(The Associated Press)
Put yourself in Gov. Cuomo’s shoes. He could sit around and play footsie with needy legislators, all the while looking over his shoulder to see if prosecutors are gaining on him. Or he could throw himself into the excitement of the manhunt for the two murderers who escaped from an upstate maximum-security prison.
What would you do?
With inexplicable stealth, the killers pulled off the impossible, making the whole situation incomprehensible.
Compare that to the dreary doings in Albany, where the crimes are mostly boring bribes. Once you’ve seen one stuffed envelope changing hands, you’ve seen ’em all. But a daring, nighttime bust out of prison — that’s drama Hollywood can appreciate. No wonder a beleaguered governor seized on the manhunt like a drowning man seizes a life jacket.
New York is screwed no matter which way it turns out, so we might as well watch the prison manhunt. At least that’s something new and exciting.
Suddenly, Cuomo gets to hold well-attended press conferences surrounded by uniformed law-enforcement. He goes on TV sounding like a latter-day J. Edgar Hoover, putting the drama in personal terms.
When NBC cited the taunting note the escaped cons left for correction officials, Cuomo said they “had a little bit of the comedian in them,” before adding,“But I plan on giving them back that note.”
Bang, bang, he killed the interview. Get the gov a fedora, a shoulder holster and put a notch on his plastic tommy gun.
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