Is it safe?
Yes, Chris Cillizza. It is now safe for you to mock Andrew Cuomo on #MeToo issues but perhaps not so much on his handling of nursing home COVID-19 patients. Up until at least a month ago, Cillizza's CNN Network was also concealing the coverup by New York governor Cuomo of the nursing home deaths.
Although Cillizza, after months of stonewalling on the subject, now feels safe enough to go after Cuomo it is easy to forget that last year he adored Cuomo and his COVID routine. Of course, his rather light touch mockery of Cuomo remains mostly confined to the #MeToo which you can see in his Wednesday missive, "Andrew Cuomo lays out his survival blueprint."
Basically Cillizza mocked Cuomo's touchy feely excuses by listing them. Not exactly a hard hitting exposé which is understandable when considering Cillizza's past glorification of Cuomo such as can be seen in this embarrassing fanboy video last April.
A month before, on March 24, 2020, Cillizza also performed a public display of awe in "Everyone needs to see Andrew Cuomo's inspiring words on the fight against coronavirus."
"New York loves all of you. Black and white and brown and Asian and short and tall and gay and straight. New York loves everyone. That's why I love New York. It always has, it always will. And at the end of the day, my friends, even if it is a long day, and this is a long day, love wins. Always. And it will win again through this virus. Thank you."
That is an elected official standing up and reminding us that we've been in bad situations before and the way we've always persevered is by sticking together, remember that we all have a lot more in common than we have that differentiates us. That only by understanding we are all in this together -- healthy, sick, old, young, health care worker, politician, whatever, will we get through it. That there is always a light at the end of the tunnel even if we can't always see it. And that getting there won't be easy, but we will get there.
That is leadership. That is empathy in action. That is what we need.
Of course, no public gushing over Andrew Cuomo by Cillizza is complete without the obligatory slam about the Big Bad Orange Man.
Trump cares deeply about Trump. What he perceives as good for him is what he is inclined to do. Andrew Cuomo, in his words on Tuesday, is offering another path: To believe in all of us, knowing that by protecting the least among us we are showing ourselves and the world how America fights and wins these toughest of battles.
The contrast between the two visions is startling.
Yes, the contrast between the two is certainly startling but I don't think Cillizza meant it as a compliment for Trump at the time.
