Gina Miller
Who's "extreme," Governor Cuomo?
By Gina Miller
Listen to an audio version of this column
While we are not surprised at any outrageous thing liberals say, it is becoming increasingly disturbing how brazen they now are in their un-American pronouncements. This past Friday the Democrat Governor of New York, Andrew Cuomo, flatly declared that people who hold conservative views on life, guns and homosexuality have no place in New York. He called these views "extreme." This is the governor of a state in America, not a member of the lunatic fringe Left on MSNBC. Well, he may be a member of the lunatic fringe Left, but he is – sadly – still a governor!
The New York Post reported on his shameful remarks:
Gov. Cuomo has a message for conservative Republicans – you don't belong in New York.
Cuomo said Friday that members of the GOP with "extreme" views are creating an identity crisis for their party and represent a bigger worry than Democrats such as himself.
"Their problem isn't me and the Democrats; their problem is themselves," the governor said on Albany's The Capitol Pressroom radio show.
"Who are they? Right to life, pro-assault weapons, anti-gay – if that's who they are, they have no place in the state of New York because that's not who New Yorkers are."
He added that moderate Republicans, such as those in the state Senate, "have a place in their state."
"Extreme" is now a false, leftist label for those of us who hold traditional views on morality and freedom. Of course it's a lie. There is nothing extreme in believing a pre-born baby has the same God-given right to life that any other person has. There is nothing extreme in believing that, to defend our lives, we have an unalienable right to keep and bear arms. There is nothing extreme in opposing the mainstreaming of the immoral, unnatural and unhealthy behavior of homosexuality and its anti-freedom agenda, and there is nothing extreme in defending marriage as the rightful union of one man and one woman. The true extremists are those who war against these things.
Those like Gov. Cuomo who cling to the tyrannical ideology of the Left have no foundation based in truth, freedom or a love for America's founding, so they lie and distort the truth of conservatism. It is beyond wearisome to the point of dangerous, utter contemptibility. Gov. Cuomo and his fellow travelers are the ones who labor to shackle the people of the United States to the dictates of a central commanding government that strips them of their wealth, freedom, opportunity, and in the case of abortion, their very lives.
In a nation founded on freedom, it is the views and actions of the Gov. Cuomos among us that are extreme. It is they who wallow in despotic anti-Americanism as they collect power in the state and federal governments, stealing that rightful authority from We the People. And since they cannot tell the truth about their bankrupt, deadly ideology, they aggressively malign those who speak against them.
Gov. Cuomo employs the fake term "assault weapon" in his rant against common-sense conservatism. There is no such thing as an "assault weapon." Assault is something people do, and they can use any number of items, including their fists, to do it. The reality is that Gov. Cuomo is a hard-core leftist who understands that armed people are not easily conquered by tyrants like him.
So, early last year, riding the wave of horror from Sandy Hook, he rammed through the New York legislature the "SAFE Act," an extreme, deeply unpopular piece of gun control legislation. In forcing this law, he bypassed public input and committee debate and even threatened New York sheriffs who spoke out against it.
In an exceptional National Review column about this legislative assault on our rights, Charles C.W. Cooke wrote:
Shouting his way through his State of the State speech on January 9, 2013, the governor outlined his thinking. "Guns impose huge economic costs, as well as [a cost in] lives," he bellowed. "Fear of gun violence invades neighborhoods, causing disruptions in the normal rhythms of life, work, and school. That threat depresses property values and puts a drag on economic development." This being so, and legislation being inescapable, there would be time for neither public input nor committee hearings. In a startling move, Cuomo issued a "Message of Necessity," using a provision in the state's constitution designed to permit expedited state action in a case of emergency. This gave Cuomo the power to suspend the usual democratic rules and charge forward.
He couldn't allow public debate, he argued, lest it "cause a rush on the market of people who wanted to buy assault weapons." He couldn't allow the usual three-day waiting period between a bill's being introduced and a vote's being held, in case legislators asked difficult questions or tried to stall the measure. In a move that would have made Nancy Pelosi proud, Cuomo allotted state lawmakers mere minutes to read the bill before voting on it. Indeed, so aggressive were Cuomo's tactics that the Albany Times Union, which was supportive of the basic thrust of the legislation, editorialized that he behaved like a man possessed of "a truncated view of the legislative process and a cynical view of representative government." The governor disagreed: "If there is an issue that fits the definition of necessity," Cuomo shot back, "I believe it's gun violence."
Spoken and maneuvered like the true extremist Gov. Cuomo is!
His words from Friday are deeply disturbing and profoundly infuriating to the people of a free country, and shamefully, he's getting away with saying them. No one is holding him accountable for such outrageous statements against the residents of New York who hold normal, traditional views. Regardless of this, what Gov. Cuomo said is a very big, bad deal, and I shudder to think this guy may have designs on the presidency in 2016.
Michael Filozof, in an excellent piece at the American Thinker, agrees that what Gov. Cuomo said is alarming:
The idea that a sitting governor of the fourth-largest state in the nation can tell people he disagrees with politically that they have "no place" in the state he governs is breathtakingly frightening. I cannot recall any American governor anywhere essentially telling American citizens to shut up or get out of his state. What about the constitutional rights to free speech, free association, and freedom of the press? What ever happened to the Madisonian idea that the rights of political minorities are to be protected from the tyranny of the majority? Whatever happened to all the incessant leftist rhetoric about "diversity" and "multiculturalism"? I guess "diversity" doesn't apply to conservatives, does it?
How is this any different than saying "The Jews have no place in the Fatherland?" How is this any different than saying "The kulaks have no place in the Soviet Union?" "How is this any different than saying "The capitalist pigs have no place in the Peoples' Republic of Kampuchea"?
Answer: it isn't different. Every dictatorship marginalizes, delegitimizes, and dehumanizes its opponents before it strips them of their rights and crushes them.
If you're under the mistaken impression that the U.S. is still a free country, and New York is still a free state... you'd better read Cuomo's comments again.
God help us.
© Gina Miller
January 22, 2014
Listen to an audio version of this column
While we are not surprised at any outrageous thing liberals say, it is becoming increasingly disturbing how brazen they now are in their un-American pronouncements. This past Friday the Democrat Governor of New York, Andrew Cuomo, flatly declared that people who hold conservative views on life, guns and homosexuality have no place in New York. He called these views "extreme." This is the governor of a state in America, not a member of the lunatic fringe Left on MSNBC. Well, he may be a member of the lunatic fringe Left, but he is – sadly – still a governor!
The New York Post reported on his shameful remarks:
Gov. Cuomo has a message for conservative Republicans – you don't belong in New York.
Cuomo said Friday that members of the GOP with "extreme" views are creating an identity crisis for their party and represent a bigger worry than Democrats such as himself.
"Their problem isn't me and the Democrats; their problem is themselves," the governor said on Albany's The Capitol Pressroom radio show.
"Who are they? Right to life, pro-assault weapons, anti-gay – if that's who they are, they have no place in the state of New York because that's not who New Yorkers are."
He added that moderate Republicans, such as those in the state Senate, "have a place in their state."
"Extreme" is now a false, leftist label for those of us who hold traditional views on morality and freedom. Of course it's a lie. There is nothing extreme in believing a pre-born baby has the same God-given right to life that any other person has. There is nothing extreme in believing that, to defend our lives, we have an unalienable right to keep and bear arms. There is nothing extreme in opposing the mainstreaming of the immoral, unnatural and unhealthy behavior of homosexuality and its anti-freedom agenda, and there is nothing extreme in defending marriage as the rightful union of one man and one woman. The true extremists are those who war against these things.
Those like Gov. Cuomo who cling to the tyrannical ideology of the Left have no foundation based in truth, freedom or a love for America's founding, so they lie and distort the truth of conservatism. It is beyond wearisome to the point of dangerous, utter contemptibility. Gov. Cuomo and his fellow travelers are the ones who labor to shackle the people of the United States to the dictates of a central commanding government that strips them of their wealth, freedom, opportunity, and in the case of abortion, their very lives.
In a nation founded on freedom, it is the views and actions of the Gov. Cuomos among us that are extreme. It is they who wallow in despotic anti-Americanism as they collect power in the state and federal governments, stealing that rightful authority from We the People. And since they cannot tell the truth about their bankrupt, deadly ideology, they aggressively malign those who speak against them.
Gov. Cuomo employs the fake term "assault weapon" in his rant against common-sense conservatism. There is no such thing as an "assault weapon." Assault is something people do, and they can use any number of items, including their fists, to do it. The reality is that Gov. Cuomo is a hard-core leftist who understands that armed people are not easily conquered by tyrants like him.
So, early last year, riding the wave of horror from Sandy Hook, he rammed through the New York legislature the "SAFE Act," an extreme, deeply unpopular piece of gun control legislation. In forcing this law, he bypassed public input and committee debate and even threatened New York sheriffs who spoke out against it.
In an exceptional National Review column about this legislative assault on our rights, Charles C.W. Cooke wrote:
Shouting his way through his State of the State speech on January 9, 2013, the governor outlined his thinking. "Guns impose huge economic costs, as well as [a cost in] lives," he bellowed. "Fear of gun violence invades neighborhoods, causing disruptions in the normal rhythms of life, work, and school. That threat depresses property values and puts a drag on economic development." This being so, and legislation being inescapable, there would be time for neither public input nor committee hearings. In a startling move, Cuomo issued a "Message of Necessity," using a provision in the state's constitution designed to permit expedited state action in a case of emergency. This gave Cuomo the power to suspend the usual democratic rules and charge forward.
He couldn't allow public debate, he argued, lest it "cause a rush on the market of people who wanted to buy assault weapons." He couldn't allow the usual three-day waiting period between a bill's being introduced and a vote's being held, in case legislators asked difficult questions or tried to stall the measure. In a move that would have made Nancy Pelosi proud, Cuomo allotted state lawmakers mere minutes to read the bill before voting on it. Indeed, so aggressive were Cuomo's tactics that the Albany Times Union, which was supportive of the basic thrust of the legislation, editorialized that he behaved like a man possessed of "a truncated view of the legislative process and a cynical view of representative government." The governor disagreed: "If there is an issue that fits the definition of necessity," Cuomo shot back, "I believe it's gun violence."
Spoken and maneuvered like the true extremist Gov. Cuomo is!
His words from Friday are deeply disturbing and profoundly infuriating to the people of a free country, and shamefully, he's getting away with saying them. No one is holding him accountable for such outrageous statements against the residents of New York who hold normal, traditional views. Regardless of this, what Gov. Cuomo said is a very big, bad deal, and I shudder to think this guy may have designs on the presidency in 2016.
Michael Filozof, in an excellent piece at the American Thinker, agrees that what Gov. Cuomo said is alarming:
The idea that a sitting governor of the fourth-largest state in the nation can tell people he disagrees with politically that they have "no place" in the state he governs is breathtakingly frightening. I cannot recall any American governor anywhere essentially telling American citizens to shut up or get out of his state. What about the constitutional rights to free speech, free association, and freedom of the press? What ever happened to the Madisonian idea that the rights of political minorities are to be protected from the tyranny of the majority? Whatever happened to all the incessant leftist rhetoric about "diversity" and "multiculturalism"? I guess "diversity" doesn't apply to conservatives, does it?
How is this any different than saying "The Jews have no place in the Fatherland?" How is this any different than saying "The kulaks have no place in the Soviet Union?" "How is this any different than saying "The capitalist pigs have no place in the Peoples' Republic of Kampuchea"?
Answer: it isn't different. Every dictatorship marginalizes, delegitimizes, and dehumanizes its opponents before it strips them of their rights and crushes them.
If you're under the mistaken impression that the U.S. is still a free country, and New York is still a free state... you'd better read Cuomo's comments again.
God help us.
© Gina Miller
The views expressed by RenewAmerica columnists are their own and do not necessarily reflect the position of RenewAmerica or its affiliates.
(See RenewAmerica's publishing standards.)
