Authoritarian and Partisan

The United States Supreme Court ruling temporarily blocking enforcement of New York Governor Cuomo’s Executive Order restricting attendance at houses of worship was an appropriate recognition of the primacy of the First Amendment. SCOTUS Blog reports that “The Supreme Court … granted requests from the Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn and two Orthodox Jewish synagogues to block enforcement of a New York executive order restricting attendance at houses of worship. Both the diocese and the synagogues claimed that the executive order violated the right to the free exercise of religion guaranteed by the First Amendment, particularly when secular businesses in the area are allowed to remain open….[the Catholic plaintiffs] told the Supreme Court that as a practical matter, the order ‘effectively bars in-person worship at affected churches – a ‘devastating’ and ‘spiritually harmful’ burden on the Catholic community.’ The synagogues followed on Nov. 16. They stressed that although they have complied with previous COVID-19 rules, the restrictions imposed by Cuomo’s order preclude them from conducting services for all of their congregants, and they argued that Cuomo’s order targeted Orthodox Jewish communities because other Orthodox Jews had not complied with the rules.”

Despite the fact that it was a five-to-four decision, the result was to be expected. What remains shocking is Governor Cuomo’s cavalier and disdainful attitude towards personal freedom in general.

Andrew Cuomo has come under intense scrutiny for the extremity of his restrictions, the fact that he imposed them without benefit of either legislative approval or a legally recognized authority to suspend basic freedoms, as well as the devastatingly bad results of his COVID strategy.

According to the New York Long Term Care Community Coalition 6,908 people died in nursing homes from COVID. This was primarily as a result of Cuomo’s bizarre and politically-motivated decision to place COVID patients in those facilities housing the most vulnerable New Yorkers. The governor cannot claim that this was due to hospital overcrowding, since he failed to take advantage of both the U.S.S. Comfort, a medical ship docked in NY Harbor and the Javits Convention Center facility. Both were set up by the Trump Administration to house non-COVID patients during the pandemic. Cuomo apparently believed that utilizing them would be a credit to the Trump White House, and decided to put his partisanship above the safety and health of his own constituents.

The governor also has failed to acknowledge the hysteria he helped create by claiming the state would run out of ventilators. As it turned out, the Trump Administration spearheaded a drive that produced enough ventilators to meet all American needs, and enough also to became the world’s major supplier.

Read more to try this pharmacy shop buy viagra online figure out the link between your heart and erection problems Heart diseases and Erectile dysfunction in men pose some common risks factors which can be- Diabetes-Men who suffer from diabetes are more prone to have this male erectile dysfunction. Why should you check Dinosaur Bingo when there’s congeneric a wide variety of dinosaur toys also games available? Simple as you show the game, the latest to identify viagra brand 100mg dinosaurs by name becomes easy, not a job. So by taking all these positive and helpful effects of this devensec.com cialis prescription drug in relieving the smoking addicted can over cross the regular routine and can help his life from getting burned every day. buy viagra for women Always try to maintain a well balanced diabetic diet with proper medication from nutritionist.

Rather than learn from his tragic errors, Cuomo has doubled down on his authoritarian actions and has imposed a wholly new set of restrictions that may lead to equally terrible results. In anticipation of holiday travel, the Democrat governor declared (again, without benefit of legislation or a formally recognized authority) that travelers must obtain a [COVID]test within three days of departure from non-contiguous states. He apparently failed to think the concept through. The result has been massive lines at testing locations, where individuals have been left to stand, frequently for hours, close to others who may or may not have COVID, and may be waiting to be tested for reasons other than travel, including the belief that they have been exposed to the disease. The threat of widespread contamination from that process clearly exceeds the dangers resulting from travelling.

Cuomo’s lack of tolerance for due process and individual rights is matched by his overt partisanship.

He has vowed to delay distribution of FDA-approved vaccines until his own committee reviewed, and stunningly called announcement of the inoculation’s availability “bad news,” because he didn’t want it to occur until Biden became president.

Photo: Governor Andrew Cuomo

Quick Analysis

Ukraine’s Frozen Conflict

As we approach winter in the northern hemisphere, the war in Ukraine is beginning to resemble a “frozen conflict” from many perspectives. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky recently told the media he hopes the war will end faster once President-elect Trump takes over in January. Opinions in Moscow, however, differ from that of the Ukrainian leader. Russian President Vladimir Putin argues that the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) needs to exclude Ukraine from joining in “exchange” for peace. If it does not, he says, then no end to the war is in sight. So far there is no Christmas solution. Several NATO countries, according to Vladimir Socor of the Jamestown Foundation, are tentatively considering “coalitions-of-the-willing” to provide security for Ukraine outside of the formal NATO framework. There is, however, no collective mechanism today under which such an arrangement is viable. According to the NATO Charter, while Ukraine is a NATO partner country, it may not join as a full member since it has not fulfilled the requirements for membership. That has not stopped NATO and allies from continuing “to provide Ukraine with unprecedented levels of support, helping to uphold its fundamental right to self-defence,” according to the organization. Socor says that keeping Ukraine out of NATO will not advance peace with Russia. Waiting for a peace settlement, he suggests, would only serve to encourage Moscow to continue the war indefinitely. Although the Biden Administration officially withdrew its support for Ukrainian membership in 2021, NATO maintains an “open door” policy toward membership-seeking countries. The current White House position led the way for European states to oppose Ukraine’s membership saying that a decision should be delayed until “conditions are met.” Biden pushed for changing “open door” to a “bridge” metaphor. It is not intended as an across-the-board NATO policy and has been implemented in the past on a case-by-case basis, says Socor. “The alliance’s open-door policy was not fully insulated from Russia’s non-statutory blocking power, and NATO-aspirant countries’ path toward membership was not always irreversible.” Russia has successfully blocked states like Georgia from joining, first in 2008 and again after the war in Ukraine began in 2014. Russia recognizes the value add of Ukraine to NATO is enormous and that Kyiv has a better case than some other nations. Putin’s invasion was, in part, intended to foreclose that option. By 2021, Moscow was pushing hard to maximize its war objectives, which included further annexations of Ukrainian territory. A main goal for Putin was, and is, to ensure there is no Ukraine left to join NATO. As President-elect Trump prepares to assume office in January, he is faced with the historical challenges presented by the war. Post-conflict security guarantees were the center of several proposals made during the 2023 military stalemate. The incoming Trump Administration has yet to outline how it intends to handle the Russia-Ukraine war. Analysts in Washington believe that the new Administration will expect its European allies to guarantee the majority of Ukraine’s security needs. As we approach 2025, several European nations have acknowledged that they do not view Ukraine as eligible for NATO membership as it would draw the organization into the middle of the conflict. Others want to wait until the war is over or pending a “peace” settlement before considering Ukrainian membership. Socor reports that some “influential voices” are suggesting that “Kyiv should join NATO after “freezing” the war along a stable armistice line, de facto accepting Ukraine’s partition, with NATO security guarantees applying de jure to the government-controlled territory only.” This would mean starting accession talks soon with the actual talks to commence only after a ceasefire is in place. Trump arrives in Washington at a time when Putin’s hybrid strategies of war in Ukraine have eviscerated commonly-held differences between war and peace. “Absent a political consensus in NATO over Ukrainian membership, certain European allies, including France’s President Emmanuel Macron, are holding informal consultations about post-conflict security guarantees to Kyiv by NATO members outside of NATO’s framework,” according to the Jamestown Foundation. The Biden Administration downplayed the discussions on possible forms of military assistance and defense industry cooperation by sending only an Assistant Secretary of State. For a European peace to hold the Trump Administration would need to formally extend the United States’ nuclear deterrence to Ukraine. Options under discussion in Europe include a “coalition of the resolute” to deploy forces to Ukraine as part of a possible armistice package, deterring further Russian attacks, says Secor. European officials are also debating, without any agreement, whether its military forces could perform non-combat logistical roles to free Ukrainian forces to fight. None of the possible courses of action has moved forward as all eyes are waiting on the incoming Trump Administration for clues about its intended level of support for a NATO framework and other non-NATO proposals. Daria Novak served in the U.S. State Dept.