Gov. Pat Quinn's stance on his administration's failed early prison release program: blame anyone or everyone but me.

Eight months ago, an embarrassed Gov. Pat Quinn pulled the plug on an early prison release program that had been revealed as a fiasco and appointed a commission to study the matter and report its findings.

Last week, the commission released its report, concluding the "MGT (meritorious good time) Push" program was a fiasco. In other words, it took eight months for investigators to tell the public what it already knew: a bureaucratic effort to save money by releasing prison inmates early degenerated into a mindless effort to show people out the door regardless of whether they had served any significant time behind bars or posed a threat to the public.

Retired appellate judge Dennis Erickson, chairman of the commission, described the effort as a "total failure."

"It failed in its basic purpose, which was to help rehabilitate, to protect the public, to deter crime."

If Gov. Quinn dodged a bullet with the report's finding, it was no accident and completely undeserved.

Quinn has been all over the lot about what he knew about MGT Push and when he knew it. His latest stance is that he knew nothing, even if his closest aides knew all about it, and that DOC Director Michael Randle, the designated fall guy, is completely to blame.

Hey, this is Illinois. Surely, you didn't expect real accountability.

The MGT Push program was one of two early release programs implemented at the same time, one announced publicly by Quinn that was aimed at releasing non-violent offenders approaching the end of their sentences. He said they would be closely monitored after their release to ensure public safety.

The second program, MGT Push, was not announced until the Associated Press, tipped off by sources inside the corrections department, reported that more than 1,000 inmates – many convicted of violent offenses – were being released by DOC almost as soon as they arrived to begin serving their sentence.

DOC justified the MGT releases by awarding six months of meritorious good time to inmates when they arrived, ignoring requirements that inmates have to earn their good time and must serve at least 61 days in prison before qualifying for good time. Under MGT Push, the good time was automatically granted and many inmates served only a few days in prison before being turned loose.

If the goal was to carefully select deserving inmates who could be returned to their communities with minimal risk, the reality was that mindless bureaucrats were simply pushing people out the door to reduce the state's prison population.

That's been tried before and proved a disaster before. If it's tried again sometime down the line, it will be another disaster. Bureaucracies trying to achieve conflicting goals (reduce population and ensure public safety) will always opt to achieve the easier of the goals (simply let people go).

In overseeing this maladministration of Illinois law, Quinn handed his electoral opponents a good issue.

Democratic state Comptroller Dan Hynes almost rode it to victory over Quinn in the Feb. 2 primary election. Now Republican Bill Brady is using MGT Push as evidence that Quinn is not up to the job as chief executive.

MGT Push is, of course, just one issue in a governor's race in which the state's precarious financial status is the top priority.

But Quinn has mishandled MGT Push from the start. He has been less than forthright in acknowledging what he knew and taking responsibility for it. Instead, he has heaped the blame on DOC Director Randle, the prison chief he personally hired for the job. But anyway one looks at it, Quinn dropped the ball.