I am asking all fans to vote for my wife, Ellen Flannigan, on November 2. and to ask their friends to do the same. She is the Democratic candidate for judge in the 12th judicial subcircuit of Cook County. If she wins it will one of the few times a candidate has ever won a judicial election without the support of a powerful politician. It is a dining room table campaign. We accepted no financial contributions. She is beholden only to justice. My wife has been in Section 8 and in Sam’s Army sections many times. She cleared an area of the stadium in Ulsan, Korea, so all American fans could congregate and 1.5 billion people could see our patriotic effort on TV. It is about time one of our own became a judge! The 12th subcircuit encompassed the following suburbs: Arlington Heights: 60004, 60005 Des Plaines: 60016, 60018 Elk Grove Village: 60007 Glencoe: 60022 Glenview: 60025 Kenilworth: 60043 Mount Prospect: 60056 Northbrook: 60062 Northfield: 60093 Park Ridge: 60068 Prospect Heights: 60070 Winnetka, Northfield: 60093 Wheeling 60090 as well as part of Niles, Rolling Meadows, and the western tip of Wilmette, around the Harper School. No Democrat has ever won the 12th subcircuit. With your vote, miracles can happen!
Can you shed some light on why your wife was rated "Not Recommended" by the Chicago Bar Association's Judicial Evaluation Committee? By my count only 9 of 87 candidates were not recommended. Always happy to help a Fire fan, but what gives?
Tom's gonna hate me for this, but I think it's a conspiracy that has something to do with Title IX and Bruce Arena not taking Ante Razov to Korea... Later, COZ
You should work on your math. Forty-one per cent of the candidates in the March primary did not participate in the "evaluation" process, such as it is. It has increased with each election and even the people that put a lot of stock in the ratings concede that it will soon be over 50 per cent. Go to the CBA's website and you will see the mantra "that they did not participate" and they are found unqualified. Would you trust a restaurant review written by someone who had never eaten at the restaurant? In my opinion, it is very hard for an outsider to get a good rating. It is just my opinion, but a very high percentage of the people found qualified were hired by the State's Attorney's Office. You really need to know someone to get hired by the State's Attorney. Sure, if you were on the Harvard Claw Review they have to find you qualified even if you don't know the alderman. The rest of us deal with an imperfect system. If your opponent is an officer in a big Republican Township organization, while you are not, and she was a State's Attorney and you were not, you are at a bit of a competitive disadvantage. Just my opinions. Twenty Cook County judges have gone to prison in the last 20 years, and that does not include the many who quit and kept their pension prior to indictrment. Almost all of them were found "qualified" or better by some of the 18 Bar Associations (the number keeps increasing), yet they ended up in jail for fixing cases. I think the people in the bar associations usually try their best, but it can't be a very good evaluation process with so many qualified candidates going to jail. Has anyone recommended by Ed Burke ever been found unqualified? We don't know Ed Burke, or any other alderman. We have not sought any endorsements or financial contributions. When people send us a check we send it back with a letter of thanks. We don't think judicial candidates should take money. A partial list of the contributions her opponent has accepted can be found at: http://www.elections.state.il.us/CD...onYear=&DateBegin=7/1/2003&DateEnd=12/31/2003 My wife has a totally clean record, no ARDC complaints. Cos, with all due respect, I started this thread with the perhaps naive notion the snipers would not be out and I might get a few votes in what is likely to be a VERY close election. Of the 18 contested primaries for judges, one was decided by 4 votes, another by about 60. So if you want my wife to lose, keep posting about Title IX or something else that has nothing to do with this thread. Our Republican opponent will benefit, not us. Just my opinions.
Or you could just get less offended because this is a message board about soccer. There are no rules here that say anything about having to take Thomas Flannigan seriously, about anything. Just my opinions.
I think the worst thing you could do is take me seriously! Make fun of me all you want; I might even agree with you. I am just trying to help my wife. And get by with a little help from my friends. Go Section 8. Go anybody from Section 8 who has the courage to run as a Democrat in a district that includes Kenilworth! This is a Chicago billboard. You must know how high that mountain is to climb!
"You should work on your math. Forty-one per cent of the candidates in the March primary did not participate in the "evaluation" process, such as it is. It has increased with each election and even the people that put a lot of stock in the ratings concede that it will soon be over 50 per cent. Go to the CBA's website and you will see the mantra "that they did not participate" and they are found unqualified. Would you trust a restaurant review written by someone who had never eaten at the restaurant? " My math is just fine. 9 of the 87 on the ballot Tuesday are Not Recommended. If 41% were rated Not Recommended in the primary it probably accounts for their absence in the general election. In any event, I can infer from your response that the answer to my original question is that she didn't participate in the evaluation process. See that was easy. No need to invoke some vast conspiracy theory.
There are NOT 87 people on the ballot for judge in the Circuit Court of Cook County. There are 5 county-wide races and only 1 of these is contested, so that makes 6 names. That leaves the subcircuits and I think there are 11 uncontested races there, that makes 17 names. Then there are the two contested races; Bill Kunkle versus Deirdre Ann McGuire in the 8th subcircuit and the two people in my wife's race. That makes 21. To have 87 people on the ballot on Tuesday you would need 43 contested races. That is not the case. There are 3 contested races. Any critique of the establishment is labled a conspiracy theory here. I don't think I am breaking new ground in suggesting that perhaps we need reforms in our system of rating and chosing judges. Just my opinions.
[rant] Look, Thomas is, and I say this without any malice, an apparently goofy dude. But why so many people around here are so quick all the time to be rude to people and act like macho internet commandos is pathetic. The Fire forum rarely can have any serious discussions because some self-styled tough guy feels the need to pose or post down to the level of others. I don't care whom any of you vote for in this. I don't even know Thomas. But it remains that people around here could stand to be a lot more civil. [/rant]
In the spirit of civility and order, shouldn't this conversation be going on here: Politics & Current Events Responsible intelligent discussion without personal attacks. Sub-Forums: Election 2004 You Might Need a New Lawyer if: * Your lawyer tells you that his last good case was of Budweiser. * When the prosecutors see your lawyer, they high-five each other. * Your lawyer picks the jury by playing "duck-duck-goose." * Your lawyer tells you that he has never told a lie. * A prison guard is shaving your head.
Thomas, I'll try to convince my girl to vote for your wife, so you should get a Glenview vote right there!
You're mistaking me being a smartass for actual political commentary, Tom. I'm just poking fun at what I think I can safely say is a common perception of your posting content, whether or not it's an accurate reflection of anything. Although, it's been said elsewhere that I can be a real jerk... Also, on the topic of judges in Illinois elections, I'd recommend the cover story in this week's Reader -- unfortunately, I don't think it's available online or outside of Chicago. Pretty good stuff, and gives some perspective on how some of these legal groups arrive at their ratings. Later, COZ
Thanks to all who will vote for Ellen and also those who ask their friends to do the same. Coz, thanks for the tip on The Reader. Normally I would not see it, but my wife got one and told me about the front-page article about the judiciary. It went into my growing pile of Things to Read After Election Day. The reason I would normally not see it is I no longer frequent places that have it, and no place that I know of up in the suburbs has it. This is one of many things I miss about living in the city. You folks who do are so lucky! Now, back to stapling together the last of the yard signs on the floor of the kitchen. We have had more than 200 signs stolen or mangled and are repairing some for the final push. The joke going around Democratic circles in Chicago is, if you want to get a yard sign for a Democratic candidate, go to the dumpster behind the local Republican Organization. It will be full of stolen signs.