Thanks to the election of President Trump, we are in the midst of a process I call "the great unmasking."  American leftists and progressives have, until President Trump, gone out of their way to hide their disdain for this country and its (mostly) free-market economy.  They are enraged that everything is not perfect by their lights and imagine that they could produce a much better system if only they had absolute power.  

Because the deplorables out there in the American public still cling to patriotism (ever since Karl Marx, the left has disdained nationalism as obstructing worldwide proletarian class solidarity), progressive politicians have hidden their disdain.

But Donald Trump's election has engendered a mass neurosis we call "Trump Derangement Syndrome," which has engendered a frenzy to be rid of him.  Frenzied is never a good mode of action, for it blinds one to obvious pitfalls.

That's why yesterday, the governor of New York, speaking to a friendly group, let slip a genuine gaffe, in the meaning of Michael Kinsley's definition: accidentally telling the truth.  Nobody could ever state in public that America "was never that great" unless he believed that.  That's why the expression has a ring of sincerity when Cuomo uttered those words.  Watch and see for yourself:

President Trump, who is well aware of the opportunity his opponents' frenzy creates, responded:

“WE’RE NOT GOING TO MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN, IT WAS NEVER THAT GREAT.” Can you believe this is the Governor of the Highest Taxed State in the U.S., Andrew Cuomo, having a total meltdown!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 16, 2018

Cuomo's aides, if not the guv himself, realized the gravity of the gaffe.

Within hours, his spokeswoman tried walking it back.  "The Governor believes America is great and that her full greatness will be fully realized when every man, woman, and child has full equality.  America has not yet reached its maximum potential," Cuomo's press secretary, Dani Lever, said in a statement.  "When the President speaks about making America great again – going back in time – he ignores the pain so many endured and that we suffered from slavery, discrimination, segregation, sexism and marginalized women's contributions.  The Governor believes that when everyone is fully included and everyone is contributing to their maximum potential, that is when America will achieve maximum greatness."

I suppose that the reason Cuomo did this through an aide is because he fears being asked to apologize.  But the statement raises the question of what "full equality" means.  Do I finally get to be six feet tall?  How about athletic prowess?  Do I get to be equal to LeBron James?  If equality of outcome – which is what the left wants – is the goal, it is impossible.  We already have equality before the law, and equal rights.

These words will be attached to Andrew Cuomo for the rest of his life.  You can stick a fork in his national political ambitions.  They're done.