Recently, Gov. Cuomo railed against what he called “extreme conservatives” who are “pro-life, pro-assault weapons, anti-gay.” He said such persons “have no place in the state of New York, because that’s not who New Yorkers are.”
Soon after Cuomo’s offensive remarks, NYC Mayor de Blasio said he agreed with Cuomo’s comments “100 percent.” He explained, “I interpret his [Cuomo’s] remarks to say that an extremist attitude that continues the reality of violence in our communities or an extremist attitude that denies the rights of women, does not represent the views of the people of New York State.”
The spin won’t work. Who is Cuomo, or de Blasio, to say which New Yorkers have a place in NY? Since when has ideology become a condition for residence? Such talk is demagogic and divisive.
This was not the first time de Blasio illegitimately arrogated the authority to speak for New Yorkers about abortion. In February 2011, a pro-life group, Life Always, displayed a huge billboard in the SoHo section of New York that showed a picture of a young black girl with the inscription, “The most dangerous place for an African American is in the womb.” Prominent African Americans endorsed the billboard; it was displayed during Black History Month.
This was enough to send de Blasio into orbit. As New York’s Public Advocate, he was not satisfied to criticize the billboard—he wanted it banned (he succeeded). “The billboard simply doesn’t belong in our city. The ad violates the values of New Yorkers.”
The lust for abortion that these two men have is disturbing enough, but it is their arrogance and censorial approach that is most obscene.
