* First, some background from the Champaign News-Gazette…
Terry Cosgrove, who cut his political teeth long ago as a leader of the Gay Illini group on the University of Illinois campus, was the target of some heated rhetoric last week on the floor of the Illinois Senate.
Cosgrove, the president and CEO of the pro-choice Personal PAC political action committee in Chicago, was up for reappointment to his $46,960 a year position on the Illinois Human Rights Commission.
He won reappointment on a 36-30 roll call, with no Republicans supporting the appointment and only two Democrats (southern Illinois senators Gary Forby and William Haine) voting no. All area senators voted no, except Sen. Mike Frerichs, D-Champaign.
But the vote came after Sen. Dan Duffy, R-Barrington, delivered a blistering attack on Cosgrove, calling him “unethical and immoral” and a liar.
“Besides being on the Human Rights Commission, he will not leave the Personal PAC, the PAC that he’s set up and where he’s worked since 1989. So he’s been conducting this unethical and immoral behavior, according to himself and his own testimony, since 1989,” Duffy said. “He is also a highly paid lobbyist and he’s worked as a lobbyist for decades with Personal PAC. As you all know it’s against our ethics code in the state of Illinois to appoint anybody to a board who has been a paid lobbyist. Now Terry Cosgrove will tell you that he’s not actually a paid lobbyist.”
Duffy also said that Cosgrove lists himself as a political independent but has voted in only one Republican primary election in the last 25 years.
* Not mentioned is that Sen. Kirk Dillard voted for Cosgrove in committee. Dillard’s campaign spokesman explained the vote… kinda…
GOP gubernatorial candidate State Senator Kirk Dillard says there was confusion about the qualifications for Human Rights Commission appointees, and that while he voted in committee to approve an pro-abortion activist for the spot, he opposed the nomination on the Senate floor.
“Senator Dillard voted ‘no’ on the floor to Terry Cosgrove … the actual or ‘real’ recorded vote,” Dillard campaign spokesman Wes Blood told Illinois Review. “There was some confusion over qualifications in committee. Sen. Dillard definitely opposes Mr. Cosgrove’s appointment to the Human Rights Committee.”
During the October 15th Executive Appointments hearing, Senator Dillard was the only Republican that joined the Democrats in approving abortion activist Terry Cosgrove for re-assignment to the Human Rights Commission. Cosgrove, who actively raises campaign funds for abortion supporters through Personal PAC, will be paid $46,960 annually for serving on the commission from March 2013 until November 2017.
- Raising Kane - Thursday, Oct 31, 13 @ 2:43 pm:
Can someone please tell me when Dillard became this pathetic? I can’t believe I ever liked him.
- Whatever - Thursday, Oct 31, 13 @ 2:44 pm:
Dillard flip-flopping? Trying to have it both ways? SHOCKING. No one said. Ever.
- LincolnLounger - Thursday, Oct 31, 13 @ 2:44 pm:
I’ve known Terry Cosgrove forever. There’s no one more passionate — or effective. He and I are politically polar opposites, but it’s always been my opinion that he, along with Personal PAC’s big checkbook, single-handedly kept Quinn in as Governor in the last election. The mail he did sent suburban women and independents screaming away from Bill Brady (read: what happens next if Brady wins the nomination again.)
To the victor go the spoils. If the GOP could ever get our act together, perhaps we could be making appointments to lots of boards and commissions.
The only thing I don’t like about this is calling Terry an “independent.” What a joke.
- Demoralized - Thursday, Oct 31, 13 @ 2:49 pm:
==calling him “unethical and immoral” and a liar==
Nice to see some decorum in the state Senate.
- Oswego Willy - Thursday, Oct 31, 13 @ 2:53 pm:
Dillard just can’t help himself. When Kirk isn’t busy destroying his credibility, Kirk spends his time pandering to fringe elements at the cost of looking rational.
Kirk, you were the COS for Edgar, you are not “new” to the IL Senate, you have at least “seen” Cosgrove around (lol), what is the “confusion” here, which “Kirk Dillard” you are/were suppose to be that day?
C’mon, this is going beyond embarrassing.
Stop talking. Stop… everything for two minutes, talk to Edgar and Thompson, and do exactly what they say… to the LETTER, and maybe you might seem just Dopey after all these fiascos.
- John Bambenek - Thursday, Oct 31, 13 @ 2:54 pm:
You know, one quo warranto suit and they could stop him from being on the board. I mean if you really want to take him down, go to court and say no more than 7 Democrats on the HRC means, you know, no more than 7. And it isn’t like we don’t have an operative definition of what a Democrat or a Republican is in this state (a.k.a. someone who voted in a primary).
Pretty slam dunk if someone wants to do something besides pound their desk enough times until their voting box gets knocked onto the floor.
- walkinfool - Thursday, Oct 31, 13 @ 2:55 pm:
So Duffy’s problem with Cosgrove is that he’s a lobbyist.
Not that he’s an effective advocate for the “pro-choice” movement.
Yeah, right.
- Tommydanger - Thursday, Oct 31, 13 @ 2:56 pm:
Another example of Dillydallying?
I was for him before I was against him.
- walkinfool - Thursday, Oct 31, 13 @ 2:58 pm:
Another case where “good Kirk” has lately become “bad Kirk.”
We need a to bring in the back-up QB.
- Oswego Willy - Thursday, Oct 31, 13 @ 3:04 pm:
Isn’t Duffy with Rauner who is Pro-Choice.
Dillard should have told Duffy to “Go Scratch, and go with Rauner”.
Who is helping Dillard?
- Downstater - Thursday, Oct 31, 13 @ 3:04 pm:
Just another reason not to support Kirk in the Republican primary. Squishy!
- dupage dan - Thursday, Oct 31, 13 @ 3:07 pm:
I think the real Dillard went thru a Star Trek time portal and the “Evillard” came back instead. Look closely - there is a mole on his cheek that wasn’t there a year ago. All we have to do is get the evil James Tiberius Kirk Dillard
back into the portal and with a bit of backstreet Hollywood magic we can have the real Dlard back.
- wordslinger - Thursday, Oct 31, 13 @ 3:08 pm:
What’s the confusion about qualifications? And why would it matter?
You can vote against someone who is qualified, can’t you?
- OneMan - Thursday, Oct 31, 13 @ 3:18 pm:
It’s been an up day for Dillard today.
- Johnny Q. Suburban - Thursday, Oct 31, 13 @ 3:22 pm:
The Audacity of Incompetence: The Story of Kirk Dillard’s Political Forrays
- MrJM - Thursday, Oct 31, 13 @ 3:46 pm:
D’oh-lard.
– MrJM
- Soccermom - Thursday, Oct 31, 13 @ 4:13 pm:
Maybe Kirk didn’t realize that Terry was pro-choice when they had the committee vote.
hahahahahahahahahahaha
- DuPage Rep - Thursday, Oct 31, 13 @ 4:17 pm:
This is the price of doing the dance with the ideologues on the far right when you don’t believe in their causes in your heart. He better go consult with his “Conservative Council” and find out what to think. No backbone under all that D-Lard.
- LittleLebowskiUrbanAchiever - Thursday, Oct 31, 13 @ 4:21 pm:
This is all a part of Terry’s diabolical plan to get Bill Brady to beat up on again. (Fingertips tapping)
- Truthteller - Thursday, Oct 31, 13 @ 8:28 pm:
If Cosgrove is a lobbyist he is not eligible to be a member of the Commission. If he is not registered as a lobbyist, then the AG should investigate.Are you telling me he doesn’t ask legislators to vote for pro-choice or against anti-choice bills? C’mon.
- Joan P. - Thursday, Oct 31, 13 @ 9:31 pm:
He was “confused”? Who wants a governor who’s “confused”?
- The DuPage Bard - Thursday, Oct 31, 13 @ 11:43 pm:
Would it be better for Dillard just to scrap all this? He still has more than enough time to get signatures together and win his old seat? Same with Tracy?
- Roland the Headless Thompson Gunner - Friday, Nov 1, 13 @ 6:27 am:
Dillard’s contortions to pander to the cultural right get more pathetic and embarrassing by the day.
- he said she said - Friday, Nov 1, 13 @ 6:42 am:
Were the pro-lifers or other “conservative” groups on record of opposing the Cosgrove appointment in committee? Doesn’t look like it