Cuomo Trolls The World
Over the past couple of weeks, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has gone from the most beloved man in America to the most hated. Ever since the full details of his nursing home policy were revealed (the information that proved it was a bad idea was out months ago, and Cuomo had been criticized for it on several occasions — but that still didn’t stop him from winning an Emmy and writing a book that ended up on the New York Times bestseller list) things have been looking down for him. Since then, six separate women have also accused Cuomo of some form of sexual harassment — although most of the accusations are fairly minor. (Still, they are more than the governor who signed affirmative consent laws and who demanded the resignation of New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman before an investigation should have to face — but that’s beside the point.)
On 3/12/2021, Cuomo held a press conference, in which he said he would not resign. However, in stating that he would not he decided to use a specific phrase:
Politicians take positions for all sorts of reasons, including political expediency and bowing to pressure, but people know the difference between playing politics, bowing to cancel culture, and the truth.
It only makes sense for him to frame discourse like this, after all, as One America News host Liz Wheeler tweeted the exact same day:
If you don’t speak out against cancel culture & REFUSE to let the left cancel other people… Cancel culture will eventually cancel you.
Well now “the left” has gone after Cuomo, so will Republicans let him be canceled? This is the same party that has spent the past couple of weeks screaming about the “cancelation” of Theodore Giselle — also known as Dr. Suess — who simply had a handful of lesser-known books lose their reprinting status. One would think that stopping a powerful man from resigning as governor of the second-largest state based on accusations of rape would be much bigger — but it is not. In fact, some, such as Allie Stuckey, even deny what Cuomo is talking about being “cancel culture.” Here’s her explaining this over Twitter:
My gosh. Cancel culture is not being asked to resign because you led thousands of elderly people to the slaughter and sexually harassed a bunch of young women. Cancel culture is, among other things, being fired because you said a politically incorrect thing someone didn’t like.
“Among other things”? Meaning it can be more than just what you listed? Well then your definition didn’t really help matters — but okay.
However, why can’t “cancel culture” include such a thing? “Cancel culture,” I thought, was simply trying to dethrone powerful people over major scandals. The term began life after the #MeToo, in order to insult attempts to fire people over accusations. With how vague the term is — referring to the firing of everyone from James Damore to Al Franken — one wonders why it can not include Cuomo’s recent scandal.
Of course, the most interesting part about both of Cuomo’s recent scandals is how they completely go against mainstream Republican narratives. For months, we have told that COVID-19 deaths are overcounted by politicians, experts, and greedy doctors who want to keep us in lockdown fiveever (that’s one more than forever). However, now we’re being told that actually COVID-19 deaths were being undercounted — assuming we’re talking about nursing home deaths in New York. (Maybe Cuomo’s overcounting elsewhere made up the difference, who knows.)
Meanwhile, after months of being lectured how any attempt to police rape among the powerful is “the #MeToo movement going too far,” and “cancel culture gone mad,” now we’re being told to listen and believe six women accusing one of the most powerful men in the United States of minor sexual misdeeds. Many of the women have not even accused Cuomo of much more than making them uncomfortable once — which is misconduct, but does not even come close to harassment let alone assault.
Of course, Cuomo was being naive if he hoped dropping the phrase would lead to Republican support. As Lauren Witzke put it this week, it’s all about winning to these people, and values are nothing more than a coat that can be put on and taken off whenever needed.
With that said, Cuomo at the very least pointed out how vague the definition of “cancel culture” is — and how it can sometimes be done by Republicans. While not the most original thought in the world, it is at the very least a rather funny trolling attempt.
