Cuomo, Democrats, and the politics of personal conduct

On Day One as president, Joe Biden laid down a marker for anyone working in his White House: Treat one another with respect, or “I will fire you on the spot.”

“We have to restore the soul of this country,” he added, a not-so-subtle dig at his predecessor.

Indeed, less than a month later, a senior member of the Biden press team was asked to resign over his use of sexually crude, threatening language toward a female reporter. But in a larger sense, the president’s plea for civility...