In his classic The Prince, Macchiavelli has some advice for leaders: get someone else to do your dirty work and then ostentatiously hang them out to dry. That way, you’ll not only avoid being blamed for the repression, but celebrated as a saviour.
This is the plot of the evil Baron Harkonnen in Dune: send his nephew “Beast” Rabban to squeeze the people of Arrakis to a bloody pulp. “Then, when I send in Feyd-Rautha to take the load off them, they’ll cheer their rescuer.”
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has done plenty of dirty work. Now, he’s going to be hung out to dry by his own party – while that same party sends “the compassionate one who saves them from a beast”.
Except that the beast is being sent to the slaughter for the wrong reasons – in fact, to cover up the worst, not answer for it.
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo harassed multiple women who worked for him in violation of state and federal law, a report from the state’s attorney general concluded, prompting President Biden and other senior Democrats to call on him to resign.
The allegations against Cuomo may be true, or they may be not. Certainly, they smell of the Democrats’ go-to weapon for taking down powerful men who’ve become an inconvenience.
After a months-long investigation, the attorney general, Letitia James, said Mr Cuomo created a “climate of fear” in his administration. Outside investigators hired by her office uncovered conduct that was “deeply disturbing” and often involved younger women, Ms. James said[…]
In a fiery rebuttal, the third-term governor defended his behaviour and said he would continue with the work of his office, adding the report mischaracterized personal interactions. “The facts are much different than what has been portrayed,” Mr Cuomo said.
His stance pushed his fellow New York Democrats closer to impeaching him, the state Assembly leader said, adding that Mr Cuomo can “no longer remain in office.” An unrelated federal investigation continues.
The Australian
Oddly, sexual harassment allegations have been made against many other powerful Democrats, from former President Clinton to Minnesota Attorney-General Keith Ellison. None of their careers have been seriously damaged.
So why go after Cuomo?
More importantly, why has Cuomo never been called to answer for much worse allegations: actions which lead directly to the deaths of thousands of people?
Cuomo’s administration mandated nursing homes readmit residents who had been hospitalized with COVID-19. It barred these facilities from testing returning patients, or new ones, for the coronavirus. Undoubtedly, this introduced the infection into some of the most vulnerable populations, contributing heavily to the disgraceful death toll accrued within New York’s nursing homes. Cuomo, like everyone else, knew the elderly were particularly susceptible to the virus but still approved policies that unnecessarily endangered them.
After those deaths inevitably occurred, Cuomo and his lackeys actively covered them up, going as far as to rewrite state documents to obfuscate the true number of deaths in nursing homes. All this verifiably happened and is largely undisputed.
Washington Examiner
It’s not beyond the bounds of probability that Cuomo’s decision was as much the vilest of dirty politics as anything: after all, Trump was president. It’s been alleged that Cuomo’s policy was at least partly motivated by sheer Trump Derangement Syndrome.
So, on the one hand, we have verified thousands of deaths and a shocking cover-up. On the other, we have so far unsubstantiated allegations of behaving inappropriately around staffers.
Guess which one the Democrats have hand-waved away – the Department of Justice has just dropped a probe into the nursing home scandal.
But I suppose only a conspiracy theorist would think that, now that a Democrat is in the White House, the party just wants the whole thing to go away.
And they’ve got a “rescuer” all lined up to take “Beast” Cuomo’s place, without a doubt to the thunderous cheers of the media.
Ms James hasn’t ruled out a bid for governor. On Monday, her spokeswoman said Mr Cuomo’s “continued attempts to undermine and politicise this process are dishonest and take away from the courage and bravery displayed by these women.”
The Australian
Machiavelli couldn’t have arranged it all any more conveniently.
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