Cuomo: "Some states, like New York, feel an urgency to protect the rights of their citizens. Mr. Trump and the Catholic Church are opposed to state actions like the Reproductive Health Act — even though they merely codify existing federal law and firmly established practices."
Me: Roe did not legalize abortion after the point of viability, which the New York law now permits. But never mind!
Cuomo: "As a Roman Catholic, I am intimately familiar with the strongly held views of the church. Still, I do not believe that religious values should drive political positions.
Cuomo: "While Cardinal Timothy Dolan, the
archbishop of New York, and the Catholic Church are anti-choice, most
Americans, including most Catholics, are pro-choice. The 73 percent of New Yorkers who support Roe includes 59 percent of Catholics. While governments may very well enact laws that are consistent with religious teaching, governments do not pass laws to be consistent with what any particular religion dictates.
Me: check out those data points! Supporting Roe does not mean 73 percent of New Yorkers support the new law. Most don't yet know what the new law entails.
Cuomo: "I
was educated in religious schools, and I am a former altar boy. My
Roman Catholic values are my personal values. The decisions I choose to
make in my life, or in counseling my daughters, are based on my personal
moral and religious beliefs."
Me: An echo of Mario Cuomo, but hardly a glimmer of his intelligence.
Altar boy? Stalin sang in the seminary choir -- on a scholarship. Top that for relevance, Guv.
ReplyDeleteCuomo has sealed up his United States of Abortion credits. But how does he stack up otherwise? He HAS banned fracking but is unopposed to natural gas usage. He HAS committed to renewable energy though many environmentalists supported Cynthia Nixon in her primary bid opposing Cuomo. Other than that, I have the impression of a corporate Democrat which seems to go with the territory in which Wall Street resides.
ReplyDelete"I come not to abolish the Law but to fulfill it ... unless thou holdest elected office, because OMG, let's be real, a fellow would have to be nuts to move out of this spiffy mansion."
ReplyDeleteCuomo certainly is traveling down a well-worn path with these remarks.
If, as was suggested elsewhere, it would be noble for Governor Northam to resign the governorship for the sake of race relations, wouldn't it be equally noble for Governor Cuomo to resign the governorship for the sake of defenseless life?
If I didn't know better I might think that Cuomo was working for a "re-elect Trump in 2020, let's have 4 more wonderful years!" campaign.
DeleteAre we going to have to start marking the red lines between abortion and infanticide?
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ReplyDeleteI sense that feeling against Cuomo here is about more than his remarks on Church belief and abortion.
ReplyDeleteAndrew ain't Mario. A lot of us liked Mario. First as tragedy, then as farce.
DeleteJean, you asked.
DeleteCuomo: he is very Dis-likable. He interferes in whatever will get him a headline. He does end runs around De Blasio, the mayor of New York, who is no great shakes as an administrator or politician. He makes it impossible for the MTA to get repairs done, or create a budget. He's all ego, and no brains.
I think he had a dream of running for pres. But I don't see that happening. Would New Yorkers even vote for a Trumpish Democrat? Don't think so.
Mario Cuomo gave a rousing speech at the Dem Convention in the 1980s, and he was on the national scene for awhile, but he didn't get traction.
DeleteNY politics used to be national theater, and we followed it out here. But we've had such crummy Michigan governors since 1980 that we've been distracted by the side show closer to home.
From this article on the NPR site:
ReplyDelete"Public opinion on abortion rights is often framed as a binary choice between two political positions, but a closer look at new polling data from Gallup reveals more nuance.
While a majority of Americans support legalized abortion in early pregnancy, most oppose it in the later stages, according to the survey."
I think Cuomo misjudged here, and did it such a way that it was a thumb in the eye to those who support a right to life. Seriously, lighting up the World Trade Center in pink?
The data has long indicated that when one gets down to particulars, e.g. when and why an abortion takes place, there is really a great deal of agreement among Americans. And as the story indicates that has not changed very much over time, unlike many other liberal vs conservative issues.
ReplyDeleteThe issue does not go away because it is a very effective organizer of people and money for both liberals and conservatives.
This issue is part of the great media myth of profound differences among the values and behavior of red states and blue states (or red counties and blue counties). One researcher summed up those values by saying that we are all pro-life and pro-choice, i.e. Americans are really basically conservative valuing life, family, and law but at the same time we think everyone should be free to express themselves and their values with governmental interference.
Good points, Jack.
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