* More illiterate and dangerous nonsense about Rep. Deb Conroy’s bill from a quasi news outlet…
Illinois could indefinitely quarantine anyone who refuses vaccination, examination, or observation, under a bill pending in the House.
Cats and dogs would fare worse than people, as the bill would allow the public health department to kill any animal. The state would compensate animal owners, if they cooperate. […]
It would allow the department to examine, test, disinfect, seize, or destroy animals.
An owner would receive notice, and the department might agree with the owner on the value of an animal.
If they didn’t agree, each side would pick an appraiser and the appraisers would pick a third appraiser.
Destruction would follow appraisal immediately.
The Humane Euthanasia in Animal Shelters Act would apply to dogs and cats, and the Humane Care for Animals Act would apply to other animals.
As always, this language is already in state law. It is beyond ridiculous that such a report would ever be published. Also, you might wanna ask farmers and ranchers trying to protect their herds from hoof and mouth disease how valuable this state law is.
* Also too, there are also plenty of safeguards…
When the Department determines that any animal or related property is infected with or has been exposed to a dangerously contagious or infectious disease, it may agree with the owner upon the value of the animal or of any related property that it may be found necessary to destroy, and in case such an agreement cannot be made, the animals or related property shall be appraised by 3 competent and disinterested appraisers, one to be selected by the Department, one by the claimant, and one by the 2 appraisers thus selected. The appraisers shall subscribe to an oath made in writing to fairly value the animals or related property in accordance with the requirements of this Act. The oath, together with the valuation fixed by the appraisers, shall be filed with the Department and preserved by it.
* As we’ve discussed, DuPage County Board member and GOP candidate for board chair Greg Hart has slammed the Conroy bill. He now refuses to withdraw his unfounded criticism…
A spokesman told Playbook last night that Hart stands by his statement.
You really gotta wonder if these stories are part of a campaign of harassment to push Rep. Conroy out of the DuPage chair’s race. And if it didn’t start that way, it sure is morphing into it now. Conroy thinks it’s deliberate…
Conroy told Playbook she has closed down her office and is being escorted by police while investigators try to track down the origin of the threats, including a phone message that said, “I’ll take you by gunpoint.”
She sees the threats as an organized effort to scare her out of the race for the DuPage County Board chair seat she’s seeking. “I’ve taken on a lot of fights in my career, and I’m proud of them. I’m struggling with the realization that people will actually stoop that low for political gain.”
*** UPDATE *** Another politician who doesn’t have the first clue of how to read a bill and yet feels comfortable asserting that an Illinois legislator wants to round people up…
Northfield Township Committeeman TJ Brown is on high alert after a Democrat-sponsored bill would grant state and local government extraordinary powers during times of public health crises.
The bill – HB 4640 – is sponsored by State Rep. Deb Conroy (D-Villa Park). It has been roundly criticized for its authoritarian tone.
Conroy’s bill would allow the state to “isolate or quarantine persons who are unable or unwilling to receive vaccines, medications, or other treatments.”
“When I first heard about this bill from a member of our organization in Northfield Township, I initially thought that it was an overwrought exaggeration. But then I read the text of the bill. If anything, my concerned member understated the extent of this bill. I don’t know how it could pass Constitutional muster, compelling people to either submit to a physical examination (including but not limited to a COVID test) or be forced to isolate from their family, friends and associates,” Brown told North Cook News. […]
“This bill would not pass a General Assembly comprised of serious people who eschew a dystopian police state,” Brown said. “However, I expect it to pass the Illinois General Assembly, and I expect yes votes from the lawmakers who represent Northfield Township: Bob Morgan (who is sponsoring a vaccine registry bill), Jonathan Carroll (who proposed a heinous bill depriving unvaccinated people of health care), Laura Fine, Julie Morrison, Jennifer Gong-Gershowitz, and Robyn Gabel (who gutted the health care right of conscience act). I also expect yes votes from Marty Moylan and Laura Murphy, who will represent a small corner of our township starting next year. I beg each of them to surprise me, to show some respect for individual rights.”
What a crock.
- Google Is Your Friend - Tuesday, Feb 8, 22 @ 10:24 am:
That “illiterate and dangerous nonsense” bought and paid for by the Chamber of Commerce.
- Linus - Tuesday, Feb 8, 22 @ 10:26 am:
Terrorism (noun): The unlawful use of violence and intimidation, especially against civilians, in the pursuit of political aims.
- SAP - Tuesday, Feb 8, 22 @ 10:28 am:
If the reaction to existing law is this strong, just wait until LRB tries to run the annual revisory bill.
- Marc Ayers - Tuesday, Feb 8, 22 @ 10:31 am:
I’ve been getting numerous emails and tagged in posts about the concern for animals. We’ve been trying to communicate to folks that there is nothing dangerous in this bill and that the section being referred to is already law.
- Candy Dogood - Tuesday, Feb 8, 22 @ 10:32 am:
It wasn’t very long ago that the GOP was advocating for mass euthanasia of animals in gas chambers. What a time to be alive.
- TheInvisibleMan - Tuesday, Feb 8, 22 @ 10:34 am:
=== Conroy thinks it’s deliberate ===
It absolutely is and I think there’s a much bigger picture here.
This is more meant to establish a base that can be targeted at will, and these tactics absolutely will be turned on JCAR when they get to the rulemaking discussions with IDPH and ISBE of adding the covid vaccine to the rest of the required vaccinations for school.
I can see where this is going a mile away, and it’s going to be astronomically ugly when we get there.
And this is who Durkin wants to give a platform to by his own words.
It’s stochastic terrorism, plain and simple. Lets see who the first republican to bring up JCAR will be in this context.
- 47th Ward - Tuesday, Feb 8, 22 @ 10:45 am:
===Cats and dogs would fare worse than people, as the bill would allow the public health department to kill any animal.===
It is absolutely false that Mike Bost is leaving Congress to work for the local public health department.
- Oswego Willy - Tuesday, Feb 8, 22 @ 10:47 am:
===You really gotta wonder if these stories are part of a campaign of harassment to push Rep. Conroy out of the DuPage chair’s race. And if it didn’t start that way, it sure is morphing into it now. Conroy thinks it’s deliberate…===
Looking at the overall, it’s not about issues or differences between candidates, or even party or tribes…
… this is seemingly now about… “How much &$@#% will Conroy put up with, and can we get her to reach a limit and not file as a candidate at all?”
Win the battle by not having the battle at all?
It’s a bit creepy since it’s illiterate to actual law or policy discussions, but… if it works…
My best to Conroy. Goodness.
- Langhorne - Tuesday, Feb 8, 22 @ 10:48 am:
“Doing research” doesn’t mean what it used to.
- Candy Dogood - Tuesday, Feb 8, 22 @ 10:54 am:
===It’s a bit creepy since it’s illiterate to actual law or policy discussions, but… if it works…===
The fact that strategies and methods employee by fascists work has been used to justify the decision to advance misinformation and make ludicrous threats and pretending like it is a smart political move.
The GOP is tolerating and encouraging terrorizing Democratic officer holders. The motive of discouraging them from seeking office is as good as many of the other reasons that they may be choosing to do so, but it’s clear that the Illinois GOP has lost all shred of dignity and is detached from reality in order to actively engage in and encourage the political tactics of the fascists.
Where’s Minority Leader Durkin in all of this? Oh, well he’s using his stationary to blame both sides because he doesn’t have the moral fiber to take a stand against this.
- Furtive Look - Tuesday, Feb 8, 22 @ 11:11 am:
47th Ward, you brought me a chuckle with that one.
- SWIL_Voter - Tuesday, Feb 8, 22 @ 11:13 am:
This is what the Republican Party is now, all across America. A direct line can be drawn from Death Panels to Jade Helm to Anti-Maskers to The Big Lie to CRT to this. It’s all the same thing. They’ve lost on the merits of their ideas and now only have terrorism. The time to act was 10 years ago, but “both sides” and “respecting different opinions” mealy mouthed garbage postponed any action indefinitely. Well good luck squeezing this toothpaste back in the tube now
- low level - Tuesday, Feb 8, 22 @ 11:15 am:
This is beyond crazy. Im donating to Conroy just because of this.
- SWSider - Tuesday, Feb 8, 22 @ 11:19 am:
This is the sort of thing that makes me feel fairly confident we’re at the end of the American experiment.
This is happening and will continue to happen because it works and the only thing we expect of our political leaders is that they do what it takes for our team to win. I mean, McCain — after unleashing some of it with his VP pick — condemned that woman at his rally. But as long as there are Profts, Tillmans, Trumps, etc out there who can profit from stoking the outrage, it will be stoked. The cat is out of the bag, horse is out of the barn. There is absolutely no trust in institutions, political or otherwise.
It’s absolutely tragic and horrific and will lead us to total collapse. And I do not see how any of this ends.
- Homebody - Tuesday, Feb 8, 22 @ 11:38 am:
One side of American politics has wholly embraced threats of violence as a means to political ends. This is textbook terrorism, and I don’t use that language as a form of hyperbole. For every Kinzinger (or Romney or Cheney) who speaks out, there are hundreds of other rank and file state and local Republicans who are showing they either implicitly tolerate or actively promote being the party of violence and intimidation.
- low level - Tuesday, Feb 8, 22 @ 11:43 am:
== This is the sort of thing that makes me feel fairly confident we’re at the end of the American experiment.==
Totally agree.
- DeeLay - Tuesday, Feb 8, 22 @ 11:45 am:
Has the FBI started investigating the death threats yet or are we waiting for someone to start shooting?
Death threats are not protected speech.
- Amalia - Tuesday, Feb 8, 22 @ 11:54 am:
need a good “reddit thread” on where things started and how they connect. can’t wait for law enforcement because Rich, you are spot on, this is opposition terrorism.
- Flapdoodle - Tuesday, Feb 8, 22 @ 11:54 am:
In his First Inaugural, Mr. Lincoln spoke of “the better angels of our nature.” One wonders whether these in fact ever existed and if so, where and if we will find them again.
- DuPage Resident - Tuesday, Feb 8, 22 @ 11:57 am:
Lifelong DuPage Redident. Lifelong Republican who can’t vote for Trumpster Hart. Will vote for DiCianni in primary . If Trumpster Hart wins in primary I will vote for a Dem for the first time
- Twitter lady who won't shut up about HB4640 - Tuesday, Feb 8, 22 @ 12:02 pm:
Natural News is playing this game where they quote the entire text of the stupid Illinois Review article that started all this, then add a bunch of vague but incendiary and terrifying language. They don’t add anything untrue, because they don’t add any facts. Just fear mongering opinions.
They know exactly what they are doing.
- DownSouth - Tuesday, Feb 8, 22 @ 12:06 pm:
I’m just waiting on the nutjobs to start going through the witness slip lists and doxing and harassing anyone who files a slip that goes against what they believe or feel is right.
That’s seriously where I think we are with things anymore. No matter how you debunk, present facts, or exclaim “read the bill you doofus” that just is not the reality that those against this choose or will believe. They will simply scream, stomp, and threaten until they win or everybody else just gives up because they can’t deal with very real harassment. We’ve been watching this general shift/nightmare unfold for awhile now.
Sadly, I find myself being much more quiet and protective and careful of expressing my views on various topics - just to avoid having the pitchforks and torches land in my front yard. I do not like being this person who is cowed by the crazies.
- Google Is Your Friend - Tuesday, Feb 8, 22 @ 12:08 pm:
- Flapdoodle - Tuesday, Feb 8, 22 @ 11:54 am:
Did you forget the part afterwards where there was a four year bloodbath and he got assassinated?
- DuPage Saint - Tuesday, Feb 8, 22 @ 12:23 pm:
I used to go honk it sad that some of these disturb people got to vote but now I get scared thinking some of these people get elected
- Just Me 2 - Tuesday, Feb 8, 22 @ 12:24 pm:
Usually these types of incorrect interpretations are based on just a misunderstanding or misreading. Can one of the opponents please explain to me how they interpret the bill to quarantine someone who doesn’t get vaccinated? I’m just not seeing that in the bill. I see it in current law, but the bill changes parts of the current law completely unrelated to quarantines.
If the opponents are purposefully misconstruing the bill, then that is pretty disgusting. If you have to lie to hurt a political opponent, then you really have to decide if you’re as “right” as you think you are.
- walker - Tuesday, Feb 8, 22 @ 12:30 pm:
“North Cook News”
a crock by design
- Fayette County - Tuesday, Feb 8, 22 @ 12:32 pm:
Wondering how long before you start seeing this misleading information on fundraising emails and mailers. We dont need the political flames fanned any higher than they are now.
- vern - Tuesday, Feb 8, 22 @ 12:34 pm:
“Politician” is probably generous to TJ Brown. He’s a township party committeeman in a township where Biden got 65% and there aren’t any Republican elected officials. His organization hasn’t been on “high alert” since Liz Coulson was in the legislature. Pretty sad that their party broadsheet couldn’t even find an actual candidate for office to quote on this nonsense.
Or maybe they’ve given up on electoral politics entirely and they’re committed to a cycle of ginning up death threats and then demanding political concessions to stop the death threats. I wonder if there’s a word for that political strategy…
- Nick Name - Tuesday, Feb 8, 22 @ 12:42 pm:
===“This bill would not pass a General Assembly comprised of serious people who eschew a dystopian police state,” Brown said.===
Maybe lay off the X-Files reruns, dude.
- MisterJayEm - Tuesday, Feb 8, 22 @ 1:13 pm:
“You really gotta wonder if these stories are part of a campaign of harassment to push Rep. Conroy out of the DuPage chair’s race.”
The ‘Law of Parsimony’ tells us that, when faced with competing explanations for the same phenomenon, the simplest explanation is likely the correct one.
They can no longer defeat their opponents at the ballot box, so they now try to drive their opponents off the ballot?
As I have said previously, I see little reason to doubt it.
– MrJM
- hisgirlfriday - Tuesday, Feb 8, 22 @ 1:15 pm:
At what point does the benefit of the doubt cease and one concludes these folks are not clueless or mistaken dupes but simply bad faith actors who will knowingly spout outright lies for political benefit?
- The Velvet Frog - Tuesday, Feb 8, 22 @ 1:21 pm:
Since it seems nobody has mentioned the word yet.
Rabies?
It certainly seems like there’s a big fat middle ground between murdering all the pets and some government organization having the power to immediately deal with legitimate animal health threats.
- Twitter lady who won't shut up about HB4640 - Tuesday, Feb 8, 22 @ 1:40 pm:
https://twitter.com/NettyMagdalene/status/1491133038205759494
They held a protest.
God save democracy.
- JoanP - Tuesday, Feb 8, 22 @ 1:49 pm:
She should rename her account NuttyMagdalene.
- Dotnonymous - Tuesday, Feb 8, 22 @ 2:01 pm:
Dark money ruined everything…get rid of it and take our democracy back…from the people who bought us out.
- Cool Papa Bell - Tuesday, Feb 8, 22 @ 2:13 pm:
To Rich’s point about foot and mouth, I’ve always wondered what the reaction would be. I’ve sat through USDA/APHIS table top exercises to show what can happen if a quarantine for FMD. A few years back farm groups were all on board for showing how travel bans and lockdowns of people and commerce would go.
Given many in agriculture response to COVID and vaccinations and the feeling about it in rural areas I would be popping the corn to see how a town with a pig processing plant would react with roadblocks in and out of town.
- thisjustinagain - Tuesday, Feb 8, 22 @ 3:13 pm:
Apparently human memory and thought is so short that they either forget, or never knew about, perfectly legal mandatory quarantines for TB and Polio to protect public health. This is the “FEMA Camp”-type nonsense all over again. Historical artifact at https://everybody.si.edu/media/549
- The Velvet Frog - Tuesday, Feb 8, 22 @ 4:21 pm:
Same guy pushing “TB internment camps” on another article, under a different name? Same goes for putting polio patients in “camps”.
Also look at the article you’re commenting on, it’s about conspiracy theories about killing people’s pets.
- FormerParatrooper - Tuesday, Feb 8, 22 @ 4:52 pm:
Problem as I see it is most people get information second and third hand and never verify the source document. They have an irrational trust of certain people because of the Party affiliation or celebrity status.
These are lazy people, people who are easy to manipulate. These people often yell loudly and maybe half of them vote.
Death threats, especially from these lazy people, needs investigated. If any of these people organized others to make threats and they did too, use RICO.
This has to stop. I fear it is only going to get worse.
- Suburban Mom - Tuesday, Feb 8, 22 @ 10:30 pm:
Northfield Township Committeeman TJ Brown … is angry Democrats won a majority AT EVERY LEVEL OF GOVERNMENT in Northfield for the first time in living memory (well, my parents might remember), because the GOP candidates Northfield Township ran at all levels were absolute garbage fires.
Like, I get why you’re ticked that Northbrook and Glenview voted for Democrats (by an absolute squeaker of 140 votes at the township level). But COME ON, you ran Glenbrook High School District 225 candidates who wanted to dumb down the curriculum so students wouldn’t be competitive for top-25 colleges.
Republicans can win on the North Shore for sure … but not when their entire campaign is, “We want to make your child less-competitive for Yale.”
“We want to lower your taxes” — sure (banned punctuation). People will vote for that. “We want to wreck your schools so kids from here can’t go to Ivies” — not so much.