August 12, 2021--Cuomo-Soprano

Thus far Andrew Cuomo's defense has been more cultural than judicial.

In effect, here's what he's been spinning--

"They changed the line on me. The line that separates what's acceptable and what's not" when it comes to working in today's offices.

"What do they expect of me. I'm a 63-year-old Italian man (note, not 'Italian-American') who grew up with different values than they have today. Back in my day we touched, we did a little stroking, a little flirting, and even a little kissing and rubbing up against each other. It was all considered to be OK. Innocent. Nobody had a problem with any of this. It was just fun. The girls--I mean women--had as good a time as the fellas.

"And then it was like I woke up from a three-decade-long sleep and the rules had changed on me. We even stopped having office Christmas parties where the secretaries and bosses were free to do a little fooling around.

"So what would you expect me to do? I'm not a sex harassor but a victim of gender and ethnicity. I know we're supposed to keep our hands to ourself and cut out the racy jokes. 

"But Italians talk with their hands. That's the worst thing I did. But it's my nature.

"I get it. I learned. I have three daughters and they're helping to straighten me out. We've been sitting on the couch together, I tell them what I did and they tell me if I did anything wrong.

"I'm learning a lot from them. They're good girls."

There's one problem--everything Cuomo said is wrong. Even if he's been awake for only a few months he knows this and should not be enabled to get away with it.

For starters, he has to stop watching The Sopranos.