Corruption in Will County, Ill. GOP, ‘That’s What Democrats Do!’

-By Warner Todd Huston

ChampionNews.net has a sad tale to tell of the recent meeting of the Will County, Illinois Republican Party. It is an example of why the Illinois GOP is not accountable to the voters in any way. In fact, it proves that many parts of the Illinois GOP isn’t even accountable to the elected committeemen!

It is the story of Committeeman Mark Batinick of Plainfield, an elected member of the Will County GOP. In this tale of woe, Batinick details how even the votes of the committeemen are ignored by the “combine” styled, powermongers of the moribund Illinois GOP.

He reveals the events surrounding the crushing defeat of Will County Central Committee member Bobbie Peterson who in a straight up vote of the Will County committeemen voted Perterson out and voted challenger Cory Singer in. The lopsided tally was around 9,000 votes for Singer and 4,000 for Peterson according to Batinick.

That seems like a pretty convincing win for Singer, right? Well, hold the boat. It seems that Will County Chairman Dick Kavanagh (just returned to his spot himself earlier this same meeting) and his pals in the combine didn’t want Mr. Singer to take his seat as the 11th District State Central Committee Member no matter how lopsided Singer’s vote was.

Dick Kavanagh invoked some arcane half licit rules that gave him the power to simply discount most of Singer’s votes so that Peterson could stay as the 11th District’s rep on the State Central Committee.

Immediately after the rigged vote the place erupted. Cat calls and calls of “that’s what Democrats do” filled the room.

You have to go over and read Batinick’s entire account. As disheartening as it is, it reveals the incessant corruption and arrogance at the heart of the Illinois GOP.

This is yet another reason why SB600 is so necessary. If SB600 was passed, the Republican voters of Illinois could directly elect their own State Central Committee Representatives and we would have a party that was again answerable to the people instead of run out of the pocket of a few arrogant officials. (For more discussion on SB600 see Here’s Another Reason Why the Illinois GOP is Useless… or SB600 – – Let People Decide)
____________
“The only end of writing is to enable the reader better to enjoy life, or better to endure it.”
–Samuel Johnson

Warner Todd Huston is a Chicago based freelance writer, has been writing opinion editorials and social criticism since early 2001 and is featured on many websites such as Andrew Breitbart’s BigGovernment.com, RightWingNews.com, CanadaFreePress.com, StoptheACLU.com, TheRealityCheck.org, RedState.com, Human Events Magazine, AmericanDailyReview.com, and the New Media Journal, among many, many others. Additionally, he has been a frequent guest on talk-radio programs to discuss his opinion editorials and current events and is currently the co-host of “Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Conservatism” heard on BlogTalkRadio. Warner is also the editor of the Cook County Page for RedCounty.com.

He has also written for several history magazines and appears in the new book “Americans on Politics, Policy and Pop Culture” which can be purchased on amazon.com. He is also the owner and operator of PubliusForum.com. Feel free to contact him with any comments or questions : EMAIL Warner Todd Huston

Fair Use: This site may contain copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. I am making such material available in my efforts to advance understanding of political, human rights, economic, democracy, and social justice issues, etc. I believe this constitutes a ‘fair use’ of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research, educational, or satirical purposes. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site/blog for purposes of your own that go beyond ‘fair use’, you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.


Copyright Publius Forum 2001