Is it nature or nurture? Psychologists have debated both theories near endlessly for decades. Around 400 B.C.E., Hippocrates believed human behaviors were simply biological. John Locke, the 17th Century philosopher, thought the brain began as a blank slate and proposed that people could be trained to do and become anything. Both nature and nurture are used almost entirely interchangeably by defense attorneys, leftists, and politicians. The Devil made him do it. It’s not his fault. He might be a sociopath, poor thing.
CNN’s darling Chris Cuomo might be attempting to follow in disgraced brother Andrew’s mirror-toed shoes. Instead, what has come to light – and to the delight of those Never-CNNers – is a bold-faced grope by little brother Chris of his former superior, ABC and CBS News executive producer Shelley Ross. According to Ms. Ross, who finally spilled the beans to The New York Times:
“I was at the party with my husband, who sat behind me on an ottoman sipping his Diet Coke as I spoke with work friends. When Mr. Cuomo entered the Upper West Side bar, he walked toward me and greeted me with a strong bear hug while lowering one hand to firmly grab and squeeze the cheek of my buttock.”
The incident occurred in 2005, and Cuomo, once forcefully shoved aside at said party, offered an apology. So, all is forgiven, right?
An Apology to Whom?
Mr. Cuomo emailed Ross almost immediately with his mea culpa – but was in fact apologizing to her husband. Yes, you read that right. Is there any more indirect way to insult the man after groping his wife in front of his face? He began the non-apology by saying he was “ashamed” in retrospect. And followed with the kind of drivel one has heard on other occasions from big bro Andrew:
“Christian Slater got arrested for a (kind of) similar act (though borne of an alleged negative intent, unlike my own) … and as a husband, I can empathize with not liking to see my wife patted as such. … So pass along my apology to your very good and noble husband.”
Chris Cuomo
Cuomo ended the apathetic missive saying “sorry” to put Ms. Ross in an awkward position and “Next time, I will remember the lesson, no matter how happy I am to see you.” What is wrong with this family? John Locke would have said they were trained this way.
Nature Or Nurture? Can It Be Both?
Big brother Andrew was hit with a multitude of women coming forward to tell their tales of gropes, kisses, and sexually charged conversations with their one-time boss. Investigators revealed they had corroborated the accounts of at least 11 women. One such gal was photographed being kissed on the lips after Andrew grabbed her face. The now-disgraced former New York governor fired back that it is his Italian genes that make him kiss random women.
But the older Cuomo’s lurid life buried once and for all his quest to be president of the United States and resulted in his slinking off the grounds of Gracie Mansion in shame and then resigning. He even had to give back his Emmy.
Is it the nature of hubris, the nurture of a false sense of untouchability, or the transparent inability to know right from wrong that seems to fit the Cuomo brothers like a custom-made Tom Ford suit? Will there be more accounts of sexual misconduct to dog this seemingly cursed – or perhaps just callous – family?
Perhaps their parents did not believe in the nurture of a solid spanking.
~ Read more from Sarah Cowgill
