Madmallard
.223 Rem
The Rev. Peter Young is a regional hero, a street priest who has fought the plague of addiction and impacted, no exaggeration, thousands of lives.
Robert A. Kent, meanwhile, is another cog in the Cuomo bully machine, a general counsel paid $156,000 last year and a longtime state bureaucrat now working for the Office of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Services.
If I'm choosing between the two, I'm siding with the Roman Catholic priest every time — even before considering what Kent said to Young at a meeting last summer, as reported in last Sunday's Times Union.
"We are sick of you. We should have put you out of business years ago," Kent said, according to people at the July meeting. "The state does not want to do f---ing business with you people. This is f---ing over ... No mistake, I speak on behalf of the state of New York."
If that doesn't make you angry, you've lost the ability to be outraged. You've lived around Albany for too long and seen too much from state government.
It would be bad enough if Kent had treated an ordinary citizen that way. It's beyond outrageous that such invective was directed at an 86-year-old priest — a priest! — who has been helping addicts since Andrew Cuomo was in diapers.
f the governor had any decency, he would have already fired or disciplined Kent. And don't think Cuomo just didn't know: His office was made aware months ago that Kent had berated Young.
Kent should certainly should be fired now — as is being demanded by state Sen. Jim Tedisco, a Republican from Glenville.
"Mr. Kent was representing the state," Tedisco told me Friday. "It's totally inappropriate to use that kind of language — not just toward a member of the clergy, but to anybody he's dealing with."
That's exactly right. But let's not pile all the blame on Kent. No state official would speak that way without feeling empowered to do so from the top. Cuomo sets the example his minions follow.
Anyone familiar with how Albany works in these dismal Cuomo years knows Kent's bullying, dismissive and downright obnoxious tone toward Young has become par for the course. Incivility is the new normal. The guy in charge wants it that way.
If you doubt it, consider that the governor hasn't said a peep about Young's treatment. Nada. Zilch. Zippo. If it weren't for the two feet of snow on the ground, you could hear the crickets. Young hasn't even received a simple apology.
The silence amounts to a tacit approval of Kent's behavior. Who knows, the lawyer may have even received a gubernatorial pat on the back. Kentie, you're doing a heckuva job! Or something like that.
Kent did not respond to requests for comment. A Cuomo spokesman said only that "the matter is under review and another agency representative has been assigned to work with (Young's) organization."
I don't know Young, but you can't live around here without hearing accolades for the priest's work.
"Father Young has saved more lives, I would venture to say, than almost anybody in this state, including mine," John Sweeney, a former GOP congressman whose battles with alcoholism are well known, said days ago on Fred Dicker's radio show.
Churchill: In Cuomo's Albany, even Father Young gets bullied
Robert A. Kent, meanwhile, is another cog in the Cuomo bully machine, a general counsel paid $156,000 last year and a longtime state bureaucrat now working for the Office of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Services.
If I'm choosing between the two, I'm siding with the Roman Catholic priest every time — even before considering what Kent said to Young at a meeting last summer, as reported in last Sunday's Times Union.
"We are sick of you. We should have put you out of business years ago," Kent said, according to people at the July meeting. "The state does not want to do f---ing business with you people. This is f---ing over ... No mistake, I speak on behalf of the state of New York."
If that doesn't make you angry, you've lost the ability to be outraged. You've lived around Albany for too long and seen too much from state government.
It would be bad enough if Kent had treated an ordinary citizen that way. It's beyond outrageous that such invective was directed at an 86-year-old priest — a priest! — who has been helping addicts since Andrew Cuomo was in diapers.
f the governor had any decency, he would have already fired or disciplined Kent. And don't think Cuomo just didn't know: His office was made aware months ago that Kent had berated Young.
Kent should certainly should be fired now — as is being demanded by state Sen. Jim Tedisco, a Republican from Glenville.
"Mr. Kent was representing the state," Tedisco told me Friday. "It's totally inappropriate to use that kind of language — not just toward a member of the clergy, but to anybody he's dealing with."
That's exactly right. But let's not pile all the blame on Kent. No state official would speak that way without feeling empowered to do so from the top. Cuomo sets the example his minions follow.
Anyone familiar with how Albany works in these dismal Cuomo years knows Kent's bullying, dismissive and downright obnoxious tone toward Young has become par for the course. Incivility is the new normal. The guy in charge wants it that way.
If you doubt it, consider that the governor hasn't said a peep about Young's treatment. Nada. Zilch. Zippo. If it weren't for the two feet of snow on the ground, you could hear the crickets. Young hasn't even received a simple apology.
The silence amounts to a tacit approval of Kent's behavior. Who knows, the lawyer may have even received a gubernatorial pat on the back. Kentie, you're doing a heckuva job! Or something like that.
Kent did not respond to requests for comment. A Cuomo spokesman said only that "the matter is under review and another agency representative has been assigned to work with (Young's) organization."
I don't know Young, but you can't live around here without hearing accolades for the priest's work.
"Father Young has saved more lives, I would venture to say, than almost anybody in this state, including mine," John Sweeney, a former GOP congressman whose battles with alcoholism are well known, said days ago on Fred Dicker's radio show.
Churchill: In Cuomo's Albany, even Father Young gets bullied
