Posted on 03/31/2002 9:49:54 AM PST by BillyBoy
Libertarians choose pol dogged by abuse claim to top ticket
You have to wonder about the sanity of the folks who run the Libertarian Party.
The Libertarians have the greatest opportunity in years to build their party.
When Republican-leaning citizens become disenchanted, they often vote Libertarian. And the Republican Party is fractured and weak after a brutal primary campaign. The GOP winner, Jim Ryan, has yet to either unify his party or provide sufficient answers to many of the questions and accusations hurled at him by his two feisty opponents. The attacks didn't work well in the spring campaign, but according to a post-primary poll, independent voters paid attention and are streaming away from the Republican in truly scary numbers.
But instead of putting together a serious ticket, the Libertarians decided to court disaster at their recent convention by nominating as their candidate for governor a former state representative who has been accused of pedophilia.
Former Illinois state Rep. Cal Skinner claims the allegations that he sexually abused his 18-month-old daughter are completely false and were concocted on the eve of a particularly nasty divorce in order to pry away custody of his daughter.
He may be telling the truth and this could just be some terrible nightmare, which would fit nicely with the Libertarian philosophy of "government as bad guy." But Skinner repeatedly has made misleading comments about the charges, and has woven enough phony spin to fill a yarn warehouse.
He has claimed, for instance, that the Department of Children and Family Services cleared him of the abuse allegations. But DCFS did not clear Skinner, even though he stated in a 1998 letter to his McHenry County constituents that the agency had "removed the slander from its files and issued a letter to me certifying that DCFS has no record of my having abused any child."
What Skinner didn't mention was that until a few years ago, DCFS was required by state law to expunge an accused child molester's record after five years if no new allegations surfaced. Skinner simply asked DCFS for any records of abuse allegations against him two months after his file had been destroyed.
And he never mentioned that a DCFS investigator testified at a trial that Skinner had "sexually molested his daughter."
Skinner also continues to point to a judge's ruling that gave him custody of his daughter. But the judge was unaware of the DCFS report and the abuse allegations.
And he never mentions that another judge restricted him to supervised-only visitations based on the DCFS report and the damaging testimony from an agency investigator.
Skinner says his wife has "disappeared" with his daughter, and he can produce a warrant for her arrest on charges of parental kidnapping. But the state's attorney who issued the warrant apparently never knew about the abuse allegations because he told the newspaper which first broke the Skinner story that he would consider reversing his decision. Skinner also didn't file a missing person report until a year after his ex-wife fled with their child.
In Skinner's defense, he was never arrested for sexual abuse, no charges have ever been filed against him, and no allegations have ever been made that he abused any other children. And his former father-in-law, who claims to have caught Skinner touching himself in a lewd manner while his 18-month-old daughter lay naked on a changing table, stood by silently for years while Skinner ran for the House.
Anyone who has ever been through a bitter divorce or child custody battle knows how awful they can be. And you will get no argument from me that way too many innocent people are permanently slandered by their ex-spouses every day.
And, frankly, some of Skinner's ideas ought to have a place in the upcoming gubernatorial contest, particularly his belief that the four state legislative leaders have far too much power.
But Skinner has proven that he is the wrong candidate at the wrong time. He has yet to speak of the allegations against him without engaging in deceptive half-truths. And it doesn't help matters that the country is currently mesmerized by revelations of child sexual abuse by Catholic priests. The public may not be willing to listen to his explanations when this story finally gets out.
Skinner lost his Illinois House seat two years ago mainly because his constituents had lost their trust in him. The rest of the state, and the Libertarian Party, should take heed.
Rich Miller also publishes Capitol Fax, a daily political newsletter. He can be reached at www.capitolfax.com.
Rather than sticking your nose into other people's business, why not try minding your own? ;)
Ah, come on, CJ.... I really doubt you're in Missouri's 71st state House district, so it's just a test. Which candidate would you recommend voting for in this two-way race, the Libertarian or the Democrat?
... by his ex-wife in a nasty divorce. Happens all the time in divorce cases. Ask any experienced divorce attorney.
But not convicted, indicted, arrested, (presumably) not questioned by police. Only Childrens "Services". One, they are required to investigate the accusations. Two, they have a known bias to present things in worst possible light to justify their funding and existence.
While you may hear 20%-40% of children are abused, the best evidence indicates that less than 1% of biological parents sexually abuse their children.
The 20% - 40% figures include self-selection, as opposed to answering random survey, include consensual sexual activity ages 16-19, and other methods to raise the numbers.
Accusations in a divorce are less accurate than accusations in a supermarket tabloid. Consider the source.
If Cal Skinner were running as a Republican, most of you (and I) would be very happy about his voting record.
"How dare they tie this license-for-bribes stuff to George Ryan. He has not been convicted, indicted, arrested, and (presumably) not questioned by police."
>> Only Childrens "Services". One, they are required to investigate the accusations. Two, they have a known bias to present things in worst possible light to justify their funding and existence.
"Only by Federal Democrat "Investigators" under Clinton. One, they are required to investigate the accusations. Two, they have a known bias to present things in worst possible light to justify their funding and existence."
>> Accusations in a divorce are less accurate than accusations in a supermarket tabloid. Consider the source. <<
"Accusation by Ryan's Democrat opponent Poshard is less accurate than accusations in a supermarket tabloid. Consider the source."
>> If Cal Skinner were running as a Republican, most of you (and I) would be very happy about his voting record
Cal Skinner AIN'T running as a Republican, now is he? He's running as a Libertarian. People who switch parties usually "adjust" their views so their new party will reward them. If they don't, they get kicked out (ask Michael Forbes about this when he tried to get the National Right to Life endorsement after switching to the Democrat Party-- his Democrat consituents replaced him with an unknown "real" Democrat in the primary). The LP won't nominate stanch conservatives. They are run by a Harry Browne "wing" of the party, which has a limus test for all the major nominees-- they must be pro-choice, open-borders folks who run single issue campaigns about drug-legalization.
Watch Cal "adjust" his views.
This is especially funny inasmuch as libertarians pride themselves on their abhorrence of authoritarians.
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