ANDREW CUOMO IS TO GAY MARRIAGE WHAT RON PAUL IS TO ANTI-INTERVENTIONISM

Every time Ron Paul talks about our current wars and the need to terminate them as soon as humanly possible, I find myself wanting to cheer; every time he talks about any other issue at all, I cradle my head in my hands and moan.

Substitute Andrew Cuomo for Ron Paul, and gay marriage for war, and I basically feel the same way about my governor:

The Cuomo administration is expected to lift what has been, in effect, a moratorium on hydraulic fracturing, a controversial technology used to extract natural gas from shale, people briefed on the administration’s discussions said on Thursday.

Administration officials are discussing maintaining a ban on the process inside New York City's sprawling upstate watershed, as well as a watershed used by the city of Syracuse, according to people briefed on the plan. But by allowing the process in other parts of the state, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo would open up New York to one of the fastest-growing -- critics would say reckless -- areas of the energy industry....

Hydrofracking has spurred intense protests from environmental activists, who say it threatens the cleanliness of ground water....

It isn't just the fracking. There's a lot more to dislike about the guy if you're a progressive, as Eric Alterman recently noted:

The same liberal Democrat who fights for gay marriage is presiding over a budget agreement that will cost New York City schools 2,600 teachers, 600 more than estimated, and lay off 1,000 city workers, many of whom work in health care for the poor, at a time when the need for both could hardly be greater. Cuomo, who one must sometimes remind oneself, is a Democrat, also fought tooth and nail to ensure the death of New York's millionaire tax, at exactly the moment when its proceeds might have been able to prevent exactly the kinds of cuts described above. In his willingness to play "bulldog for the rich," as Michael Powell puts it, he is distinguishable from Roger Ailes' favorite politician, right-wing New Jersey Governor Chris Christie only in degree, rather than in kind.

And if you can judge a guy by his friends, here are some of Cuomo's:

"Looking for a tax-cutting, budget-slashing, fiscally conservative governor? How about Andrew Cuomo?" wrote the Cato Institute's Michael Tanner back in February.

"Cuomo's performance thus far has advanced the cause of limited government in the Empire State far more than did his past three predecessors," enthused Deroy Murdock in April.

Cuomo in 2016? Reihan Salam can get down with that. "Imagine a presidential election pitting a budget-cutting Democratic governor against a budget-cutting Republican governor," Salam wrote. "That would be, in my view, an excellent outcome for fiscal conservatives."

Even Carl Paladino has praised Cuomo.

So if he's the 2016 candidate against Chris Christie, update your passport.