Beacon gives "thumbs down" to the truth
Posted by Matt Yonke on Wednesday, January 16th, 2008
You may have seen this editorial (click the picture to see a larger version) in our local paper, the Beacon News. Seems the editorial staff thinks it's time for us to call it quits with our efforts to hold Planned Parenthood accountable for their lies and violations of the law. They say it's fine for us to protest, but we shouldn't waste "the taxpayers'" money on a court battle that we will certainly lose. After all, they argue, two independent attorney reviews, the state's attorney and the ZBA have all said "nothing can be legally done to shut down the clinic." So why don't we just give up?
There are so many unbelievable statements in these four paragraphs it's hard to know where to begin! So let's start with the outright falsehoods. No one, not independent attorneys, not the state's attorney, not the ZBA, not even Planned Parenthood themselves have said that nothing can be legally done to shut down the clinic. They have pulled that statement out of the clear blue sky and it is simply not true.
Not only that, nearly the opposite is true. No one has even heard the case for why we believe it should be shut down. Eric blogged a while back about why the independent attorneys' reviews were worthless and did not address our actual case, and the ZBA itself did not rule against our case, they ruled not to hear it! We are now, for the first time, at a place where our case may soon be heard.
Now, with the untrue statements dealt with, let's move on to the merely ridiculous. The Beacon thinks we should not drag on a case that "likely won't accomplish anything" at the "taxpayers' expense". Interesting. Our attorneys, who have argued and won cases before the U.S. Supreme Court seem to think we might accomplish something, I wonder who knows more about law?
And who exactly are these "taxpayers" whose money we are unduly spending? I was under the impression that we were all taxpayers and that we payed these taxes precisely so that we could have legal recourse! If the court system does not exist to protect the rights of taxpayers (such as the right to know and have input on what sort of highly volatile industries will be moving into their neighborhood), what exactly is it for?
The editorial staff of the Beacon, admitting the whole time that Planned Parenthood has obviously broken the law, publicly proclaim that we should do nothing about it. They say we should sit idly by while the City allows corrupt businesses to lie to them, lie to the citizens of Aurora, all while siphoning down millions of dollars of the very taxpayer money the Beacon is so concerned about protecting. This complete lack of concern for the rule of law and the rights of citizens is astounding.
Look for a response in the Beacon in the coming days and feel free to let them know what you think about their opinion that you should just shut up and go away.
Matt,
You missed talking about their statement:
Well, just what IS the "cost to the community"? What has it been? Are they to include ALL costs in this? What about the cost to the reputation of the City of Aurora? What about the costs to the rights of its citizens? Why didn't the city protect its citizens against these costs by fully disclosing everything? Why did the city cover up?
And what about the moral and ethical cost? How much is the life of one baby worth?
God Bless,
Roger
January 16th, 2008 at 1:34 pm
Some of the newspaper articles in the Kansas-Missouri area also favor Planned Parenthood and try to intimidate our courageous DA, Phill Kline in Johnson County, KS.
January 16th, 2008 at 2:44 pm
The attorneys are not working for me as well as a good portion of the public. I would rather the city spend the money of eliminating the gangbangers and other losers than spend it defending lawsuits.
We have much more pressing and dangerous issues in Aurora than Plan Parenthood. You cant even hardly go two days without seeing the “shots fired “ column in the newspaper.
January 16th, 2008 at 2:46 pm
" but we shouldn't waste "the taxpayers'" money on a court battle that we will certainly lose"
No, they shouldn't waste my tax dollars on abortions against my will.
January 16th, 2008 at 4:17 pm
I, as an Aurora resident, have absolutely no problem with my tax dollars going towards shutting down PP.
On a sidenote, if the city didn't spin this out of control in the first place, taxdollars would not be "unduly" spent.
I wish the Beacon would put the fault on where it belongs: the incompetence of the so-called elected officials of Aurora. Wild and out-of-control spending is in their nature.
January 16th, 2008 at 4:24 pm
Tom -
Life should be respected and cherished at ALL levels. How can we teach the "gangbangers" to value life when we do not value the unborn?
God Bless,
Roger
January 16th, 2008 at 4:41 pm
Tom –
If you think the City will eliminate gangbangers by spending money — well I think you are never going to get that done. You eliminate crime by enforcing the law. That includes enforcing the zoning laws and regulations. When the mayor disregards the rule of law it sends a message that anything goes here in town.
Spending money does seem to be the pre-occupation of the current administration and you are right they don't seem to be affecting the lawlessness and killing taking place on our streets. Let's all work toward having town officials who value it's citizens enough to enforce the laws on the book. That is what this lawsuit is about.
January 16th, 2008 at 8:42 pm
Question: When Planned Parenthood is shut down, can the legal fees incurred by the good citizens of Aurora be "reimbursed" if you will, by filing a class action lawsuit against those responsible for the deceipt? Say, by suing those responsible for breaking the law personally?
January 16th, 2008 at 9:23 pm
I think that only works in the favor or the ACLU
January 17th, 2008 at 6:42 am
JLM,
You cannot recoup legal fees unless they are specifically authorized via the statute. For purposes of zoning laws, they are not. Conversely, the city cannot recoup legal fees against FAPP for the lawsuit if it loses. I for one would love to see whatever side loses be forced to pay the legal fees of the other. Unfortunately, the law will not allow it.
January 17th, 2008 at 8:35 am
I always wonder why everybody gets so angry at a 2nd class newspaper. You should all check out the headline on the front page of the Chicago Tribune. Abortion at 30 year low…
Happy New Year
January 17th, 2008 at 9:10 am
Student,
Thanks for the response & the legal lesson!
Unfortunate indeed!
January 17th, 2008 at 9:50 am
As an Aurora resident, I don't mind using my tax dollars to good use (ie..shutting down PP) instead of my tax dollars going to cronies of our fearless Mayor and his ilk.
I would agree with L.Jackson that the Beacon is a 2nd or even 3rd rate paper and we shouldn't get that angry with what they write…unfortunately, this is the primary paper for the city of Aurora and a lot of people do get their news/ views from this irresponsible paper.
January 17th, 2008 at 10:39 am
"I would rather the city spend the money of eliminating the gangbangers and other losers than spend it defending lawsuits.We have much more pressing and dangerous issues in Aurora than Plan Parenthood."
Really? How many people a week are killed by gang violence in Aurora? How many people a week are killed by doctors at the planned parenthood clinic?
Many more lifes are lost every week from abortion than gang violence..I see no greater issue than stopping the taking of innocent lifes - we cannot stop the pursuit of any avenue that might prevent this!
January 18th, 2008 at 9:55 am
May I just add- that if I heard correctly at the last Council Hearing January 6th- the City will lose over 2 Million Dollars $$$$ in REVENUE b/c the current PP Property is zoned in a business district- and PP is a not-for-profit entity (which it is CLEARLY not zoned for. PP is thereby ROBBING the city of this revenue! THEY lied to the city and now rob them too b/c they came in under the false name of Gemini!! And the Beacon thinks WE cost the tax payers $$$- I think they have it all wrong!
January 18th, 2008 at 10:36 am
Is this the same group that blanketed Aurora a few months back?
NBC5.com
Mailed Plastic Fetuses Offend Recipients
Group Sends Mailings To About 44,000 Residents
POSTED: 9:16 am CST January 18, 2008
UPDATED: 10:55 am CST January 18, 2008
RACINE, Wis. — An anti-abortion group in Racine is under fire after mailing plastic fetuses to 44,000 people.
The mailing also included an informational letter and a fundraising envelope, WISN-TV in Milwaukee reported.
Mystical Listrom said she was not happy when she opened a Wisconsin Right to Life letter accompanied by a plastic fetus.
"It's my right to choose to do what I want with my body. I shouldn't have people telling me what I can and can't do with my body," Listrom said.
Her neighbor, Glenda Pollock, got the same package.
"If they had sent a letter explaining why they think abortion should not be allowed, I wouldn't have a problem with that. It was the plastic fetus that bothered me," Pollock said.
"We thought it would be appropriate to send out some information to get people talking about the subject," said Dave Obernberger of Wisconsin Right To Life
Dave and Bonnie Obernberger, of the Racine County chapter of Wisconsin Right to Life, said the plastic figure represents an 11- or 12-week fetus.
They sent it out this week to mark the 35-year anniversary of Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court decision legalizing abortion.
"I pray that they'll look at it a little more than being offended by it, but being educated by it," Dave Obernberger said.
The Obernbergers said they have already gotten some response, and they expect more.
Pollock wasted no time having her voice heard. She brought the package to the post office and mailed it back.
"I had to pay to have it returned because it was a non-profit mailing, which I was happy to pay. It was just over $1 and it was well worth it," Pollock said.
Pollock filed a complaint with the U.S. Postal Service; however, it doesn't appear to be illegal.
Postal officials said it doesn't fit their standards of obscene or lewd, but they said people can fill out a form that would prevent them from getting mail from Wisconsin Right to Life in the future.
The mailers were sent to every home in Racine and to some of the surrounding suburbs.
January 18th, 2008 at 1:42 pm
Leviticus,
Are you saying you approve of the mailing you mentioned in the above post?
January 18th, 2008 at 1:48 pm
"It was the plastic fetus that bothered me," Pollock said. "
—————————————————
I have a plastic 12 week old baby/ fetus model at home. We used this to inform teens on of how developed the baby really is as part of a CCD course.
I see nothing disturbing about it. It's about 3" long and is flesh-colored plastic model.
I suspect this lady is being bothered by something other than the plastic baby.
January 18th, 2008 at 1:51 pm
Student,
I was more curious whether it was the same group. I have many friends, relatives and neighbors that have lost a child due to illness and to get a fetus in the mail wouldn't be something I would wish on them. So to answer your question no. If somebody wants to get a message across you can do it so many ways in a civil manner.
January 18th, 2008 at 2:10 pm
Wow! So now we are bothered by a harmless (and darling may I add) fetus model???? When are we going to look at the real tragedy like the horror os ABORTION- and be BOTHERED by that! The fetus models are simply trying to make others see the very precious stage of a 12 week fetus and how perfectly formed these babies already are even at such a young stage. How tragic that now we have to defend these props, too! Meanwhile over 4,000 babies/day are killed in utero by another's "free choice".
January 18th, 2008 at 3:59 pm
Jane,
Would you feel the same way if you went to your mail box and found a mailer containing a condom with instructions as to its use? I agree with Leviticus, there are other more civil ways to make your point.
January 18th, 2008 at 6:27 pm
Leviticus Jackson,
I am so sorry to hear that you know so many people who lost children. Although I cannot even imagine their pain, I am confident that they would not be offended to see a beautiful rendition of a fetus (in plastic) mailed to them because they would know what a precious gift a child is and see the tremendous work that Wisconsin Right to Life does to stop the senseless murder of innocent children. Now, if it were a 12-week plastic rendition of an actual abortion, I think it would be a different story. IMHO, of course!
Also, I believe it was the Missionaries to the Preborn that came to help out in Aurora.
Jane,
EXCELLENT point about the lost tax revenue from exempt status! I totally missed that one! Thank you very much for pointing that out!
January 18th, 2008 at 7:45 pm
Student,
Trojan does send out condoms unsolicited to Jr. High and High school students. I think it's ironic that there is no public outcry over this, but a plastic baby? Maybe I'm exaggerating on "public outcry"…"Mystical Listrom" (love the name, btw) & "Glenda Pollock" may be the only one complainings out of the entire 44,000 mailings.
If anything, it would make a great toy for a young child. Freebies!!!! YAY!!!!!!
January 18th, 2008 at 7:50 pm
JLM,
Sounds like a choking hazard for a young child.
January 18th, 2008 at 9:04 pm
The "real" isssue here is NOT the plastic fetus model. The "offended" person felt that they were being told what to do with their body …
It was the message that was sent, not the plastic fetus.
I heard this story on talk radio tonight, and a caller asked if people would be offended if PETA sent out a plastic model of an unborn endangered animal.
God Bless,
Roger
January 18th, 2008 at 9:47 pm
Another thought, how come the government can mandate vaccinations for children? Isn't it "my" body? Where is the outcry on that?
God Bless,
Roger
January 18th, 2008 at 9:49 pm
Roger,
Thank you for clarifying what the real issue was. I must have misread the real issue when I read this:
"If they had sent a letter explaining why they think abortion should not be allowed, I wouldn't have a problem with that. It was the plastic fetus that bothered me," Pollock said."
January 18th, 2008 at 10:15 pm
Student,
Choking hazard (lol)…the condom or the plastic fetus?
January 18th, 2008 at 10:17 pm
If pro-aborts were to have it their way, pro-lifers would be permitted only the most prescribed and sanitized versions of protest. They would want us to run everything by them first in order to gain their permission on what is civil and acceptable in polite pro-abort circles, all the while ignoring the silent screams of little children torn apart in utero.
Re the Beacon's nonsensical editorial: This is hardly a surprise. It is the same paper which egregiously misrepresented Joe Scheidler's comments following the Prisco Community Center meeting last summer. And never mind that Planned Parenthood Aurora is 0 for 2 in court so far and that Federal Judge Charles Norgle described PP's deceptions as an "obfuscation." The opinions of the hired gun investigators, the Mayor, the State's Attorney's office and the ZBA are not what counts in a situation such as this because as the Beacon surely knows in contested matters the only opinion that counts is that from a court of law. Only after all of the evidence is heard can there be a proper ruling on the matter and so far no one has yet undertaken a full examination of the facts.
January 19th, 2008 at 12:12 am
Roger -
No - no one would be offended by the "endangered animal" Everyone would say we have to do something. Isn't it a shame that there is a great segment of our population who get all upset over the life of an animal, but when it comes to the unborn child, he or she is deemed "blob of tissue", "the product of pregnancy", in come cases "parasites", "leeches", only has value if wanted. Makes no sense.
January 19th, 2008 at 9:32 am
Tom,
To quote Mother Teresa of Calcutta, "The Western World will never know peace as long as they continue to allow their mothers to kill their own young."
How in the world can we ask gang members to stop killing one another, when their mothers are ALLOWED BY LAW to do the very same thing.
St. Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle.
January 19th, 2008 at 10:01 am
Here's another great quote from Mother [now Blessed] Teresa of Calcutta:
"America needs no words from me to see how your decision in Roe v. Wade has deformed a great nation. The so-called right to abortion has pitted mothers against their children and women against men. It has sown violence and discord at the heart of the most intimate human relationships. It has aggravated the derogation of the father's role in an increasingly fatherless society. It has portrayed the greatest of gifts—a child—as a competitor, an intrusion, and an inconvenience. It has nominally accorded mothers unfettered dominion over the independent lives of their physically dependent sons and daughters."
January 19th, 2008 at 10:22 am
JLM (post #28):
For a young child — BOTH!
lol
January 19th, 2008 at 11:01 am
JLM said:
What I was trying to point out is that the real, underlying issue is not a plastic model, but what it represents to them, and their feelings on abortion, and their "my-body-is-my-body" mentality. It obviously represented a threat to some of the recipients.
God Bless,
Roger
January 19th, 2008 at 11:21 pm
Roger,
You're absolutely correct. There are MANY reasons why women have an abortion, but I believe most just want to "go on" with their lives afterwards. They want to supress the memories hoping that one day they will have no memory of their abortion. I truly believe that these women who received the plastic fetus have those memories resurface, thus resulting in anger over the receipt of them. With 1 in 4 american women aborting their children, someone always knows someone who had one. Thus, the plastic fetus represents a bad memory for them. Which is good, don't get me wrong. I feel that its better to deal with emotions than to supress them. Supressing them only leads to emotional instability.
January 20th, 2008 at 10:24 am
The folks at the Beacon have MBS (multiple bias syndrome) going on with this particular editorial.
* They favor abortion
* They want Planned Parenthood in Aurora
* They opposed the parental notification resolution
* They favor Tom Weisner and his old-guard gang
* They do not go after lies and misconduct by city officials and often print them with various excuses
But, there's another reason why they want this story to "go away." Perhaps like no other story in recent history, the Planned Parenthood controversy has exposed just how useless and insufficient the Beacon has become as a "news" outlet.
During the last six months, it has been the blogosphere and other mainstream media that has taken the lead in providing information, asking tough questions and really forcing this issue into widespread public discussion.
They are jealous. They want to take the ball home so nobody else can play.
If there were REALLY concerned about taxpayers, they should have asked why so-called corporation counsel Alayne Weingartz and so-called mayor Tom Weisner are playing hide-n-seek with facts, information, documents and witnesses instead of just laying out everything so there's no question about truth and procedures that were followed.
If they cared about taxpayers, they wouldn't endorse the biggest tax increases in Aurora's history, the most wild spending in Aurora's history and the biggest increase in taxpayer debt in Aurora's history.
Whether it's Planned Parenthood or XYZ, we want any developer who comes to our community to be honest and forthcoming. We want our city staff to act competently and with integrity.
We aren't fooled by the Beacon's spin, but if anything, the actions by them and city officials convince us why it's important to go after this issue even more.
Thanks to everyone who shows up at these city council meetings, writes here, writes there, participates anywhere.
THAT is what scares the Weisner, Beacon and others the most. It's YOUR voice, YOUR eyes on all this and YOUR action.
OpenlineBlog.com
January 20th, 2008 at 2:55 pm
I thought I would provide these links as noone has yet.
They are stories about recent abortion rates and how Illinois has gone down considedrably.
http://www.qctimes.com/articles/2008/01/21/news/local/doc4792eaf834029895463400.txt
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/columnists/chi-oped0120chapman_jan20,1,3427664.column
Oh, by the way, I didn't check to see if there was an article in the beacon.
January 21st, 2008 at 6:37 am
Surprise, SURPRISE!!
I did a search at Beacon News web site and oops, no hits for abortion rates. I guess they found a place to hide that story also.
January 21st, 2008 at 6:39 am
As my friends you are all invited to join me at a church service given by the Bishop for Northern Illinois UMC at Wesleyan UMC at Galena and May in Aurora on Tuesday Jan 22nd at 7PM.
Please be respectful and challenge the bishops on his stance when you have the opportunity.
Yelling in church would be a crime.
Thanks
January 21st, 2008 at 6:47 am
(I thought I posted this yesterday. Did it get deleted for some reason?)
A new group, composed of women who regret their abortions and now wholeheartedly support Mike Huckabee is forming. To find out more, or to join, write Jeanette here.
Ms. FIT's Confession of Faith (in Huckabee)
Domers for Huckabee
January 21st, 2008 at 2:43 pm
Good Morning all -
Let us not forget to stop and pray for the 50 million babies lost since Roe V Wade was made law 35 years ago. And let us pray to Almighty God that we fill be faithful in standing in the gap to help girls and women in need.
Today would be an appropriate day to read the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew Chapters 5-7) and Rev 6:9. It is God's time not ours as to when the murdering of the unborn will stop. Until then, we must wait, be faithful and preservere. And this can only be done by keeping our eyes and focus on Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior.
"THIS IS THE DAY THE LORD HAS MADE, LET US REJOICE AND BE GLAD IN IT!"
January 22nd, 2008 at 10:11 am
I’d prefer reading in my native language, because my knowledge of your languange is no so well. But it was interesting! Look for some my links:
April 13th, 2008 at 3:51 pm