Cuomo: ‘Extreme conservatives … have no place in the state of New York’

Capitol Confidential » Cuomo: ‘Extreme conservatives … have no place in the state of New York’

This is New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo's position in a nutshell:

"Who are they? Are they these extreme conservatives who are right-to-life, pro-assault-weapon, anti-gay? Is that who they are? Because if that’s who they are and they’re the extreme conservatives, they have no place in the state of New York, because that’s not who New Yorkers are."

OK, with all due respect, but if that doesn't sound like a very bigoted thing to say, then I think you need to take  your blinders off. Exchange any of those descriptions with some other protected group and put those words in the mouth of some Republican and I think you would see the media in the United States in full-meltdown and feeding frenzy mode.

Let me get this straight, Mister Governor: If a person is pro-life, or thinks people have the right to own semi-automatic rifles or believes that homosexuality is a religious sin, then they have no place in the State of New York? And  you are going to do what to them? Are you going to make life so difficult for them that they have to move to another state? Are you going to start jailing them? How about shooting them?

Now, I am not advocating any of the positions that seem to have Gov. Cuomo in such a dither, because that is not the point of this essay. My point is how we in America let such demagogues get into leadership positions in our governments. You want to see what is wrong with the political dialogue, you need only to look no further than his comments.

Granted, there are conservatives who are just rhetorically flamboyant, but they get hammered in the media when they open their mouths. But, so far, I have seen nary a peep about Gov. Cuomo's rant in any of the major news dissemination sites. Since it is OK for him, then I suppose that conservatives and Republicans are now justified in their positions that all progressives have no place in the United States, because "that is not who Americans are."

While I may think progressives and liberals like Gov. Cuomo have a totally screwed up worldview and vision of what America should be, but I wouldn't say that they have no place anywhere in the US. That would be wrong. For them to say it about others is just as wrong.

And what if Gov. Cuomo said Muslims have no place in New York, or Jews, or Hispanics, or Asians, or African-Americans. He already has said that Baptists, Pentecostals, Mormans and Catholics are not welcome. Who else gets the rhetorical heave-ho in New York.

He says that people who take the Second Amendment at its word and believe (as the 1794 Militia Act, which was the law for more than 110 years, said) that the people - that is individual citizens making up the unenrolled militia - are to arm themselves with military caliber firearms and other things needed to rally to the defense of the community are a threat. A threat to whom? Study after study shows that the things gun control advocates don't work, while arming people seems to reduce crime and protect life and property

Of course, we can't have that.We are people, in our enlightened humanity, who see no need for violence in the world (except for those who resist the government) and if everyone would just lay down their arms their would be peace on Earth and all men would treat each other with good will. We are a 21st Century country with cellphones, tablet computers, big screen televisions, and more material goods than we can shake a stick at. We just need to understand that we are governed by angels (if they are Democrats, liberals or progressives) who never will succumb to their lesser natures and who merely want to take care of us from cradle to grave if we would just listen to their wisdom and surrender our lives to their benign direction. These experts and technocrats know all the solutions and if we want to enter the paradise on Earth, we merely need to bow them.

Now, let us all link arms and sing Kumbayah.

Ding, dong. Obviously Gov. Cuomo is going to exclude some people from that circle because they don't happen to agree with his worldview. That doesn't surprise me, and I hope it doesn't surprise you.

People, wake up and smell the roses.

First of all, the government cannot and will not be able to take care of all of us.We have to be able to take care of ourselves. Yes, we can work together to help each other, and that is well and good and proper, but government or "the state" - whether it is municipal, county, state or federal - does not have the capability to provide for all of us. If you learned nothing from the last 100 years, one would think that a cursory review of the history of the 20th Century would have show that to be the case.

Second, tyranny can only exist when good people stand aside, rather than stand up to it. To disarm yourself is to place yourself aside unwilling to defend, protect and preserve the community-state-nation that some of us have given at least sweat and tears, if not blood, pieces of our bodies and minds or our lives, that was bequeathed to us by those who came before us.

Third, a dependent person is not a free person, but merely a slave, a captive, a prisoner in mind or body. I would hope that we would choose not to be dependent, and to stand as individuals, willing to respect and tolerate those who do us no harm but merely view the world through a different prism; and that we would ferociously defend those who stand beside us in respect and dignity against all those who would cast us aside.

Gov. Cuomo is an ass. Unfortunately, I don't look for a media storm to break upon his head. But I would hope the people of New York, as well as the rest of America will be able to see the danger in his words and react accordingly.