* ABATE of Illinois awarded one of its coveted Legislator of the Year motorcycle vests to Rep. Kelly Cassidy this week. Here’s a video Isabel took of Josh Witkowski, who lobbies for the group, presenting the award…
You can clearly see that Illinois Freedom Caucus Chairman Rep. Chris Miller (R-No Relation) was also in attendance. Miller has never been awarded a vest, but he still showed up.
Sometimes people who do a lot for our organization aren’t always out in front. They’re not always sponsoring our bills, they’re not always leading the charge for us. But behind the scenes, they’re talking to their fellow lawmakers, people in their caucus. They’re telling them, ‘Hey, this is where we should be, ABATE’s a good organization. This helps.’ When we ran into issues with the environmental caucus, this individual was very instrumental in helping us along. They’ve got a biker background. They’ve got a biker soul. And they have helped us for well over a decade. So I am very proud that finally, once again, another one long-time coming, Representative Kelly Cassidy!
* I’ve tried to ignore this guy for the past few weeks, but this post was just goofy…
* From ABATE of Illinois…
Statement from ABATE of Illinois on the Disrespect from Failed Candidate Thomas Devore
On March 19th at our Annual Reception, a bipartisan picture of many ABATE Legislator of the Year winners from over the years was taken. It was meant to be a moment of celebration showing ABATE’s ability to unite elected officials of all backgrounds in support of motorcyclists enjoying the open road.
Unfortunately, ABATE learned that failed political candidate Thomas Devore chose to steal this picture off social media and use it for his divisive purposes by attacking the great friends of ABATE in that picture. ABATE exists to educate the public and represent the interests of all motorcyclists, regardless of what they ride, where they come from, or their personal political beliefs. The Illinois riding community is made up of hundreds of thousands of individuals, each as unique as the customizations on their bikes. Yet, we all unite together in support of our freedoms, just as many legislators did at our reception.
ABATE is unsure why Mr. Devore decided to attack ABATE by dragging our events into his petty political posts, but we’re here now.
Perhaps Mr. Devore doesn’t understand the rush of freedom a rider experiences when the engine, exhaust, and wind unite to drown out the unnecessary noises in society caused by professional screamers like himself. Maybe he is unfamiliar with the idea of putting in the hard work to educate and build diverse coalitions to advance a cause, along with the victories that come from this hard work.
Here is a concept that we hope Mr. Devore can learn, Respect.
Mr. Devore chose to disrespect ABATE, our members, our friends, our hard work, and riders all throughout Illinois by stealing pictures from our events to continue his quarrels. That is a level of disrespect we could not let go unanswered.
