Hall of Shame 2020

I have been holding off on nominations for this year’s Hall of Shame even though there are numerous candidates. But Governor Andrew Cuomo of New York has just earned an early nomination. In his speech at the virtual Democratic National convention, he blamed the Trump administration for its handling of the coronavirus. What can we make of this charge coming as it does from the man whose state leads the nation by far in coronavirus deaths?

As of August 19 there have been almost 5.5 million reported cases of coronavirus in the USA and 175119 deaths have resulted. A little over 3% of the reported cases have resulted in death. Another way to look at it is to say that there have been 529 deaths per million in the USA.

In New York State, there have been 457000 reported cases that have resulted in a nation leading 32932 deaths so far, a figure that far exceeds New Jersey which comes in second with 16030 deaths. The number of deaths in New York is more than the combined totals of California, Texas, and Florida, the three most populous states in the country. Even after the recent surge California has only 292 deaths per million, Texas 355, and Florida 455. Although the virus has apparently run its course in New York, Governor Cuomo’s state has an astounding 1693 deaths per million.

I have tried to avoid blaming politicians for what I consider a natural disaster and it will take months if not years to sort out what really worked and what did not work. Nevertheless, when politicians start blaming each other, they become fair game themselves. As I’ve said before, if Donald Trump had been governor of New York and achieved the same results as Governor Cuomo, he would have been impeached months ago. 

Moreover, has Governor Cuomo forgotten how quickly President Trump acted to provide New York city with a hospital ship and the transformation of the Javits center into a hospital during the height of the crisis? Back then even Democratic governors like Gavin Newsome of California praised the President for his quick action. 

It is clear that Democratic politicians mean to make the coronavirus a major issue in this year’s Presidential race. They will continually point to the death toll which now exceeds 175000 but fail to point out that about 50000 deaths have been recorded in New York and New Jersey, both Democratic strongholds. 

They will also point out that the USA leads the world in cases and deaths but fail to point out that the percentage of deaths in the USA is much better than in other countries. The 175000 deaths in the USA is about 3% of the total reported cases. In countries with national health systems like the United Kingdom and Italy, the death rate is over 12%. Of course, we have no way of knowing what the full impact of the coronavirus has been in China where the Communist government has obviously been withholding information. 

There must be a psychological term for what Governor Cuomo and other Democratic politicians are doing to deflect attention from their own guilt and mismanagement and blame others. It is hard to believe that a Governor whose state was on the verge of bankruptcy even before the pandemic, and whose medical system was woefully inadequate has been praised as a hero by his supporters.

Moreover, New York city is now undergoing a virtually unchecked epidemic of burnings, lootings, and shootings that are unprecedented even in its history. Even if the Governor will not take the blame for what has happened there, he does have it in his power to remove Mayor Bill De Blasio, the incompetent ideologue who has brought the once great city to its knees.   

###