Of course Cuomo had to quit

This is how politics is supposed to work

I am a fan of the “come get your guy” school of politics.

In short, in that school, when a politician misbehaves, “come get your guy” is a plea that a colleague who is not an enemy removes the misbehaving politician from the situation, and sets them straight by insisting they stop that bad behavior.

If the behavior is bad enough, the colleague tells the guy that the guy has behaved shamefully, and it’s time to leave office.

Remember that. Shame?

Anywhoo: In a perfect world, no one would be called on to come get the miscreate, because we would all be policing ourselves and wouldn’t need the assist.

But: New York Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo initially reacted in what we are told is his typical pugilistic fashion after a special investigation showed him to have sexually harassed at least 11 women while serving in office. He dug in.

Fighting serious allegations with bombast only works if the rest of us allow it. Responding to allegations of sexual misconduct by taking swings at your accusers is not a good defense, though for a while it appeared to work for the other guy. However, the other guy isn’t in office, his candidates are lining up for indictment and bankruptcy, and his public life is circling a uniquely American sewer.

On Tuesday, Cuomo’s resignation — effective in two weeks — was inevitable, and his leave-taking almost feels like a step back toward a world that makes sense. When the investigation was released, Democrats up and down the food chain (starting with Pres. Biden) called on him to step down. By Monday, his ship of state was taking on water. (This incredible New Yorker piece by Ronan Farrow helped hasten that process.)

I admire pugilism (in its place), and during the pandemic, Cuomo’s sure-handed daily COVID briefings were my moments of zen when the world seemed pretty scary. (Then we found out about Cuomo’s missteps in regard to COVID and New York nursing homes, and that hurt.)

Cuomo was swinging to the end, and Tuesday’s announcement was hardly a mea culpa. He questioned the facts, and the bias he said he saw in the investigation. He called the investigation “political.” He called his actions “disrespectful,” “too familiar,” and “dated.” In fact, they were offensive, and a trusted aide should have interrupted his play-by-play explanations — what he did and what he thought he was doing. Would that he’d kept the whole thing shorter. Would that he’d stopped after he said:

“I didn’t realize the extent to which the line has been redrawn.”

So now you know, Andrew, though one would have hoped you’d have evolved along with the rest of us.

Yes, Democrats Anthony Weiner and Al Franken are gone, and Republican Donald Trump is still walking around a free man, while Rep. Matt Gaetz (Q-Mars) is still on the Judiciary Committee. Yes, the Republican party should have been proactive in coming to get their guys, but if we have learned anything in these last few years, it’s that we do not ever — E. Ver. — follow the GOP’s lead on issues of morality. What happened Tuesday needed to happen, and it should happen many times over to entitled leaders everywhere. The line has been redrawn. Do keep up.

So it’s onward, to Gov. Kathy Hochul.