The Squid and the Governor

From the depths of a roiling Sea of Division rises the purple octopus of Intolerance and the sea-dragon of Bigotry, swimming headlong into a sailing ship of Accomplishment, which is also being engulfed by crashing Squalls of Hate, upon which a squid of Government Incompetence surfs. Looking down upon this chaotic parable, just above a rainbow—sorry, above The Arc of the Moral Universe—is Governor Andrew Cuomo of New York State. He is smiling as if to say, “I feverishly drew this at my dining room table at 1 a.m.”

This is not an acid-fueled Albany-set remake of the Phantom Tollbooth. It’s a visual representation of the boat-loving governor’s 10th annual State of the State goals. As New York heads into what Cuomo has described as a particularly turbulent year, the governor’s office handed the poster out to lawmakers and others last week as a way of explaining that “New York is sailing through choppy waters of racism and uncertainty, but what matters are the accomplishments,” the New York State of Politics reported.