By Nick Stamatakis
This writer had the opportunity in the early days of the lockdown to say a few kind words about Gov. Andrew Cuomo and his handling of the pandemic in the spirit of the unity this big fight required (“he did his best”, I noted, not explaining fully what “his best” truly meant…) But as the days and weeks went by, I couldn’t help but remember the many vices I had written about the last few years: His inconsequential way of speaking (so unlike his father’s), his uninspiring ideas, his less than mediocre intellect, his support of the baby-killing abortion law and other ideological traps he had fallen into and above all his deeper than deep corruption… The corruption which made the “NY Times” to write the most pathetic endorsement of all time in Sept. 4, 2018, where they spent more space describing his flaws than touting his accomplishments… Just a few weeks before that time, the “Joe Percoco scandal” had ended with the imprisonment of the longtime “Cuomo family confidant”… Who was Percoco? He was the “third son” of Mario Cuomo, whose main job was to shake down businesses asking for his “ziti” (“mafioso” code for “bribes”)… But before we get lost in the endless Cuomo corruption stories, let me enumerate his many failures in the coronavirus pandemic:
- In February, he led the “Chorus of NY Liberals” in accusing president Trump as “racist” and “xenophobic” when (on January 31st) he blocked flights from China. Defying common sense, Cuomo then led the same “Chorus” in inviting people to Chinatown to celebrate the lunar new year…
- After wasting many weeks (and President Trump shares a lot of the blame here), he then decided to lockdown NY State but he rejected Trump’s proposal to quarantine the whole metropolitan area, in order to avoid spreading the virus elsewhere in the country. A few weeks later, we now know that this was the major reason the virus has spread across the country. How do we know it? Please read the NY Times today: “Travel from New York Seeded Waves of U.S. Outbreaks”… Some states, like Florida, took their own measures and quarantined all visitors from NY – and they escaped the worse!
- Then he started crying like a baby every time his advisors were telling him they need something: “We need 30,000 ventilators”, he was yelling daily in late March – only to announce a couple of weeks later that he was fine with 5,000 or so… “We do not have enough ICU’s and hospital beds”, he was begging at the same time… The Feds sent the Hospital Ship (1,000 beds of which less than 200 were used)) and created another 2,500 beds at Javits Center (again only a few were filled)… Then in April he needed “Tests, tests, tests….” An endless list of demands, as if New York had not seen many crises in its long history, as if we had not lived the recent disaster of September 11, 2001, as if we did not live under the constant threat of another terrorist attack… Does the State of New York have ANY emergency plans?
- Then recently the worst of all of his mistakes was revealed: Cuomo administration officials issued directives that Covid-19 elderly patients be re-admitted in nursing homes after their hospitalization! The result was horrendous: Close to 4,700 deaths in nursing homes were recorded according to official statistics! Should we also note that most Covid-19 infections initially took place in NY hospitals? Until doctors realized the disaster (first observed in Italy) and started ordering people to stay at home… As a result, even the left-wing “politico.com” is attacking Cuomo today for his policy regarding nursing homes!!
- Contrary to doctor’s demands and initial positive results Cuomo limited the use of “miracle drug” hydroxychloroquine” in hospitals only, even though early studies suggested that the drug is most effective if taken at early stages of the infection…
- The icing on the cake was the “shocking” discovery yesterday, when he announced that 66% of new coronavirus hospitalizations are people who are either retired or unemployed and not commuting to work on a regular basis. Then, why are we still on lockdown, Mr. Governor?
I could go on because the list is a lot longer… But let me close by asking my many democrat friends: Is this the “charismatic” politician that would either act as VP to Biden or somehow replace him and would be entrusted with the fortunes of the country and the world?
May 7, 2020, n.stamatakis@aol.com www.helleniscope.com
