McHenry County Democrats Boycott 4th of July Parade

The following press release was received from the McHenry County Democratic Central Committee. I am pleased to publish it.

Democrats are not the first McHenry County political party to sit out the parade. Local Libertarians did so last year. A Northwest Herald editorial spoke of the offending behavior:

The Libertarians had people dressed in brown shirts “arrest” people along the parade route. The party had Libertarian members planted along the route who were in on the act.

At the end of the parade, the detainees were rescued by Lady Liberty and the Minutemen, (Jim) Young said.

Boy, I wish I had gotten pictures of that.

Another memorable Libertarian Party entry in Crystal Lake’s Independence Day Parade had a man labeled as George Ryan locked up in a small cell. I think that was in 2000, before I got my picture taking bug and before Ryan had been indicted.

(Of course, Jim Tobin, the 1998 Libertarian Party candidate for governor produced a bumper sticker that said, “My Governor Is More Crooked Than Yours. Tobin got knocked off the ballot, it turns out by George Ryan Secretary of State employees working while being paid by the taxpayers.)

With that preamble, here’s the Democrats’ press release:

The McHenry County Democratic Central Committee, meeting at the Nunda Township Hall, voted Wednesday night to withdraw from participation in the Crystal Lake Gala Parade and to encourage others to do the same. The action was in response to the decision by the Gala Committee to bar participation in the parade by the McHenry County Peace Group.

“Tonight the Central Committee took a strong stand for fundamental fairness and freedom of speech by authorizing our withdrawal from the Crystal Lake Gala Parade” Cynor wrote in a message to party members after the vote. “The Gala Parade Committee has repeatedly abused its authority in making arbitrary decisions as to who may participate in this publicly supported parade.”

The Party has been a regular participant in the Gala Parade for several years with large contingents of marchers.

It was determined that the decision by the Gala Committee was “arbitrary and capricious” especially in light of banners, placards and signs regularly carried by an array of organizations, political parties, candidates and elected officials throughout the years.

The resolution authorizes the Party chair to withdraw participation “until such time that the Gala Parade Committee enforces its rules and regulations uniformly in the interest of equity, fundamental fairness and freedom of speech.” Cynor indicated that he would take action.

The resolution was overwhelmingly adopted by the weighted vote of the precinct representatives.

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The McHenry County Peace Group is shown marching in a Gala 4th of July parade, compliments of “Heretic, Rebel, a Thing to Flout” blog, written by Crystal Laker Patrick Murfin. He has several stories about the Freedom of Speech issues involved in the Gala Committee’s attempt to control the content of the parade.

The head shot near the top is McHenry County Democratic Party Central Committee Chairman Thomas Cynor.

The picture of people holding signs on some local highway was found on the McHenry County Peace Group’s web site. The link is above. I guess signs like the ones shown are not considered appropriate by the Gala Committee.

The 4th of July Parade, sponsored by the Crystal Lake Gala ends at Lakeside Center. Traffic on the quiet street from which I took this picture of Skinner’s (no relation) Carnival setting up is completely congested after the parade.

As usual, all photos may be enlarged.

For more McHenry County Blog, click here.


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