Posted on 03/22/2021 7:30:00 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
Among the multiple allegations of sexual harassment against New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, one of the more bizarre is that of Valerie Bauman, who claims that, when she was a 25-year-old reporter, then-attorney general Cuomo “made unwavering eye contact” with her during a press conference.
After that, things got even worse: “He took my hand, entered my personal space and looked into my eyes as he announced, ‘Hello, I’m Andrew Cuomo.’”
But the horrors that Ms. Bauman had to experience did not end there. Later, when covering the attorney general’s office, Cuomo “would sometimes pick up the phone himself,” and “would greet me in a booming voice, repeating my name frequently.”
At what point does all this start to resemble a medieval witch trial? Bauman stops just short of accusing Cuomo of cursing her with his “evil eye.”
That is not to say that Bauman’s assessment of Cuomo’s intentions was incorrect. She was probably right in concluding that he was attempting to flirt with her. All the same, when the minor subtleties of a man’s body language can be used to make a case against him, then we are entering concerning territory indeed.
This standard will not hurt the Cuomos of the world, who have always skated above moral accountability. It will, however, lead to the railroading of a great many ordinary men far lower in the societal hierarchy than Cuomo, who commit the crime of being mildly awkward around a woman. It will create a world in which men will have to live in perpetual fear that a slight glitch in their body language, a split-second glance in the wrong direction or a voice modulated too loudly, will lead to their lives and careers being irreparably ruined.
At worst, this could lead to a world of what George Orwell termed Facecrime: “It was terribly dangerous to let your thoughts wander when you were in any public place or within range of a telescreen. The smallest thing could give you away. A nervous tic, an unconscious look of anxiety, a habit of muttering to yourself – anything that carried with it the suggestion of abnormality, of having something to hide.”
This quote, some may recall, was circulated on social media in the wake of the 2019 Covington Catholic controversy, in which 16-year-old Nicholas Sandmann became the object of public demonization for the crime of smiling awkwardly as a grown man pounded a drum in his face. This sort of standard is not one to which we should hold anyone.
The same goes for allegations of “unwanted advances.” At its broadest, this rather vague phrase could be used to criminalize any form of flirtation between men and women. In the gleeful words of feminist Ezra Klein, men “need to feel a cold spike of fear when they begin a sexual encounter.” That is the ultimate goal of all this, even if most feminists would not be so forthright in stating their intentions, and a blanket ban on “unwanted advances,” arbitrarily enforced (as it would necessarily have to be), will bring us closer to just such a glorious future.
There is also a certain absurdity to the disproportionate weight that has been placed on these allegations, when compared to Cuomo’s other misconduct. The disgraced governor, let us remember, stands accused of forcing COVID-positive patients back into nursing homes, potentially killing tens of thousands of elderly New Yorkers, and then falsifying public data to cover this up. He also stands accused of making a dozen or more women uncomfortable. In the current era, which places sexual offenses against women ahead of virtually all other wrongs, the last of these is given the brunt of public attention. This is clearly absurd, and it sends the message that the only way to rid ourselves of corrupt politicians is to inquire as to their sexual conduct.
Conservatives have taken a great deal of glee in Cuomo’s downfall, and this is understandable: he is an unpleasant bully by all accounts, wrongly held up by an adulating media as the face of pandemic competence, while more sensible governors like Kristi Noem and Ron DeSantis were vilified.
And yet getting rid of Cuomo will not hurt Democrats. They care nothing for him. He has outlived his political usefulness, and they are happy to throw him under the bus. Bringing down Cuomo on the grounds of prolonged eye contact and a loud voice, however, will accelerate the downward spiral into a world where a negative hunch carries the weight of a conviction.
In his 2018 Supreme Court confirmation hearing, now-Justice Brett Kavanaugh asked the Senate, and the general public, to “judge me by the standard you would want applied to your father, your husband, your brother, or your son.” We should ask ourselves the same question here. Hate Cuomo all you want. But hate him for the right reasons.
I noticed that he waited to get the J&J. Coward...through and through.
This is why we conservatives are at a disadvantage. We hold to our principles of due process and equal protecting under the law.
The left will throw all that to the side to punish their political rivals. And they call us fascists.
This is absurd. Now men cannot even look at women. Put your burkas on women.
Give him as much due process as Trump was given.
Until the left apologizes for Clearance Thomas and Brett Kavanaugh, no they do not deserve due process. Let the cancel !arena put him in front of a literal firing squad his blood is on their hands.
I think in the abstract that yes, in the absence of photographic/video evidence (like what was available in Franken’s case) people deserve the benefit of the doubt in any he said/she said allegation like this. That’s the First Principle of presumed innocence.
However, I also think it’s important that we hold elected leaders to the same standards they expect of others. Cuomo has a RICH history of trying to shit-can any of his political foes who face similar allegations.
If Cuomo had a reputation as someone who calls for circumspection and patience rather than knee-jerk judgement, then sure. He’d be owed the same. But, he doesn’t have that reputation, at all.
“Due Process” is not what the left and the media clamors for when it’s a republican who is accused.
It’s the hypocrisy that is the problem. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised when establishment democrats circle the wagons, or at least avoid throwing a friend and colleague under the bus.
But when the media demonstrates their true colors, it needs to be picked apart.
The media in this country are political hacks.
There are no journalists left. Those who dared not to be hypocrites for the party-line have been run out of dodge a long time ago.
There’s a look and there’s a look. I’m 77. We referred to people like Cuomo as pigs, slobs..disgusting.
The corrupt Democrats will never impeach or forcibly remove Cuomo. Cuomo knows the who and how Democrats launder bribe through their certified “lobbyists, who and how the Federal honey pot that was to come to the Nursing homes for COVID care was to be divied and how the kickbacks from shoddy construction projects such as the Tappan Zee Bridge and other costly nonnsense was distributed. Cuomo had his henchmen call Democrats reminding them how easy it would be for them to go to prison. Cuomo is insulated and is really not vulnerable. Those women ( who arenot so innocent themselves) could march en masse with Oprah , Harry and Meghan, Hillary and all the rest down Park Avenue and Cuomo will still be Governor of the New York cesspool.
Murder grandma and grandpa, no problem.
Ask an intern for a tumble, big problem.
One would think the sole priority of the left is what to do with their pee-pee.
Everyone in NY knows he is a horndog, but now it is a firing offense to look? You can bet she was flirting too and using her looks to her advantage.
Remember when men and women had fun together?
Remember when men and women had fun together?
I cannot imagine any woman having consensual "fun" with a guy as fugly as Cuomo. That face of his could stop a clock.
They do if the men also have money and power. That seems to be the secret combination for some of them.
Cuomo needs a good kick in the crotch for being a pig. He needs to be jailed for life for negligent homicide in the nursing home scandal. Add another 20 years for HUD thefts, and another 20 for the miscellaneous corruption.
How’s the nursing home “investigation” going I wonder?
Given how many elderly his policies killed, his due process should definitely include “bend over and grab your ankles.”
RE: How’s the nursing home “investigation” going I wonder?
The article highlights the disproportionate focus on this no matter how serious the sexual harassment charges are. Here is the key paragraph:
There is also a certain absurdity to the disproportionate weight that has been placed on these allegations, when compared to Cuomo’s other misconduct. The disgraced governor, let us remember, stands accused of forcing COVID-positive patients back into nursing homes, potentially killing tens of thousands of elderly New Yorkers, and then falsifying public data to cover this up.
According to the demon rats it i the seriousness of the allegation which determine. By their own reckoning the man must be tarred, feathered, and ridden out of town on Occam’s razor.
One dear friend grabbed me on the sidewalk at a busy intersection...people all over the place, twirled me around, kissed me on the cheek, set me down and walked away. Not a word passed between us.
I laughed the whole rest of the day.
They do if the men also have money and power. That seems to be the secret combination for some of them.
Yeah no. I'm female and the thought of seeing Cuomo in his birthday suit makes me want to hurl. It doesn't matter that he seems to have every New Yorker in his pocket. An ugly man is an ugly man. At least Newscum is slim and was good-looking in his youth.
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