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Today In Non-Apology Apologies

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You may remember Kristen McQueary from such op-eds as “oh, if only death and destruction could come to (poorer than me) people so that Chicago could be rid of Rahm Emmanuel’s uncompromising socialism.” The most offensive parts were quietly scrubbed without a note after the initial reaction, but even what remains is appalling. McQueary responds to the criticism her staggering inhumanity received in a manner that is, in its own way, appropriate:

Many readers thought my premise — through my use of metaphor and hyperbole — was out of line. I certainly hear you. I am reading your tweets and emails. And I am horrified and sickened at how that column was read to mean I would be gunning for actual death and destruction.

Now that’s how you do an “I apologize if you were offended by my extremely offensive remarks” non-apology, everyone.

A couple of additional points. First of all, it’s worth noting that McQueary isn’t some random winger crank who got her op-ed published by a paper desperate for traffic on a slow news day; shes a winger crank employed by the Trib as an op-ed writer. I would think that employing a writer who fantasizes about the city’s poor people of color being immiserated by disaster so she could get some neoliberalism out of the deal would be supoptimal, but that’s me. Second, let me quote her discussion of post-Katrina education “reform” in New Orelans in its entirety:

An underperforming public school system saw a complete makeover. A new schools chief, Paul Vallas, designed a school system with the flexibility of an entrepreneur. No restrictive mandates from the city or the state. No demands from teacher unions to abide. Instead, he created the nation’s first free-market education system.

Hopefully you’ve noticed one obvious thing missing here: any discussion of results. Has creating the nation’s first free market blah blah blah led to better results for schoolchildren in New Orleans? McQueary doesn’t know, and she doesn’t care. Union-busting is the end in itself; her choice of metaphor is a good indication of how much she cares about the people the “reforms” are allegedly intended to help.

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