OPINION

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OUR READERS’ VIEWPOINTS

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Interesting letters

Editor:

Well, finally, we see letters sent in that are worth reading, not the political rubbish we have seen. Thank you, Dr. Leonard Kirchner and Michael Pekar, for the very interesting and well-written letters you both submitted.

Doug Goodin Goodyear All the housing and warehouses

Editor:

I finally figured out why all the hurry to build on all the agricultural land. The warehouses will be used in the future to make recycled food and all the houses will provide the food! Just look up “Soilent Green.” The movie explains it all.

Lynda Fiorini Historic Avondale

The women to the rescue

Editor:

When Evan Mecham was impeached as governor of Arizona, it was Rose Mofford to the rescue.

When Fife Symington resigned as governor of Arizona, it was Jane Dee Hull to the rescue.

When John Kitzhaber was forced from office as governor of Oregon, it was Kate Brown to the rescue.

With Andrew Cuomo resigning as governor of New York, it will be Kathy Hochul to the rescue.

Perhaps it is time for a constitutional amendment that only women can be governor. It would cut down on the drama and chaos.

Dr. Leonard Kirschner Col. USAF (Retired) Litchfield Park

Sinema should fight

Editor:

Health care reform is always going to be a concern, so it is my sincere hope that Sen. Kyrsten Sinema will bring her sensible, centrist style of policymaking to the debate over how to best ensure all Americans have access to high-quality, affordable health coverage and care.

There is no question that we need to improve health care so it is more affordable and accessible, particularly for those in need most, like low-income children and families, those living with disabilities, and our nation’s veterans. However, some of the current proposals currently floating around Washington not only fall short of these goals but could actually put them even further out of reach.

PETERS’ OPINION — Dayton Daily News

Unaffordable proposals that call for starting over from square one to create a new, one-size-fits-all government health insurance system — like the public option — would add tremendous new costs that could increase taxes on working families while reducing, instead of expanding, patients’ access to care. We need a better solution; one that strengthens the aspects of our current health care system that are working well while continuing to address its problem areas. That is what Sen. Sinema should fight for in Washington.

Charles Bertini Buckeye

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‘Biggy Rat’ departs the political rat race

BY J.D. HAYWORTH

West Valley View Columnist

Newton H. Minow, chairman of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) under John F. Kennedy, denounced television as a “vast wasteland” in 1961. But at that same time, the nation’s children viewed the flickering images inside the electronic box as a “vast wonderland” — especially on Saturday mornings. With parents and children freed from the routines of work and school for the weekend, mom and dad would sleep in, while the kids would pour bowls of sugar-infused breakfast cereal and plant themselves in front of the television for the morning’s animated fare. Comedy, action and even morality play came into the nation’s homes, courtesy of cartoons. It didn’t take long for the kids to distinguish the “good guys” and “bad guys,” as the contrast was as stark as the black and white in which it was televised.

One dastardly duo of that era’s animation — Biggy Rat and Itchy Brother — came roaring back into the collective consciousness of baby boomers last year

in the real-life personas of Andrew and Chris Cuomo. The governor of New York and his younger sibling, a hectoring, lecturing cable news host, were ushered into American homes on a regular basis with repartee that the low-IQ brain trust at CNN apparently regarded as the epitome of “infotainment.”

As they basked in their self-imagined, refracted fraternal glory, it became apparent within a nanosecond that the Cuomo brothers would never be confused with the Smothers Brothers, though Chris and Andrew did their own variation of the “mom always liked you best” routine. It was also painfully obvious that neither Cuomo boy grew into the man their father was.

In the age of Reagan, Gov. Mario Cuomo emerged as the “Great Democrat Hope,” especially following his keynote address at the 1984 San Francisco Convention.

No less a Republican than Richard Nixon praised the elder Cuomo’s speech for its eloquence and effectiveness. But New York’s first Gov. Cuomo earned the unflattering nickname “Hamlet on the Hudson” for his indecisiveness and ultimate refusal to run for president. In late December 1991, a chartered plane was poised to fly him to New Hampshire 90 minutes prior to that state closing filing for its first in the national presidential primary in February 1992. Mario Cuomo said no; another Democrat governor, Bill Clinton of Arkansas, became the 42nd president of the United States.

The second Gov. Cuomo was ultimately discovered to possess hungers and habits that can only be described as “Clintonesque.” But prior to those revelations, Andrew found another vehicle to raise his profile. Like so many other Democrats in 2020, he decided to politicize the pandemic; but unlike the rest of his leftist cohorts, he took a page out of his younger brother’s career handbook — daily television.

By making his “Live from Albany” daily telecasts available to CNN and every other conceivable video outlet, Andrew Cuomo was able to feast on the political equivalent of Manna — free media. It was a political masterstroke.

Given the constant demand for COVID-19 news, and the media’s decided leftist tilt, Gov. Andrew Cuomo filled the vacuum and earned predictable plaudits. Reporter Shannon Fisher’s account from April 2020 is typical of the praise-filled prose:

“The novel coronavirus pandemic thrust him into a white-hot spotlight. A challenge like that can really test a leader’s mettle, and Cuomo’s pragmatic, empathetic leadership … earned high marks.”

It also earned him a Daytime Emmy Award for his TV performances and over $5 million for his book, titled “American Crisis: Leadership Lessons from the COVID-19 Pandemic.”

The aforementioned “white-hot spotlight” and the partisan predilections of most in the press corps combined to slow scrutiny of the failures of Gov. Cuomo’s leadership. But eventually they were exposed. No less a progressive publication than the New York Times proved it wasn’t fooling around on April Fool’s Day of this year, when it reported that the governor’s staff lowered the number of COVID-19 nursing home fatalities appearing in a July 2020 report from 9,844 to 6,432.

The practice of treating elderly patients with COVID-19 in hospital and then prematurely readmitting them to rest homes put other seniors at risk and undoubtedly led to additional deaths.

Strange, then, that the nursing home scandal did not prompt Andrew Cuomo’s resignation as governor. Instead,

WEST VALLEY VIEW NEWS | AUGUST 18, 2021 subsequent charges of sexual harassment proved the catalyst that forced the “Luv Guv” to call it quits.

Why?

Curious observers would do well to remember the political environment that exists in today’s Democratic Party. There are allegations of similar nursing home fatalities in Pennsylvania and Michigan, and both those states hold gubernatorial elections next year. Had Cuomo departed Albany because of the nursing home scandal, Tom Wolf and Gretchen Whitmer could have faced a similar fate in Harrisburg and Lansing, respectively.

Instead, New York’s female lieutenant governor, Kathy Hochul, becomes the Empire State’s first female governor, giving NY Dems the chance to “turn the page” prior to their own 2022 gubernatorial election.

What’s next for Andrew Cuomo? It would seem a “vast wasteland.” While some predict a political comeback, it would be wise for him to wait until 2032… the Year of the Rat.

J.D. Hayworth represented Arizona in the U.S. House from 1995-2007. He authored and sponsored the Enforcement First Act, legislation that would have mandated enforcement of Federal Immigration Law in the 109th Congress.