When I first heard that Gov. Cuomo was writing a book on his “leadership” during the pandemic, I think I spit out my coffee and thought it was an article from the satirical Web site The Babylon Bee. I laughed. Then I became enraged.
In March and April, my husband’s parents died of COVID-19 in their elder-care facilities. Theirs were two of more than 6,000 deaths that resulted from Cuomo’s now-notorious nursing-home decree — a veritable mass seniorcide.
I wondered if Cuomo would use his memoir to finally tell the truth about the nursing-home tragedy. Up until now, the governor has blamed everyone else for his executive order forcing nursing homes to accept coronavirus-positive patients.
Cuomo has shifted the blame to God, Mother Nature, The Post, Fox News, President Trump, nursing-home visitors and employees and even residents themselves, among other scapegoats.
I wondered: Would the book, “American Crisis,” see him make a long-overdue reckoning with his calamitous mistake?
As a vocal and prominent critic of his decision-making, I made several requests to his publisher to receive review copies, so I could write about it. However, I wouldn’t under any circumstances buy the book, since I suspect he is profiting off the deaths of more than 30,000 New Yorkers.
I e-mailed the publisher, Crown Books, but got no response. Then I e-mailed a co-worker who books guests on cable-news programs to help. No luck. I then asked my editor friend who knows some movers and shakers in the publishing world to find a copy for me. And that didn’t work, either.
I decided then that maybe it was the universe telling me I wasn’t meant to read this book.
But it was hard to avoid news of the governor’s publicity tour. First, CBS “Sunday Morning” did a fluffy profile of the governor and his family. It was a lovely package, but there were no hard-hitting questions about the nursing-home deaths, though numerous families like mine have demanded answers.
Why did the governor order COVID-positive patients into nursing homes for 46 days straight? Why did the other makeshift hospitals, like the USNS Comfort and the Javits Center, go unused? And why do we still not have the total number of nursing-home deaths? By some estimates, adding the deaths of those seniors transferred to hospitals would almost double the figure to some 12,000.
More fawning interviews followed last week: on “Live with Kelly and Ryan” (ABC) and “Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen” (Bravo). When Cuomo was finally asked about the nursing-home tragedy on NBC by Willie Geist, he continued his game of ignoring the question first, then blaming others. At one point, he even said his government never needed to send COVID-19 patients into nursing homes to begin with.
I have received e-mails from a number of my journalist friends and reporters who have read the book. They urged me not to torture myself. The governor never used the opportunity to confess to one of the biggest mistakes of his career. Instead, he uses just a few pages to blame others, including Republicans, of course.
It’s extremely hard for me to watch him lie through his teeth and get away with it. The fact that he even had the time to write a book during the last six months of a pandemic is incredible. Imagine if the governor of Louisiana decided to write a book soon after Hurricane Katrina hit?
More seniors died in New York nursing homes than did in Katrina and 9/11 combined. The governor continues to insist all criticism is political. Yet not one of the grieving New Yorkers I’ve met at rallies has brought up whom they or their lost loved ones voted for. We want answers — accountability to ensure this never happens again.
My publishing friends tell me his book is selling OK, better than his last memoir, which moved a little more than 3,000 copies. But instead of writing books about himself and promoting them on every network, Cuomo should be helping his state get through the next six months.
The pandemic isn’t over, businesses are closing, people are losing their jobs and New Yorkers are leaving Gotham in droves. Instead of waxing poetic on his leadership skills, Cuomo could’ve better spent his time, you know, actually leading.
And that includes writing letters of condolence and apology to families whose loved ones died because of his disastrous decisions.
Janice Dean is senior meteorologist at the Fox News Channel.
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October 19, 2020 at 06:34AM
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