The Short Happy Political Life of Andrew Cuomo
The governor of New York has stepped down, amid credible allegations of sexual harassment. (You’ve heard something in the news about this, perhaps?) I’m glad that behavior previously seen as business as usual is now verboten. Let’s be clear. His political life is over, and it should be.
Yet I can’t help but also feel sad. I don’t feel bad for him, and of course, my heart goes out to the women this happened to. However, I also feel bad for the rest of us. A year ago, we were all watching Andrew Cuomo on TV say sensible things about Covid that were based on actual science. All the while Trump droned on about self-injecting disinfectant to fight the virus, living in his own happy little parallel universe. I will always remember the Andrew Cuomo who said:
“I don’t need the friggin’ President of the friggin’ United States to tell me I can open my friggin State. I’ve got the friggin 10th Amendment for that!”
He was a beacon of sanity for so many, and not only did he stand up to Trump, he did it in the same plain language as Trump. The Republicans took their gloves off and started fighting bare knuckled as far back as 1980. I’m going to miss the Democrats having someone willing to do that too.
People are complex. The Andrew Cuomo who skillfully navigated the pandemic is the same Andrew Cuomo who did inexcusable things he needs to be held accountable for. One doesn’t negate the other, and one certainly doesn’t excuse the other.
All of this reminds me of another political figure from another time. So much changes, yet so much stays the same. Beethoven originally planned on naming his 3rd Symphony the “Bonaparte.” When Napoleon threw every principle of the French Revolution out the window by proclaiming himself emperor, Beethoven changed it. It became the “Heroic” Symphony and he gave it the epigraph:
“In memory of a great man.”
I understand viscerally now how he felt. As the proceedings against Cuomo get underway, I will certainly find joy in seeing him taken to task for his misdeeds, but I will also mourn the loss of a skillful governor.