13 August 2022: Andrew M. Cuomo's Strange Anniversary of His Resignation in Disgrace

Churchill: On a special day, a gift from Andrew Cuomo

Albany Times-Union columnist Chris Churchill wrote this amusing column to mark the one-year anniversary of Andrew M. Cuomo's resignation. Here are the first three paragraphs:

Did you remember to celebrate the anniversary of Andrew Cuomo's resignation?

There was no need for a big bash. Something small would have done the trick — an extra scoop of ice cream after dinner, perhaps, or a few quiet minutes enjoying the serenity that comes with knowing that a certain someone is no longer governor. Don't we all deserve a reward after his 11-year reign?

Cuomo, as it turns out, marked the day by filing a lawsuit demanding that taxpayers fund his defense against sexual harassment allegations. That, apparently, is his idea of an anniversary gift. Surprise!

Here are the last four paragraphs:

It seems odd that Cuomo would choose the precise anniversary of those words to file the suit against James — who, as it happened, spent the day deposing Donald Trump. Cuomo learned about her rejection of his request months ago, after all, but waited until the special day to make his case. Why?

Could he think the timing would somehow amplify the claim that he was wronged? Could he really have believed that New Yorkers, with a year now gone, would look fondly upon a wealthy man's demand for their money?

Or is he just painfully bad at anniversaries, like the misguided husband who presents his poor spouse with a romantic vacuum cleaner? Happy twentieth, sweetheart! Gee, thanks.

A word of advice, Mr. Former Governor: Next year, send flowers.

Just the parts we've excerpted from Churchill's column can stand alone as its own entire short piece. But writers write, and in between the excerpts we featured are 13 more paragraphs and many more good points. None of which touch on Andrew M. Cuomo's COVID nursing home deaths scandals, but which shines a bright light on his character all the same.

For us, that helps answer the question of what kind of person would choose to develop and implement what they knew would be a deadly directivethat would contribute to the excess deaths of hundreds, if not thousands, of nursing home residents during the early months of the coronavirus pandemic.

Our best insight into Cuomo's character comes from a more general observation: when you discover a genuinely creative person, you'll usually find they're creative in more than one way. As an example, think of all the artists out there who express themselves through more than one, and often very different, kinds of mediums. You may know them best for one particular field of their work, but the full body of their creative work extends into other, more diverse endeavors.

The same is often true of the worst people. You'll usually find they're genuinely bad or corrupt in more than one way. It's why we've continued covering Cuomo's ongoing legal issues associated with his alleged sexual harassment of multiple women. It would be strange to find someone who chose to adopt such a perverse policy was only off kilter in that one way.