54 Comments - Colin O'Scopey - Friday, Oct 23, 15 @ 11:38 am: For the love of Pete. She’d sue if they rescinded the endorsement? That might be the quip of the year. I hope they pull the endorsement. She’s gotta go. - Demoralized - Friday, Oct 23, 15 @ 11:40 am: ==says FBI didn’t go into her house, took her cell phone on a sidewalk== Well that changes everything. LOL - Demoralized - Friday, Oct 23, 15 @ 11:41 am: ==Dorothy Brown tells the Dems they can’t rescind their endorsement because she gave them $25,000 == I paid for this endorsement! This just keeps getting better. - Tone - Friday, Oct 23, 15 @ 11:43 am: Dump her, she is awful. Eliminate the position while we’re at it and half the staff. - Colin O'Scopey - Friday, Oct 23, 15 @ 11:43 am: =Brown on Madigan: “we’re good friends. We go way back= Of course they’re good friends. Steve Brown has been the Speaker’s mouthpiece since 1983. Oh, DOROTHY Brown and the Speaker are good friends? Who’d of thunk it? - Belle - Friday, Oct 23, 15 @ 11:44 am: Why wait for someone to tell you to go, sometimes you need to decide on your own. - Team America - Friday, Oct 23, 15 @ 11:45 am: Only $25 grand? She got off cheap. I understand the buy in for a judge is $40K. Is anybody besides me bothered by this system? - phocion - Friday, Oct 23, 15 @ 11:46 am: Dear Lord. - Robert the Bruce - Friday, Oct 23, 15 @ 11:47 am: ==Brown tells fellow Dem Party leaders that investigations happen all the time and maybe some of them have been investigated== But we proudly admit it when we’re investigated! thinks Berrios. - Demoralized - Friday, Oct 23, 15 @ 11:55 am: This had to be one of the goofiest defenses of all time. They didn’t come in my house, they got me on the sidewalk! I paid for this endorsement! People are investigated all the time! Sheesh. - @MisterJayEm - Friday, Oct 23, 15 @ 11:55 am: “Dorothy Brown tells the Dems they can’t rescind their endorsement because she gave them $25,000″ Can someone identify the clearly exasperated fellow in the background of that photo? https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CSBEL1gU8AAXamZ.png – MrJM - Ravenswood Right Winger - Friday, Oct 23, 15 @ 11:59 am: This is highly entertaining! - nona - Friday, Oct 23, 15 @ 12:07 pm: Guilty until proven innocent. - train111 - Friday, Oct 23, 15 @ 12:11 pm: Tio Hardiman? I thought he was running agianst bobby Rush. That guy changes what he is running for more times than Danny Davis!! Sheesh!! - walker - Friday, Oct 23, 15 @ 12:15 pm: A longstanding embarrassment taken out of Madigan’s hands. Let her not be replaced by somebody else’s long-mentored player. - burbanite - Friday, Oct 23, 15 @ 12:16 pm: The 25 g crack was enough reason to dump her, one would assume a clerk of the court would know at least a little something about the law….They made the right decision. - nixit71 - Friday, Oct 23, 15 @ 12:18 pm: ==Tio Hardiman speaking now; says he should be supported bc he got 30% of the vote in Dem primary for governor== But your opponent got 70%. - 47th Ward - Friday, Oct 23, 15 @ 12:19 pm: Watch for some “layoffs” to be quietly issued at the Clerk’s office later today. If your Buddha voted to rescind, start collecting your personal belongings… - Just Observing - Friday, Oct 23, 15 @ 12:34 pm: === Only $25 grand? She got off cheap. I understand the buy in for a judge is $40K. Is anybody besides me bothered by this system? === Not really… it’s not buying the endorsement, it’s a contribution toward the slate’s petition gathering, literature, and other material. The $25,000 comes after the endorsement, not before. Plus, I don’t think it is $40,000 for Judges. - Responsa - Friday, Oct 23, 15 @ 12:36 pm: She has been an embarrassment to herself and to this position for years. That it took something like this to “unslate” her should cause the D party embarrassment as well. - Ravenswood Right Winger - Friday, Oct 23, 15 @ 12:38 pm: Is being Cook County Circuit Clerk that much better than being an Alderman? I guess more patronage opportunities? - Wordslinger - Friday, Oct 23, 15 @ 12:59 pm: Whoa, how did Derrick Rose get in there? Give the guy a break, he has his own problems. - Curious Georgina - Friday, Oct 23, 15 @ 1:01 pm: “Berrios says there was concern Brown’s endorsement would’ve hurt credibility of entire Cook Co Dem ticket” Yeah, well, thank God they have Joe Berrios there to lend credibility and respectability to the ticket. /s - St. Ambrose - Friday, Oct 23, 15 @ 1:02 pm: At last the answer to my last question. Dorthy B. was treated by Kennedy-King graduate, Dr. Oxytaroon, A.A. B.S. M.D. PhD. D.D. & huh, huh. - Juice - Friday, Oct 23, 15 @ 1:02 pm: “Berrios says there was concern Brown’s endorsement would’ve hurt credibility of entire Cook Co Dem tick” “Who you look in’ at, kettle?” - Last Bull Moose - Friday, Oct 23, 15 @ 1:02 pm: Dorothy Brown gives credence to the Rauner claim of pervasive corruption. - Just Observing - Friday, Oct 23, 15 @ 1:06 pm: === Is being Cook County Circuit Clerk that much better than being an Alderman? I guess more patronage opportunities? === Yes, MUCH more staff. Also, more pay, higher name ID, and probably less aggravation — although I’m sure there is plenty of aggravation running a huge court system, but probably less day-to-aggravation dealing with angry constituents. - Flynn's mom - Friday, Oct 23, 15 @ 1:09 pm: Is that Jesse Jackson Jr’s elk head hanging on the wall - LincolnLounger - Friday, Oct 23, 15 @ 1:12 pm: If she can move the office beyond carbon copies, she will be a success. - Gooner - Friday, Oct 23, 15 @ 1:46 pm: Does anybody happen to know if the Alderman Harris has any actual qualifications for the job? Oh wait. Silly me. That doesn’t matter. Efficient government has never been a priority. - Lincoln Parker - Friday, Oct 23, 15 @ 2:03 pm: ===”I would say the endorsement of me is like a contract, because when I paid that $25,000 and the party actually cashed that check, that created a contract,” Brown said while speaking to committeemen. “Robert’s rules says you cannot rescind a contract. That’s one motion you cannot rescind.”=== She’s got a law degree & been working in the courts for how long and she doesn’t have a basic understanding of what a contract is. What an embarrassment. She should’ve been gone years ago. - Team America - Friday, Oct 23, 15 @ 2:30 pm: === Not really… it’s not buying the endorsement, it’s a contribution toward the slate’s petition gathering, literature, and other material. The $25,000 comes after the endorsement, not before. Plus, I don’t think it is $40,000 for Judges. === JO, I believe the candidate gets asked what they can raise for the party before the slating vote. Perhaps this example is atypical, but it was a $40K donation from this judge who won an endorsement: https://www.elections.il.gov/CampaignDisclosure/ItemizedExpend.aspx?FiledDocID=587728&ExpenditureType=Transfers+Out&Archived=True&OrderBy=LastorOnlyName-AtoZ&ItemizedExpendFrom=D2Quarterly.aspx And then what happens? The judge’s fundraisers have to go back to her supporters to ask for money to “replenish some of the funds that went to the Democratic Party” (a direct quote from a solicitation e-mail) - Just Me - Friday, Oct 23, 15 @ 2:31 pm: Nice to see that the party is now running someone who isn’t even a lawyer to run the county’s court system. What a joke. They just wanted someone to protect all those patronage jobs. The other candidates only found out about the meeting through the media. Can the party at least pretend to take these positions seriously? - Team America - Friday, Oct 23, 15 @ 2:33 pm: And, JO, I should add that the same e-mail said, quote, “As a slated candidate, our campaign was required to make a significant contribution to the Cook County Democratic Party.” - Politix - Friday, Oct 23, 15 @ 2:40 pm: I’ve worked with the clerk and she’s a very thoughtful professional and a lovely person in general. She didn’t marry well and that has hurt her. Some of her staff policies were questionable/unethical. But I don’t think she deserved this. Perhaps I’m being naive but I don’t think she’s craftier than any other longtime pol and she hasn’t been charged with a crime. So what gives? - Keyrock - Friday, Oct 23, 15 @ 2:44 pm: What gives? She runs a thoroughly, embarrassingly, incompetent, bloated office, and if she’s indicted and/or loses because she’s damaged goods the party could lose many of the relatively few remaining patronage jobs for hack party workers. - Gooner - Friday, Oct 23, 15 @ 3:00 pm: Politix? A thoughtful professional? You are not a lawyer, are you? Try to obtain records from her office that you need for a case. Then tell how us how “professional” she is. I’ve practiced in venues literally coast to coast (Florida to Washington, with many stops in between). Getting accurate records from her office is far more difficult than in any other clerk’s office. - 47th Ward - Friday, Oct 23, 15 @ 3:07 pm: ===someone who isn’t even a lawyer to run the county’s court system.=== The Clerk of the Circuit Court pushes paper and keeps records. The chief judge runs the court system. Big difference. - Politix - Friday, Oct 23, 15 @ 3:20 pm: I’m not a lawyer and have no need for records. Good or bad, I don’t see her losing the election without an indictment. But what do I know. - Gooner - Friday, Oct 23, 15 @ 3:30 pm: “Good or bad, I don’t see her losing the election without an indictment. But what do I know.” You may be right, and that’s everything wrong with Illinois voters. Running an office in a competent manner is not a necessary qualification for election. - anon - Friday, Oct 23, 15 @ 3:32 pm: Exasperated guy in the picture is Martwick from Norwood Park Township. - Gooner - Friday, Oct 23, 15 @ 3:33 pm: 47th Ward, the reason it would be helpful to have a lawyer in that position is because lawyers tend to have more of an understanding of the needs of that office. They are the ones who most often need access to the records the office is supposed to need. Unless you are a lawyer, the urgency of some matters might not be apparent. Could a non-lawyer do the job? Sure, but having experience with the system would be a big advantage. - Politix - Friday, Oct 23, 15 @ 3:38 pm: Totally agree, Gooner. - 47th Ward - Friday, Oct 23, 15 @ 3:48 pm: I’d settle for a competent administrator, lawyer or not. But following your logic, maybe we should require a realtor be Recorder of Deeds, a banker be Treasurer, a law enforcement professional to be Sheriff, and an appraiser to be Assessor. Bottom line: I really don’t care what their background is as long as they get the job done. - Gooner - Friday, Oct 23, 15 @ 3:56 pm: Yes 47th, I believe the Recorder should have some knowledge of real estate and how people who need real estate documents interact with that office, a think an accounting or banking professional would make a better treasurer and somebody with a law enforcement background would make a better sheriff. Is that really controversial? That background seems like a given. It is tough to get the job done if you don’t understand the job. - 47th Ward - Friday, Oct 23, 15 @ 4:00 pm: Stick to soccer Gooner. They’re called public offices for a reason, any citizen may run and serve. You prefer a lawyer for a particular office, great. But suggesting that be a requirement to run? Well, like soccer, that is downright un-American. - Loop Lady - Friday, Oct 23, 15 @ 4:02 pm: It’s a start…never should have been slated in the first place…a blatantly corrupt official for years…know some of her staffers that couldn’t believe her braggadocio… - Gooner - Friday, Oct 23, 15 @ 4:05 pm: 47th, You really demolished that straw man. Well played! Somewhere a straw man is in awe of 47. Now that you’ve kicked his behind, you may want to respond to what I wrote. Could you point out where I said it was a requirement? It would be helpful if you could respond to what was written. It makes the discussion far more interesting. - 47th Ward - Friday, Oct 23, 15 @ 4:15 pm: Gooner, we’re pals here. You said: “That background seems like a given.” I said: “But suggesting that be a requirement to run?” I didn’t say you said it should be a requirement. I said you suggested it. And you most certainly did. We both agree Brown should never have held the office. We both prefer competent administrators that respond to the public and to their customers. I’m just tired of hearing how law school somehow instills greater competence than other types of education. I don’t believe lawyers are special. - Gooner - Friday, Oct 23, 15 @ 4:18 pm: Suggested it should be a requirement? No, I really didn’t. I said what I said. If I wanted to say “it should be a requirement” I likely would said “it should be a requirement.” - 47th Ward - Friday, Oct 23, 15 @ 4:24 pm: ===But that background seems like a given.=== A fan of English football, but not of the English language. - Gooner - Friday, Oct 23, 15 @ 4:33 pm: 47th, When I want to say “requirement” I will say “requirement.” Son, at this point you are battling voices only you can hear. I’m sure this is as boring to other readers as it is to me. For their sake and mine, at this point, I’m out of this discussion. - Tone - Friday, Oct 23, 15 @ 4:47 pm: Glad ole Dorothy is gone. I’m not confident the replacement will be a significant improvement. - 47th Ward - Friday, Oct 23, 15 @ 4:50 pm: ===I didn’t say you said it should be a requirement. I said you suggested it. And you most certainly did.=== And don’t ever call me son. Good day sir. Sorry, comments for this post are now closed.