{"id":15635,"date":"2021-02-24T12:35:08","date_gmt":"2021-02-24T17:35:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/?p=15635"},"modified":"2021-02-27T09:00:22","modified_gmt":"2021-02-27T14:00:22","slug":"cuomo-and-the-failure-of-covid-absolutism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/2021\/02\/24\/cuomo-and-the-failure-of-covid-absolutism\/","title":{"rendered":"Cuomo and the Failure of Covid Absolutism"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>American Institute for Economic Research, February 24, 2021<\/h3>\n
\n

Cuomo and the Failure of Covid Absolutism<\/a><\/h1>\n<\/header>\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\"JamesJames Bovard<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo is falling from grace at epic speed. His administration is now the target of a Justice Department probe for policies that resulted in the death of one out of eight nursing home residents in the state. Regardless of whether the New York legislature impeaches Cuomo<\/a>, the standard he championed poses a continuing peril.<\/p>\n

From the start of the Covid pandemic, the media idolized Cuomo for his \u201csafety through absolute power\u201d mantra.<\/strong> Last March 20, Cuomo imposed a statewide lockdown on 20 million New Yorkers, closing schools and businesses. Cuomo labeled his decree a \u201cpause\u201d<\/a> and declared: \u201cIf everything we do saves just one life, I\u2019ll be happy<\/a>.\u201d At that point, most counties in New York state had five or fewer people who<\/a> have tested positive for coronavirus.<\/p>\n

Cuomo\u2019s \u201cjust one life\u201d standard for lockdowns should have obliterated his credibility. Instead, Cuomo\u2019s maxim was treated as a triumph of idealism and benevolence. Cuomo\u2019s power grab was enabled by media allies that fanned hysteria. As AIER editorial director Jeffrey Tucker recently noted, the New York Times\u2019<\/em> Donald G. McNeil Jr. \u201cwas the first reporter from a major media venue to stir up virus panic<\/a> and advocate for extreme lockdown measures\u2026 The Times<\/em> allowed its voice to be used to promote a primal and primitive disease panic, which they surely knew would create a cultural\/political frenzy.\u201d Presidential candidate Joe Biden hailed Cuomo last Spring for setting the \u201cgold standard\u201d<\/a> for leadership on Covid.<\/p>\n

After Cuomo swayed the New York legislature to give him \u201cauthorization of absolute power<\/a>,\u201d as the New Yorker<\/em> declared, he issued scores of decrees, including one compelling nursing homes to admit Covid-infected patients and permitting Covid-infected staffers to keep working at those homes. A New York democratic legislator said that Cuomo was \u201cinclined towards tyranny<\/a>. But in a crisis that\u2019s what people want.\u201d<\/p>\n

A New Yorker <\/em>profile, entitled \u201cAndrew Cuomo, King of New York,\u201d explained that Cuomo and his aides saw the battle over Covid policy as \u201cbetween people who believe government can be a force for good<\/a> and those who think otherwise.\u201d For many liberals and much of the nation\u2019s media, placing people under house arrest, padlocking schools, bankrupting business, and causing two million people to lose their jobs vindicated government as \u201ca force for good.\u201d<\/p>\n

MSNBC\u2019s Nicolle Wallace declared that Cuomo is \u201ceverything Trump isn\u2019t: honest<\/a>, direct, brave.\u201d Entertainment Weekly<\/em> hailed Cuomo as \u201cthe hero that America never<\/a> realized it needed until he was on our television screens every night.\u201d As National Review<\/em><\/a> recently noted, local reporters failed to ask questions on his nursing home edict \u201cfor months, as the governor held his much-praised daily press briefings about the pandemic. There were literally hundreds of hours of Cuomo press conferences in the first half of 2020 where not a single question was asked about nursing homes.\u201d<\/p>\n

The docile media paved the way to Cuomo winning an Emmy award for his \u201cmasterful use of television<\/a>\u201d during the pandemic. The media\u2019s valorization of Cuomo helped make his self-tribute book, American Crisis: Leadership Lessons from the COVID-19 Pandemic<\/em>, a bestseller.\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n

Cuomo has always known how to milk the media. When he was Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, he explained to the Washington Post<\/em> in 1999 how he would fix HUD\u2019s dismal image: \u201cThe PR is the most important thing I<\/a> do \u2026 Eighty percent of the battle is communications.\u201d (I christened Cuomo as \u201cthe Clinton administration\u2019s most megalomaniacal cabinet secretary in a 2000 American Spectator<\/em><\/a> piece titled, \u201cAndy At It Again: How to Keep Reinventing HUD to Advance Yourself.\u201d) Flash forward to last June, and Cuomo prematurely issued a poster celebrating<\/a> his and New York state\u2019s victory over Covid. The political art (sold for $14.50 plus shipping and handling) featured a steep mountain symbolizing the rise and fall of Covid cases. The poster<\/a> was plastered with insipid phrases such as \u201cThe sun on the other side, \u201cThe power of \u2018We,’\u201d \u201cWinds of Fear,\u201d \u201cFollow the Facts,\u201d and \u201cLove Community Support,\u201d and included a jibe against Trump. Though poster sales failed to deter second and third waves of Covid outbreaks, the PR campaign further encouraged the media to focus on Cuomo\u2019s words instead of his deeds.<\/p>\n

During the pandemic, \u201clegitimacy\u201d came not from adhering to the U.S. and state Constitutions but from continually invoking \u201cscience and data<\/a>,\u201d as Cuomo did. . <\/sup>Cuomo\u2019s entitlement to absolute power came from modeling concocted by the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME), a Washington State-based institution bankrolled by The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. As investigative journalist Jordan Schachtel noted last week in an AIER analysis<\/a>, IHME forecasts presumed a death rate 30 times higher than the rate that actually occurred. That horrendous miscalculation sufficed for one governor after another to nullify Americans\u2019 freedom with lockdown orders. Absurd statistical extrapolations forecasting future harm made tyranny irrelevant.<\/p>\n

Cuomo describes himself as a \u201cgreat progressive<\/a>,\u201d perhaps thereby entitling himself to any power he presumes necessary \u201cfor the good of the people,\u201d Bill of Rights be damned. November, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down New York state restrictions that limited religious gatherings to ten or fewer people while permitting far more leeway for businesses to operate, declaring that Cuomo\u2019s rules were \u201cfar more restrictive than<\/a> any Covid-related regulations that have previously come before the Court\u2026 and far more severe than has been shown to be required to prevent the spread of the virus.\u201d Cuomo\u2019s allies in the liberal establishment reacted with horror to the limit on his sway. An American Civil Liberties Union official fretted to the New York Times<\/em> that \u201cthe freedom to worship\u2026 does not include a license to harm<\/a> others or endanger public health.\u201d Harvard law professor Lawrence Tribe and Cornell professor Michael Dorf babbled that the ruling signaled that the Supreme Court belonged in \u201cthe theocratic and misogynist country<\/a> in Margaret Atwood\u2019s dystopian \u2018The Handmaid\u2019s Tale<\/em>.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Cuomo remained revered even though his repressive policies failed to prevent New York from having among the nation\u2019s highest Covid death rates.<\/strong> But a Justice Department probe into his nursing home policies launched last August may be his undoing. New York state reported barely half of the total of more than 12,000 New York nursing home<\/a> patients who died of Covid.\u00a0 Cuomo\u2019s top aide, Melissa DeRosa, told Democratic legislative leaders that \u201cbasically, we froze\u201d when the feds demanded information. \u201cWe were in a position where we weren\u2019t sure if what we were going to give<\/a> to the Department of Justice\u2026 was going to be used against us,\u201d DeRosa said according to a leaked transcript.<\/p>\n

But Cuomo\u2019s culpability goes beyond hiding corpses. Early in the pandemic, he pushed to include a legislative provision written by the Greater New York Hospital Association to give a waiver of liability to nursing homes and hospitals whose patients died of Covid. A report last month by the New York Attorney General warned, \u201cThe immunity laws could be wrongly used<\/a> to protect any individual or entity from liability, even if those decisions were not made in good faith or motivated by financial incentives.\u201d As the Guardian<\/em> noted, \u201cCuomo\u2019s political machine<\/a> received more than $2 million<\/a> from the Greater New York Hospital Association (GNYHA), its executives and its lobbying firms.\u201d<\/p>\n

But Cuomo\u2019s credibility should have been dethroned long before the latest disclosures. As early as last May, barely two months after the start of the state lockdown, a New York Post<\/em> columnist groused: \u201cSo Gov. Andrew Cuomo killed Grandma<\/a> and cratered New York\u2019s economy. But he looked good doing it.\u201d Cuomo\u2019s cachet derived almost entirely from media scoring that until recently ignored almost all of the harms he inflicted.<\/p>\n

Cuomo and other politicians have used Covid policy lodestars that were akin to crossing the Pacific Ocean with navigators who insisted the earth was flat. Melinda Gates admitted last December: \u201cWhat did surprise us is we hadn\u2019t really<\/a> thought through the economic impacts.\u201d The politicians who imposed shutdowns based on data from the Gates\u2019 funded by the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation apparently never bothered to estimate the collateral damage from their decrees. Similar myopia spurred crackdowns and restrictions in many states that helped cause the sharpest reduction in Americans\u2019 life<\/a> expectancy since World War Two.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, there is no indication that either politicians or the media have recognized the authoritarian dangers inherent in governors or presidents claiming a right to boundless power to save \u201cjust one life.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

A similar standard is helping justify keeping schools closed in many areas. Teachers\u2019 unions have rallied around the motto<\/a>: \u201cIf one teacher dies, isn\u2019t that too many?\u201d But like Cuomo\u2019s shutdowns, that standard ignores the horrific collateral damage on American children. A Journal of the American Medical Association<\/em> analysis concluded<\/a> that shutting down the schools would reduce the current crop of students\u2019 collective years of life by more than five million, based<\/a> on \u201clower income, reduced educational attainment, and worse health outcomes.\u201d It remains to be seen how much, if any, the role of the well-being of children plays in school policy in the coming months.<\/p>\n

While it is unlikely that the media lapdogs who adore Cuomo and other prominent politicians will admit their follies, the exposure of hard facts may help blunt the next stampede to submission. The Justice Department investigation<\/a> into nursing home policies that boosted Covid death tolls in New York, New Jersey, Michigan, and Pennsylvania could tarnish some of the nation\u2019s most aggressive Covid lockdowners. Other investigations by the media or private groups could expose far more evidence of misconduct or of gross negligence that boosted Covid death tolls.<\/p>\n

In a tour of television talk shows shortly after President Biden was inaugurated, Cuomo recited his latest catchphrase: \u201cIncompetent government kills<\/a> people.\u201d This intended slapdown of Trump is recoiling badly on the New York governor. If Cuomo is impeached or forced to resign for his Covid fiascos, maybe he could score plenty of media appearances with a new slogan: \u201cAbsolute power with impunity kills.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

==James Bovard is the author of ten books, including Public Policy Hooligan, Attention Deficit Democracy, The Bush Betrayal, and Lost Rights: The Destruction of American Liberty. He has written for the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Playboy, Washington Post, New Republic, Reader\u2019s Digest, and many other publications. He is a member of the USA Today Board of Contributors, a frequent contributor to The Hill, and a contributing editor for American Conservative<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

American Institute for Economic Research, February 24, 2021 Cuomo and the Failure of Covid Absolutism James Bovard New York Governor Andrew Cuomo is falling from grace at epic speed. His administration is now the target of a Justice Department probe for policies that resulted in the death of one out of eight nursing home residents […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":15636,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[349,2349,2370,2704,294,1645,2705,2207,148],"class_list":["post-15635","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-coverup","tag-covid","tag-cuomo","tag-dictatorial","tag-hud","tag-new-york","tag-nursing-home-jama","tag-pennsylvania","tag-schools"],"yoast_head":"\nCuomo and the Failure of Covid Absolutism - James Bovard<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/2021\/02\/24\/cuomo-and-the-failure-of-covid-absolutism\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Cuomo and the Failure of Covid Absolutism - James Bovard\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"American Institute for Economic Research, February 24, 2021 Cuomo and the Failure of Covid Absolutism James Bovard New York Governor Andrew Cuomo is falling from grace at epic speed. His administration is now the target of a Justice Department probe for policies that resulted in the death of one out of eight nursing home residents […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/2021\/02\/24\/cuomo-and-the-failure-of-covid-absolutism\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"James Bovard\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/jim.bovard\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-02-24T17:35:08+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-02-27T14:00:22+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/cuomo-victory-covid-poster.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1279\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1675\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Jim\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@jimbovard\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Jim\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"9 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/2021\\\/02\\\/24\\\/cuomo-and-the-failure-of-covid-absolutism\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/2021\\\/02\\\/24\\\/cuomo-and-the-failure-of-covid-absolutism\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Jim\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/79550830ad81c14be529a2c37469974f\"},\"headline\":\"Cuomo and the Failure of Covid Absolutism\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-02-24T17:35:08+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-02-27T14:00:22+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/2021\\\/02\\\/24\\\/cuomo-and-the-failure-of-covid-absolutism\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":1773,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/2021\\\/02\\\/24\\\/cuomo-and-the-failure-of-covid-absolutism\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2021\\\/02\\\/cuomo-victory-covid-poster.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"coverup\",\"COVID\",\"Cuomo\",\"dictatorial\",\"HUD\",\"New York\",\"nursing home JAMA\",\"Pennsylvania\",\"schools\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/2021\\\/02\\\/24\\\/cuomo-and-the-failure-of-covid-absolutism\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/2021\\\/02\\\/24\\\/cuomo-and-the-failure-of-covid-absolutism\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/2021\\\/02\\\/24\\\/cuomo-and-the-failure-of-covid-absolutism\\\/\",\"name\":\"Cuomo and the Failure of Covid Absolutism - James Bovard\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/2021\\\/02\\\/24\\\/cuomo-and-the-failure-of-covid-absolutism\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/2021\\\/02\\\/24\\\/cuomo-and-the-failure-of-covid-absolutism\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2021\\\/02\\\/cuomo-victory-covid-poster.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-02-24T17:35:08+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-02-27T14:00:22+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/79550830ad81c14be529a2c37469974f\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/2021\\\/02\\\/24\\\/cuomo-and-the-failure-of-covid-absolutism\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/2021\\\/02\\\/24\\\/cuomo-and-the-failure-of-covid-absolutism\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/2021\\\/02\\\/24\\\/cuomo-and-the-failure-of-covid-absolutism\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2021\\\/02\\\/cuomo-victory-covid-poster.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2021\\\/02\\\/cuomo-victory-covid-poster.jpg\",\"width\":1279,\"height\":1675},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/2021\\\/02\\\/24\\\/cuomo-and-the-failure-of-covid-absolutism\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Cuomo and the Failure of Covid Absolutism\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/\",\"name\":\"James Bovard\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/79550830ad81c14be529a2c37469974f\",\"name\":\"Jim\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/d95466cfd0934e38803c5035629df727ae4ec1f3f96c6883c05b5c52e2044505?s=96&d=mm&r=r\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/d95466cfd0934e38803c5035629df727ae4ec1f3f96c6883c05b5c52e2044505?s=96&d=mm&r=r\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/d95466cfd0934e38803c5035629df727ae4ec1f3f96c6883c05b5c52e2044505?s=96&d=mm&r=r\",\"caption\":\"Jim\"},\"description\":\"Bovard's homepage is at http:\\\/\\\/www.jimbovard.com He can be contacted at jim@jimbovard.com James Bovard is the author of ten books. The Wall Street Journal called Bovard \\\"the roving inspector general of the modern state\\\" and Washington Post columnist George Will called him a \\\"one-man truth squad.\\\" His 1994 book, Lost Rights: The Destruction of American Liberty, received the Free Press Association\u2019s Mencken Award as Book of the Year. His Terrorism & Tyranny won the Lysander Spooner \\\"Best Book on Liberty in 2003\\\" award. He received the Thomas Szasz Award for Civil Liberties work, awarded by the Center for Independent Thought and the Freedom Fund Award from the Firearms Civil Rights Defense Fund of the National Rifle Association. Bovard\u2019s writings have been publicly denounced by FBI director Louis Freeh, the Secretary of Agriculture, the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, the Postmaster General, and the chiefs of the U.S. International Trade Commission, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency, as well as by many congressmen and other malcontents.\",\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/www.jimbovard.com\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/jim.bovard\",\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/jimbovard\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/author\\\/admin\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Cuomo and the Failure of Covid Absolutism - James Bovard","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/2021\/02\/24\/cuomo-and-the-failure-of-covid-absolutism\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Cuomo and the Failure of Covid Absolutism - James Bovard","og_description":"American Institute for Economic Research, February 24, 2021 Cuomo and the Failure of Covid Absolutism James Bovard New York Governor Andrew Cuomo is falling from grace at epic speed. His administration is now the target of a Justice Department probe for policies that resulted in the death of one out of eight nursing home residents […]","og_url":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/2021\/02\/24\/cuomo-and-the-failure-of-covid-absolutism\/","og_site_name":"James Bovard","article_author":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/jim.bovard","article_published_time":"2021-02-24T17:35:08+00:00","article_modified_time":"2021-02-27T14:00:22+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1279,"height":1675,"url":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/cuomo-victory-covid-poster.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Jim","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@jimbovard","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Jim","Est. reading time":"9 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/2021\/02\/24\/cuomo-and-the-failure-of-covid-absolutism\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/2021\/02\/24\/cuomo-and-the-failure-of-covid-absolutism\/"},"author":{"name":"Jim","@id":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/79550830ad81c14be529a2c37469974f"},"headline":"Cuomo and the Failure of Covid Absolutism","datePublished":"2021-02-24T17:35:08+00:00","dateModified":"2021-02-27T14:00:22+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/2021\/02\/24\/cuomo-and-the-failure-of-covid-absolutism\/"},"wordCount":1773,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/2021\/02\/24\/cuomo-and-the-failure-of-covid-absolutism\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/cuomo-victory-covid-poster.jpg","keywords":["coverup","COVID","Cuomo","dictatorial","HUD","New York","nursing home JAMA","Pennsylvania","schools"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/2021\/02\/24\/cuomo-and-the-failure-of-covid-absolutism\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/2021\/02\/24\/cuomo-and-the-failure-of-covid-absolutism\/","url":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/2021\/02\/24\/cuomo-and-the-failure-of-covid-absolutism\/","name":"Cuomo and the Failure of Covid Absolutism - James Bovard","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/2021\/02\/24\/cuomo-and-the-failure-of-covid-absolutism\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/2021\/02\/24\/cuomo-and-the-failure-of-covid-absolutism\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/cuomo-victory-covid-poster.jpg","datePublished":"2021-02-24T17:35:08+00:00","dateModified":"2021-02-27T14:00:22+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/79550830ad81c14be529a2c37469974f"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/2021\/02\/24\/cuomo-and-the-failure-of-covid-absolutism\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/2021\/02\/24\/cuomo-and-the-failure-of-covid-absolutism\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/2021\/02\/24\/cuomo-and-the-failure-of-covid-absolutism\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/cuomo-victory-covid-poster.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/cuomo-victory-covid-poster.jpg","width":1279,"height":1675},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/2021\/02\/24\/cuomo-and-the-failure-of-covid-absolutism\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Cuomo and the Failure of Covid Absolutism"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/","name":"James Bovard","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/79550830ad81c14be529a2c37469974f","name":"Jim","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d95466cfd0934e38803c5035629df727ae4ec1f3f96c6883c05b5c52e2044505?s=96&d=mm&r=r","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d95466cfd0934e38803c5035629df727ae4ec1f3f96c6883c05b5c52e2044505?s=96&d=mm&r=r","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d95466cfd0934e38803c5035629df727ae4ec1f3f96c6883c05b5c52e2044505?s=96&d=mm&r=r","caption":"Jim"},"description":"Bovard's homepage is at http:\/\/www.jimbovard.com He can be contacted at jim@jimbovard.com James Bovard is the author of ten books. The Wall Street Journal called Bovard \"the roving inspector general of the modern state\" and Washington Post columnist George Will called him a \"one-man truth squad.\" His 1994 book, Lost Rights: The Destruction of American Liberty, received the Free Press Association\u2019s Mencken Award as Book of the Year. His Terrorism & Tyranny won the Lysander Spooner \"Best Book on Liberty in 2003\" award. He received the Thomas Szasz Award for Civil Liberties work, awarded by the Center for Independent Thought and the Freedom Fund Award from the Firearms Civil Rights Defense Fund of the National Rifle Association. Bovard\u2019s writings have been publicly denounced by FBI director Louis Freeh, the Secretary of Agriculture, the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, the Postmaster General, and the chiefs of the U.S. International Trade Commission, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency, as well as by many congressmen and other malcontents.","sameAs":["http:\/\/www.jimbovard.com","https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/jim.bovard","https:\/\/x.com\/jimbovard"],"url":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/author\/admin\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15635","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15635"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15635\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15644,"href":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15635\/revisions\/15644"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15636"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15635"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15635"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15635"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}