Name: Cuomo’s Nursing Home Scandal Vindicates His Critics in the Press - FAIR
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Cuomo’s Nursing Home Scandal Vindicates His Critics in the Press - FAIR

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&nbsp;New York Times (): “The state’s attorney general…accused the Cuomo administration of undercounting coronavirus related deaths connected to nursing homes by the thousands.”New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s moment as the “hero” of the Covid-19 crisis is fading, with revelations (New York Times, ) that his administration covered up the scope of the coronavirus death toll in the state’s nursing homes, as one Cuomo aide “admitted that the state had withheld data because it feared an investigation by the Trump Justice Department.” The anger at the governor is bipartisan; legislators on both sides of the aisle are discussing curtailing his powers, and even impeachment (City and State, ).It seems like yesterday when Cuomo, the son of legendary New York Gov. Mario Cuomo, was in the spotlight as the leader who rose to the occasion in cinematic fashion. Marie Claire () made him “America’s Boyfriend,” the powerful voice in command while then-President Donald Trump stumbled over his own narcissism. NPR () said his supposed qualities—“decisiveness, taking charge, listening to the experts and sticking to the facts—are playing well in a public health crisis,” while the Guardian () called Cuomo an “alternative guiding force” for the nation. CNN () praised his press briefings as offering “something simple and, to many viewers, deeply necessary: a sense that someone is in charge, even if the news is bad.” The New York Times () made him out as the benevolent dictator the people needed:Mr. Cuomo has emerged as the executive best suited for the coronavirus crisis…. Even many of his critics say the very qualities that make him abrasive in ordinary interactions are serving him well now.It doesn’t hurt when you have a brother who is a CNN host who interviews you constantly, and goes on to say you’re the best in the country (USA Today,).“It seems his No. 1 priority is to make sure that New Yorkers are safe,” NPR () quoted a political scientist. Daily deaths from Covid in New York state would rise 1,400% over the next three weeks.The image of Cuomo as the leader in a time of need scored him a about (as the subtitle put it) “Leadership Lessons From the Covid-19 Pandemic.” His press conferences even won him an Emmy Award (Guardian, ), although now some politicians are calling for the prize to be revoked (New York Post, ). These laurels came even as New York persistently had the of any state, with nearly 1 in every 400 residents dying from the disease.The fawning was extremely frustrating for many journalists following Cuomo, as they had reported deeply on his commitment to austerity, corruption and anti-labor posturing. Even as Cuomo was elevated as the “anti-Trump” in the media, some reporters were able to foresee the problems we see now. Theodore Hamm in the Indypendent () was, perhaps, the first journalist to spot the link between Cuomo and nursing homes, and the Wall Street Journal () called Cuomo’s nursing home policies a “fatal error.” David Sirota (Guardian, ) followed up, and Ross Barkan (The Nation, ) reported on how Cuomo’s healthcare policies had left the state in such a vulnerable position.For journalists who have covered Cuomo’s tumultuous governorship, the recent revelations are a return from the adoring media frenzy of a year ago (documented at the time by FAIR—) to the Cuomo they remember: a corrupt bully who perhaps embodied the Trumpian spirit as much as anyone else in power today.For example, after Cuomo set up the Moreland Commission in 2013 to root out corruption, the New York Times () reported that athree-month examination…found that the governor’s office deeply compromised the panel’s work, objecting whenever the commission focused on groups with ties to Mr. Cuomo or on issues that might reflect poorly on him.One of Cuomo’s closest aides was taken down on federal bribery charges (New York Times, ), and the “principle architect” of one of the governor’s biggest development projects was convicted in a “bid-rigging scheme that steered hundreds of millions of dollars in state contracts to favored companies in Buffalo and Syracuse” (New York Times, ). The Glen Falls Post-Star (), an upstate paper, said the capital of Albany had become the “scandal capital of the country” under Cuomo.Marie Claire () ran a column with the thesis, “I think I’m in love with New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo.”Before the pandemic, Cuomo was notorious for keeping the press corps at arm’s length, at one point only holding press conferences over the phone, in which his aides picked which reporters got to ask questions and often planted questions themselves (Daily News, ). The situation left the public in the dark, according to one editorial board in Schenectady (Daily Gazette, ), which said that for six months, journalists “have not been able to ask Cuomo directly and collectively about a number of important issues,” which included “the corruption scandals, the failure of the state’s economic development programs, state taxes and other issues vital to New Yorkers.”Contrast this with former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg. He was cantankerous, thin-skinned and imperious, and always feisty with reporters, but even he found a way to do direct, in-person briefings nearly every day.Then, of course, there is the governor’s long war on the public sector. Cuomo cut pension benefits for government workers, which state AFL-CIO president Mario Cilento (Reuters, ) said was another example of how “middle-class New Yorkers will pay the price for Wall Street’s misdeeds.” As this writer noted in the Brooklyn Rail (), Cuomo used the threat of layoffs to force “the state’s two biggest unions—the Civil Service Employees Association (CSEA) and the Public Employees Federation (PEF)—to settle contracts that provide 0% wage increases in their first three years.” Cuomo was sued in 2013 over withholding $250 million in school funding, a move parents and education advocates said denied “kids a constitutional right to a sound public education” (Daily News, ).“I am gratified that the wide-scale recognition of Cuomo’s failure has come this soon; my fear was that it would come much later or it wouldn’t come at all,” Barkan told FAIR.For Barkan, the press obsession with Cuomo one year ago was similar to what he saw in the press’s inability to hold Robert Moses accountable, as documented in the quintessential tome on New York politics, . Barkan recalled that a year ago, when Cuomo received so much “great praise…I was surprised initially, because it was so counter to that I was perceiving.” Barkan noted, “By no metric did New York handle this crisis well.”Barkan points out that Cuomo benefited from being a perceived contrast to Trump’s incompetence, and enjoyed being in the nation’s densest media market–after all, Barkan notes, Washington Gov. Jay Inslee handled the pandemic far better (KOIN, ), but has never received the level of national media love Cuomo has enjoyed.Also, Cuomo’s bravado and toughness, along with his dynastic name and unrealized rumors of a place in a Democratic presidential administration, in opposition to the ineffectual nature of New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, made Cuomo a figure that press could deify in a crisis. Cuomo “projects power,” Barkan said, “and journalists have a fetish for that.”&nbsp;FAIR’s work is sustained by our generous contributors, who allow us to remain independent. today to be a part of this important mission.You can also support FAIR on Patreon! Click the button below!And there will be no soul searching by the corpress‘Cause you have to have one to Google it“Speak the speech, I pray thee, trippingly on the tongue.”Oh wait…..your speeches have tripped you up and wise guys , ike me will now lie in wait to call you NOmo Cuomo :I would agree that Washington’s Jay Inslee did a great job, and Oregon’s Kate Brown as well. My own Gavin Newsom swung back and forth chaotically, a great job one day, terrible the next. Cuomo has mostly been pretty bad.Telling the truth goes a long way with me. I want to say that I would never vote for Cuomo for President, except that I have no way to measure the honesty of anyone else out there, or their deeds, given that the press is just as bad these days. It seems like a festival of corruption for all of them, and god help the folks who were stuck in nursing homes or their families, given impossible conditions. This conundrum smacks us in the face as to the reality of American politics – we have been effectively de-democratized, and we certainly are not being represented by our government.It’s good that individual reporters are vindicated. But if their papers still endorsed Cuomo over Nixon, or next election Cuomo over the challenger, then it amounts to squat.The media is an almost complete failure. The only hope to get pig Cuomo out of office appears to be an impeachment or criminal charges. Voters won’t because the media is still too powerful and too fawning of Cuomo, even with this scandal. And of course the Democratic machine in NY is hilariously corrupt and conniving.We’d just been arguing, back and forth, on CommonDreams about those of us who’d posted the grim scary truth (only to be castigated by pretty blatant DNC, CAP, K Street trolls) and folks, many COVID victims, back in March who’d been in such speciously conditioned TDS denial, that buying-into Cuomo &amp; de Blasio being far better options, than Biden or Harris, yo beat Berni… TRUMP? It was subliminal to most, but it was projection, transference and displacement. NYC’s Creative Class &amp; boomer liberals could stream Colbert and Jimmy interviwing famous celebrities, all skedaddled to “vacation cottages” eat home made gelato &amp; InstaPot soup as sick indentured 1099’d shopping app peons schlepped iso-flavonoid phyto-polyphenol rich grub and Amazon chotchkies through the snowy streets as their loved-ones died in idling ambulances; Cuomo spewed 16K, de Blasio 19K tagged, bagged &amp; tagged, while actual clinicians’ tweets &amp;journalists’ blogs reported 24.7K COVID, of 35K excess deaths. And only WSWS, ProPublica, KHN, Naked Capitalism and InTheseTimes said anything remotely resembling the truth?The fact that Cuomo never used the thousands of empty hospital beds that Trump delivered to him could have saved literally thousands of lives is rarely mentioned. 2nd degree murder is warrantedGovernor Cuomo is a classic psychopath. Has no respect to the rules. Thinks he’s above the law. Above scrutiny. Above conviction. Beyond cocky. Psychopaths like Cuomo are unable to form emotional attachments. Psychopaths tend to be aggressive and predatory in nature. Predatory is right. After young women around him. Of court. Cuomo views others as objects for his agenda and pleasure. Although psychopaths like Cuomo lack empathy, psychopaths often have disarming or even charming personalities. Ellen was sure fooled by him. Are we surprised? They are manipulative and can easily gain people’s trust. Even poor sweet Ellen’s. Yes, Coumo, the psychopath, he learned to mimic emotions, despite his inability to actually feel them and he appears “normal” to unsuspecting or willfully ignorant people. Psychopaths are often well-educated and hold steady jobs. Jobs like being a Govenor.“Some psychopaths are so good at manipulation and mimicry (taking on another person’s words, action like Cuomo does all day thinking he’s Marlon Brando in the Godfather) that they have families and other long-term relationships without those around them ever suspecting their true nature. His true nature is a demonic force within him. He let it in with greed and lies. Little compromises here and there. When committing crimes, psychopaths like Cuomo carefully plan every detail in advance and often have contingency plans in place. He knew sending covid positive patients into nursing homes was dangerous. He thought the elderly population was taking up too much money. Reources. He didn’t want your grandmother or grandpops around, you see? He wants the world for himself. To be a little god. To rule! And bow down to worship him. Too bad he’s the opposite of God. He’s more a demon in the fesh. Cuomo seems unflappable in a crisis.Cuomo is often cool, calm and meticulous. Blank. That’s why he’s not a sociopath, but a psychopath. “Unlike their sociopathic counterparts, psychopathic criminals are cool, calm, and meticulous. From a law-enforcement perspective, the “cold-blooded” nature of psychopaths makes them very effective criminals and easy to evade truth.FAIR’s 4-page, ad-free, newsletter publishes ten times a year bringing you the media analysis and activism that you won’t find anywhere else. Choose a print subscription, a digital PDF edition, or both together.FAIR is the national progressive media watchdog group, challenging corporate media bias, spin and misinformation. We work to invigorate the First Amendment by advocating for greater diversity in the press and by scrutinizing media practices that marginalize public interest, minority and dissenting viewpoints. We expose neglected news stories and defend working journalists when they are muzzled. As a progressive group, we believe that structural reform is ultimately needed to break up the dominant media conglomerates, establish independent public broadcasting and promote strong non-profit sources of information.Fairness &amp; Accuracy In Reporting124 W. 30th Street, Suite 201New York, NY 10001Tel: 212-633-6700We rely on your support to keep running. Please consider donating.This work is licensed under a License.

&nbsp;New York Times (): “The state’s attorney general…accused the Cuomo administration of undercounting coronavirus related deaths connected to nursing homes by the thousands.”New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s moment as the “hero” of the Covid-19 crisis is fading, with revelations (New York Times, ) that his administration covered up the scope of the coronavirus death toll in the state’s nursing homes, as one Cuomo aide “admitted that the state had withheld data because it feared an investigation by the Trump Justice Department.” The anger at the governor is bipartisan; legislators on both...

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Cuomo’s Nursing Home Scandal Vindicates His Critics in the Press - FAIR

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