IT IS NOW COMING DOWN to the possible end of Andrew Cuomo’s tenure as governor. We know that the attorney general and the Assembly have authorized investigations into Cuomo’s behavior. To understand all of this, you have to think like Tough Guy Andrew.

As I have been suggesting, Andrew thinks that he will survive and if he does, the way will be clear to run for a fourth term and win. Like his nemesis, Donald Trump, Cuomo will surely try to tough it out. Oh, he’s tried to make it all better. In one press conference, he cried and sort of apologized. The problem for him was that few were buying. I think he got that and decided enough is enough. He decided just to do his job and to hell with the apologies. For the most part, he did not talk to the press but the press dutifully reported on whatever he had to say about the virus or any other part of government.

In the meantime, his enemies and detractors were waiting for the various investigating committees to report. Oh yes, a number of Cuomo’s staffers were jumping ship but that meant little to Andrew himself. Now, slowly the story began to change. He insisted that he had not harassed anyone, a point which he has made over and over again. Andrew has been figuring the political odds. The key question was whether his political opponents had the ability to kick him out of office. Cuomo has been figuring that they do not have the guts to do that. He is kicking ass and taking names to make sure that his political enemies don’t have the support to go forward with a prosecution, either legal or political, as in impeachment. Read more…

I CAN’T STOP THINKING about Shelly Silver. He got seven years in prison for an illegal quid pro quo arrangement. It came down to something like, “Doctor, I’ll get you some money for your mesothelioma work if you send some of your patients to my law practice.” He shouldn’t have done that. He put into words what should never have been uttered. He was guilty of having said it and that violates not only the laws of the land, but the rules of common sense. It was just dumb and corrupt.

If you know anything about the New York State legislature, you know that lawmakers trade getting stuff done for money and/or power all the time. We know that the lobbyists ask for things and then the people who pay the lobbyists send money to support individual candidates.

Shelly is an old man who was done in by his hubris and arrogance. He broke the code of legislative life and in so doing, he crossed the line. He got the attention of the authorities and they threw the book at him. This was done to assure the people that all was well with their government. My students would regularly tell me that their parents hated the legislature because “…they’re all a bunch of crooks.” It may not have been true of all of them, but there’s no question that the legislature is unpopular. Read more…

When he was mayor of New York, they called him “America’s Mayor.” He ran the biggest city in the country and when the World Trade Center was attacked, he was the symbol of resistance to the really bad guys throughout the America-hating world. No other politician could touch him when it came to popularity and the guy was a Republican in Blue State New York. That’s all pretty hefty stuff. His romantic exploits were seized upon by the tabloid press and I personally could never understand how any woman could kiss that ugly puss, but such was his position that people were attracted to the guy. Power is an aphrodisiac.

From his former position as one of the most important politicians in the world, he has fallen hard. When I see his inevitably smiling, toothy face so needing the adoration of the public, I suspect that I am seeing a man desperately trying to recreate his former life. Once you’ve tasted from the fountain of fame, you’ll always need more.

I have noticed that when my grandchildren are here, their parents often comment, “Good decision” or “Bad decision.” To put it mildly, Rudy has squandered his good name by making bad decisions. Read more…