Rich Miller has a hysterical column up at the Capitol Fax that debates the different way he could take the column, settling on pointing out that women in the Illinois Government don’t expect to be treated like the pioneering women were decades ago, they now back each other when some dimwit takes a swipe at their gender:
Rep. Sara Feigenholtz (D-Chicago) said Madigan was “just doing her job,” and the governor “shouldn’t insult her.”
Sen. Christine Radogno (R-Lemont) called the governor a “Neanderthal.”
“She is not carrying water for her father,” insisted Rep. Julie Hamos (D-Evanston).
Treasurer Judy Baar Topinka called the governor a “chauvinist pig.”
The lesson here, I think, is that you can get away with throwing all the showy windup fastballs you want at the Springfield establishment. But after years of being dismissed and discriminated against, women at the Statehouse have come together to form a fearsome, bipartisan team, and they’ll hit those goofy pitches out of the park. The governor should stick to safer targets.
And if I may, the Guv ought to remember the last Illinois politician to ignore women’s issues in the Democratic Party. I hear retirement as a lobbyist is working out just fine for Alan Dixon, Governor.