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* Remember this?…
What happens when a Democrat in the Illinois House won’t kneel before Boss Madigan?
Punishment, isolation and mockery.
State Rep. Scott Drury, of Highwood, is paying for not voting for Madigan for speaker of the house, where Madigan has reigned for decades.
The former federal prosecutor has been stripped of his position on a judiciary committee. His ethics legislation, he understands, will die. And he’s been mocked by Madigan’s smarmier mouthpieces.
“I’m being punished, it’s fair to say,” Drury told me in an extensive interview on my podcast, “The Chicago Way,” on WGN-AM.
* And this?…
Also toying with throwing his hat into the ring is Lake County lawmaker Scott Drury of Highwood. If the 58th District representative takes the gubernatorial plunge, he can expect Madigan to ignore him about like the Trump administration ignores climate change.
That’s because Drury was the lone House Democrat who voted against re-electing Madigan speaker of the House to a record 17th term in January when the 100th General Assembly was reorganized. It was Drury’s finest “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington” hour.
It was also a lesson to the former U.S. attorney and his fellow lawmakers to find out what happens when a Democrat crosses cold-hearted Madigan’s iron rule in the House: Drury is now what only can be considered akin to an exiled member of the old Soviet Politburo. Instead of being sent to Siberia, he has to toil in Springfield with little serious committee assignments.
* And this?…
When readers last heard of Democratic state Rep. Scott Drury of Highwood — it was late January — he was being punished by House Speaker Michael Madigan for opposing Madigan’s re-election as the man in charge of the Illinois House of Representatives.
After Drury declined to support Madigan’s re-election as speaker — the only one of 67 House Democrats to do so — Madigan stripped Drury of his seat on an important committee where he served as vice chairman. The move not only cost Drury a coveted spot on a key committee, but also a roughly $10,000 stipend for serving in a leadership role.
Actually, he was a vice chairman of a committee.
* And this?…
A Democratic state representative said he’s being bullied for not voting for Mike Madigan as the House Speaker.
Rep. Scott Drury voted “present” earlier this month for Speaker. He also voted against the House Rules. After that, he noticed something strange: he didn’t receive a gift bag like other Democrat House members.
“I later learned that it was a deskclock that was engraved, touting Speaker Madigan’s lengthy tenure as Speaker of the House,” Drury said.
Madigan has been Speaker all but two years since 1983.
* I re-posted all of those clips because now I’m wondering if the same voices of outrage will rise to the defense of Rep. Steve Andersson, who was kicked out of House GOP leadership yesterday for supporting a budget package funded with a tax hike.
I’m not holding my breath.
posted by Rich Miller
Tuesday, Jul 11, 17 @ 10:09 am
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And no references to Sam McCann.
Comment by My New Handle Tuesday, Jul 11, 17 @ 10:17 am
They both got what was coming to them. When you do what you think is right when your party disagrees with you, you are punished by the party. But I am not one who favors a political party over ideas and ideals, so I actually think it is a badge of honor in both cases. And regarding Scott Drury, my lampooning of him has nothing to do with Mike Madigan and everything to do with Scott Drury…:)
Comment by Ducky LaMoore Tuesday, Jul 11, 17 @ 10:21 am
Good one Rich. Of course they won’t say anything.
Comment by Real Tuesday, Jul 11, 17 @ 10:22 am
I couldn’t fault Madigan.
I couldn’t fault Durkin.
Same is Same is Same.
The difference is looking at the discipline with a lens of your “feelings” within the politics.
The moves by both are the retribution of the Caucus political rules.
“This… is the business… we chose.”
Comment by Oswego Willy Tuesday, Jul 11, 17 @ 10:23 am
If Lou Lang or Barbara Flynn Currie did what Scott Drury did then I think the comparison would be appropriate.
Big difference between a back bencher and a floor leader
Comment by Lucky Pierre Tuesday, Jul 11, 17 @ 10:27 am
Great point, Rich. Those who termed Drury a hero should be rushing to Andersson’s defense. Although, Andersson probably doesn’t want their form of help.
Comment by not again Tuesday, Jul 11, 17 @ 10:29 am
===Big difference between a back bencher and a floor leader===
… and yet, the discipline is still the same.
Caucus discipline is what it is. Both sides are practitioners
Comment by Oswego Willy Tuesday, Jul 11, 17 @ 10:32 am
Sam McCann is a “back-bencher.” The Governor tried to take him out.
Comment by Michael Westen Tuesday, Jul 11, 17 @ 10:35 am
You also won’t hear those voices address the detailed and reasoned explanations that Andersson and other GOP reps. gave for their actions.
They’re simply shallow, unprincipled grievance peddlers, building their “brands.”
Poor Johnny Kass lives in a “toxic wasteland” beset by “quislings.” Why he chooses to do so is curious.
The delicate daisy was just unlucky to be born a white man in Illinois in the second half of the 20th Century. What a raw deal.
No generation, ever, anywhere, has had to endure such a Jobian nightmare of misery and insurmountable problems.
Makes you wonder how he gets through his five meals a day.
Comment by wordslinger Tuesday, Jul 11, 17 @ 10:36 am
Rich, I don’t think you’re comparing apples to apples. One is a vote for party leadership and power, the other is a vote on a piece of legislation. But, you do have a point nonetheless, but not as big as I think you think it is.
Comment by Just Me Tuesday, Jul 11, 17 @ 10:51 am
Where do you think Anderson’s desk clock came from?
Comment by Gruntled University Employee Tuesday, Jul 11, 17 @ 10:53 am
=== One is a vote for party leadership and power, the other is a vote on a piece of legislation===
You really think that was “just a bill”?
Comment by Rich Miller Tuesday, Jul 11, 17 @ 10:55 am
Sorry, Andersson’s desk clock
Comment by Gruntled University Employee Tuesday, Jul 11, 17 @ 10:58 am
I appreciate the Trib’s reminders in their news clips that Drury was a former federal prosecutor.
Comment by Leatherneck Tuesday, Jul 11, 17 @ 11:02 am
If I was Rep. Andersson, I wouldn’t want to be Durkin’s floor leader anyway. Durkin abandoned his team and left town when things didn’t go his way.
Comment by Michelle Flaherty Tuesday, Jul 11, 17 @ 11:27 am
Scott Drury was a former federal prosecutor?
Comment by SinkingShip Tuesday, Jul 11, 17 @ 11:37 am
–I appreciate the Trib’s reminders in their news clips that Drury was a former federal prosecutor.–
Though a couple months old, that story is still incorrect. There is a big difference between being a former US Attorney and a former Assistant US Attorney. Drury was the latter.
Comment by Ron Burgundy Tuesday, Jul 11, 17 @ 11:54 am
Up to a few days before the bills were called, Durkin and Andersson were publicly pulling together toward a budget deal, including agreed tax and spending rates, while Rauner was silent. Then Durkin said he needed a little more time to make the deal. Ask yourself what then happened to pull Durkin off the rails?
Comment by walker Tuesday, Jul 11, 17 @ 12:55 pm
Steve Andersson will likely be scrubbing the barnacles off dry-docked Russian ships in Arkhangelsk, but poor Scott Drury will have to endure the “silent treatment”.
Comment by James Knell Tuesday, Jul 11, 17 @ 2:13 pm
I said it last week and I’ll say it again–if Andersson runs I’m voting for him. It will be the first Republican I’ve ever voted (in over 30 years) for in a partisan election. (All the local elections around here are non-partisan.) I’m going to try to talk my friends into it too. I realized he’ll be primaried so I’ll be missing out on the Dem race to unseat Hultgren.
Comment by Lefty Lefty Tuesday, Jul 11, 17 @ 4:44 pm
==so I’ll be missing out on the Dem race to unseat Hultgren.===
You really won’t. That’s going nowhere. Your support of Andersson will be a more meaningful exercise in your case.
Comment by A guy Tuesday, Jul 11, 17 @ 4:49 pm
One is a respected legislator that broke from his party, the other, as he reminds everybody, is a former federal prosecutor. Drury is missing way more than just a clock.
Comment by Trapped in the 'burbs Tuesday, Jul 11, 17 @ 8:20 pm
Andersson is very likable guy, he reaches out to people and seeks compromises for legislation. I doubt insiders will give him the total cold shoulder treatment the SD has gotten.
Comment by the Cardinal Wednesday, Jul 12, 17 @ 8:38 am