Quotes from History
North Shore Mayor Andrew Williams writes in the Herald:
A former Governor of New York, Mario Cuomo, was asked for his views on the re-election chances of the incumbent Republican President. He smiled and said: “Fool me once, shame on you, but fool me twice, shame on me.”
That summed up what so many people were thinking over a myriad issues affecting the political future of the President. Cuomo delivered a powerful call to action to the millions disaffected with the Administration’s policies and performance.
Oh dear, Andrew wants this to be a story about how upset he is that his job has been abolished. But he should think about his political history better.
The Republican President Cuomo was commenting on was almost certainly Ronald Reagan in 1984. Reagan went on to win the election in the biggest landslide for many decades. In fact he was the second President since George Washington to win all but one state or better (Nixon did the same in 1972).
February 9th, 2010 at 8:21 am
If not for the super-city, the quote would be useful to the voters of North Shore when they had to decide whether to vote for Andrew Williams a second time.
February 9th, 2010 at 8:21 am
Andrew Williams, was he fit for purpose? Discuss.
February 9th, 2010 at 8:24 am
Cuomo seems to have given the quote in 1994, so he would have been referring to Bush Snr, who was only a one time president. Although the NYT article is slightly different from Williams’ context.
http://www.nytimes.com/1994/10/08/nyregion/the-1994-campaign-queens-voters-voters-give-cuomo-a-struggle-on-his-home-turf.html?pagewanted=1
[DPF: That quote is not about a President. The quote is of course an old proverb and has probably been said thousands of times by hundreds of politicians. I can't find any quote by Cuomo about a President, but his 1984 speech against Reagan is what made him famous so I think it is likely it was against Reagan]
February 9th, 2010 at 9:20 am
I wonder who really wrote this because I doubt it was Williams.
February 9th, 2010 at 9:30 am
Oh, and another thing.
Williams is bemoaning the fact that politicians have been removed from the running of businesses. His whinging on that issue says it all about him really.
February 9th, 2010 at 9:34 am
Gee I thought the quote was.
“Get arseholed and make incoherent phone calls late at night once and you are a shameful binge drinker. Get arseholed and make incoherent phone calls late at night more than once and you are a shameful alcoholic.”
What a fuckwit.
February 9th, 2010 at 9:37 am
>North Shore Mayor Andrew Williams writes in the Herald
Did he really write the article? Or did he txt it to them at 3am after drinking to excess and sending abusive e-mails to John Key, Rodney Hide, and Whale Oil?
February 9th, 2010 at 10:27 am
I seem to recall Cuomo saying something like the ‘fool me’ comment on CNN talking about Bush One. It kind of stuck in my mind, as I had not heard it before. I may be wrong about the detail.
February 9th, 2010 at 11:55 am
Wasn’t it dubya who said
“Fool me once, shame on you”
“Fool me twice …. uh uh uh … wont get fooled again”