9 April 2021: Opinions - Cuomo Shouldn't Be Impeached

The knives are out for Cuomo

This first op-ed is from attorney Jim Zirin, who has a strange attitude:

If Cuomo runs again in 2022, the voters can decide whether he, de Blasio or Zeldin — or maybe, don’t laugh, Andrew Giuliani — is the best candidate. Election, yes; impeachment, no.

Make no mistake, I believe that sexual harassment is a serious thing, although based on much of what has come out so far, there is only a frisson of harassment, not anything close to what, say, Bill Clinton did in the Oval Office.

Bad nursing home statistics are plainly not enough to finish Cuomo, so suddenly we have a lineup of eight women (one anonymous) who say Cuomo was putting the moves on them or thinking about putting the moves on them or “grooming” them for a sexual encounter or hiring them for their looks. Even by today’s standards, the punishment has to fit the crime.

What a strangely dismissive attitude regarding hundreds, if not thousands, of COVID deaths among New York nursing home residents that could have been avoided if not for the Cuomo administration's deadly 25 March 2020 directive forcing nursing homes to blindly admit patients known to have COVID infections during the 46 days it was in effect.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo, Time To Resign

Contrast the lawyer's opinion above with the student editors of The Oswegonian, who are also against impeachment, but for a different reason:

While due process still exists and no criminal charges have been filed against Cuomo, he should leave the office of governor with dignity instead of being dragged out kicking and screaming in a lengthy and embarrassing trial.

Cuomo’s attempts at apologizing are embarrassing as well. He deflects the blame, clearly not regretting that he did what he is accused of but that he is in trouble for it. He sets conditional apologies and expects to get away with it, while all it accomplishes is turning away his supporters.

Instead of simply admitting that the actions Cuomo was accused of are wrong, he deflected the blame onto those that were “offended” by it, saying “What I also understand is, it doesn’t matter. It doesn’t matter my intent. What it matters is if anybody was offended by it,” in a press briefing in March.

Coupled with the scandal of underreporting nursing home deaths, Cuomo should take his bow with grace and leave office. If Cuomo were to resign, the state would not go without a governor until the 2022 governor election. Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul would take over the position of governor until the 2022 election.

If any concrete evidence is found, Cuomo should resign from the position of governor. To be tried for any sexual harassment while in the position of governor would not only be an embarrassment to the state of New York, but to his and his father’s legacies.

Just imagine how put out the student opinion writers might be if they ever find out Governor Cuomo's and his administration's policies and actions contributed to the COVID death toll at New York's nursing homes!