#Cuomo has always been corrupt and other commentary

Free-marketeer: NY Gov Was Always Corrupt

While many are “surprised” by Attorney General Letitia James’ findings on Gov. Cuomo’s sexual misconduct, “this is not the first time the governor has shown us who he really is,” observes Nick Lindquist at the Washington Examiner. And Cuomo’s corruption goes beyond the sexual (serious as that is): Consider, for example, “the Buffalo Billion” — “a program created by the governor to breathe life into the struggling Buffalo region through a $1 billion investment in education, technology, and other industrial ventures — but the program was corrupted by Cuomo’s inner circle, and the governor himself, from the start.” Then there was his notorious decision to force nursing homes to take COVID-positive patients at the height of the pandemic and its subsequent coverup. “As with the scandals before this latest one, he will try to brush it under the rug.”

Media watch: Chris Cuomo’s Damaging Lapses

At USA Today, University of Wisconsin journalism prof Kathleen Bartzen Culver laments how Chris Cuomo’s ethical misconduct will further strain the “bond of trust” between the media “and the citizens they serve.” The CNN anchor, we now know, helped craft a communications strategy for his embattled brother, Gov. Cuomo, amid the latter’s sex-abuse scandals. “When it comes to credibility and trust, people don’t see individual reporters or news organizations. They see ‘the media.’ So when one journalist or outlet makes questionable choices, the tarnish can easily spread to others. And make no mistake about it, Cuomo’s choices in this situation are questionable — at best.” 

From the left: Cuo’s Monstrous Female Enabler

Abusive men have long enjoyed the collaboration of some women — and in Gov. Cuomo’s case that would be “Melissa DeRosa,” his “imperious top adviser,” sighs The New York Times’ Maureen Dowd. “As Ross Barkan, author of a new book on Cuomo, wrote in New York magazine, ‘At every turn, DeRosa and her colleagues enabled Cuomo’s predation.’ ­Indeed, she helped lead efforts to discredit Lindsey Boylan, a former ­Cuomo aide and the first accuser to go public. After Boylan tweeted that the governor was ‘one of the biggest abusers of all time,’ DeRosa got Boylan’s confidential personnel file, which contained complaints against her, and sent it to reporters, including the two at The Times Union, who told her on that call that they didn’t want it. Investigators called DeRosa’s move unlawful retaliation.” Bottom line, Dowd concludes, the AG revelations make clear DeRosa “enforced a culture of ­secrecy, loyalty, fear and retaliation.”

Physicians: Don’t Mask Kids!

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has “sternly decreed that 56 million US children and adolescents, vaccinated or not, should cover their faces regardless of the prevalence of infection in their community,” fume Drs. Marty Makary and H. Cody Meissner in The Wall Street Journal. This, even though there is only “a single retrospective study” on the effectiveness of masks in stopping COVID transmission among kids, “and its results were inconclusive.” And even though masks harm many kids: “Those who have myopia can have difficulty seeing because the mask fogs their glasses. (This has long been a problem for medical students in the operating room.) Masks can cause severe acne and other skin problems. The discomfort of a mask distracts some children from learning. By increasing airway resistance during exhalation, masks can lead to increased levels of carbon dioxide in the blood.” 

Conservative: The Price of Progressive Antics

Whether they win or lose, “progressives are consistently hurting the Democratic party,” notes Grace Curley at Spectator World. Witness Squad members’ antics on the steps of the US Capitol, which led President Biden to plow through the Constitution to deliver on Squad ­demands, reversing himself on the legality of extending the eviction ban. The political price: Property owners might be “moderate Democrats, who only backed Biden because they thought he would restore a bit of middle ground to the ­political landscape.” _ — Compiled by Sohrab Ahmari