Casey Seiler of the Times Union informs us that rumor is untrue:
Through his spokeswoman Melissa DeRosa, the governor said he passed the bar exam on his first try.
That account is backed up by many things, including the account of Gary Eisenman, who burst out laughing at the idea that Cuomo needed a fourth, third or even second attempt.
"That's ridiculous ... I lived through this with the guy," he said.
...
Both men took the exam, a two-part test divided between an essay portion and multiple-choice questions, in the Empire State Plaza Convention Center a few weeks after the review course ended. Mario Cuomo's top adviser and longtime confidante Fabian Palomino was able to find out their grades a few days early. Eisenman recalls that Cuomo had notched the state's second-highest score on the multiple-choice portion.
A Dec. 13, 1983, article in the Times noted Cuomo's passage ("I feel relieved. ... Thank God," he said). After flirting with an offer from a law firm, Cuomo went to work for the Manhattan district attorney's office the following April.
How did the "Cuomo failed the bar multiple times" rumor start?
It's possible that people mixed Cuomo up for the scion of another famous politician - John Kennedy Jr., who did fail the bar a couple of times before finally passing it.
In any case, I'm glad to hear that Cuomo passed the bar on his first attempt and "notched the state's second-highest score on the multiple-choice portion."
As I tweeted to one of Cuomo's flying attack monkeys, who was busy throwing some snark at another tweeter, Cuomo's law expertise will come in handy:
@melissadderosa @SeanPCollins Good to hear about bar exam. Andy will need that law knowledge when Preet comes #3rdAmigo
— rbe (@perdidostschool) May 3, 2015
The day before the US attorney arrested former Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver on corruption charges in January, Cuomo declared Silver, Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos and himself the "Three Amigos"
Cuomo threw some light-hearted moments into his joint State of the State address/ budget presentation on Wednesday, showing a cartoonish version of the trio as "The Three Amigos" going off on an adventure together.
The next day one of the amigos, Sheldon Silver, was arrested on corruption charges.
This week, the second amigo, Dean Skelos, is set to be arrested on corruption charges.
The third amigo - as you can see from the following video indictment - has his own legal problems:
@maddow Cuomo = last of the 3 men in a room as Preet Bharara puts it. If NY is corruption hell, Cuomo is its Devil http://t.co/SRhWnDZo19
— Cuomo Watch (@CuomoWatch) May 2, 2015
I really am glad to hear Cuomo was such a legal whiz on his bar exam - especially the standardized test component.That knowledge and expertise truly will come in handy when the US attorney comes calling for the third amigo.
Very different note here...though I must say that the story of AC failing the Bar 4x's did make me at least think he was a human at one point. Now I'm left with the thought: the douschy-prick son of the Governor passes bar with flying colors......of course! Who knows if he even took it. What's the point of being the douschy-prick son on the governor if you have to actually sit for the damn bar exam!!??
ReplyDeleteAnyhow, RBE....over on Ravitch's blog there is convo starting about how we should be pushing for (and agreeing with Tisch) a delay in the new eval plan. Folks over there think that is a great idea. They don't think making Cuomo own the shit show is a path to victory. They are the reason we will lose....that type of thinking. We need to push back against this idea within our own ranks. I say make em implement soon and them do everything in our power to force Cuomo to own it. We can't play nice.
http://dianeravitch.net/2015/05/03/editorial-time-to-hit-reset-button-on-teacher-evaluation-in-new-york/#comments
Yes, I've been thinking about this. The quicker this is developed and implemented, the worse it will be and the quicker it will fall apart and, perhaps, take Andy down with it (if the feds haven't done that beforehand.)
DeleteAbsolutely. Allowing them a year will just make an awful eval plan that much more likely to stick and have successful 3020A's. it's ridiculous to think that a year of delay will help out side. Come on. I guess there are people that think victory on or side will come via the force of our arguments and the fact that all the real research is on our side. It won't! Nobody cares about the intellectual debate! We have to help them lose, not help them win. Period.
ReplyDeleteI am a big fan of, when other side is digging own grave, let them keep digging. A complex evaluation system to be developed and implemented on an unrealistic and artificial deadline set for political reasons? Have at it!
DeleteCuomo deserves a gold medal for most corrupt quid pro cuomo
ReplyDeletegovernor of NY state. Let Preet have his way with him!
Cuomo is the chief Devil of Greed!
ReplyDeleteBased upon his total ownership by Cheater School industry and his cozy relationship with large real estate interests I have begun referring to Lil"Mario as Andy Quid Pro Quomo.
DeletePreet is a pussy!
ReplyDeleteIt isn't so much Preet being a pussy as it is about connections. Politics is about connections. Hell, the law is about connections. Cuomo knows everybody and/or has shit on everybody. That is his true inheiritance...by the time he was 20 be knew every player in the state. By the time he was 30 he knew all the shit on people. Preet is a meritocratic US attorney. Cuomo is NYS political aristocracy. In these fights, connections matter.
ReplyDeleteSo I guess as teachers we are screwed!
DeleteGood for Cuomo. Wonder how he would have fared if the governor at the time told him not to worry about his exam score because it was just practice.
ReplyDeleteConsider the sources in this story--a Quid Pro Quomo buddy and a groveling Albany reporter. Even after Obama showed his birth certificate people refuse to believe he was not born in Kenya. I'm not buying this account yet--because Quid Pro Quomo is both a blockhead--and a son of privilege.
ReplyDeletegreat
ReplyDeleteWoah! That’s news. A lot of my friends also thought that he passed it after exhausting number of attempts. This is shocking! I have been preparing a lot for this. My friend and I have also started going for the Bar Review Courses and we are going to get a good score positively this time.
ReplyDelete