Cuomo's Maximum Security Failure

Tonight, there's gonna be a jailbreak, somewhere in the town. Tonight there's gonna be a jailbreak, so don't you be around.  Don't you be around. ~Philip Parris Lynott

So went the lyrics to the Thin Lizzy classic, and so was the case in the northern New York town of Dannemora, home of the Clinton Correctional Facility last Friday.

The prison, the largest and third oldest maximum security prison in NY, hadn't had an escape before -- and this one was a doozie.  Two murderers, heinous criminals, cut through steel and brick walls, made it through a steam pipe and along a rarely used catwalk, then cut through a chain and lock before popping up from a manhole cover outside the prison walls.  And left a note encouraging those who found it to "have a nice day."

One would be hard-pressed to think anything other than these guys had an angel on the inside, someone who at the very least facilitated getting them the power tools they used, if not more than that. It's hard to imagine how they could have had the time to do that much work, without making any noise, and without attracting any attention. Someone -- guards, other prisoners, contractors -- someone had to know something.

The State has offered a $100,000 reward for the apprehension of both men, or $50,000 each, which is almost as extraordinary as the prison break itself.

And the news media has been all over the trip made by Andrew Cuomo, New York's Sonofa Gov, to Dannemora, where he largely traced the path the convicts did in their escape. Cuomo had been keeping a fairly light schedule of late, instead spending time with his long-time partner Sandra Lee, who is undergoing treatment for breast cancer.

One member of the media who was not impressed with Cuomo's trip was a semi-local afternoon radio talk show host here in Syracuse (I say semi local because the same guy does four hours in the morning at a station in Rochester, "here's the deal" insert fake voice here). The talker today placed blame for the prison break (and all related activities including multiple rapes, robberies and homicides of ordinary people or law enforcement officials which the escapees may have already committed or may commit in the future before they get caught) directly on the shoulders of the governor.

That's right. It's the Governor's fault.

• It doesn't have anything to do with the two guys themselves, who figured out a plan, and apparently found someone to assist them.
• It doesn't have anything to do with the people who work at the prison, whether Department of Corrections employees or contractors, who likely provided the tools, maybe a map of the prison's underbelly, and whatever type of distractions or 'cover' were needed during the time at which the guys were cutting their way out.  
• It doesn't have anything to do with people who might currently be hiding the convicts, if that's the case.  

Nope, it's the Sonofa Gov's fault because he's 'in charge' of the Department of Corrections.

If the escapees get apprehended on the NYS Thruway, would Cuomo get credit for that, since he's 'in charge' of the Thruway Authority?  Or if the NY State Police apprehend these guys, that's because of Cuomo, right? He's 'in charge' of the state police, after all.

I'm not Andrew Cuomo's biggest fan, but this one's not on him.  Place the blame where the blame lies.

Oh - and have a nice day.