The downfall of Andrew Cuomo – ICU bed shortage in Arkansas – Mississippi’s governor becomes a recluse – Vaccination initiatives in Pennsylvania – Evening statistics
Among the topics my friends and I discussed while lunching at the winery yesterday were the potential consequences of the New York Attorney General’s report on Andrew Cuomo. Andrew Cuomo resigned his governorship today, unable to withstand the calls for him to step down. The rapidity with which he has been discarded is actually somewhat astonishing, considering that he was something of a media darling a bare year earlier, during the first stages of the pandemic. His top aide, Melissa DeRosa, resigned this past Sunday, feeling that her position was no longer tenable; Nancy Pelosi, a long-time political ally of the Cuomo family, was among the first to call for his resignation; and President Biden, who is (or was) a personal friend, lost little time in doing likewise. Hardly anyone in his own party tried to defend him and, had he insisted on remaining in office, he would have been the second governor in the history of the state of New York to be impeached.
At the beginning of this year, Cuomo seemed in an impregnable position. He was widely praised for his governance of New York during the pandemic and many experts were predicting that he would be running for a fourth term, after which he might well have considered himself positioned to be a presidential candidate for 2028. Moreover, Cuomo must have been aware of what awaited him if news of his behavior towards women in his employ had leaked out. Eliot Spitzer, who was governor of New York for only one year, was ousted from his position in 2008 when it was revealed that he was a long-time client of a prostitution ring and had used state resources to set up his assignations. Cuomo himself was New York’s Attorney General at that time, so he can hardly plead ignorance of such matters. It requires a strong head and a strong will not to allow political power to go to one’s head, causing to its possessor to regard himself as a member of an elite to whom ordinary rules do not apply; and most American politicians, regrettably, do not possess these traits.
The fourth wave continues to increase in intensity. Today Governor Asa Hutchinson announced that only eight ICU beds were currently open in the entire state of Arkansas. The state reported 995 new cases on Monday and 21 additional deaths, according to Hutchinson. On yesterday alone 103 people were hospitalized, marking the largest single-day increase in hospitalizations. Arkansas is particularly vulnerable to the disease, having one of the lowest vaccination rates in the country: only 37.6% of its population has been fully vaccinated, as opposed to 50.3% of Americans generally.
In Mississippi every ICU bed has been taken. Unlike Hutchinson, Governor Tate Reeves has no plans to impose a mask mandate anywhere in the state and has given only the most tepid of endorsements for vaccination. (Mississippi has recently become the state with the lowest vaccination rate, having displaced Alabama for this dubious distinction.) He is, however, a believer in taking precautions against the virus – for himself. He has lived in virtual quarantine for weeks. He spends most of his time at the Governor’s Mansion, rarely venturing outside of it except for purposes of travel. He has isolated himself from many of his closest advisers in recent weeks and is holding no press conferences. He has been losing staff members rapidly since he took office in January, 2020, with four senior staffers and several policy staff members leaving by June, 2021 and four additional staff members in the past six weeks. None of them have been replaced. Those who remain in his administration are scrambling to keep the state government operational. Liz Welch is currently splitting duties, acting as Reeves’ his interim chief of staff as she continues to run the Department of Finance and Administration. Prominent officials who have been striving in vain to get in touch with Reeves are now reaching out to David Maron, the governor’s chief counsel and deputy chief of staff, who has never previously worked in state government.
In Pennsylvania, by way of contrast, Governor Tom Wolf has announced a new vaccine initiative. All state employees in state health care facilities and high-risk congregate-care facilities will be required to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 by September 7th. All new hires in those facilities must be vaccinated before starting work. On October 1st, all vaccinated state employees are eligible for an additional 7.5 to 8 hours of paid time off. Pennsylvania is ranked as the fifth highest state in vaccination rates, but Wolf is determinedly continuing to press state residents to get the vaccines. “Pennsylvania has had a lot of success in our vaccination efforts, but 63% is not the goal,” he said. “Sixty-three percent still leaves far too many eligible Pennsylvanians unvaccinated, which puts their communities at risk.”
Today’s statistics as of 8:00 PM – # of cases worldwide: 204,713,148; # of deaths worldwide: 4,325,608; # of cases U.S.: 36,888,351; # of deaths; U.S.: 634,636. Today’s increase was slightly under 98,000, so I suppose that’s an improvement.