Rightofillinois Politics

Barack Obama Endorses Wife Beating Bill Foster March 7, 2008

Barack Obama Supporting Wife Beater Candidate Bill Foster

The media in Illinois has shown their complete and ugly bias against Republicans once again by letting the “Bill Foster held his wife hostage” story slide and wish to allow citizens of Illinois Fourteenth district to vote for a man who’s wife swore under oath that he “physically abused” her and she “feared for her safety” and the judge in the case accused Foster of “Holding his ex-wife Hostage”

I wonder if Barack Obama knows that he is supporting an accused wife beater and if he would have cut the commercial for Foster had the media done its job and reported the facts.

-ROI

“IRONIC ENDORSEMENT – U.S. Sen. Barack Obama this week endorsed Democrat Congressional Candidate Bill Foster. Obama was first elected after his main GOP rival dropped out of the race, following salacious media reports about his divorce. Potentially damaging details are also contained in Foster’s divorce records (Image from Foster campaign website).
The testy divorce proceedings of Illinois millionaire Bill Foster, including allegations the Democrat Congressional hopeful physically abused his wife during their marriage, have appeared in an unusual forum: the liberal activist website DailyKos.com.

Foster’s campaign to succeed retired House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert in Illinois’ 14th Congressional district has received widespread attention at the Democrat website, including critics who favored the millionaire’s primary opponent, John Laesch.

Foster eked out a narrow victory in the district’s February 5 Democrat primary, despite outspending Laesch by a better than 10-to-1 margin.

In an entry posted Tuesday, one of Foster’s critics, a user named Deeborneblue, posted highlights of the Foster’s contentious divorce proceedings, claiming they were forwarded to him by “a former reporter, who sent me some stuff that didn’t print before leaving that job.”

Details of the Foster’s divorce were first reported by majorityap.com, including an allegation that Foster “pushed, shoved and caused physical abuse and emotional harm…putting her in fear for herself (and the couple’s) minor children.”

Following majorityap.com’s investigation, Foster’s ex-wife Ann disputed the report.

“Any rumors are just false. I know,” she told Roll Call newspaper last week.

But the so-called “rumors” are contained in a motion Ann Foster filed in Kane County Circuit Court, asking that Foster be removed from the home they shared, claiming Foster’s continued presence “jeopardized” the “physical and mental well-being” of her and their children.

Ann Foster’s claim of abuse was made under oath.

Illinois law states “a person commits perjury when, under oath or affirmation, in a proceeding or in any other matter where by law such oath or affirmation is required, he makes a false statement, material to the issue or point in question, which he does not believe to be true.” Perjury is a Class 3 felony, with a possible prison term of between two and five years.

OTHER POSTINGS IRONIC
The posting of Foster’s divorce proceedings came the same day as two other features that were particularly ironic. The website highlighted the endorsement of Foster by the Chicago Tribune, which led a 2004 lawsuit to gain access to sealed California divorce records of onetime GOP Senate candidate Jack Ryan.

The Tribune was harshly criticized over their decision to publish salacious details of Ryan’s divorce from one-time Star Trek:Voyager and Boston Public star Jeri Ryan.

In a series of columns and articles, Tribune writers and editors defended their decision to publish the particulars of the Ryan’s divorce which, unlike Foster, contained no allegations of abuse.

“Voters need information about the views, background and character of the people they elect to office. Voters can’t make informed decisions about a candidate’s positions or character without such information,” explained a June 25, 2004 editorial headlined Why The Tribune Went to Court. “That’s why, as part of their coverage of candidates for political office, reporters seek a wide range of documents and opinions to help voters understand the candidates.”

A Tribune Editor, Don Wycliff, took defense of the paper a step further. “It is one thing…to have access to public records and another thing to print them,” he wrote on June 27, 2004. “I think the Ryan story belonged in the newspaper.”

The paper and other Illinois media outlets further defended their decision by pointing to the fact Ryan had not been forthcoming when asked about his divorce.

FOSTER OMITS DETAILS
Similarly, Foster was less than forthcoming by drawing attention to his own divorce, claiming on his campaign website the couple “agreed to live within a few blocks of each other in Batavia (IL)” following their 1996 divorce.

Court records indicate Ann Foster’s decision to live in Batavia was not voluntary.

A provision of the couple’s settlement stipulated that if Ann Foster moved outside of the Batavia School district prior to their daughter’s eighteenth birthday, “wife shall pay to husband the sum of Fifty Thousand Dollars ($50,000).” Circuit Court Judge Keith Brown, who presided over the couple’s divorce, seemed stunned.

“I have never seen a provision as this, such as $50,000 payment if someone moves out of the school district,” he said in a transcript obtained by majorityap.com. “I’m not sure if that’s – let’s say when that day comes, the enforceability of that provision would be an issue.”

The judge said of Bill Foster that “it almost sounds, on the initial surface, as if you are holding someone hostage to stay within any school district, which is not in the law of the State of Illinois.”

Despite filing suit to gain access to a Republican candidate’s out-of-state divorce records, neither the Tribune nor any other traditional media outlet has written about Foster’s divorce, which is public record – and easily accessible – under Illinois law.

OBAMA BENEFITED FROM REPORTS
Another story at DailyKos, submitted by a Foster campaign worker, boasted of a television advertisement featuring an endorsement of Foster’s candidacy by Presidential hopeful and U.S. Senator Barack Obama.

Obama was locked in a tight race with Ryan during his first and thusfar only campaign for the U.S. Senate. Ryan dropped out of the race following media reports about his divorce, and Obama cruised to victory over conservative activist Alan Keyes.

MORE IRONY
Foster’s onetime primary opponent vowed to support him in Illinois’ March 8 Special Election, a courtesy Laesch was not extended when he was Hastert’s Democrat challenger in 2006.

According to Kane County, Illinois, voting records, Foster didn’t vote in the 2006, 2005, 2003, 2002 or 2001 general elections.