Okay, the good. Rahm has a website fit for President Obama, but it may take more than voters to make it to a second term. Will there be an unexpected backlash in February? I admit that Rahm is much more organized. That is a fact and the disparity is obvious!
My concern: its just a matter of law. What was done to the Illinois Municipal Code to accommodate Rahm Emmanuel? This has lasting consequences and it needs to be challenged for future candidates. I don't believe that those consequences are 150 years old, as suggested. Burton Odelson is an accomplished election attorney; the Municipal Code was clearly and concisely presented. Waiver? I think that it is a procedural stretch. Judge Hoffman did not deserve the lashing from a Justice who claims to know what it means to be defamed!
The challenge with electing Illinois Supreme Court Justices is that when they are voted out of a job or decide to leave office, they often still want to work! That is why Illinois needs to reconsider merit selection. Also, the appointment of Justices for life with the right to resign. Thomas, among others, needs find a job after this gig is over! Who do you think wrote those briefs to the Illinois Supreme Court? The future employers of clout, perhaps? Judges who are free of such concerns, and have the consent of both parties based upon merit are often more objective while on the bench. I don't suggest corruption; I suggest human nature; conscious or unconscious, pure and simple! This decision helps confirm that merit selection makes sense in my opinion.
If the public could care less, then voters can easily be careless with their votes. Who, other than attorneys, read the Chicago Bar Associations Judicial Recommendations? How many voters actually study the judges or download that CBA form? Our ballot is one big amorphous mass of names to sort through! Even I admit that I have trouble without the CBA Cheat Sheet!
If Bob Thomas is the most Anglicized name, then he is elected. Of course, the name of a Chicago Bears Football player who punted his way into Superbowl History can carry carte blanc. This is particularly among suburban season Bears Ticket holders and remote control jockeys. Now, Justice Thomas, among others, have made their mark on Illinois Municipal Political Law. Did Rahm ever meet Bob Thomas when he was younger? Look, the decision does not sit well with me, even if I eventually learn to appreciate the rationale. There is no doubt that I must accept until another case comes.
Imagine, I can now spend most of my time in Boca and return to run for political office in Chicago as I please. I may not be elected, but I can be an 'absentee candidate.' This, as long as I am a snowbird in waiting and the voters are infatuated with me. I need not be 'domiciled' and 'dwelling' in the City of Chicago. All I need is a Chicago address and a tax return. The right celebrity can broadcast on the internet after upgrading the botox, nose job, skin peels, tummy tuck and liposuction. Every school teacher and city employer ever required to reside in Chicago should be seething with jealousy.
I think it was a mistake for the Justices to ignore all of the words in the subsection of the Illinois Municipal Code. However, the vote was unanimous. There is no difference between the right to vote and the right to be a candidate. That is why I will have to read past page four to figure out what the hell just happened!
Summary: Perhaps, too our Justices strive for the charmed silk stocking law firm life after tiring of the job. Where is Patrick Fitzgerald when you need him? Again, this jury is still out, but the excerpts remain unconvincing. They read like a bulldozing litigator on speed in my opinion. I'm looking for rationale, Justice Thomas, but then, again, you outrank me and you wear a Superbowl XX Ring! Perhaps, it is law on a shoestring. I am now obligated to read, perhaps re-read, the next 21 pages with care, contemplation and objectivity. However, Burton Odelson's brief and the Hoffman decision deserved careful contemplation, not clashing condemnation. The decision was no way to treat fellow Judges!
Are there any others licensed to practice law who also think that the Maksym Decision was a Supreme Court mulligan? Is there a desire by Illinois Justices to spend more time at Medina, or in meditation? Either way, as Rahm goes to the final round, I must wonder whether he will turn into another Mayor Michael Bilandic? Will the next Jane Byrne please prepare herself?
How about that $6.1 Billion Budget and the $654 Million deficit?Will we sell off the Water Department next and forfeit its quality based upon dummy-ed up records for political consumption and public poisoning? Perrier anyone?
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