SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – OVERNIGHT: 

ANDY WE HARDLY KNOW YE – FROM FOX:    A second former aide to Democratic New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo has come forward with allegations of sexual harassment, which came just days after his first accuser made her claims public.  Charlotte Bennett, who is described by The New York Times as "an executive assistant and health policy adviser in the Cuomo administration until she left in November," alleges that Cuomo "asked her questions about her sex life, whether she was monogamous in her relationships and if she had ever had sex with older men."  The 25-year-old staffer described to the Times an incident that took place in June when she was "alone" with the 63-year-old governor in his State Capitol office. According to the report, he allegedly asked her if she thought age made a difference in romantic relationships and that he was open to having relationships with women in their 20s, which were noted by the Times as "comments she interpreted as clear overtures to a sexual relationship."  While Bennett alleges that Cuomo never tried touching her, the governor's "message" during that exchange was "unmistakable to her."  "I understood that the governor wanted to sleep with me, and felt horribly uncomfortable and scared," Bennett told the Times. "And was wondering how I was going to get out of it and assumed it was the end of my job."  Thus far the charges made by the first woman haven't done much damage to the governor, who is already under federal investigation for his handling of the Covid 19 virus.  The major news networks have largely given Cuomo a pass, as they generally do if the accused is a prominent Democrat.  But, as we've noted here before, Cuomo is heavily disliked by many figures in the Democratic Party.  If the heat from serious charges made by women increases, the governor may be sacrificed in a ritual cleansing that can benefit his party enemies.

A TIMESMAN MAY BE GETTING RELIGION – FROM FOX:    In an opinion article published online Thursday, a top liberal columnist for The New York Times blamed Democrats for the harm being inflicted on millions of the nation’s children by a year of school closures – describing it as a "tragedy we haven’t adequately confronted."  Writer Nicholas Kristof also suggests that many Democrats may have been blinded by animus toward former President Trump when they enacted the coronavirus-related school shutdowns.
"Many Democrats seemed to be more suspicious of in-person schooling last summer when President Donald Trump called for it," he writes, adding, "We shouldn’t let ourselves be driven by ideology rather than science."  He notes that at least one Democrat, Rhode Island Gov. Gina Raimondo, pushed for schools to reopen in her state, "and kids there are better off because she did."  Elsewhere, however, millions of the nation’s schoolchildren have missed in-person learning for many months because of coronavirus mitigation policies, a situation that may result in "permanent damage" -- both to the children and the nation’s future, Kristof writes.  "The blunt fact," he continues, "is that it is Democrats – including those who run the West Coast, from California through Oregon to Washington State – who have presided over one of the worst blows to the education of disadvantaged Americans in history."  It's a bit comforting to see a liberal New York Times writer have a come to the Lord moment.  I wonder if his career will survive.  Kids have been badly damaged, and hard leftist "educators" and teachers unions have used this difficult period to drive the curriculum further to the left.  We may be educating young Americans out of existence. 

February 27, 2021