* Remember this comment by Sen. Rickey Hendon during the campaign?…
“I’ve never served with such an idiotic, racist, sexist, homophobic person in my life,” Hendon said before introducing Gov. Quinn. “If you think that the minimum wage needs to be three dollars an hour, vote for Bill Brady. If you think that women have no rights whatsoever, except to have his children, vote for Bill Brady. If you think gay and lesbian people need to be locked up and shot in the head, vote for Bill Brady.”
* Well, during the debate on the civil unions bill yesterday, Hendon claimed that he had attempted to apologize to Sen. Brady and was rebuffed. Watch…
“He just said I want to apologize, and I said, ‘Rickey, you know, you can’t apologize for that,’ ” Brady said. “That’s not something you apologize your way out of.”
Classless or justified?
* Sen. Hendon’s full floor speech on the civil unions bill is getting mad hits on YouTube. Watch…
We’ll have more videos a bit later.
* Brady, by the way, has not shied away from criticizing Gov. Pat Quinn. From Medill Reports…
Quinn “talks about cutting spending, but we have yet to see him do it,” Brady said in an interview in his Bloomington office. “His tax increases, I think, are going to further erode the economic job environment. He’s got some policies that aren’t going to help Illinois’s economy.”
Brady, who was sharply critical of Quinn’s leadership abilities during the campaign, said he doubts that Quinn has the muscle or moxie to manage tense relations with Senate President John Cullerton (D) and House Speaker Michael Madigan (D).
“The infighting has put our state in a bad position the past couple years,” Brady said. “Governor Quinn has yet proven to have the skill to… lead. So it will be interesting to see.” […]
Three weeks after the election, Brady and Quinn met for lunch at Manny’s Deli in the South Loop.
Among the topics, Brady said, was “the backlog of unpaid bills. The governor’s got to lead on fiscal discipline. He can’t let legislature do it and talk about making Illinois’ business climate conducive for job growth.”
Brady also said he would run for reelection in two years, then consider another bid for governor. He also admitted that Scott Lee Cohen may have cost him the election by taking protest votes away from him.
* Related…
* Hendon pledges to tone down after hypertension diagnosis
55 Comments
- UnionsWonItForQuinn - Thursday, Dec 2, 10 @ 9:26 am:
Good for Brady. No need to let Hendon off the hook like so many others have over the years. Such hateful words are spoken way too often in politics, and those who say them think they can simply apologize, and everyone will let it go. Sometimes you just have to live with your mistakes.
- CircularFiringSquad - Thursday, Dec 2, 10 @ 9:28 am:
Let’s repeat..Brady believes he is entitled to the GOP nominatin in 4 years. Yikes.
Is the right time that the media should take the pledge, treat Hendon as the mope that he is and quit reporting the nonsense?
Justified. While that sort of rhetoric is good for firing up the troops it’s damaging to politics on the whole. There’re many legitimate reasons poor people don’t trust Republicans, poisoning the well with hyperbole doesn’t help at all.
Well, by the end of this month, we should have a better idea of the true status of that backlog of unpaid bills, as well as a better idea of what the Quinn admin actually cut last fy.
I’m also wondering about the status of those savings that AFSCME was going to find in exchange for their no-layoff deal until mid-2012 (at least, could be longer if Quinn is still feeling obligated to them during contract negotiations).
And then there were those cuts that the agencies were going to make. How are those coming. Have they actually happened or are they still in the
“brainstorming” stage, hoping for the billions a nice big state income tax increase will bring in.
Brady’s comments seem pretty tame to me. We need
a principled opposition to regularly examine Quinn’s budget activities, including a continuing analysis of whether he is keeping promises already made. If Brady doesn’t fill that role, who?
- Living in Oklahoma - Thursday, Dec 2, 10 @ 9:44 am:
Justified. Rickey Hendon is the poster child for everything that is wrong with Illinois politics. You can’t go that far over the top and then expect Bill Brady to accept a few crocodile tears. The only thing classless is that Hendon has the gall to talk about his rebuffed apology on the Senate Floor. It is all about Rickey all the time, better hope that federal investigation doesn’t get too much traction Rickey.
I suppose its justified, but it’s also one of those things that doesn’t do much to really bridge the gaps between Dems and Reps. Just an ugly situation Sen. Hendon created if you ask me.
- Don't Worry, Be Happy - Thursday, Dec 2, 10 @ 9:46 am:
Every now and then Rickey comes up with a good one, but they are far outweighed by all his other actions. He hates politics?? He loves it and thrives on it more than anyone around. The only hypocrisy here is that Hendon has somehow become the hero and face for the passage of this bill. Congrats to Greg Harris and Dave Koehler for getting this done!
Great to see that for once, somebody is not demanding an apology. Time to man-up. Certain things are wrong and apologizing doesn’t fix it.
The Democrats of Hendon’s district should have voted him out long ago, and they should vote against his stooge that is running for City Clerk. Hendon is a everything wrong with politics today. Nice to see that at least one person is not going to accept it.
Two zen monks were traveling. They came to a ford of a stream that was running high, and the current was strong and frightening looking. An attractive young lady was standing at the ford, looking nervous. She clearly was afraid to cross, but had an important reason to go. Without a word, the older of the two monks lifted her in his arms and waded across the stream, and placed her safely on the far bank. The younger monk looked shocked at this action, but kept his silence for quite some number of miles as they continued their journey. Finally, he blurted out “You know that it is against the rules of our order to have any contact with women. How could you do that?”.
The older monk replied “I put her down when I reached the other side of the river. You, on the other hand, have been carrying her this whole way.”
I’m with brady, “Hollywood” went gutter. He also notes legislators “cheating on their wives”, he want to provide names on that or is this more uneducated dreck from this dude?
My politics happen to be much closer to Hendon’s than Brady’s. That said, Brady was right on this one. “Hammer” had it right–it’s damaging to the body politic as a whole.
- Normal Redefined - Thursday, Dec 2, 10 @ 10:14 am:
Wait … didn’t Brady call on Pat Quinn to apologize not just to him but to the state of Illinois for Hendon’s comments during the campaign? But now he says Rickey can’t apologize for his comments? So, was the clarion call for the campaign apology just political?
Seriously … at some point Bill Brady needs to stop licking his wounds and start doing his job as State Senator. Some of us in his district would appreciate it.
And shore … Hendon doesn’t need to provide names of legislators womanizing and cheating … his comment wasn’t for US to know who they were, it was to point out to THEM the hypocrisy of some of their statements and positions about the sanctity of marriage. The ones who he was referring to know who they were. And at fear of being banned, I won’t comment any further on that.
In the past, insults like Ricky’s led to duels and fights between political opponents. Luckily, and thankfully, those days are over because Brady has every right to ignore Ricky now and in the future. Certainly, Brady doesn’t believe the sincerity of the apology (who does). Ricky would be lucky if Brady doesn’t take some sort of political vendetta against this racist fool.
- Can't Say My Nickname - Thursday, Dec 2, 10 @ 10:18 am:
Rickey says he is a Christian and prays every night. Christians don’t talk smack about other people like he did Brady. Rickey needs to practice what he preaches. Brady is a good man and I wouldn’t accept Rickey’s lame apology either. Rickey better keep praying that federal investigation doesn’t “kick it up” a notch.
=And shore … Hendon doesn’t need to provide names of legislators womanizing and cheating … his comment wasn’t for US to know who they were, it was to point out to THEM the hypocrisy of some of their statements and positions about the sanctity of marriage.=
Whew. That’s a relief. Wasn’t there speculation that Blago was planning to do that at one point as well? And one of the responses was to call on women to pack up their camping gear and head straight for Blago’s front lawn in protest.
Defending the sanctity of marriage is quite difficult when people insist on sticking their noses into someone else’s, isn’t it?
- Normal Redefined - Thursday, Dec 2, 10 @ 10:25 am:
And … for those, including Brady, who say that’s not something you can apologize your way out of … what IS one to do to make amends. I’d love to hear your ideas.
Well I suspect something more than a private, “sorry I said you wanted to kill gays” after the election would have been a good start.
Also doesnanyone think if someone had said something that inflammatory about Rickey that he would have been happy with a private apology after the election?
“Ricky would be lucky if Brady doesn’t take some sort of political vendetta”
What’s Bradt going to do, Cincy? Round up the 20% of the GOP that voted for Brady? Wake up, Cincy. Your guy lost, and in the context, badly. Seriously, any of the others in the GOP primary would have won the general by 10. But not Brady. He has no power.
And David reminds me of Brady’s original childish “demand for apology.” I retract my prior comment. He wanted one? Now accept it. And at the same time, we all would do well to stop acting like toddlers yelling “SAY SORRY!” every time our feelings are the slightest bit hurt.
I agree with those who say Brady is justified in rebuffing Hendon’s “apology.” Hendon was a jerk to say such incendiary things right before the election and if he was TRULY apologetic, he could have apologized before the election. And if he wasn’t going to apologize until after the election, the least he could have done was publicly apologize - not publicly announce that his apology was rebuffed. I agree with Solomon - I find it very hard to believe that apology was sincere.
Really, is there anyone on the face of the earth who believes Hollywood actually was sincere in his apology? I find it amusing that there actually are people who would be critical of Brady for not going along with this charade. Come on. Let’s drop the partisanship long enough to acknowledge reality.
And by the way, Cincy, didn’t we learn from Hendon’s comments and the universal condemnation that calling somebody racist is bad? Apparently you didn’t learn that lesson.
You know, Hendon’s comments were way out of line. But Brady could have shown a magnanimous side, telling Hendon his comments were wrong and hurtful and irresponsible.
Instead, they guy who can’t stop telling us about his Catholic faith declined to forgive a man who, sincerely or not, sought to apologize for his wrongdoing.
Hendon follows up a completely classless rant several weeks ago with a classless move on the Senate floor. Brady did the right thing. If I’m Bill, I never give the loud mouth jerk the time of day. Ever.
For the first time, I’m with Brady. Hendon’s comments were way over the top, and were out of bounds even during an emotional campaign. A simple “sah-ree” — followed by an “I SAID I was SORRY” — is simply not enough.
Too late to apologize. It would have been more meaningful if done before the election. Hendons pre-election tirade was all scripted anyway by Ricky. Brady did the right thing by telling him to take a walk.
===Ricky would be lucky if Brady doesn’t take some sort of political vendetta against this racist fool.===
First of all, it is Rickey, not Ricky. Secondly, don’t make me laugh. What is Brady going to do? Hendon is a Cook County member of the majority leadership. Brady is a downstate back-bencher from the minority. He could spit in Rickey’s coffee, but that’s about it.
Oh I don’t know Obamarama, they could wrestle on the Senate floor! Las Vegas would have Brady as a heavy, heavy favorite. I think a lot of people would love to see Rickey(correct spealling) get his!
I don’t think so Wally. Hendon is small but he’s quick and wirey and knows how to sucker punch. Does anyone really think he cares if Brady accepts his apology. Rickey’s a hero back home. Brady barely carried his own disrtrict.
=== And … for those, including Brady, who say that’s not something you can apologize your way out of … what IS one to do to make amends. I’d love to hear your ideas.===
Hendon should hold a press conference and publically apologize to Brady and the citizens of Illinois, and discuss how distructive his intemperate remarks were… and how we need to strive to have more civil discourse in politics - even when we strongly disagree. Then he should back that up with consistent action. If he did that, it would seem that his apology was sincere.
Could those of you who say Brady was right please explain how that is reconciled with his demand for an apology? When I posted, I didn’t realize Brady had made the demand.
If you demand an apology, aren’t you obligated to accept one if offered?
- South Side Mike - Thursday, Dec 2, 10 @ 1:09 pm:
Skeeter et al,
The apology demand was an apology from Quinn, not Hendon. An apology from Quinn was desired to get Quinn to say whether he agreed with Hendon’s bigoted remarks and, if not, why did he stand there, accept Hendon’s introduction, and not rebut it when he got up to speak. There was no demand for an apology from Hendon.
- south if mason dixon - Thursday, Dec 2, 10 @ 1:26 pm:
Bradyneeds to give it up! He had his chance in the primary four years ago and lost. He won the primary this time because the GOP couldn’t get their ducks in a row…and he lost un unloseable general election. Time to move on Bill and give someone else a chance!
The result of the public apology by Hendon is that Hendon has cleared his conscience of this matter, while Brady can continue to stew over it. That is not going to bother Hendon one bit.
Accept the apology, Brady, and act like a man.
Brady handled it correctly. The apology didn’t sound sincere. Bringing it up publicly was pretty crass as well. Accepting that type of lame apology in the face of such ugly behavior only enables such future behavior.
Hendon needs to man up and show that he’s truly sorry, not just mutter the words or posture.
Politics is a contact sport. Brady can’t complain about being attacked when his views were rejected by so many downstate Republican voters.
- 23 Years & Counting - Thursday, Dec 2, 10 @ 9:04 pm:
As the top Democrat in IL, Quinn should have said something at the point Hendon made those remarks. Rabid, crazy garbage has no place in statesmanship. As so many others have said, wrong is wrong, even if it’s coming from a fellow Democrat.
I don’t blame Brady a bit for refusing to take a private apology.
- 23 Years & Counting - Thursday, Dec 2, 10 @ 9:20 pm:
Mr. Schnorf –
From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian –
The term “Christian” is also used adjectivally to describe anything associated with Christianity, or in a proverbial sense “all that is noble, and good, and Christ-like.”
In no form or fashion was Sen. Hendon’s rant noble, good or anything Jesus Christ would have said. That was the point.
Hendon is all about Hendon, and nothing else. He represents the worst of Illinois politics and does not do credit to the solemnity of that august chamber. By the fact of his presence in it, you have to give him some measure of credit for tactical cunning and ambition, in his ability to get elected. He is effective. But nothing about how he does it seems very honorable. He gets his share of admiration in the same way a hockey team “enforcer” gets admired by some for high-sticking and neck-punching the clean players. Hendon is a mercenary in every sense of the word, and his loyalty is as constant as his feigned contriteness to Brady. I know you’re supposed to turn the other cheek to people like that, shake hands, and move on, but that assumes the offender is ALSO moving on. See, Hendon doesn’t mean the apology; never did, and never will. The apology is just another tactic. You can get this out of his own book. If the apology is not really an apology, I don’t take Brady to task for not accepting it. Sincerity and Hendon are diametric opposites. Hendon will read this, and won’t be bothered by it at all… too busy counting how many times his name appears. In this sense, he has a lot of the characteristics of his onetime friend Blago. I would say Hendon is smarter than Blago, but otherwise a brother from another mother.
- UnionsWonItForQuinn - Thursday, Dec 2, 10 @ 9:26 am:
Good for Brady. No need to let Hendon off the hook like so many others have over the years. Such hateful words are spoken way too often in politics, and those who say them think they can simply apologize, and everyone will let it go. Sometimes you just have to live with your mistakes.
- CircularFiringSquad - Thursday, Dec 2, 10 @ 9:28 am:
Let’s repeat..Brady believes he is entitled to the GOP nominatin in 4 years. Yikes.
Is the right time that the media should take the pledge, treat Hendon as the mope that he is and quit reporting the nonsense?
- hammer - Thursday, Dec 2, 10 @ 9:28 am:
Justified. While that sort of rhetoric is good for firing up the troops it’s damaging to politics on the whole. There’re many legitimate reasons poor people don’t trust Republicans, poisoning the well with hyperbole doesn’t help at all.
- Solomon - Thursday, Dec 2, 10 @ 9:29 am:
If Hendon has to publicly announce his apology and Brady’s brushoff, then the apology was probably not sincere in the first place.
- He Makes Ryan Look Like a Saint - Thursday, Dec 2, 10 @ 9:30 am:
Hendon crossed the line. Brady was justified. It is a good thing that Brady didn’t punch him in the mouth!
Perhaps Hendon needs to look at himself in the mirror when he talks about idiotic, racist, and sexist
- cassandra - Thursday, Dec 2, 10 @ 9:32 am:
Well, by the end of this month, we should have a better idea of the true status of that backlog of unpaid bills, as well as a better idea of what the Quinn admin actually cut last fy.
I’m also wondering about the status of those savings that AFSCME was going to find in exchange for their no-layoff deal until mid-2012 (at least, could be longer if Quinn is still feeling obligated to them during contract negotiations).
And then there were those cuts that the agencies were going to make. How are those coming. Have they actually happened or are they still in the
“brainstorming” stage, hoping for the billions a nice big state income tax increase will bring in.
Brady’s comments seem pretty tame to me. We need
a principled opposition to regularly examine Quinn’s budget activities, including a continuing analysis of whether he is keeping promises already made. If Brady doesn’t fill that role, who?
- Living in Oklahoma - Thursday, Dec 2, 10 @ 9:44 am:
Justified. Rickey Hendon is the poster child for everything that is wrong with Illinois politics. You can’t go that far over the top and then expect Bill Brady to accept a few crocodile tears. The only thing classless is that Hendon has the gall to talk about his rebuffed apology on the Senate Floor. It is all about Rickey all the time, better hope that federal investigation doesn’t get too much traction Rickey.
- MKA1985 - Thursday, Dec 2, 10 @ 9:46 am:
I suppose its justified, but it’s also one of those things that doesn’t do much to really bridge the gaps between Dems and Reps. Just an ugly situation Sen. Hendon created if you ask me.
- Don't Worry, Be Happy - Thursday, Dec 2, 10 @ 9:46 am:
Every now and then Rickey comes up with a good one, but they are far outweighed by all his other actions. He hates politics?? He loves it and thrives on it more than anyone around. The only hypocrisy here is that Hendon has somehow become the hero and face for the passage of this bill. Congrats to Greg Harris and Dave Koehler for getting this done!
- Skeeter - Thursday, Dec 2, 10 @ 9:50 am:
Great to see that for once, somebody is not demanding an apology. Time to man-up. Certain things are wrong and apologizing doesn’t fix it.
The Democrats of Hendon’s district should have voted him out long ago, and they should vote against his stooge that is running for City Clerk. Hendon is a everything wrong with politics today. Nice to see that at least one person is not going to accept it.
- chiatty - Thursday, Dec 2, 10 @ 10:00 am:
I’m with Skeeter on this one. An apology is meaningless given the baseness of the insults he foolishly delivered.
- Oneman - Thursday, Dec 2, 10 @ 10:02 am:
I found it ironic the author of Backstabbers complained about politics.
There is some stuff in the public realm that require more than a private apology, Rickey’s comments were one of them
- Anonymous - Thursday, Dec 2, 10 @ 10:05 am:
Two zen monks were traveling. They came to a ford of a stream that was running high, and the current was strong and frightening looking. An attractive young lady was standing at the ford, looking nervous. She clearly was afraid to cross, but had an important reason to go. Without a word, the older of the two monks lifted her in his arms and waded across the stream, and placed her safely on the far bank. The younger monk looked shocked at this action, but kept his silence for quite some number of miles as they continued their journey. Finally, he blurted out “You know that it is against the rules of our order to have any contact with women. How could you do that?”.
The older monk replied “I put her down when I reached the other side of the river. You, on the other hand, have been carrying her this whole way.”
- shore - Thursday, Dec 2, 10 @ 10:06 am:
I’m with brady, “Hollywood” went gutter. He also notes legislators “cheating on their wives”, he want to provide names on that or is this more uneducated dreck from this dude?
- Oneman - Thursday, Dec 2, 10 @ 10:13 am:
Shore, he also talked about legislators “on the down low” which has a very specific meaning.
Stay classy Ricky
- RFK fan - Thursday, Dec 2, 10 @ 10:13 am:
My politics happen to be much closer to Hendon’s than Brady’s. That said, Brady was right on this one. “Hammer” had it right–it’s damaging to the body politic as a whole.
- Normal Redefined - Thursday, Dec 2, 10 @ 10:14 am:
Wait … didn’t Brady call on Pat Quinn to apologize not just to him but to the state of Illinois for Hendon’s comments during the campaign? But now he says Rickey can’t apologize for his comments? So, was the clarion call for the campaign apology just political?
Seriously … at some point Bill Brady needs to stop licking his wounds and start doing his job as State Senator. Some of us in his district would appreciate it.
And shore … Hendon doesn’t need to provide names of legislators womanizing and cheating … his comment wasn’t for US to know who they were, it was to point out to THEM the hypocrisy of some of their statements and positions about the sanctity of marriage. The ones who he was referring to know who they were. And at fear of being banned, I won’t comment any further on that.
- Cincinnatus - Thursday, Dec 2, 10 @ 10:14 am:
In the past, insults like Ricky’s led to duels and fights between political opponents. Luckily, and thankfully, those days are over because Brady has every right to ignore Ricky now and in the future. Certainly, Brady doesn’t believe the sincerity of the apology (who does). Ricky would be lucky if Brady doesn’t take some sort of political vendetta against this racist fool.
- Can't Say My Nickname - Thursday, Dec 2, 10 @ 10:18 am:
Rickey says he is a Christian and prays every night. Christians don’t talk smack about other people like he did Brady. Rickey needs to practice what he preaches. Brady is a good man and I wouldn’t accept Rickey’s lame apology either. Rickey better keep praying that federal investigation doesn’t “kick it up” a notch.
- Wumpus - Thursday, Dec 2, 10 @ 10:18 am:
Honest. no need to sing kumbaya if he does not accept the apology.
- David Ormsby - Thursday, Dec 2, 10 @ 10:24 am:
Brady had demanded an apology from Pat Quinn for Hendon’s remarks, but refuses an apology from Hendon for Hendon’s remarks.
Huh?
- Anonymous - Thursday, Dec 2, 10 @ 10:25 am:
=And shore … Hendon doesn’t need to provide names of legislators womanizing and cheating … his comment wasn’t for US to know who they were, it was to point out to THEM the hypocrisy of some of their statements and positions about the sanctity of marriage.=
Whew. That’s a relief. Wasn’t there speculation that Blago was planning to do that at one point as well? And one of the responses was to call on women to pack up their camping gear and head straight for Blago’s front lawn in protest.
Defending the sanctity of marriage is quite difficult when people insist on sticking their noses into someone else’s, isn’t it?
- Normal Redefined - Thursday, Dec 2, 10 @ 10:25 am:
And … for those, including Brady, who say that’s not something you can apologize your way out of … what IS one to do to make amends. I’d love to hear your ideas.
- Oneman - Thursday, Dec 2, 10 @ 10:32 am:
Well I suspect something more than a private, “sorry I said you wanted to kill gays” after the election would have been a good start.
Also doesnanyone think if someone had said something that inflammatory about Rickey that he would have been happy with a private apology after the election?
- Skeeter - Thursday, Dec 2, 10 @ 10:32 am:
“Ricky would be lucky if Brady doesn’t take some sort of political vendetta”
What’s Bradt going to do, Cincy? Round up the 20% of the GOP that voted for Brady? Wake up, Cincy. Your guy lost, and in the context, badly. Seriously, any of the others in the GOP primary would have won the general by 10. But not Brady. He has no power.
And David reminds me of Brady’s original childish “demand for apology.” I retract my prior comment. He wanted one? Now accept it. And at the same time, we all would do well to stop acting like toddlers yelling “SAY SORRY!” every time our feelings are the slightest bit hurt.
- Anonymous ZZZ - Thursday, Dec 2, 10 @ 10:32 am:
I agree with those who say Brady is justified in rebuffing Hendon’s “apology.” Hendon was a jerk to say such incendiary things right before the election and if he was TRULY apologetic, he could have apologized before the election. And if he wasn’t going to apologize until after the election, the least he could have done was publicly apologize - not publicly announce that his apology was rebuffed. I agree with Solomon - I find it very hard to believe that apology was sincere.
- Anonymous - Thursday, Dec 2, 10 @ 10:33 am:
Really, is there anyone on the face of the earth who believes Hollywood actually was sincere in his apology? I find it amusing that there actually are people who would be critical of Brady for not going along with this charade. Come on. Let’s drop the partisanship long enough to acknowledge reality.
- Skeeter - Thursday, Dec 2, 10 @ 10:41 am:
And by the way, Cincy, didn’t we learn from Hendon’s comments and the universal condemnation that calling somebody racist is bad? Apparently you didn’t learn that lesson.
- steve schnorf - Thursday, Dec 2, 10 @ 10:41 am:
I’ve never thought I got to decide who was a Christian and who wasn’t. Sort of surprised some of you think you do.
- just sayin' - Thursday, Dec 2, 10 @ 10:46 am:
No one cares if Brady wants to stay a sore loser. He’s yesterday’s news.
- Phineas J. Whoopee - Thursday, Dec 2, 10 @ 10:57 am:
It was an ugly campaign. Hendon should apologize-Brady should accept.
Brady prides himself on a high moral code so practice what you preach and forgive. right?
BTW, if Hendon’s apology isn’t sincere-that’s his problem.
- Bill F - Thursday, Dec 2, 10 @ 11:03 am:
You know, Hendon’s comments were way out of line. But Brady could have shown a magnanimous side, telling Hendon his comments were wrong and hurtful and irresponsible.
Instead, they guy who can’t stop telling us about his Catholic faith declined to forgive a man who, sincerely or not, sought to apologize for his wrongdoing.
WWJD indeed.
- Fed up - Thursday, Dec 2, 10 @ 11:03 am:
Brady is right. Hendon is a long time goof who often says stupid things. I hope his problems with the Feds end with him sharing a cell with blago.
- Wally - Thursday, Dec 2, 10 @ 11:04 am:
Hendon follows up a completely classless rant several weeks ago with a classless move on the Senate floor. Brady did the right thing. If I’m Bill, I never give the loud mouth jerk the time of day. Ever.
- soccermom - Thursday, Dec 2, 10 @ 11:43 am:
For the first time, I’m with Brady. Hendon’s comments were way over the top, and were out of bounds even during an emotional campaign. A simple “sah-ree” — followed by an “I SAID I was SORRY” — is simply not enough.
- cermak_rd - Thursday, Dec 2, 10 @ 11:50 am:
Hendon’s comments were over the top, no doubt about it. Whether Brady wants to accept the apology is up to him.
However, Hendon’s righteous rant yesterday was pretty darned good! I watched it twice and shared the youtube link around, too.
- "Old Timer Dem" - Thursday, Dec 2, 10 @ 12:10 pm:
Too late to apologize. It would have been more meaningful if done before the election. Hendons pre-election tirade was all scripted anyway by Ricky. Brady did the right thing by telling him to take a walk.
- Obamarama - Thursday, Dec 2, 10 @ 12:18 pm:
===Ricky would be lucky if Brady doesn’t take some sort of political vendetta against this racist fool.===
First of all, it is Rickey, not Ricky. Secondly, don’t make me laugh. What is Brady going to do? Hendon is a Cook County member of the majority leadership. Brady is a downstate back-bencher from the minority. He could spit in Rickey’s coffee, but that’s about it.
- Wally - Thursday, Dec 2, 10 @ 12:22 pm:
Oh I don’t know Obamarama, they could wrestle on the Senate floor! Las Vegas would have Brady as a heavy, heavy favorite. I think a lot of people would love to see Rickey(correct spealling) get his!
- Bill - Thursday, Dec 2, 10 @ 12:28 pm:
I don’t think so Wally. Hendon is small but he’s quick and wirey and knows how to sucker punch. Does anyone really think he cares if Brady accepts his apology. Rickey’s a hero back home. Brady barely carried his own disrtrict.
- Anon 7 - Thursday, Dec 2, 10 @ 12:49 pm:
=== And … for those, including Brady, who say that’s not something you can apologize your way out of … what IS one to do to make amends. I’d love to hear your ideas.===
Hendon should hold a press conference and publically apologize to Brady and the citizens of Illinois, and discuss how distructive his intemperate remarks were… and how we need to strive to have more civil discourse in politics - even when we strongly disagree. Then he should back that up with consistent action. If he did that, it would seem that his apology was sincere.
- Anon '88 - Thursday, Dec 2, 10 @ 12:54 pm:
Brady was justified. If Hendon was serious, he would have publicly apologized long ago. It was too little too late.
- Skeeter - Thursday, Dec 2, 10 @ 12:55 pm:
Could those of you who say Brady was right please explain how that is reconciled with his demand for an apology? When I posted, I didn’t realize Brady had made the demand.
If you demand an apology, aren’t you obligated to accept one if offered?
- South Side Mike - Thursday, Dec 2, 10 @ 1:09 pm:
Skeeter et al,
The apology demand was an apology from Quinn, not Hendon. An apology from Quinn was desired to get Quinn to say whether he agreed with Hendon’s bigoted remarks and, if not, why did he stand there, accept Hendon’s introduction, and not rebut it when he got up to speak. There was no demand for an apology from Hendon.
- south if mason dixon - Thursday, Dec 2, 10 @ 1:26 pm:
Bradyneeds to give it up! He had his chance in the primary four years ago and lost. He won the primary this time because the GOP couldn’t get their ducks in a row…and he lost un unloseable general election. Time to move on Bill and give someone else a chance!
- Tom Joad - Thursday, Dec 2, 10 @ 3:23 pm:
The result of the public apology by Hendon is that Hendon has cleared his conscience of this matter, while Brady can continue to stew over it. That is not going to bother Hendon one bit.
Accept the apology, Brady, and act like a man.
- Jaded - Thursday, Dec 2, 10 @ 3:51 pm:
Who cares? Who cares what Hendon says whether its bill Brady or anybody else, and if Rickey Hendon is a hero in his district, they can have him.
Chris Lauzen is a hero in his district too (he just got 70% of the vote), but that doesn’t make him right!
- amalia - Thursday, Dec 2, 10 @ 4:20 pm:
what Ormsby said!
- Anonymous - Thursday, Dec 2, 10 @ 4:43 pm:
Brady handled it correctly. The apology didn’t sound sincere. Bringing it up publicly was pretty crass as well. Accepting that type of lame apology in the face of such ugly behavior only enables such future behavior.
Hendon needs to man up and show that he’s truly sorry, not just mutter the words or posture.
- Jon Zahm - Thursday, Dec 2, 10 @ 5:43 pm:
The old cliche “Too little. Too late.” applies to Hendon’s apology.
- Anonymous - Thursday, Dec 2, 10 @ 6:32 pm:
Politics is a contact sport. Brady can’t complain about being attacked when his views were rejected by so many downstate Republican voters.
- 23 Years & Counting - Thursday, Dec 2, 10 @ 9:04 pm:
As the top Democrat in IL, Quinn should have said something at the point Hendon made those remarks. Rabid, crazy garbage has no place in statesmanship. As so many others have said, wrong is wrong, even if it’s coming from a fellow Democrat.
I don’t blame Brady a bit for refusing to take a private apology.
- 23 Years & Counting - Thursday, Dec 2, 10 @ 9:20 pm:
Mr. Schnorf –
From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian –
The term “Christian” is also used adjectivally to describe anything associated with Christianity, or in a proverbial sense “all that is noble, and good, and Christ-like.”
In no form or fashion was Sen. Hendon’s rant noble, good or anything Jesus Christ would have said. That was the point.
- Gregor - Thursday, Dec 2, 10 @ 11:08 pm:
Hendon is all about Hendon, and nothing else. He represents the worst of Illinois politics and does not do credit to the solemnity of that august chamber. By the fact of his presence in it, you have to give him some measure of credit for tactical cunning and ambition, in his ability to get elected. He is effective. But nothing about how he does it seems very honorable. He gets his share of admiration in the same way a hockey team “enforcer” gets admired by some for high-sticking and neck-punching the clean players. Hendon is a mercenary in every sense of the word, and his loyalty is as constant as his feigned contriteness to Brady. I know you’re supposed to turn the other cheek to people like that, shake hands, and move on, but that assumes the offender is ALSO moving on. See, Hendon doesn’t mean the apology; never did, and never will. The apology is just another tactic. You can get this out of his own book. If the apology is not really an apology, I don’t take Brady to task for not accepting it. Sincerity and Hendon are diametric opposites. Hendon will read this, and won’t be bothered by it at all… too busy counting how many times his name appears. In this sense, he has a lot of the characteristics of his onetime friend Blago. I would say Hendon is smarter than Blago, but otherwise a brother from another mother.
- T.J. - Thursday, Dec 2, 10 @ 11:15 pm:
“Seriously, any of the others in the GOP primary would have won the general by 10. But not Brady. He has no power.”
McKenna, Andrzejewski, and Proft would have won by 10? Seriously, Proft?