* Kristen McQueary last year…
There certainly are stories about the Illinois Republican Party also being accused of aggressive control-freakery. But I haven’t heard nearly as many complaints from that side as I have during my 20 years of covering Madigan’s office.
So spare me the mea culpa, the “woke” moment, the grasping press releases. Democratic women running under Madigan’s political umbrella have become adept at looking the other way.
* Last night…
* Refresh your memory…
Story…
As for the incident caught on surveillance tape, an Illinois Department of Juvenile Justice employee told investigators she was walking to an exit to go smoke a cigarette when she was approached by Anthony, who put his arm around her and asked if she was a corrections employee.
She told him she wasn’t. He then allegedly told her she had “nice t—, nice a–.” Then he stepped to the side and pressed himself onto her left thigh and licked her neck, the report says. […]
Other women at the party told investigators that Anthony had been inappropriately commenting to and touching them as well.
The behavior warranted a talk by another state employee during the party, according to the records. That discussion happened after a woman reported Anthony had touched her breasts.
McQueary’s column claims that only one woman alleged groping. There were clearly others that night. And if you think that was a one-off thing, you’d be mistaken.
Video is here.
* Reaction to the column was swift and brutal…
* Emily Miller gets the last word…
*** UPDATE 1 *** Rep. Deb Conroy (D-Elmhurst)…
Hi Rich, I do not tweet but I’m just as angry.
This is just unbelievable coming from McQueary. She criticizes the women’s caucus every chance she gets when in reality we have spent our time doing the difficult work to change a culture and not chasing headlines. As a journalist she may want to work a bit harder on the other side of the story. Everyone deserves a second chance, absolutely. In this case the writer completely disregarded the women who chose out of fear to keep their story private and push through the pain. This type of journalism is why victims are afraid to come forward.
*** UPDATE 2 *** Legislative & Political Director for UFCW Local 881…
- South of Sherman - Tuesday, Nov 26, 19 @ 10:06 am:
Kristen and the Trib edit board are completely tone-deaf and clueless?
Who’da thunk it?
- Honeybear - Tuesday, Nov 26, 19 @ 10:10 am:
Great comments by incredible woman leaders. That’s just so inspirational.
- Ron Burgundy - Tuesday, Nov 26, 19 @ 10:12 am:
Safe to say he wouldn’t have gotten such a sob story column if his politics didn’t line up. Just gross.
- Quibbler - Tuesday, Nov 26, 19 @ 10:16 am:
When private equity inevitably guts the Trib, one of the silver linings will be McQueary out of a job.
- AlfondoGonz - Tuesday, Nov 26, 19 @ 10:20 am:
As a prosecutor, I often consider whether a defendant’s act is redeemable. I see nothing redeemable in those who use their position to sexually exploit others.
- Not for Nothing - Tuesday, Nov 26, 19 @ 10:20 am:
Hope the WIND plug was worth it. Burgundy is right. For a team that hates Madigan so much they sure find a way to demonstrate a lot of same behavior they seem to find abhorrent.
- Oswego Willy - Tuesday, Nov 26, 19 @ 10:21 am:
I do think, it’s only me, that the subject is going to be on the radio, “Statehouse Chick” (“But I haven’t heard nearly as many complaints from that side as I have during my 20 years of covering..,” ugh) has also been on that station with Proft, helping the station’s afternoon host here might help “Statehouse Chick”?
I mean, her twitter, which you must check out, it’s a hoot, has been rebranded to drop the “Statehouse Chick”
Just an aside. Maybe helping a radio station could be at play here too(?)
- Father Ted - Tuesday, Nov 26, 19 @ 10:22 am:
Out of all of the things going on in the world that she could have written about, she went with this? What, if anything, was she thinking?
- eye roll - Tuesday, Nov 26, 19 @ 10:25 am:
So, every comment that doesn’t bash Anthony or McQueary is being censured. What is this, Medill?
- Moira - Tuesday, Nov 26, 19 @ 10:27 am:
Agree with Emily and Rep. Cassidy 100 percent. There needs to be a path to redemption. But this is so far from that, it’s beyond laughable. It’s been pretty dismaying that none of the high-profile harassers called out by Me Too have been willing to give the model Cassidy lays out here a shot. I keep hoping that somebody will set that exmaple, but so far it seems wallowing in self pity and lame excuses is all we are getting.
- Centennial - Tuesday, Nov 26, 19 @ 10:28 am:
This tone deaf (at best) article will live in Hurricane Statehouse Chick infamy.
- Rich Miller - Tuesday, Nov 26, 19 @ 10:29 am:
===every comment that doesn’t bash Anthony or McQueary is being censured===
lol
No.
Also, if you’d like me to censure you, I will /s. But I don’t censor anything. I’m not the government. This is a privately owned website.
- Annonin - Tuesday, Nov 26, 19 @ 10:30 am:
Katrina’s latest was jaw dropping.
She fails to portray why PAWS left the House. The scandal was that Durkie & GovJunk gave him the six figure IDOC job that only lasted until the holiday party. Of course this disaster was nearly as entertaining as the tale of the cyberattackee happening about the same time. Yup those GOPies really handle MeToo well
- Altgelds Ghost - Tuesday, Nov 26, 19 @ 10:33 am:
I’m glad to see everyone is so upset by this article. The outrage is so real and genuine.
And hypocritical.
Where is the same outrage about Magoo’s secret payoffs to 13th Ward harasser Kevion Quinn?
Silence of the Sheep
- Rich Miller - Tuesday, Nov 26, 19 @ 10:33 am:
===Where is the same outrage about===
We’ve had numerous posts on that topic, you dope.
- People caring loudly - Tuesday, Nov 26, 19 @ 10:40 am:
Let’s be clear here, John Anthony did not “decide” to leave the General Assembly for his position at IDOC.
- Ron Burgundy - Tuesday, Nov 26, 19 @ 10:41 am:
-Where is the same outrage about Magoo’s secret payoffs to 13th Ward harasser Kevin Quinn?-
I’d say that outrage is partly reflected right in the title of this very post.
- NIU Grad - Tuesday, Nov 26, 19 @ 10:41 am:
The ticket to getting a glowing redemption article is starting a conservative talk radio show.
- Simply Sayin' - Tuesday, Nov 26, 19 @ 10:43 am:
Rep. Cassidy’s and Emily Miller’s critiques are spot on. McQueary’s story should have laid off the victim card for Anthony as the consequences for his actions were adequate and appropriate. On the other hand, Rep. Cassidy’s explanation of redemption is well stated.
As a side note, her column doesn’t only claim that “one woman alleged groping”…just that one was “substantiated”: “…after being accused within the workplace of inappropriately touching women at a Christmas party. A video substantiated contact with one woman in a hotel entryway as she headed outside.” Also, “While he disputes some of the accounts of that night…”
- Rich Miller - Tuesday, Nov 26, 19 @ 10:48 am:
===outrage is partly reflected right in the title===
Exactly. Take your whataboutism somewhere else.
- Rich Miller - Tuesday, Nov 26, 19 @ 10:50 am:
===As a side note, her column doesn’t only claim that “one woman alleged groping”…just that one was “substantiated”===
“He decided to go to a work Christmas party in Springfield. A woman later reported that he pressed against her and licked her neck.”
A lot more than that is alleged to have happened that night.
- Raymond Shuckles - Tuesday, Nov 26, 19 @ 10:55 am:
McQueary’s column does not qualify as journalism.
That said I do want to offer my condolences to the former state representative on the death of his brother this weekend, noted in McQueary’s column.
It is good to see two of the more outspoken advocates for acknowledge that the appropriate punishment for all sexual harassment is not a lifetime ban on employment.
I hope we can acknowledge or atleast have a reasoned debate about a couple other things as well.
Not all bad acts are equally bad and deserving of the same punishment. Related, the people who commit those acts are not all equally bad people. I would suggest for example that physically assaulting a woman as John Anthony did is far worse, and the law sees it that way, than Quinn’s actions.
Secondly, most people working in the private sector, public or government, got their job because someone helped them. Someone there knew they were looking and called. The right someone recommended them. That is the real world.
To Rep. Cassidy’s point: if Hampton can’t find a job, it’s not because MonsterJobs.com has not come through, it’s because her friends and advocates have not come thru.
And if we believe that Kevin Quinn does not deserve the proverbial death penalty, than we have to accept the only way he is going to find meaningful work again is if his friends help him.
That said, neither Anthony nor Quinn should be heralded in a news story as they struggle back on the long road from infamy. Nor should we dishonor those willing to do the work to recover their reputations by handing out free passes to the unrepentant. Second chances ought to be earned.
- Anon 10:57 - Tuesday, Nov 26, 19 @ 10:58 am:
Any respect I could muster for Kristen McQueary could only be characterized as thin soup in the first place. But this op-ed piece is simply jaw-dropping.
Kristen whistles past the graveyard when she writes: “In the summer of 2016, Anthony decided to take a higher-paying position at the Illinois Department of Corrections.” Is she really going to ignore the real reason he left the legislature?
Her myopia is not only sad, it’s repulsive.
- Thomas Paine - Tuesday, Nov 26, 19 @ 10:59 am:
The column downplays the significance of John Anthony’s behavior as part of his redemption mythology.
The upside I Hope is more victims coming forward.
Or maybe Leader Durkin can offer some “clarification.”
- Thomas Paine - Tuesday, Nov 26, 19 @ 11:02 am:
To the Update: As I said, ☝🏼, the victims and witnesses should come pouring out, almost always what happens in these cases.
- Wensicia - Tuesday, Nov 26, 19 @ 11:04 am:
Katrina blows it again. An apology is in order.
- Anon 10:57 - Tuesday, Nov 26, 19 @ 11:05 am:
And let’s be honest with each other here. A one-hour Saturday afternoon show on a radio station “left of the dial”, with about 15 listeners, 10 of whom are looking for the Jesus channels, is hardly a “redemption” time-slot. But, hey, you grab what you can when one is looking to justify another’s bad past behavior.
- Three Dimensional Checkers - Tuesday, Nov 26, 19 @ 11:06 am:
The elitism is what strikes me. For one, what he did is illegal, and if he was a normal person there is a good chance he’d face legal consequences. Two, sure the guy can work, but why does he have to have his own radio show?
- silenced - Tuesday, Nov 26, 19 @ 11:06 am:
___ And if we believe that Kevin Quinn does not deserve the proverbial death penalty, than we have to accept the only way he is going to find meaningful work again is if his friends help him.
That said, neither Anthony nor Quinn should be heralded in a news story as they struggle back on the long road from infamy. Nor should we dishonor those willing to do the work to recover their reputations by handing out free passes to the unrepentant. Second chances ought to be earned. —-
This! Those who preach redemption and rehabilitation often forget that it takes someone else helping the person in order to find real redemption. That goes both ways, for the accused and the accuser.
- Rich Miller - Tuesday, Nov 26, 19 @ 11:09 am:
===why does he have to have his own radio show? ===
It’s a free country, so people can hire him if they want. People are also free to criticize that hiring or, as some are doing today, criticize the glorification of the person who was hired.
- NotMe - Tuesday, Nov 26, 19 @ 11:09 am:
=== To Rep. Cassidy’s point: if Hampton can’t find a job, it’s not because MonsterJobs.com has not come through, it’s because her friends and advocates have not come thru.
And if we believe that Kevin Quinn does not deserve the proverbial death penalty, than we have to accept the only way he is going to find meaningful work again is if his friends help him.====
Rep Cassidy also went into some detail about the kinds of things the perpetrators need to do to be worthy of that redemption. It begins with acknowledging ALL of the bad actions, not just the ones you got caught doing. Friends also hold friends accountable.
- Honeybear - Tuesday, Nov 26, 19 @ 11:18 am:
Katrina and Santa Paws are involved in the newest
Perfidy Operations
Katrina’s editorial
Santa Paws’ radio show
- DCC - Tuesday, Nov 26, 19 @ 11:24 am:
Can we be clear about something? Katrina McQueary is an opinion columnist, not a journalist. She stopped being a journalist more than a decade ago. She gets paid to attack Democrats and protect Republicans. No one should expect fairness in anything she writes.
- TNR - Tuesday, Nov 26, 19 @ 11:30 am:
She has plenty of sources in state GOP politics. She has to know Anthony’s misconduct was not a one-time, out-of-character breach. She knows holding him up as an example of redemption would spark much more outrage than sympathy.
I’m with OW on this. The column strikes me as an audition for her next gig in the conservative media. The hedge fund that just acquired a third of the Trib’s stock and a couple of seats on its board is notorious for mass layoffs in news rooms. The Trib has long had a big staff assigned to it’s op/ed section. That won’t stand for long.
I can see it now…take over as the midday host after Proft’s morning show…then it’s on to Fox appearances, etc.
- Three Dimensional Checkers - Tuesday, Nov 26, 19 @ 11:36 am:
===People are also free to criticize that hiring or, as some are doing today, criticize the glorification of the person who was hired.===
Exactly. It is an extreme entitlement and elitism that says he can continue to have a high profile job (being on the radio) no matter what he does.
- SoapOnRope - Tuesday, Nov 26, 19 @ 11:37 am:
Hey, let’s not besmirch the good name of Santa Paws, the person who brings all the good dogs and cats toys and treats on Christmas day
- Pickwick Bowl - Tuesday, Nov 26, 19 @ 11:38 am:
==Is she really going to ignore the real reason he left the legislature?==
What was the real reason he left the legislature? I’m sincerely asking for enlightenment.
- Raymond Shuckles - Tuesday, Nov 26, 19 @ 11:44 am:
=== It begins with acknowledging ALL of the bad actions, not just the ones you got caught doing. ===
Yes, but it does not require a public shaming of one’s self.
In fact, the 12 steps are specific about admitting your failures to one other person.
And attempting to make amends where possible to those you have wronged.
It’s the opposite of the public pillory.
I don’t know if Quinn has attempted to make amends to his ex-wife, or if there are others he owes an amends to. He knows that, and I hope he finds the strength through his Creator to try if he has not already. But we should expect and respect that it is a private process.
Recovery is an intensely private road.
- Older and Taller - Tuesday, Nov 26, 19 @ 11:44 am:
Good on Zach, we need more men like him in Springfield.
- Rich Miller - Tuesday, Nov 26, 19 @ 11:46 am:
===It’s the opposite of the public pillory.===
That is true, but read the column. He disputes the facts in clear evidence.
- Rich Hill - Tuesday, Nov 26, 19 @ 11:47 am:
Is McQueary auditioning for a job at the RNC or Michigan State University with this garbage?
- Anton Cermak - Tuesday, Nov 26, 19 @ 11:53 am:
This is a promotional article for a conservative radio station, plain and simple. And the MeToo crowd’s response is not only unexpected, it is factored in from the start. Polemics for profit. Cassidy, Hampton, Miller, Koutsky, the Salem Media Group thanks you.
- low level - Tuesday, Nov 26, 19 @ 11:59 am:
==the same outrage about Magoo’s secret payoffs==.
Altgeld’s ghost
You must not be paying attention as there have been numerous discussions here w positions on all sides of the Quinn issue
- Amalia - Tuesday, Nov 26, 19 @ 12:03 pm:
yeah, there tons of bad guys who get in the way of women. but this is just another part of the mean girl syndrome that gets in the way too. Kristen this piece is ridiculous. are you quitting the newspaper in favor of being the PR flack for his redemption tour?
- Raymond Shuckles - Tuesday, Nov 26, 19 @ 12:08 pm:
=== He disputes the facts in clear evidence. ===
Agreed, with respect to not just Anthony but also Long, Mapes and Silverstein.
Quinn seems different to me, as does Decremer.
Have I forgotten anyone?
Look we all know people in government or in the private sector that are in recovery. All of them entered recovery when they hit rock bottom because that is how recovery works.
I don’t demand of them to publicly recount all their transgressions because their transgressions have nothing to do with me. I don’t judge them by where they hit rock bottom either because we’ve all got a rock bottom and it is not pretty.
I am rooting for everyone to climb out of their own personal hellhole.
Give thanks this Thursday, for there but for the grace of God go I.
- Unpopular - Tuesday, Nov 26, 19 @ 12:09 pm:
The outrage over Kristin’s column is ridiculous. A bunch of high and mighty virtue signaling from the twittersphere and blog nattering nabobs. Love thy enemies, that was the commandment. I also remember something about forgiveness. Mob justice on the high plains of the internet those who dare shed a different perspective on a situation.
- Rich Miller - Tuesday, Nov 26, 19 @ 12:11 pm:
=== I also remember something about forgiveness===
How do you forgive someone who denies doing it? Even for you, that was an especially egregious comment.
- Kelly Cassidy - Tuesday, Nov 26, 19 @ 12:12 pm:
Raymond Shuckles - reread the thread. I am explicitly asking all of us to think about why we don’t see these kinds of efforts happening for the women these men have abused. Yes, we also need to talk about what redemption looks like and perhaps we need to spell it out since these are rather unique moments. I imagine there are men in this situation who would take whatever sincere steps needed if only they knew what to do and I hope they get that help.. And to your point about it being a private matter, I beg to differ. In each of these cases, these men used their public power to cause very public problems for these women. They lost their privacy in incredibly humiliating ways, so the perpetrators just don’t get the luxury of the very privacy that they stole from the women they victimized.
- Lester Holt’s Mustache - Tuesday, Nov 26, 19 @ 12:13 pm:
Outrage is fine, but anyone who thinks that condemnation from dem women reps, activists, or the general public is going to result in anything here re:hurricane kristen are fooling themselves. The trib owners and edit board do not care what you think. Until her inevitable departure for a fox news gig, they’re going to ignore any and all criticism of her
- Soccermom - Tuesday, Nov 26, 19 @ 12:16 pm:
I asked the google but came up empty. Why did he resign?
- Joe Bidenopolous - Tuesday, Nov 26, 19 @ 12:28 pm:
===Recovery is an intensely private road.===
What’s he recovering from? He hasn’t admitted to being an addict. He was criminally lecherous, and for all we know, he still is, because he denies agreed facts. And if you came in contact with him in Springfield, you knew it too.
The things he did to these women, and the Christmas party was definitely not an isolated incident, were in public. Why should he get the benefit of privacy, even as he denies wrongdoing?
- Sonny - Tuesday, Nov 26, 19 @ 12:34 pm:
Wow @Statehousechick actually had to delete her account. And here I thought that was just a phrase. Maybe she should do it again.
- Oswego Willy - Tuesday, Nov 26, 19 @ 12:37 pm:
===…had to delete her account.===
It’s a rebranding.
This specific writing, here, is that part of rebranding too?
Dunno.
- Levois J - Tuesday, Nov 26, 19 @ 1:39 pm:
I read some of twitter exchange and then read this. I just had to cringe….
- @misterjayem - Tuesday, Nov 26, 19 @ 2:02 pm:
Amen.
– MrJM
- btowntruth from forgottonia - Tuesday, Nov 26, 19 @ 2:05 pm:
“When private equity inevitably guts the Trib, one of the silver linings will be McQueary out of a job.
IPI would hire her.
With the way she writes her columns,they may have already.
- Roadrager - Tuesday, Nov 26, 19 @ 2:35 pm:
If Anthony’s radio show is on the weekend on WIND, that means he’s buying the airtime.
- Soccermom - Tuesday, Nov 26, 19 @ 2:47 pm:
Rich deleted my comment about some of the other things that Anthony did that night. I would simply point out that “licking a woman’s neck” was the LEAST objectionable thing he did that evening. And it was absolutely indefensible that Kristen left that stuff out.
- Teixeira - Tuesday, Nov 26, 19 @ 2:54 pm:
Maybe Anthony doesn’t know that the way these things are handled now is that he needs to get a gig from Com Ed and wait for McClain to set up a GoFundMe page.
- BluegrassBoy - Tuesday, Nov 26, 19 @ 2:57 pm:
Time will change the culture as more people of power are taken down by their inappropriate behaviors. If certain behaviors are not checked when they happen, it seems to get sweep under the rug and happen again. Hopefully people keep standing up when they see a wrong, and report it immediately.
- olddog - Tuesday, Nov 26, 19 @ 3:04 pm:
- DCC - Tuesday, Nov 26, 19 @ 11:24 am:
=== Can we be clear about something? Katrina McQueary is an opinion columnist, not a journalist. She stopped being a journalist more than a decade ago. She gets paid to attack Democrats and protect Republicans. No one should expect fairness in anything she writes. ===
Agreed, but only up to a point. There are professional norms for op ed columnists and PR people, too, and McQueary (imho) repeatedly fails to live up to them. Her stuff isn’t good advocacy, either.
- Ghost of Limited Principles - Tuesday, Nov 26, 19 @ 3:45 pm:
From the article=“I’m flawed. But I also believe America is about second chances,” he says. “Did I make mistakes? Yes, and I’ve had to pay for those mistakes. At the same token, I wasn’t willing to sit and rot away and not give my voice again to people who want to hear it.”=
Has Anthony said what those mistakes were?
=Working on the political sidelines and stretching into a new career, Anthony is the co-host of a Saturday afternoon talk show on WIND-AM 560 called…=
Maybe someone should ask the republican candidate’s if they are receiving support/working with John Anthony.
- Powdered Whig - Tuesday, Nov 26, 19 @ 4:07 pm:
=== Maybe Anthony doesn’t know that the way these things are handled now is that he needs to get a gig from Com Ed and wait for McClain to set up a GoFundMe page. ===
Not to be nit-picky but from what was reported, Quinn didn’t get a gig from ComEd, he was getting paid by various lobbyists do monitor committee hearings. Also, I believe Quinn’s sister was behind the GoFundMe page not McClain.
- Legal beagle - Tuesday, Nov 26, 19 @ 4:37 pm:
Seems to me that McQueary (and the Tribune editorial board as a whole) being a complete hypocrite makes today just like any other Tuesday. I am not clear re what happened to her twitter account though….
- Enviro - Tuesday, Nov 26, 19 @ 5:22 pm:
“I’m flawed. But I also believe America is about second chances,”
Then you can start with admitting your mistakes and offer an apology.