OPINION:
Andrew Cuomo has announced his resignation as governor of the state of New York. This came on the heels of a damning New York Attorney General’s report detailing sexual harassment and sexual assault allegations against numerous women. Before his announcement on Tuesday, CBS News reported a state senator revealed that all 63 members of the state’s senate “were likely to vote for his removal.”
Like President Richard Nixon, Mr. Cuomo’s resignation has nothing to do with him suddenly developing a conscience. Suppose he had one. None of this would’ve happened in the first place. What we get instead is a man who resigned because impeachment could bar him from running for state office again. Many remain dismayed, including me, that his policy specifically ordering COVID-19 infected individuals into nursing homes, which may have led to the deaths of 15,000 people, was not part of what led to outrage and resignation. As many observers have noted, this in and of itself has stained our social and political culture.
That said, there are now at least three criminal investigations into Mr. Cuomo and his behavior with women. There remain state and federal investigations looking into various issues, including misuse of state resources regarding his book deal, the cover-up of nursing home deaths to forestall a federal investigation, and reports that he made sure his friends and family had priority access to COVID-19 tests.
What we know about Mr. Cuomo speaks to problems we face with other Democrat grifters and monsters who choose politics as their mechanism to control and abuse people. The malevolence and corruption informing people like Andrew Cuomo, Gretchen Whitmer, Gavin Newsom, and Lori Lightfoot doesn’t just settle into one area but is reflected in most of what these menaces do.
A man who would purposely order COVID-19 infected individuals into facilities housing the most vulnerable, and then remove that order from the state’s website to cover up his responsibility, then mislead federal investigators about the number of deaths to avoid an investigation, so dramatically lacks a conscience that malevolent behavior in other areas should be expected. It certainly should not surprise anyone his treatment of women and subordinates was abusive and obscene, and as it appears, criminal.
Mr. Cuomo’s resignation takes effect in 14 days. Many are imploring the statehouse in New York to continue their investigations into his various scandals. His behavior and the corruption that informed his administration cannot now be abandoned simply because of a strategic resignation on his part, the equivalent of a rat diving into the sewer to escape its pursuers.
For some reason, the establishment has a reticence of treating politicians who commit crimes like criminals. The system allows them to slink away, hopefully into obscurity. Perhaps that’s because actually holding politicians to account would put so many others in the system at risk. We do know this: Quitting your job is not accountability.
In the meantime, another political monster, Mayor Lori Lightfoot of Chicago, continues to oversee destruction and death unfolding every day in that great American city. Last weekend 73 people were shot, and 11 were killed. Two police officers were shot, killing 29-year-old Ella French, who had been on the force for four years.
The Chicago Police Department made their feelings known to Ms. Lightfoot when she arrived at the hospital, where the other officer who was shot remained in critical condition. The New York Post reported, “On Saturday, about 30 rank-and-file officers gave Lightfoot the cold shoulder when she showed up at the University of Chicago Medical Center and approached them as they stood vigil…
“When Lightfoot tried to talk with the injured officer’s father, himself a retired cop, he lambasted the mayor and blamed her for what happened earlier in the day, two sources at the scene told the newspaper. And when she then tried to comfort the grieving officers nearby, they walked away and turned their backs on her. The sources told the outlet … Lightfoot, who one source said appeared shaken, then headed downstairs to speak to the media about the shooting,” noted the newspaper.
Saying Chicagoans deserve better would be an understatement. Perhaps they can take solace in what’s happened here in New York to Andrew Cuomo, our own malignant narcissist. Knowing when individuals speak up and decide enough is enough, change can happen.
Mr. Cuomo’s resignation is not the end of this story. Much more needs to be done, and investigations into his shockingly disastrous “leadership” must continue. Other good news includes the recall of California Governor Gavin Newsom on September 14th, with ballots for those who vote by mail already being received. Will the people of Michigan get justice after Governor Whitmer’s deadly nursing home order? Will the citizens of Minneapolis and Baltimore be inspired by the removal of menaces destroying other cities? We hope so.
The chaos we now see at so many levels of government will only come to an end when the justice system is compelled to hold to account in a timely fashion those who use the cover of political office to destroy cities, abuse, assault, and even kill people. Quitting your job or not running again is not justice; it’s an escape from justice.
• Tammy Bruce, the author, host at Fox Nation, and contributor at Fox News, is a radio talk-show host.
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