Not Recommended!

Just in case you didn’t believe me or the 50 commenters on that first column exposing Judge John Dalton’s regular cruelty, the Illinois State Bar Association just released their 16^th Circuit judicial evaluations this week. Those 0 to 100 ratings are compiled from surveys sent to all Kane County Bar Association members.

As a result of those 164 assessments, in an unprecedented move, the ISBA smacked Dalton with their dismal “Not Recommended” rating. And when I say “unprecedented,” I mean none of my astute legal friends can remember a single sitting Kane County judge who wasn’t recommended for retention by the ISBA.

Here are the actual numbers:

37.65 Meets requirement of the office

58.64 Integrity

49.95 Impartiality

58.02 Legal ability

30.02 Temperament

50.03 Court management

59.63 Sensitivity

To put those sad scores in perspective, let’s compare them to Judges John Barsanti’s, Donald Hudson’s, Clint Hull’s and Rene Cruz’ evaluations. They’re also up for retention or election:

Barsanti       Hudson         Hull              Cruz

95.92           98.68           93.90           95.20     Meets requirements

96.58           98.68           98.15           98.25     Integrity

93.24           98.04           92.96           93.81     Impartiality

100              98.69           98.61           93.45     Legal ability

94.59           99.35           97.18           97.08     Temperament

95.92           98.68           98.14           96.07     Court management

94.59           98.04           94.88           99.12     Sensitivity

Now you can see how truly terrifying Dalton’s numbers really are. They’re another excellent reason to vote “No” and send this miserable excuse for a judge back to the private sector.

Digging a deeper hole

Remember when I said, “Just when you think the Daily Herald has finally hit rock bottom, they simply dig a deeper hole?” Apparently, they’re dead set on proving my point, because they inexplicably endorsed Kane County Sheriff Don Kramer over the eminently more capable Ron Hain.

And in a turn the Ripley folks would find fascinating, their editorial board wrote that endorsement with absolutely no mention of the Delnor hostage tragedy. I’ll pause for a bit to let you take that in…

Yes! The Daily Herald actually endorsed a Sheriff who didn’t bother to show up at the scene of one of the worst criminal events in Kane County history because he “hurt his big toe.” I’m sure the nurse who was raped, beaten and shot takes a great deal of solace in that bizarre excuse.

And Kramer didn’t reach out to the SWAT team member who was also shot until three or four days later, either. Now, that shows real leadership, doesn’t it?

Of course, those DH snowflakes pulled this stunt because Chairman Chris Lauzen has offended their delicate sensibilities by occasionally calling them out. So, since Kramer and Lauzen have clashed in the past, that paper automatically takes the other guy’s side. So much for journalistic integrity.

We’ll run a full column on this topic next Monday or Wednesday.

Digging a deeper hole part 2

Along the very same lines, the DH endorsed Independent Olynda De Hoyos over Democrat Anita Lewis for Kane County Board District 3. Their theory was, since Lauzen supports Lewis’ run, De Hoyos would automatically be an “independent voice.”

First, the DH completely ignored the fact that De Hoyos is just another Aurora Township dysfunctional Democratic shill intent on turning that generally functioning county board into another partisan battleground. Though her volunteer work is laudable, she brings absolutely no applicable experience to the government table.

But the kicker is, like many of her Hispanic brothers and sisters, Ms. De Hoyos has never voted in any election – ever! And if you refuse to engage in the process, should you really become a critical part of that process?

Though it happens all the time, that doesn’t mean I agree with the Chairman, or any other political leader, who runs candidates against sitting board members. All it does is set up a tit-for-tat downward spiral that always gets in the way of good governance.

But for a purportedly neutral newspaper to regularly endorse candidates on the grounds their editors don’t like the Chairman is exponentially worse. Like I said, digging a deeper hole.

The Kane County State’s Attorney’s Office is hiring!

While State’s Attorney Joe McMahon and his top staffers were off getting a Cook County verdict a first-year law student could’ve secured, the KCSAO continues to hemorrhage assistant state’s attorneys at an alarming rate.

To wit, at least 10 prosecutors have walked away from that Route 38 and Peck Road morass in the last six months. The kicker is, the last one resigned via a Post-it note attached to his supervisor’s office door.

So much for office morale!

McMahon continues to insist that his participation in the Jason Van Dyke prosecution came at no net cost to the Kane County taxpayer. But constantly having to train right-out-of-law-school attorneys as you consistently lose experienced prosecutors is a very steep price.

The latest word is McMahon is angling for Judge James Hallock’s soon to be vacant seat. I suppose we can all take solace in the fact that our taxes have been going to the “Joe McMahon Career Advancement Fund.”

He certainly has no interest in being State’s Attorney!

When we last left off, we were discussing how we have the power to vote Judge John Dalton out of office and, given his generally miserable comportment, it’s time to do just that.

But, believe it or not, there’s another 16^th Circuit possibility that’s even worse than having to endure Dalton’s regular cruelty and bigotry. And that scary scenario involves former Elgin State Senator Michael Noland running for retired Judge David Akemann’s seat.

To give you some idea of how horrifying that prospect is, a number of prominent Elgin Democrats sent me plaintive emails me pleading, “Please don’t let Mike Noland be elected judge.”

It would seem his own party is utterly embarrassed by the man.

Trust me, I wish I had the kind of power to ensure our failed State Senator would simply fade into oblivion. But since I don’t possess that level of omniscience, the best I can do is remind you all of what a despicable human being Mike Noland really is.

Please note that I rarely apply the “despicable” adjective because most politicians do manage to have some redeeming qualities. But when it comes to Mike Noland, that word is entirely accurate. Let’s review the former state senator’s abysmal track record:

1. He got thrown out of a polling place by the Carpentersville police. That’s right, he became so obnoxious over some perceived slight that the election judges asked him to leave. When he refused to comply, the C’ville police had to remove him.

2. He was stopped for speeding while driving on a no-insurance citation. Apparently, that pesky auto insurance statute only applies to rabble like you and me. You’d think an attorney would know the law, too!

3. He was fired from the Kane County Public Defender’s office for incompetence. And that’s a truly astounding accomplishment. In 12 years of covering Kane County, I’ve never heard of another PD getting fired.

4. He got caught plagiarizing a JFK speech on the Senate floor. This one is my all-time favorite! Delivering a famous Kennedy speech word-for-word and somehow believing he’d get away with it in a room full of politicians is beyond the pale.

5. He sued Springfield for back pay after making a big deal out of forgoing that pay. Yep! You read that right! Noland waxed poetically about letting that salary go during the budget stalemate, but as soon as he lost his Congressional race, he sued the state. Even the Tribune made hellacious fun of him for that bizarre move.

6. He got caught stealing his opponent’s yard signs on video – twice! Apparently, Mr. Noland doesn’t understand you’re supposed to have your lackeys steal opponents’ signs. And to have it all on video is beyond hilarious.

So, as you might imagine, his legal peers don’t consider him to be judicial material. Here are their ratings as compiled by the Illinois State Bar Association on a scale of 1 to 100:

• 19.78 – Meets the requirement of the office – That’s about right
• 44.09 – Integrity – That’s way too high!
• 42.05 – Impartiality
• 15.96 – Legal ability – This one’s dead on
• 56.32 – Temperament – That’s too high
• 32.53 – Court management

Those are the worst ISBA judicial ratings I’ve ever seen. Think about it! His fellow attorneys rate his legal skills at just 16 percent! You really have to make an effort to be incompetent to be ranked that low.

Tom Hartwell

So, just as his fellow Democrats pleaded with me, I’m gonna plead with you, dear reader. Please, please, please vote Tom Hartwell for 16^th Circuit judge. Kane County can’t afford another terrible man in black. Mike Noland should be appearing in front of judge in handcuffs, not trying to be one!

Of the approximately 2,000 columns I’ve written since I started toiling for the then suburban Sun-Times newspapers back in 2006, none has generated the kind of continuing and consistent reader responses that the piece on 16^th Circuit Judge John Dalton has. I’ve received at least 60 emails and Facebook PMs on the topic in the last year.

They all ask the same question, too! “How can we remove such a poor excuse for a human being from the bench?” It’s also the only column I’ve ever written where the responses have been unanimous. There hasn’t been a single comment, email, or private message supporting Judge Dalton.

But before I explain how exactly how we can put the Judge out of our collective misery, let’s review Hizoner’s greatest hits:

1. He doesn’t follow the law

One of Dalton’s favorite courtroom theatric is to lean back in his chair, steeple his fingers, and declare, “I’ve read [name of a law book] from cover to cover,” and then he “interprets” the law in a way that clearly indicates he hasn’t. I’ve never had so many attorneys reach out to me  to complain about a judge who makes it up as he goes along.

2. He doesn’t enforce his own rulings

And that includes child support rulings, which is beyond cruel. Not only is that justice denied, but his mercurial inconsistency costs plaintiffs and defendants thousands of dollars in legal fees, lost work, and court filings. Judge Dalton takes great pride in reversing himself and watching attorneys squirm because he knows there’s absolutely nothing they can do about it.

3. He isn’t terribly fond of women

Of those aforementioned 60 responses, 75 percent of them came from women. I’ve watched the Judge berate and belittle female plaintiffs and defendants to the point of tears. And if he has no problem being a bully when I’m in the gallery, you can only imagine what he’s like when I’m not there.

Dalton also enjoys making blatantly sexist comments to female attorneys. I’d provide examples, but he’d figure out who my sources were and the he’d extract his typical pound of flesh.

4. He isn’t fond of minorities

And that’s especially true of Hispanic males. But don’t take my word for it – ask any attorney who’s ever had the misfortune of appearing in front of him. Put a minority defendant in front of him and Dalton becomes exponentially more condescending, more imperious, and more sarcastic. I’ve seen attorneys’ eyes get  as wide as satellite dishes while watching his racist antics.

5. He’s needlessly cruel and nasty

Here’s a perfect example. When a white female plaintiff was trying to get a bogus order of protect against her black boyfriend, the boyfriend admitted he pulled a chair out from under her in 2007 – a decade before the hearing. Meanwhile, it was clear to everyone else in the courtroom that she was lying through her teeth. But that didn’t stop Dalton from finding in her favor.

Here’s the kicker, as he made the ruling, he sat back in his chair, put his hands behind his head, laughed and said, “If you hadn’t admitted to the chair thing, I wouldn’t have ruled against you.” Nice! I’ve personally seen him play the “are you really that stupid” game at least six times.

Make no mistake, he can behave, it’s that he chooses not to. Because some Fox Valley Court Watch folks have caught onto him, when they’re present, Dalton has no problem acting like any reasonable judge should.

But when they’re not there, Dalton uses the office to exact his “revenge” against every perceived slight he’s ever “suffered.” And the fact that his elected peers, and especially the Chief Judge, refuse to call him out on it makes them almost as bad as he is.

So, what can we do to get this bleep from the bench?”

Circuit judges run for retention every six years, and John Dalton just happens to be on the ballot as we speak. If the 10 to 20,000 people who read this post vote “no,” and they encourage just one friend to do the same, that would be the end of this bully’s reign of terror.

We have the power people to change this people. Let’s use it!

Since this is gonna be a long one and I’ve got things to do, let’s get right to our endorsements in those contested races:

County Board 3 – Anita Lewis

If you want the Kane County Board to descend into another Springfiled-esque partisan quagmire, vote for her opponent who’s nothing more than an Aurora Township Democratic shill. As we’ve already discussed, the Aurora Dems are beyond dysfunctional redemption, and they and their ilk need to be relegate to history’s dustbin.

County Board 5 – Bill Lenert

Bill made a few rookie mistakes, but he’s generally done a great job. He’s clearly earned another shot. Meanwhile, the Democratic candidate has bought into the whole Democratic “let’s take back the board” thinking and that isn’t good for anyone.

County Board 6 – Write in Ron Ford

We’ve already discussed this situation at length!

County Board 11 – John Martin

John Martin has been a stellar county board member and you know I don’t make that kind of pronouncement very often. If all Illinois politicians were like John, we’d have a balanced budget and lower taxes, too!

County Board 13 – Steve Weber

I helped Steve beat Phil Lewis and I helped him out with his general election campaign plan as well. Steve’s background makes him particularly suited for the county board and I look forward to finally working with a decent board representative.

I also like his opponent, Lark Cowart, but in the end, she’s incredibly bull-headed and won’t listen to anyone. That does not bode well for someone seeking public office. Losing two elections in less than a year will make her unelectable.

County Board 15 – Lucas Strom

I love Barb Wojnicki as a person and a friend, but she’s an absolute nightmare as a county board member. Some people just aren’t cut out for politics. Meanwhile, Strom may be a Democrat, but he’s not the insane variety and I love his CV.

County Board 19 – Kurt Kojzarek

Like John Martin, Kojzarek has been a stellar board member and, as his campaign slogan states, he truly is “A Voice of Reason.” There are those who say Kojzarek will eventually rise to  chairman and I happen to agree with them.

Meanwhile, Mohammed Iqbal has run for every office but dog catcher and he’s managed to lose every single one. In the end, he’s simply parroting Kojzarek’s platform, so you might as well vote for the real thing.

And please let me add that, I’m utterly disappointed in Elgin’s mayor Dave Kaptain’s wife Sandy and her Democratic ilk who’ve supported Kurt and his environmental initiatives for years but abandoned him the second it became politically expedient. Shame on her and all the rest of them.

The mayor is running again, right?

County Board 21 – Cliff Surges

Cliff is simply the stronger candidate.

County Board 23 – Jim Patrician

Jim supports the current Kane County tax freeze and his opponent does not!

43^rd District State Rep – Anna Moeller

This is more a vote against her opponent, Andrew Cuming, another perennial candidate who brings nothing to the table, than an endorsement of Anna. If you can’t run a reasonable campaign, why should anyone put you in a state rep seat?

Moeller is clearly the better candidate, but the extent to which she’s bought into the general assembly partisan bickering is truly terrifying. And if serving in Springfield turns you into a generally miserable human being, then perhaps it’s time to walk away.

49^th District State Rep – Tonia Khouri

If you can extrapolate a campaign mien to the capacity to govern, then Khouri is the clear choice. Sadly, Karina Villa could be a rare movement candidate, but she’s far too wishy washy, her campaign has been an unmitigated disaster, and she’s far too beholden to the Aurora Democrats. The last thing we need in Springfield is another go-with-the-flow Democrat.

50^th District State Rep – Keith Wheeler

It’s the whole can a candidate run an ineffective campaign and still somehow govern question again. And Jim Leslie’s campaign has made me cringe every step of the way. Despite the fact he’s a bit too conservative for my taste, I have been able to work with Keith on a number of issues. But if he doesn’t start showing a bit more independence, I will be more than happy to provide his next opponent with all the statistical analysis he or she might need to win.

65^th District State Rep – Dan Ugaste

While his signs are everywhere, I’ve seen two of Richard Johnson’s. And if you aren’t in it to win it…

84^th District State Rep – Stefanie Kifowit

She does occasionally hork me off by poking her nose into places it doesn’t belong. But she is an exceptional state rep who truly takes that gig to heart. She’s a very effective communicator, she truly cares about her constituents, and while she’s not as independent of the Madigan Machine as I’d like, I’d never ask anyone to commit political suicide,,either.

(In the initial posting I missed the state senate races, so here they are!)

26th District State Senate – I haven’t followed this one enough to make the right call.

33rd District State Senate – Don DeWitte

Don did a great job as Mayor of St. Charles, he’s a smart and independent politician, and he’s not the kind of idiot Republican that regularly drinks the that absurdly conservative Kool-Aid. I wish I could vote for him myself! I don’t dislike his opponent, it’s just that she doesn’t bring much to the table.

16^th Circuit Judge – Tom Hartwell

Though Mr. Hartwell personally disappointed me in a manner that typically makes me work for his opponent, when that opponent is former State Senator Michael Noland, I do feel a sudden sense of forgiveness. Hartwell won’t be a great judge, but he will be a good one, and when you consider some of the Kane County mopes in black right now, that’s a massive step up.

Meanwhile, Noland is so corrupt and slimy, he makes Moeller look like saintly by comparison. We will devote an entire column to Mr. Noland’s foibles next week.

Another thing I like about Hartwell’s candidacy is, it sends a message to all those associate judges that those 16^th Circuit seats aren’t theirs to inherit. I think it’s high time that “regular” attorneys make a regular run at Judge and I will help the good ones going forward.

Retain Judge John Dalton – NO!

This man is purposely cruel to plaintiffs and defendants, he ignores the law, he ignores his own rulings, and woe be it to any woman or minority who appears before him. Here’s your big chance to vote this poor excuse for a human being out of office. We’ll cover this piece of bleep next week as well.

Retain Judge John Barsanti – Yes

John was a great State’s Attorney and he’s an even better judge. His wife may annoy the crap out of me, but we can’t pin those kinds of poor choices on him. There aren’t very many 16th Circuit Judges I hold in the highest esteem, but Barsanti is one of them.

County Clerk – No one

You may as well write me in because both candidates suck!

Sheriff – Ron Hain

I could brag about Hain’s impressive anti-recidivism programs, but when the current Sheriff doesn’t bother to show up to the Delnor hostage tragedy because of a sore big toe, I really don’t need to.

Treasurer – Dave Rickert

The other guy isn’t even trying, and all sorts of folks regularly call me to say what a great job Dave is doing.

Since you already know the statewide and Congressional candidates, we’ll just go with names here:

14^th Congressional District – Lauren Underwood

11^th Congressional District – Nick Stella

8^th   Congressional District – Raja Krishnamoorthi

6^th   Congressional District – Sean Casten

State Treasurer –         Michael Frerichs

State Comptroller –     Susana Mendoza

Secretary of State –     Jesse White

Attorney General –     Kwame Raoul

Governor –                  J. B. Pritzker

Queen –                       Kristen Ziman

Now, go out and vote!

Please get your scorecards out for this one folks, because the Aurora Township Democrats, in cahoots with the Kane County Central Party, just tried to pull a fast one. All I can say is, if the Aurora Dems put as much energy into improving Aurora as they do into pointless infighting, losing elections, and generally behaving badly, the City of Light would be a spectacular sight.

But let’s start at the beginning.

Having moved out of the 6^th District, Democratic county board member Brian Dahl relinquished his seat on April 7. That meant Chairman Chris Lauzen had to appoint another Democrat to finish his term, and he reached out to former board member Ron Ford to fill the vacancy.

If you recall, Ford served the 6^th District from 2008 to 2015 when he stepped down due to work and family obligations. The truth is, done correctly, that purportedly part-time gig can be anything but.

Three years later, with those considerations well in hand, Ford accepted Lauzen’s appointment, and the county board unanimously – Democrats and Republicans alike – approved his return. Considering his capacity to work with just about anyone, that 23 to 0 vote certainly didn’t surprise me at all.

But then a funny thing happened.

Given the timing of his appointment, Ford couldn’t run for re-election the regular nominating paperwork way. He’d have to be “slated” by the Aurora Township Democrats to get on the November ballot, but that’s almost always a formality.

But instead of doing the slating at their August meeting as is customary, this fine group of Democrats decided to move the vote up to the July meeting. And when it came time to notify the precinct committeemen, as required by statute, treasurer Greg Elsbree says he sent a certified letter to all 14 of them and supposedly CC’d Ron, too.

But then a rather strange thing happened, only seven of the PCs received that missive in a timely manner and four didn’t receive it at all. I know the post office can be a difficult proposition, but not even they are capable of a 50 percent certified mail failure rate.

Oddly enough, the seven precinct committeeman who received the notice just happened to be opposed to Ron’s nomination, while those who support him – including all the African-American PCs – were left out in the cold. Nothing racist about that at all!

And despite the fact that he’s the incumbent, Ron wasn’t warned about the impending vote until the day before. Oh! He asked Democratic Chairman Mark Guethle about the nomination process at least three times, but all he got was non-descript answers.

So, let’s tie this up in a neat little bow!

The Aurora Democrats and Guethe don’t like Ron Ford for a number of reasons, the most of which is that he actually gets along with Republicans. You see, what the KC Dems really want to do is turn the county board into just another partisan battleground and Ron isn’t the kind of “true believer” who’d be willing do something that stupid.

That’s all we need, right? Springfield or Washington right here in Kane County!

So, they pulled a fast one to keep a sitting county board member off the ballot. But all is not lost, dear reader! Ron has filed to run as a write-in , and plugging “Ron Ford” into a voting machine is about as easy as it gets.

Ron is the kind of board member that other board members look up to, So, please don’t let the township Democrats and Mark Guethle get away with this kind of unadulterated BS. Write in “Ron Ford” for the 6^th Kane County Board District. You’ll be glad you did!

Every time I wanna take a day off some of you bleeps just have to insist upon engaging in the kind of intolerant, anti-social, and Neanderthal behavior that demands an immediate, thorough and insightful response that you can only get at TheFirstWard.net.

You certainly won’t find it in the local newspapers.

Sadly, former Batavia High School teacher and current D101 School Board member, John Dryden, recently discovered the peril of applying hyperbole on social media. John! The next time you feel the urge to do something silly like that, please put the keyboard down and leave it to the professionals. So what if the Geneva Police arrest me for the 97^th time!

If you recall, Mr. Dryden got himself into a bit of a 2013 pickle when he correctly advised his young charges not to incriminate themselves by answering a not-nearly-anonymous high school survey on drug, alcohol and tobacco use.

The great John Dryden!

You really gotta love the Batavia school district! Just when I think Geneva D304 couldn’t possibly disappoint me any further, D101 always steps up and makes them look reasonable by comparison. I suppose that’s good for our property values.

Meanwhile, our erudite educator’s response to getting spanked by administrators was to retire from teaching, run for school board, and win!

That’s how you do it Democrats and liberals! No whining, howling, shrieking, lawsuits, long soliloquys, recriminations, insipid memes, Facebook rants, co-opting board meetings, or playing the victim card. You simply put yourself in a position to affect the very people who once affected you.

Upset by some parents’ over-the-top school board meeting reactions to a transgender student using the sixth-grade girls locker room and restrooms at Rotolo Middle School, John posted the following on social media:

Sometimes School Board meetings are like Mr. Toad’s wild ride.  You can watch me try really hard not to launch myself over the table and strangle an anti-transgender lynch mob. The Board Comments at the end are worth listening to. Cheers Batavia — let’s move ahead, not backwards.

When I read that missive in real-time, my immediate response was, “I really need to give John a call and offer to help him throttle the appropriate attendees at the next Batavia board gathering. Given the general comportment of the average Tri-Cities school parent, there’s no way he could possibly get to all of them.”

And all the proof you need of my some-of-y’all-really-need-throttling hypothesis is anti-transgender parent, Kelly Sullivan, took John’s post to the Batavia Police Department and filed a police report because she felt threatened by it. I’ll pause right here to give you some time to take that in…………….

I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve watched school board members assault parents during board meetings.

When confronted by the Daily Herald, Ms. Sullivan explained that, while some of her best friends are transgendered, the District failed to warn parents of this student’s existence and perhaps provide her with separate changing and restroom facilities.

Sullivan also claimed she was fearful of Dryden’s Facebook page commenters, who accurately accused her and the other intolerant parents of all kinds of bigotry and discrimination. As I frequently like to say, we certainly have the right to free speech, but none of us are free from the consequences of that speech.

And I’m glad she’s scared. She certainly wasn’t afraid of throwing a middle school student directly “under the bus,” as Dryden put it, to press her own agenda. Board member Tina Bleakley supported Dryden’s sentiment adding, “To come publicly to speak about a child disappoints me.”

Me too!

This could have, and should have been handled behind the scenes, but today’s brand of conservatives can’t be happy unless they’re making a scene. And if you believe in a Christian God, there’s a special place in hell for anyone who would needlessly make an already difficult middle schooler’s life that much more difficult.

As is too typical of Tri-Cities parents, Sullivan somehow managed to perceive and portray herself as the victim. It’s almost as if conservatives believe our gay and transgendered brethren are doing it just to annoy the crap out of them.

Yes! It’s every middle schooler’s dream to court derision, ridicule and intolerance by making a flip decision about their sexuality. Most of y’all can barely handle a splinter, much less the kind of surgery that affects your most delicate areas.

As to Sullivan’s allegation that parents should’ve been warned, Illinois privacy laws make it utterly illegal to do that. “We would never discuss personal private information about a student without their permission,” Superintendent Lisa Hitchens correctly contended, “It’s the law.”

Yes, it is!

And these bleeps who had no problem outing a middle schooler are the same bleeps who’d sue D101 in a heartbeat if they dared divulge anything about their delicate little darlings.

Another protesting parent complained her daughter was scared when she heard a male voice in the locker room, because she wasn’t aware that transgendered students existed. But that ain’t on the school board or the district, that’s on you for being a bad parent.

I get it! There are all sorts of realities we wish our children didn’t have to face, but that doesn’t make them go away now, does it? The head-in-the-sand parenting methodology never works out very well in the long run.

“Preparing students for the possibility of attending school with a transgender student is a family conversation,” Hitchens added, “The district can provide parents with resources to have that talk.”

Good enough!

John’s social media response to the entire police report kerfuffle was this:

One could argue I set myself up to be a punching bag here. On the other hand, I have to wonder why this is newsworthy. I suspect a group of parents didn’t like the response the board gave them, so they are flailing at whatever they can hit. Metaphor is clearly lost on them. Much ado about nothing.

And the truth is, it isn’t, or shouldn’t be newsworthy. Shame on the Daily Herald for going after the lowest of the low hanging fruit one more time. Those unethical editors did nothing more than exponentially compound Sullivan’s outing error by making sure we all know about this student.

I keep waiting for that paper to hit journalistic rock bottom, but they just keep on digging that hole!

So, no! Having spoken with John at length, I can personally guarantee that he isn’t about  to start strangling parents at board meetings despite the fact that some of you really need a good throttling. But I’m making no such promises!

Ain’t it funny how conservative Batavians refuse to believe the eminently credible Dr. Christine Ford, but they have no problem believing a transgender student will go after their daughters and take down an entire school district in the process.

Apparently, they missed the whole “least of my brothers” Sunday School lesson. Good Christians every one!

The jury will announce the Jason Van Dyke verdict at 1:45 p.m. CST. Should you want to see it live, please turn to CLTV on your cable or satellite network.

Given the light speed nature of the deliberations, and the fact the jury asked the Judge two questions, my money is on a second degree murder conviction which will make everyone unhappy, but it might just prevent rioting.

But the protest leaders are saying, if it ain’t first degree murder – if there’s no justice for Laquan McDonald, there will be no Chicago Marathon on Sunday. Interesting!

I’ll be watching!

PS: It was a second degree murder conviction exactly as it should’ve been.