Cuomo’s narcissism comes with control issues, as is the case for most narcissists. This scandal comes on the heels of a New York Times report that nine health department officials have quit because Cuomo kept them out of the loop in vaccine planning. This is all Cuomo-being-Cuomo, and, to be fair, our vaccine distribution consistently hovers around 90% of available doses, which is quite a bit better than some other states.
The Governor of New York has broad emergency powers that can only be reined in by the Assembly. There’s talk (mostly generated from Republicans) that the Assembly should vote to restrict his powers, but I would be surprised if that happens, because the fact is that we’ve done about the best of the large states, and that’s due to Cuomo’s leadership, warts and all. I live here and I study the numbers like a gambler looking to bet his last dollar, and I’d rather be here than any other state (save, maybe, Vermont or Maine). Also, before you shit on Cuomo too much, remember that the genesis of this whole thing is a heaping helping of whataboutism seeking to deflect from the abysmal performance of Republican governors, especially the completely politically-motivated DOJ investigation of Cuomo, Whitmer, Newsom and Murphy (NJ).
That all said, if he wasn’t so goddam invested in everyone seeing him as a hero, he’d be seen as more of a hero. And if my aunt had balls, she’d be my uncle.
p.a.
Ancient history I guess, but wasn’t there ‘something something’ about him making Repub majorities in the state legislature possible for a time?
Another Scott
(I hate to be that guy again, but could you run through this again in an editing pass? Some words seem to be missing in some of the sentences.)
Thanks for the Inside the Empire State view. My view from NoVA of him is similar. He fought with DeBlasio too much early on (“I’m doing a lockdown!” “You can’t do a lockdown until I say so!!”) and wasted valuable time. But that’s hindsight. Him insisting on having his hands on all the levers is a bad thing, and if he’s going to insist on that then he gets the consequences when it blows up in his face.
Thanks.
Cheers,
Scott.
Four Seasons Total Landscaping mistermix
@Another Scott: I re-wrote one sentence but don’t see others missing words…
Four Seasons Total Landscaping mistermix
@p.a.: Yeah, there were a couple of Democratic State Senators who defected to make a Republican majority, and he was fine with that. He’s also slow-played anything he doesn’t like (prime example being legalizing marijuana) while making appropriate mouth-noises of support.
Another Scott
@Four Seasons Total Landscaping mistermix: First sentence in the second paragraph.
Thanks.
Cheers,
Scott.
Kent
He got a lot of national cred last spring for being one of the few national voices against the cult of Trump when the crisis was emerging. And I’ll give him that. But it sounds like they severely fucked some things up.
Here in WA we actually had the first major outbreak in the US in Jan or Feb of 2020. But have done a reasonable job since then and I credit our governor Inslee who has been much more low key but effective. Leadership doesn’t mean going on CNN every damn night.
MazeDancer
And not enough doses of vaccine in upstate NY. A few if you live close to urban centers, otherwise, out of luck.
WereBear
I agree. And we won’t see too much in the way of humble and open leadership, either, because I remember what happened to President Carter.
There’s also how, in the heat of emergency, people in general don’t want Mister Rogers. They want Patton. And this shapes who does what.
laura
I’m no fan of pre-covid Cuomo at all, full stop. However, I’m not going to Sunday morning quarterback his gaffes – mostly because I’m watching the fuckers including the RNC throwing cash at the recall efforts against my Governor Gavin Newsom. He’s been sued by the for-profit professional church industry with majority support from the Barret Court and he’s made personal stupid mistakes that are easily used against him. I am fairly certain that the thinking is get a Republican governor who will then appoint a replacement for Diane Feinstein. The fuckers never stop and so I’m looking at the Cuomopocalypse through Republicans are fuckers lens.
Chyron HR
Zephyrmentum 202whatever, amirite?
Formerly disgruntled in Oregon
Politics attracts narcissistic personalities (or breeds them), but being able to admit mistakes (and learn from them) is essential for effective leadership.
Obviously these two characteristics don’t play nicely together, and helps explain typical leadership dysfunction in govt and other organizations where there is a significant political element to leadership.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@laura:
I love it.
I’m just glad Biden’s filled most of his big posts so I don’t have to see lefty-outrage twitter, or bloggers, bring all their instant dudgeon to the latest Cuomo-started rumor that Biden is considering Cuomo for Grand Marshall Of The Supreme Court.
CaseyL
@Kent: I’m damn glad to have Inslee as Governor. If he was a higher-profile kind of pol, we might’ve lost him to the Biden Administration. Though I do wish he had more recognition and appreciation.
Cuomo? Last Spring his daily press conferences helped me get through the day, knowing someone was punching up at the MalAdministration publicly, in a big way. He’ll always deserve kudos for that. The nursing home thing was a situation where there were apparently no good choices, all healthcare facilities being completely overrun. (A doctor I worked with, who was also in the Navy Reserve, was shipped out to NY to work on one of the Navy hospital ships.)
I know Cuomo is mostly an SOB, but for a vital few months he was “our” SOB.
Martin
Yeah, Cuomo is done. His leadership on Covid overall was pretty good, not great, and was his high water mark. He redeemed himself to some degree there, but I guess he felt he needed more redemption than he was deserving.
Take him down. There are better politicians in NY more deserving of the job.
The Moar You Know
Far rather have Cuomo as my governor than the weathervane narcissist I’ve got, Newsom. Oh well. We’ll get our shots sometime this decade.
Rather have Inslee than either one TBH.
Carol
@laura: “the professional church industry” Perfect!
Facebones
I’ve never been a fan of Cuomo, but you’ve got to give me someone to vote for other than Cynthia Nixon or Zepher Teachout. He always comes across like a used car salesman explaining why you really want the undercoating.
Having said that, he did a decent job taking Covid seriously and initiating lockdowns. I’m glad he’s in charge and not a nimrod like DeSantis or Ducey or Kemp.
germy
@Four Seasons Total Landscaping mistermix:
I’m less optimistic about legalization than I was a month ago.
It seems they still have the same disagreements they had last year, and the year before. How to spend the revenue.
I hope I’m wrong, but has anything changed?
Steeplejack
@Four Seasons Total Landscaping mistermix:
“I’ve watched quite [?] episodes of the Cuomo Show [. . .].”
James E Powell
I read the linked article, but I don’t understand why it’s a Huge Scandal! Everyone Must Resign! Who was harmed by this? How were they harmed?
ETA – I don’t particularly like Cuomo and I remember when he was on TV every day that there were people all over twitter yelling “He should be our nominee!”
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Facebones: in a similar vein, and since this is an open thread, I’m seeing the not quite usual suspects (Joe Nocera, Tom Nichols, Liz Mair) saying Schumer should be replaced. As someone whose reaction to Schumer used to range from “yuck” to “meh”, I think he’s played mediocre hands pretty well through the trump years, and somebody would have to explain to me who could do better, and how.
My understanding of the job is that the biggest part of it is fund-raising, with caucus management and legislative strategy (we could short-hand both with “Manchin”) following. If anyone knows better, I’d genuinely like to know.
The most interesting twitter replies I’ve seen are Whitehouse and Klobuchar, but if I’m right about fund-raising, I don’t know how they’d do.
Chetan Murthy
Re: Cuomo and those faithless Dem NYS legislators: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Independent_Democratic_Conference
Cuomo connived in this b/c it gave him power, and he DGAF whether Democratic priorities got enacted. The only reason he started behaving better is that the *electorate* kicked these IDC fuckers to the curb.
James E Powell
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
Why would Democrats need Republicans’ advice on choosing leaders?
Even a doofus like me knows you don’t change leaders when you are moving your program through congress and you are winning.
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@Martin:
“Andrew Yang, come on down!” /s
Baud
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
@James E Powell:
Agree. Not that there other capable Senators, but I don’t see anyone who’s head and shoulders so much better that it’s worth the effort to think about the issue.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@James E Powell:
one of the most annoying aspects of internet politics, even pre-twitter, is:
Politician X: [1 good speech, or 1 good quip, or 1 good policy]
Internet Left: X needs to be our next [president, speaker, majority leader, DNC chair]! (and a dozen more exclamation points)
This tendency works especially for the promotion of White Guys Who Shout. We could call it the Wiener Syndrome, or the Avenatti Fallacy.
Catherine D.
@MazeDancer:
Yeah, Tompkins County got a whole 700 doses this week. Guess that’s a reward for being one of the only counties doing surveillance testing.
Brachiator
Probably a bad idea, because it is not just about Cuomo, but about a future governor. And I wonder whether these dopes are more playing ego games than they are objectively considering how best to handle future pandemics. And future pandemics, even more variants of the CoronaVirus, may happen.
Otherwise, these stories slapping Cuomo around may be designed to blunt his future political ambitions as much as they are about real issues.
Baud
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
Obama’s 2004 DNC speech put him on the map. I wonder if that was the genesis of this idea.
Suzanne
….are we sure it was wrong?
I realize that it had a poor outcome, but there probably was no good outcome to be found.
The American healthcare system is not designed for long hospital stays.
Brachiator
@Baud:
Didn’t Bill Clinton also give a convention speech that brought him a lot of attention?
Baud
@Brachiator:
I believe it was negative attention because it was so long.
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@Brachiator:
The most disturbing thing I’ve seen Republicans do recently (besides voting to acquit Trump and trying to change state election laws so that the R-dominated legislature can declare the presidential winner) is Republican state legislatures and courts removing emergency powers used by governors throughout the pandemic. It’s absolutely insane. What do they think we’re going to do when the next pandemic, perhaps even more deadly, happens?!
I want to know why state and national medical associations aren’t speaking out against this. If they have, I haven’t seen it. Nurses are the most trusted profession in America today and I’m sure doctors aren’t far behind. They need to tell these R pols that they’re crazy
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Brachiator: @Baud: I think they were both seen as rising stars, so there was a lot of anticipation for both. Obama met expectations, arguably exceeded them. Clinton… did not. His biggest applause line was , “And in conclusion…”, and if memory serves, you can see on his face that he got it.
Thinking about it, all those years ago, more than thirty, wasn’t Clinton seen as a sign of the rising “New South”? The generation that was gonna end the generational Republican hold on the South that LBJ had predicted?
MazeDancer
@Facebones:
Twitter sending me into a panic that the completely inexperienced and unqualified Cynthia Nixon had a chance was why, kicking and screaming, I voted for Cuomo last time.
Had intended to write-in “Hillary Clinton”.
raven
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: fuck lbj
Baud
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
I believe the South was still producing some Democratic wins when Clinton was elected. The GOP hold on the South really took off during Clinton’s tenure.
oldster
Cuomo is a jerk.
And, we could do a lot worse than Cuomo.
Up here in the Southern Tier (hi, Catherine D!), there is a lot of Appalachia, and a lot of red votes. We have repeatedly re-elected Tom Reed, who was one of Trump’s biggest and earliest supporters. (And pretends to be chastened now, and is still a snake.)
These people are never going to vote for Miranda from SATC, or for Zephyr, either. They think Cuomo is far too lefty.
It’s unlikely that NYS will go for a Rep governor. But I would not risk it by nominating some leftist fever-dream of a candidate. AOC’s twin sister would put the governorship in jeopardy. (And I think she is brilliant and a natural politician in the best sense.)
So, prudence tells me to go with the jerk.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Baud: In ’92 you had some not-quite Dixiecrats like Shelby (and Phil Gramm?) still in the party. As I recall, Blanche Lincoln was part of the ’92 “Year of the Woman” class, probably also seen as part of that “New South”. Maybe Mary Landrieu, too?
ETA: And Howell Heflin! how could I forget Howell Heflin.
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@Baud:
Hopefully, that may be beginning to come to an end with Biden’s win as well as the Senate wins in Georgia
Brachiator
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka):
Scientists have been pushing back. Some are just not as arrogantly loud as politicians.
But pushback against lockdowns and obeying the mandates of health authorities is not just an American problem. You see this in many countries, especially those that have traditions of democracy and personal liberties.
And strangely enough, it is often conservatives who scream most loudly about this.
To be fair, again in the US, UK and European nations, you also see young people simply ignoring rules and regulations and having parties.
Stupidity is a persistent human trait.
Jay
Could be worse.
Quebec is holding an inquire into Private Nursing Home deaths.
It seems that when Covid hit, staff bailed or fell sick, the For Profit Nursing homes just abandoned those in their care, and did not reach out for help.
Instead, in one case, there were 2 orderlies for 80 residents.
Barbara
There is no question that Andrew Cuomo’s strengths come with a high dose of toxic desire to control the situation. One big difference between him and Trump is that he really does care about the people of New York, and I don’t think he is quite as interested in being seen as a hero, though he has displayed that streak in the past as well. It is almost certain that in trying to address the tidal wave that was the NYC pandemic even the best and best informed leaders would make mistakes. The specific mistake Cuomo made was also made in the UK, which also insisted that care homes receive people being discharged from hospitals without undergoing a negative Covid test. It had similarly dire consequences in both places.
It’s sad to watch but I am somewhat relieved that Cuomo is unlikely to be able to use the pandemic as a springboard to national office.
Jay
@Brachiator:
not just stupidity, greed as well.
Pop Up Nightclubs are a thing here, cover charges, strippers, booze, food,
pluky
@Catherine D.: Well it’s not like the People’s Republic of Ithaca is high on Cuomo’s adorbs list.
Catherine D.
@oldster: Yup. Did not want horse porn guy (Paladino, for the uninitiated. Google carefully)
Ken
Reality: Appoints/elects long-serving, well-qualified person other than X to the office.
Internet Left: Betrayal! (two dozen more exclamation points) I’m never voting for a Democrat again! (three dozen more exclamation points) I’d rather vote for the Republicans than for someone who doesn’t value my precious vote! (strange emoji-like thing spelled out with exclamation points and obscure Unicode characters)
WhatsMyNym
New York is about the same population as the Los Angeles-Long Beach, CA Combined Statistical Area, 19 million. Newsom had his work cut out for him.
Cuomo has one major city to deal with, run by a friendly Democrat, and he screwed that up.
Catherine D.
@pluky:
No, but since Cornell is asking to be a vaccination site, that might be a wonderful pie fight between the state side Cuomo has control of and the mega bucks endowed side he can’t control.
Jay
@WhatsMyNym:
deBlasio isn’t a “friendly” Democrat.
prostratedragon
@Brachiator:
@Baud: Had both thoughts simultaneously.
David ? ☘The Establishment☘? Koch
Does this mean Cuomo won’t be on the sequel to “Sex and the City”?
Oh wait, that was Cynthia Nixon.
Brachiator
@Jay:
Damn. Sounds like fun.
Greed takes advantage of stupidity. We humans are social animals. We like to be together and party, no matter what the circumstances.
Reminds me of Prohibition, when there were speakeasies and tons of private parties where the booze ran freely.
There have been stories about houses rented out for parties here in Southern California. They are catering to a strong demand.
Not too long ago, while out walking, I passed by a restaurant that had outdoor service in defiance of local lock down orders. The outdoor space looked too confined and may have had poor ventilation, but diners were laughing and smiling, sitting too close together, but again happily defying not just the regulations, but common sense.
Made me sad and angry, but I understand the impulse to continue socializing.
Jay
@Brachiator:
as a “disposable” retail worker, I ain’t going anywhere near indoors and unmasked, not until covid is long over,
and I will probably keep wearing a mask in public.
James E Powell
@Baud:
I don’t think so. Obama’s DNC was so much more than a guy yelling on TV. He expressed a confident & optimistic vision of an America that we might imagine is possible. Of course he’s black, so most white people hated him.
Kent
Yep. Clinton was the last southern Dem to win portions of the south. Gore (another white Southerner) basically struck out across the south 8 years later).
Clinton 1992: https://www.270towin.com/1992_Election/
Gore 2000: https://www.270towin.com/2000_Election/index.html
Clinton won LA, AR, GA, TN, KY, MO, and WV. Gore lost all of those and didn’t win a single southern state unless you want to argue FL.
Four Seasons Total Landscaping mistermix
@Another Scott: Thanks, fixed (after at trip to the store).
James E Powell
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
Let’s not forget Alan Grayson.
Democratic political junkies see how the press/media fawn over the latest loud Republican asshole – Christie comes most easily to mind – and think, hey we need a loud asshole of our own.
oldster
@pluky:
Hey, come on. Ithaca is a very middle-of-the-road, down-to-earth place.
Compared to Berkeley, CA, and the Seattle autonomous zone.
LuciaMia
Cuomo:
Too full of himself-Definitely
Full-on narcissist?- I dont know.
Fair Economist
@laura:
Newsom made some mistakes, but California is *still* significantly better than the US as a whole in terms of COVID deaths, in spite of gruesome overcrowding due to our housing policies. So Newsom has handled things better than the average governor and there’s no reason to recall him.
Notably the death rate in California is HALF that of NY.
oldster
@Fair Economist:
“Notably the death rate in California is HALF that of NY.”
This is the problem with taking statistics out of context.
You’re not accounting for the fact that most New Yorkers are half-dead already.
(And if we get another foot of snow this week, I’m going to be half-buried, as well.)
Peale
@Fair Economist: Unfortunately, I don’t trust California voters any more than I trust Massachusetts voters. When given the chance, they’ll recall their governor just for the Lolz.
smedley the uncertain
@oldster: Reed is also making noises about challenging Cuomo for the Governors job. Reed is a do nothing back bencher and a Trumpov but he is a Republican that’s a big card around here. Down state not so much.
Brachiator
@Fair Economist:
Too many variables for NY vs CA comparisons to be reasonable. NY is more densely populated in major areas. More people might travel via subway and public transportation. The population of NY may be slightly older (greater percentage of the population age 65 and older in NY).
But I agree that Newsom should not be recalled. However, there is a lot of mischief behind the recall effort and a lot of free floating anger against Newsom being exploited for political gain.
germy
After Jan. 6, I remember wondering if any upstate NY people had been involved. Sure enough:
https://wnyt.com/schenectady-new-york-news/capitol-riot-insurrection-brandon-fellows-schenectady-niskayuna/6011911/?cat=10114
Martin
@Brachiator: Yeah, I don’t see Newsom being recalled. The vaccine rollout is improving each week, and Biden/Harris are pretty motivated to see that he’s not recalled.
The earliest I can see an election is late summer, and they can push it back to Nov if they want. The landscape will look very different by then.
jonas
Cuomo’s narcissistic obsession with iron-fisted, top-down control and messaging was always going to be his undoing. Sometimes this has served him well governing one of the most ungovernable states in the country, but now he’s well and truly fucked himself. If the state’s recovery and vaccine effort were the envy of the nation (as opposed to what other states are grateful they are *not*), he might have some cushion here, but I don’t see how he pulls out of this death spiral.
Ruckus
@germy:
He seems nice.
In a complete asshole sort of way.
oldster
@smedley the uncertain:
Reed is ruthless, very smart and a cunning debater. However, he is also short, fat, and balding, with the charisma of a waspy George Costanza. He is not going to win any statewide office.
I have spent most of my life lamenting the fact that the world is unfair to us short fat bald guys. But in this case, I’ll take it.
Yutsano
@The Moar You Know:
Come on up! We have cookies…
Yutsano
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
Lemme slow their rolls there chief. According to this here Senate chart there’s a few more people who would be in line before either of them. In other words, over Patty Murray’s dead carcass.
Catherine D.
@oldster: *snicker* I’ve had the misfortune to meet Reed. Best thing about COVID is I’ll never ever endure a clammy handshake again.
RaflW
If YN voters want to keep Cuomo, that’s NY’s call. I’ll not second guess it.
But I have zero interest in Cuomo going to any other high office. Nope, thanks.
oldster
@RaflW:
That’s how I see it. As a NY resident who is willing to return Cuomo to Albany, but never ever send him to DC, I figure we are taking a bullet for the rest of the nation.
You can thank me for it. You’re welcome.
RaflW
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): “What do they think we’re going to do when the next pandemic, perhaps even more deadly, happens?!”
Decrease the surplus population, of course. But really, the GOP does not care about policy. They do not care about future risks or outcomes. They care about consolidating power, now. How they use that power is only to accumulate more power – so if they decide later that you or me not dying is the route to more power, then they’ll care. For that moment only.
LurkerNoLonger
@jonas: death spiral? What are you babbling about?
https://morningconsult.com/2021/02/04/california-gov-gavin-newsoms-popularity-has-fallen-but-its-still-better-than-his-pre-pandemic-standing/
NYCMT
The Cuomo nursing home thing is a classic moral panic. As I remarked elsewhere on the Internet, NY elder and health care law made it impossible to discharge stable covid+ nursing home patients anywhere but the nursing homes they came from during the pandemic. There was no way that a bunch of plague nursing homes were going to get spun up for isolation in the dark days of no testing and no staff and lockdown and the same negligent and belligerent ownership and management systems as existed prior to the pandemic.
How many new beds were in Javits or on Comfort or in Central Park? None certified for long-term care, anyway. No charting, ancillary services, and most importantly no freakin’ staff.
Classic moral panic. Blame the nursing home owners who couldn’t figure out how to lockdown and isolate within facilities, if you must blame someone.
I know the system – it’s bullshit.
NYCMT
Cuomo was able to organize public support for mass lockdown – that’s why he’s being attacked. It was a successful policy. Undermining Cuomo is also about undermining faith in a broad activist public health intervention strategy.
NYCMT
Parenthetically, we buried a number of people this past year and saw the physical and mental devastation to more loved ones from Covid. I have heard enough ambulance sirens for a lifetime. I have also seen and vigorously struggled against the impudent disease denialism within the insular siloed ignorance of my coreligionists, and I’m in the sandwich generation between toddlers and sick elderly parents. I want this virus gone, and I have no illusions about its severity.
Joseph
The most damning thing about Cuomo isn’t his mistakes in March, it’s what he’s doing now. We still have out-of-control transmission even if things are better than a month ago, and he’s still loosening rules which were frankly too loose to begin with. We now have a competent president and administration actually interested in doing their job, the possibility of federal support for businesses, and a much better understanding of the virus. There’s no excuse for Cuomo now.
I’m not one to fall for Republican snipe hunts- recalling Newsom is a joke, for one thing- but when we’re in a state as deep blue as New York we should have higher standards than “mostly did the right thing for four months” and “not as awful as the Republicans.” Seems to me Newsom for all his faults did better, and Inslee and Kate Brown deserve more credit than either.