It seems that in recent days and weeks we have descended (or ascended?) to an alternate plane of reality, where the children are the leaders—the mature, the astute, the experienced—and the leaders are the children—entitled, immature, woefully misinformed.
Consider: Since Feb. 14, when another lunatic with a stockpile of automatic weapons that might make Gaddafi blush burst into Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School and shot 17 people to death, teenagers have been trying incredibly hard to hold legislative leaders—the vast majority of which are parents—accountable for their (in)action on common-sense gun control measures. They’ve organized rallies, demonstrations at state legislature buildings, appeared on talk shows, all in the name of encouraging those same leaders to do something—anything!—to make it so MSD is the final school shooting in this country. Ever.
On Wednesday at 10 a.m. students across the country walked out of their classrooms for 17 minutes in memory of the 17 people who were gunned down in the MSD mass shooting and to call for action against gun violence.
Consider: This generation of teens, widely derided as self-aggrandizing me-first fanatics, slaves to social media, and lions of lethargy, are actually doing something.
Where are the alleged leaders we helped to put in office, the ones who promised to make a difference?
In New York, they’re fighting—with each other, bickering like schoolchildren in a sandbox.
Cuomo vs. de Blasio is great for our profession. It’s entertaining. But it’s also incredibly embarrassing, especially when the latest spat is set against the local and national backdrop of teens working on serious issues.
This week, while Mayor Bill de Blasio was traveling, Gov. Andrew Cuomo decided to don his trusty cape and swoop down to the city to reach for the lowest-hanging rotten political fruit: The New York City Housing Authority.
NYCHA’s problems are well-documented for decades: Staggering mismanagement has led to a decline in infrastructure that has impacted tenants for generations.
On Monday, Cuomo, who is a likely 2020 presidential candidate, took a tour of the Jackson Houses in the Bronx. With a staff photographer. And press representatives.
“The situation we’ve seen is as upsetting and as disturbing as anything I’ve seen anywhere and I’ve been through the worst housing complexes all across this country,” Cuomo said. “It is just shocking that in New York State we would have people who are subjected to these conditions, and on behalf of the people of the State, I apologize to the NYCHA residents because they deserve better and they’ll get better.”
That statement arrived a couple of days after this gem of a tweet from Cuomo:
“Failing schools, NYCHA, Rikers, what do they all have in common? They have mostly minority populations and they are all being abused. I see my job as Governor to put my thumb on the scales for social justice.”
De Blasio and his pals were not happy. They almost grabbed their ball and threatened to go home.
“It’s like this guy hasn’t been the NY Governor, the top federal housing official, or an NYC prosecutor and state AG for three decades. He could help right now by fully funding city schools and keeping his promises on NYCHA and Rikers,” seething City Hall spokesman Eric Phillips wrote. “Or he could Tweet.”
So, who are the adults these days?
The answer is at once both sad and simple.
Cuomo, de Blasio, et al., please consider: Stop telling us what you’ve done, or how you think you’re going to do something. Shut up and do it.
Like an actual leader.
