New York Note: Excelsior

 

Brouwerij Corsendonk, Turnhout, Belgium.

Just a note for the pleasure of having a scoop:

Following a lengthy statement of what sounded like his defense against a criminal case and followed by a less lengthy statement of what a great governor he's been (tbf there have been real accomplishments). And apology for "mistakes".

— CHANNEL YOUR PARANOIA (@Yastreblyansky) August 10, 2021

Excelsior!

— CHANNEL YOUR PARANOIA (@Yastreblyansky) August 10, 2021

"Excelsior!" (Higher! or Upwards!) is the official New York state motto, which he used in his peroration of thanks to New York for its heroic response to the Covid pandemic. It was weird, and it would indeed have been easy to miss the resignation bit, which had to do with how competent the lieutenant governor is (I thought he was talking about a temporary pull-back during the coming impeachment, which I think would be mandated under the state constitution) and the inevitable not wanting to be a "distraction" during this time of crisis with the Delta and all.

I'm certainly very glad, for all of us (including him!) and for the state's Democrats, who really shouldn't have to be thinking about him as we prepare for next year's election of—I hope—somebody else (on my radio, they're starting to wonder if he's planning to go on an apology tour and then run again—no! no! no!). 

And just for the fun of it, this peak New York Times fact check (caught by Matthew Yglesias):

One employee said she was concerned because she thought a vaccine had caused the characters in the film “I Am Legend” to turn into zombies. People opposed to vaccines have circulated that claim about the movie’s plot widely on social media. But the plague that turned people into zombies in the movie was caused by a genetically reprogrammed virus, not by a vaccine.

Also, some Twitter participant points out,  they turned into vampires, not zombies. BUT THAT'S NOT WHY THE EMPLOYEE SHOULD NOT HAVE BEEN CONCERNED. WHAT THE EMPLOYEE NEEDED TO KNOW WAS NOT THE DETAILS OF THE I AM LEGEND SCRIPT. THE EMPLOYEE NEEDED TO KNOW THAT NOBODY EVER TURNS INTO A ZOMBIE BECAUSE ZOMBIES DON'T EXIST! FFS.

It's so crazy how these people—Politifact is a frequent offender—seem to have no concept of what a fact check is meant to accomplish.