Southtown Slams Gerry Gorman -- I think a bit unfairly

The SouthtownStar wrote a story today about the bankruptcy filing of Gerry Gorman that was made several months ago.

Click HERE to read the SouthtownStory.

Why now? Maybe the paper is playing a balancing act. The SouthtownStar's columnist Phil Kadner slammed Pat Maher, who is challenging Gorman's wife, Liz Gorman, for the 17th District Cook County district seat in the November election.

Click HERE to read Kadner's' column.

I agree with Kadner on the Pat Maher issue that it isn't so much about the past criminal incident that he was charged with and later pleaded guilty to in order, apparently, to avoid another trial. He was a college student then and college students do stupid things, including engaging in violence.

The real issue is that Pat Maher couldn't face the truth as an adult and appears to have orchestrated or engaged in some kind of coverup to pretend it never happened. The most significant issue is did he lie on his real estate license application which asks if he was ever convicted of a criminal incident in his past? And, did he intentionally change his birthdate to further distance efforts to search his past. (By changing a birthdate, you can go through all kinds of records to find out about a person's past and miss everything, something Pat Maher's father Dave Maher, a cook county sheriff's administration and the Orland Park Village Clerk, knows all too well.

In the Gerry Gorman bankruptcy issue, bankruptcy is not a crime. It's a reflection of bad economic times. Gorman had a car dealership that went bellyup and got in to a court fight with Chrysler, one of the big bad auto dealers. Chrysler doesn't care about American workers. All they care about is the bottom line. The story played up the fact that Chrysler won a lawsuit against Gerry Gorman but played down the fact that Gerry Gorman won a lawsuit against Chrysler, too.

Maybe Chrysler should file bankruptcy.

Oh year, Chrysler did file bankruptcy in 2009. (Click HERE to read a story on it.) But President Obama, trying to save the jobs, gave Chrysler and GM a multi-billion bailout of $86 billion.

Amazing how governments can bailout big corporations but they can't help the little guy.

Cook County Commissioner Liz Gorman has been handling the issues properly. The fact is that Pat Maher misled the public about a past criminal incident. In comparison, Liz Gorman hasn't lied about her husband's past at all. Had they pulled a "Maher" -- a new term now for someone who misleads the public about the truth -- Gerry Gorman would have held off filing bankruptcy until after the election (he didn't) and Liz Gorman would not have commented about her husband's business troubles as openly and as fully as she has over the past many years that this story has been dredged up in the news.

The 17th District battle is getting interesting. Maher has shown to be a formidable candidate. But I wonder if his missteps may have cost him his shot at public office. And, will it bring down others int he Village of Orland Park, too?

We'll see.

-- Ray Hanania

www.RadioChicagoland.com