It
has become the legal case that only political geeks will care about. Many of
whom probably couldn’t tell you where Union County, Ill., is located without
checking first on a map.
 |
| DUCKWORTH: Legal trial? Or political witch hunt? |
I’m
talking about the lawsuit currently pending against Democratic Senate nominee
Tammy Duckworth because of some of her actions from back in the days when she
was head of the Illinois Department of Veterans Affairs.
DUCKWORTH,
HERSELF A veteran of the early 1990s version of a Gulf War who lost her legs as
a result, has in the past been criticized for that part of her record. After
all, it was then-Gov. Rod Blagojevich who picked her. So she has to be tainted;
to listen to her political critics.
Most
of whom object to her primarily because as a military-oriented person, they
think she ought to be opposed to Democrats, rather than identifying with them.
In
this particular case pending in the rural Southern Illinois county where Cape
Girardeau, Mo., is the largest major city nearby, two former employees of the
Anna Veterans Home claim they were punished on the job as retaliation for their
personal politics.
The
lower courts had previously rejected this lawsuit, but politically-motivated
ideologues have been more than willing to do what they can to revive it. Which means the Illinois attorney general's office is required to continue to fight against it, and tax dollars continue to be spent on it.
AS
THOUGH THE thought of the continued existence of a pending lawsuit is more
important than actually trying to resolve the situation involving these two
workers.
After
all, what else can they use to beat Duckworth symbolically over the head with
if not the image of a lawsuit claiming she mistreated military veterans?
Now
I don’t know personally the specifics of the cases involving these two workers.
I’m influenced heavily by the fact that it has lingered through the legal
system for so long that it has become old and moldy.
So
I found it interesting that the Chicago Tribune reported that the judge
involved in the case, Mark Boie, wants the sides to come together for a
pretrial conference out of hopes all the sides can come to an agreement and
settle the case out-of-court.
IN
SHORT, TURNING the Aug. 15 date back into just another one of the dog days of
the summer – rather than the beginning of a civil suit trial that Duckworth’s
opponents would just as soon see drag out into early-to-mid October.
After
all, wouldn’t it be keen from their viewpoint to have the possibility of a
negative court judgment coming down in the weeks leading up to the Nov. 8
elections in which Democrat Duckworth is trying to depose Sen. Mark Kirk,
R-Ill.?
Which
is really what this case is all about.
It
is why Kirk is eager to keep the case alive, and complained this week that any
effort to settle out-of-court amounts to an injustice. He wants that day in
court his campaign is desperate to believe will allow him to out-military
Duckworth in the public eye.
WHICH
IS REALLY a shame, since Kirk was the longtime Naval Reserve officer who had a
military record of his own, even though there have been the past allegations
that he tried to exaggerate his claims.
Certainly,
I doubt Kirk or many other people really care if one of the women was fired
from her job at the Anna facility as retaliation for allegedly complaining about
her boss (she was later reinstated), or if another woman got a poor job review
that cost her a pay raise.
This
is about wanting to politick through the court system. And I’m sure the only
thing that would shut up the Duckworth opponents is if the judge were to ultimately
issue some sort of ruling in her favor!
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