« Get your Rahm for Mayor Poster at Chicago Clout. Show all your friends! | Main | Note to: Chicago Office of the Inspector General on Chicago Residency Law »

Rahm shows the world the Chicago two tier justice system

Why the Rahm Emanuel verdict shows the insane Chicago media bias. I called an old pal at the Chicago Sun-Times and I started to explain my point of view on the Supreme Court decision allowing Rahm Emanuel to run for Mayor of Chicago. From the very beginning, I was attempting to put the rule of law, as enforced by the City of Chicago, on the record. There is no doubt in my mind; the hearing judge knew what I was up to. In fact, after I requested some witnesses into evidence, even Bert Odelson reversed his position. The City of Chicago and the State of Illinois has made a political decision from the very beginning to allow Rahm on the ballot despite rules to the contrary. The reversal of the State board of Appeals leaves me with absolutely no doubt in my mind as to the sickness of the judicial system. The Chicago media wants Rahm law or no law. They posted the names of the Appellate judges and ridiculed them right after the Appellate ruling. The Media demanded the Illinois Supreme Court to rule immediately. There is an obvious sickness after decades of hiring political hacks and handymen to become Illinois judges. People I have helped in their quest to reclaim their jobs, when accused of residency violations, called me no stop today. Despite my years of fighting residency laws, I never got traction before or after this Rahm farce. The Chicago Media is sick and diseased. They forgot their job was to report the news in a balanced manner. The Chicago Newspapers might never care about the City workers, some with cancer that lost their residency cases. The Chicago Media will not talk about the other folks kicked off the ballot for trivial items. From day one of the Rahm Emanuel hearing, I stated the way the system favors the wealthy. I am going to watch the Chicago media and see if the guys I sent to them are going to get any press, see if they go to bat for "the little guy". They will not. I will not tell you some of the tactics a Chicago news station was going to use to sway public opinion with Rahm, it was low. But if you wonder why a little guy like me can make some noise on the internet, there is a reason, and the Chicago media has not passed the smell test. Just for the record, a reporter has accused the Sun-Times (Tim Novak) of stealing a story from him on the Inspectors still on the payroll. For the record, the first reporter to have the story was Fran Spielman of the Chicago Sun-times and the Office of the Inspector General. The story originated from a fired Building Department employee. The former employee and I were videotaping the Building Department a long time ago. The Reader was not correct on this story. Our video footage and our pictures are time stamped. This was a Sun-times story. Obama called Rahm after the decision, did you ever wonder why? Good night, Patrick McDonough

Comments

Editorial: Emanuel ruling a victory for democracy

Last Modified: Jan 27, 2011 10:47PM


Common sense and the law had a meeting of the minds Thursday. Rahm Emanuel is back on the ballot for mayor.

This is as it should be.

We were prepared, if the Illinois Supreme Court had ruled against Emanuel, to respect the decision and move on — not a word of foul play. For all the talk of political skulduggery, we recognized that reasonable lawyers and judges could and did disagree about Emanuel’s residency status, as defined by state law.

But we believe the proper approach to election law in a demo-cracy — and honestly, folks, that does include Chicago — is that legal interpretations should err on the side of inclusiveness.

To exclude Emanuel, to throw him off the ballot because he had the temerity to go to Washington to serve the president, would have been an outrage against this inclusive spirit of democracy. And, according to Thursday’s slap-down of the state Appellate Court’s Monday ruling, it would have tossed out 150 years of settled residency law.

We have defended Emanuel’s right to be on the ballot in two earlier editorials, leading some to question whether we would have so forcefully run to the defense of a less prominent candidate.

In truth, probably not, though the same legal and common-sense arguments would apply. But it is precisely because Emanuel is no also-ran in this election — polls show he is the favorite of almost half the voters — that ruling him off the ballot would have been a travesty.

Tens of thousands of voters effectively would have been disenfranchised.

Thursday’s decisive ruling was a victory for the voters, who deserve the right to decide for themselves who their next mayor will be.

Now let’s get back to what should be the real issues in this election — the quality of our schools, the safety of our neighborhoods, the soundness of our city’s finances.

Although, let’s admit it: This was a fascinating education.

This wasn't a singular case. Mitt Romney had the same problem in Massachusetts when he decided to run for Governor there after officially declaring on his tax return that he was a resident of Utah. Romney had even purchased a home in Utah, Rahm only rented in DC. Romney was declared a Mass. resident and allowed to amend his tax return, which Romney said was in error, of course.