McHenry County Blog

The big storm left this huge sign on Route 31 in McHenry a little worse for wear.

I don’t know if this is an indication that Melissa Bean’s campaign for re-election to her 8th Congressional District seat is in trouble or that a League of Women Voter member is really angry about the negative publicity engendered on the Glenn Beck show fed by a video from a cell phone that was forbidden by rules at the Grayslake event.

Melissa Bean supporter “LCTruth” posted the following comment on the Glenn Beck YouTube article. It threatens a suit against the Joe Walsh for Congress campaign.

I thought you might want to read it, even if you don’t always read comments, so here it is:

“One hellava lawsuit coming to the Walsh Campaign for the video violation. The issue is not the Pledge, which no one finds fault with, it is the fact that Walsh and morseo his supporters feel they are above the rules.

“Walsh had the format three weeks prior to the debate.

“If the Pledge was SO important to him then he should have demanded it be added to the format.

“He did not, but insiders say he was behind this outburst.

“He pandered!

“Throughout the campaign, there is one thing that is ever so clear to people that witness his band of merry-men and women, they like to break the rules, disrespect those that have a different view.

“Well in just over 120 hours, the voters of the 8th will send a clear message, we are not taking the country BACKwards…we are moving forward.”

I presume the threat has something to do with the negative publicity that the League of Women Voters got from this Glenn Beck video:

The McHenry County League was more open to voter education than the Lake County League.

Videotaping of the McHenry County League of Women Voters candidates forum was allowed a week after it was forbidden by rules of the Lake County League of Women Voters.

You can see that from the video camera in the McHenry County College Conference Center in which its candidates’ forum was held.

One can only wonder why the Lake County League imposed its regulations.

Thought some might be interested in Glenn Beck’s take on the Grayslake League of Women Voters debate for the 8th Congressional District.

It got Republican Joe Walsh some national publicity.

The sparce audience attending the McHenry County League of Women Voters Candidates' Night pledge allegiance to the flag.

After the bruhaha that occurred after the Lake County League of Women Voters was forced to withstand an audience member-initiated Pledge of Allegiance, the McHenry County affiliate started its program with the Pledge.  (Here’s what she said afterward.)

It wasn’t on the agenda, but the group was savy enough to allow it.

Maybe some local members watched Glenn Beck’s comments this afternoon on the Lake County League’s attempt to ignore the unifying

The video McHenry County Blog posted when only 304 had seen it on YouTube have now been watched by 36,233 people.

If you missed it, you can see it below:

From left to right giving the Pledge of Allegiance are Mike Mahon, Gus Philpott and Keith Nygren.

The candidates for Sheriff were on the stage went the Pledge was given.

From left to right you see Green Party candidate Gus Philpott, Democrat Mike Mahon and incumbent Republican Sheriff Keith Nygren at the McHenry County TEA Party debate.

While it will be interesting to listen to the three Sheriff’s and two Clerk’s candidates debate tonight at 7 at McHenry County College’s Conference Center, most media types will probably be watching whether sponsor McHenry County League of Women Voters will be start the proceedings with the Pledge of Allegiance.

I’ve been giving this some thought and concluded that in times of heightened disagreement, such as right before an election, the Pledge should be welcomed for its unifying effect.

We all are, after all,

“One nation, under God”

My guess is that the McHenry County League of Women Voters will be more savy than their Lake County colleagues and lead off with the Pledge.

The League is not sponsoring a candidate’s night for state representative, even though both races are contested. The group has done so in the past. Every time I ran, I think.

Here’s what he wrote:

My name is Joe Ptak and I live in Island Lake, Illinois.

I attended the Joe Walsh-Melissa Bean “forum” and I WAS THE INDIVIDUAL who stood up and wanted to know why the pledge of allegiance was not going to be recited…I thought it might have been an oversight.

I was flabbergasted and stunned to hear the LEAGUE OF WOMEN VOTERS moderator say to me, and the audience, that it was never part of their program at these events and will not allowed.

Please keep in mind that this “forum” was organized in Grayslake High School for the benefit of the students, who were asking the questions. Furthermore, there were numerous students present (gaining extra credit) as well as 350 adults and media who packed the auditorium.

I served in the USAFR’s for ten (10) years and there were many veterans in attendance.

I was so proud when the audience rose up one by one, then in mass to recite the pledge of allegiance with loud and heavy emphasis on the words LIBERTY AND JUSTICE FOR ALL.

The moderator then had the gall to admonish the audience and for “disrespecting her”…my wife told me if that woman did not shut up she was going to get her “Brooklyn up” (being from NY).

I happen to be an Hispanic immigrant from Peru, South America, who was brought to this great country by my parents, along with three other siblings in 1960, when I was eight years old.

I was raised in Chicago, have seen, and experienced a lot in this world.

People are literary dying each day for just the OPPORTUNITY to live in this great land I call my home.

There are ignorant people in this land who do not have the slightest idea, nor understand, what it means to be an AMERICAN.

Red Skelton pledging Allegiance to the Flag.

Our Liberty, Freedom of Speech and the Press are never guaranteed and we must always fight to maintain them.

I think our students in attendance witnessed that first hand and gained a lot of extra credit for themselves.

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More comments can be found under the following stories

10-21-10 Why is the League of Women Voters Against the Pledge of Allegiance Being Recited at the Beginning of their Voter Forums?

10-21-10 Joe Walsh Campaign Reacts to League of Women Voters

10-22-10 What the League of Women Voters’ Moderator of the Walsh-Bean-Scheurer Debate Said about the Pledge of Allegiance

And 50 years ago commedian Red Skelton gave this monologue on the Pledge of Allegiance.

American Flag at the Washington Monument.

I took some time to jot down what the Lake County League of Women Voters’ moderator said about the 8th Congressional District debate audience’s insistence on reciting the Pledge of Allegiance before the Grayslake High School event.

“I have absolutely nothing for or against saying the Pledge of Allegiance at the beginning of something like this, but, in fact, that has never been part…”

At this point she stopped talking as the audience said the Pledge of Allegiance.

“I hope, I hope that that would be the last time I am disrespected.

“There is no disrespect—excuse me, excuse me—there is no disrespect for the flag when something in a forum which does not typically begin with the Pledge of Allegiance doesn’t begin with it.

“There’s no disrespect intended.

“The League of Women Voters does forums like this constantly. This is the 4th, the 5th one I’ve done this year.

“It’s never been requested and I have to say that being forced by having audience members stand up in a presumably planned way to have to seems a bit disrespectful.”

You can listen for yourself below:

Most of audience stands for the Pledge of Allegiance, which was not on the Leagure of Women Voters' agenda. The moderator for the League of Women Voters said for audience members to "stand up in presumably a planned way..seems a bit disrespectful." The videographer was escorted out just as Joe Walsh began speaking. The rules prohibited recording the event.

This YouTube video is very interesting.

It shows the beginning of the candidate forum of the 8th Congressional district. It is a candidate forum, where for only fifty minutes three candidates for the 8th Congressional District are allowed to discuss the issues for the one and only time.

For the one and only time incumbent Democrat Melissa Bean showed up to face off against Republican challenger Joe Walsh and Green Party candidate Bill Scheurer.

How democratic.

The moderator says she was “disrespected” because audience members stood up and recited the Pledge of Allegiance.

Perhaps a commenter can characterize such a reaction.

The videographer is being escorted out of the auditorium at this point. Electronic recording of the debate was forbidden. As he is shown the door, the first speaker, Joe Walsh is beginning.

In another free-speech-this-is-democracy-in-America moment, the Lake County League of Women Voters prohibited audience members (other than those with a privileged press passes-see comment section of this article) to video the forum discussion.

It seems obvious such a policy prevents a large audience from viewing the exchange and discussion on YouTube for example.

I’ll let you speculate if

• the League decided on its own this would be better for liberal Democrat Bean or
• the League listened to the Bean campaign’s preference or
• it was “school policy,” as a security guard told one blogster before the event,

to prohibit people from electronically recording the event.

Regardless whether it was a pre-condition set down by Bean’s handlers or the League decided to prevent broader dissemination on its own or the school has some really wacky policy, the prohibition doesn’t help the democratic process.

Someone certainly didn’t want any supporters of Joe Walsh to have a videotape of any Bean gaffe or audience reaction to any Bean’s outrageous positions.

Such a videotape could have gone viral on the internet, something liberals would want to prevent.

Republican Joe Walsh

Democrat Melissa Bean

Last at Grayslake Central High school the League of Women voters in union with the high school held a candidate forum for the 8th congressional district.

The attendees included all of the candidates including, for the first time, incumbent Democratic Party candidate Melissa Bean.  Re;publican Joe Walsh and Green Party candidate Bill Scheurer joined her on the stage.

Two hours prior to the debate there was a statement form the League of Women Voters  regarding the candidate forum.

Green Party candidate Bill Scheurer

It mentioned that no press or photographers would be allowed to videotape or photograph the event.

They also included that tickets will be distributed to the first 400 people starting at 6 PM, 30 minutes prior to the start of the forum.

Bean walked in from the parking lot staring straight down and wouldn’t look at anybody.

She didn’t show up with too many supporters based on the applause at the end.

The debate started out from a question from the crowd to the moderator asked if she and the league had an intention to say the pledge of allegiance before the forum. the moderator responded saying,

“We don’t say the pledge of allegiance at these types of events and haven’t in the past so we will not say it tonight.”

The crowd, outraged with the response, in unison stood up and started to recite the pledge of allegiance.

There were 5 questions, plus a question from the audience.

You can see the applause from the audience for Republican Joe Walsh.

It was the usual answers from all the candidates, I was told, with the crowd definitely favoring Joe Walsh.

Questions regarded cap and trade, Term Limits, 2nd amendment rights, and education.

Bean referred to herself as a fiscally conservative person.

Walsh had the opportunity to ask, again, Bean to debate her at a town hall style debate.

Press conference after the debate at which the Lake County League of Women Voters refused to allow video taping or cameras.

After the forum, Walsh held a press conference outside the high school in which he said that he wanted to debate her with questions directly from the constituents.

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Photos by Ryan Provenzano, RyanProPhotos, ryanprophoto@hotmail.com.

Take Route 120 east from McHenry County until you see Grayslake, the lake.

The”debate,” sponsored by the Lake County League of Women Voters starts at 6:30 tonight at Grayslake High School.

When the Penquin ran for mayor of Gotham, his goons wore labels. Melissa Bean's are plain clothesmen.

In an email, Republican Joe Walsh urges supporters to come early (6 PM) because

“Ms. Bean may very well bus in people from outside of the district.

“We sure don’t want to miss that.

“Let’s be respectful, but let’s make sure that our voices are heard. Remember, this woman has been hiding from us and avoiding our questions for months.

“This ‘debate’ will be rigged in her favor so let’s make it clear to her that she no longer represents us and needs to answer our questions.

“If not tonight, sometime before the election.”

Th closest thing I could find to a debate in a forum at which constiutents did not have to pay was at a Grayslake supermarket after the primary election. No wonder she is spooked about defending her record of supporting Obamacare and Stimulus Packages.

Congresswoman Melissa Bean has agreed to come out of her Bean Bunker on October 20th.

She will actually appear on the same stage as her opponents Republican Joe Walsh and Green Party candidate Bill Scheurer.

It won’t be in McHenry County though.

We are not important enough to merit a public appearance with

her opponents.

The last time that happened was before Labor Day in 2006 when she ran against Republican Dave McSweeney and Bill Scheurer.

Over four years ago.

That was a debate she lost.

It's about a half an hour from McHenry to Grayslake High School.

This year’s only debate will be at the inconveniently located (at least for McHenry County) Grayslake Central High School, 400 N. Lake St., Grayslake.

The high school is located where you see the star.

Half an hour from McHenry, assuming you don’t get lost and the traffic is light, which it won’t be.

It starts at 6:30.

The Lake County League of Women Voters will screen questions, a most frustrating format the League is known for.

Besides 8th Congressional District candidates, those from the 62nd State Rep. contest will be featured. They are Republican incumbent Sandy Cole and Democrat challenger Rich Voltair.

So, mark your calendars and plan to arrive early so you can get a seat.

Melissa Bean's last public appearance with opponents, David McSweeney and Bill Scheurer then, was in 2006 at a Northwest Herald-sponsored debate at McHenry County College.

And, if you plan to attend and have a camera, please take some photos for me. I’ll be at a McHenry Marlins swim practice when I would otherwise be driving east along crowded Route 120. If some folks will send me some notes of what the candidates say, that would be helpful, too.

It occurs to me that all the Chicago TV stations will cover this event, so undoubtedly partisans of each candidate will have people holding signs outside that will be seen on television later that night.

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State Rep. Sandy Cole emails that “the debate also includes the 31st Senate district candidates… Senator Michael Bond & County Board Chairwoman Suzi Schmidt.”