Leadership Lessons From A Scandal-Ridden Governor
Dems show how the GOP should have treated Trump. Plus: Q-A-Mom?
1. Dems realize Cuomoās gotta go
A popular leader massively botches a crisis and covers up his mistakes. He is credibly accused by multiple women of inappropriate behavior. And yet the voters stick with him.
Sound familiar?
Well here is where the story changes a bit.
The party leaders rebuff their voters. They declare that no matter the level of popular support, someone who has committed such unacceptable acts has lost the ability to govern and should be removed from office.
What a concept!
I can understand if this series of events might be disorienting. After-all this is what a properly functioning democratic republicāone with properly functioning political partiesālooks like. The GOP should take note.
On Friday, members of the Democratic New York congressional delegationāincluding big names like AOC, Jerry Nadler, and Jamaal Bowmanācalled on Andrew Cuomo to resign:
āAfter two accounts of sexual assault, four accounts of harassment, the Attorney Generalās investigation finding the Governorās admin hid nursing home data from the legislature and public, we agree with the 55+ members of the New York State legislature that the Governor must resign,ā Ocasio-Cortez tweeted.
Well sheeeeeiiiit. How about that?
You notice what wasnāt in the statement?
A complaint about the mean and unfair conservative media that had lambasted the strong, if imperfect, governor. A caveat citing a legal technicality that Jonathan Turley farted out explaining why what Cuomo did was bad but not quite bad enough to do anything about. A plea to listen to 4 million (really 3.6) aggrieved voters who genuinely believed the Leadership Lessons from the COVID-19 Pandemic.
Nope, they are simply giving Cuomo the chop.
And look: This isnāt just about right and wrong, even if it is primarily that. Itās about removing an irritant from the party, about clearing away dead undergrowth. Cuomo is hobbled but heās not finished, and if you want to ensure that he doesnāt hang aroundādragging down allies; bullying people who didnāt support him fiercely enoughāyou need to cut him loose. Cuomoās grotesque press conference yesterday indicated he is trying to play power politics by brazening it out ā¦ but heās not the only one who has a powerful hand to play.
Weāll see if it actually works this time, but itās a step in the right direction.
Here at The Bulwark all we can promise is that youāll hear exactly what we think, whether about Trump or Cuomo. Partisan allegiances have no sway here. If that sounds good to you, consider getting this email in your inbox every day.
2. Conservative Media . . . Right! (But still wrong.)
So before the conservative readers of this newsletter stroke out, yes, it is true that the Cuomo Accountability Culture is coming a little late in the game. (Okay, a lot late.)
It is true that in much of the right wing mediasphere (and reality-based outlets like this one) Andrew Cuomo has been lambasted as a disaster for quite some time now. In fact, I first noted how bad his management of COVID was compared to his peers in March of last year.
So one would think this would be a moment for a Conservative Inc. victory lap amidst a Washington Football Team-esque political run over the past 5 months.
But thatās what makes the pickle in front of them right now so delicious.
As my friend Declan Garvey put it so memeably:
Dunking on Cuomoās demise requires admitting that the other party has standards and lays bare, once again, the cravenness of the excuse-making for Trump that kept the lights on the past five years.
So if the Democrats require any additional reasons to put the nail in Cuomoās coffin, they should consider also how theyāll get to own the cons to go along with the principled and prudential concerns of having an incompetent sexual harrasser in Albany.
3. Q Amom
BuzzFeedās Albert Samaha writes a rending story about his motherās descent into Q-Anon. A devout Catholic single mother and her only child, formerly each other's most trusted advisors and best friends, now resigned to coexisting in two different realities.
The only stories my mom found credible in what she called āthe mainstream mediaā were the ones reported by her son ā and even then, only when the subject matter didnāt attack her devotion to the Catholic faith and to Donald Trump. Over the years, she urged me not to write about politics and expressed her concerns that I was falling further into the deep state when I reported on kids repeating Trumpās racist rhetoric or the validity of the election results.
āI pray you will not be a journalist for the deep state,ā sheād text me. āIts either you are protecting the deep state or Trump. I love you. If you are pressured by BFN to be part of the evil deep state, please resign.ā
I wasnāt sure how long I could hold on to whatever thread of trust still bound us together.
