February 2010

Just Save Yourself What Little Dignity You Have Left

Via Rich

 

Divorce file:

“Over the past year my husband has been taking injectable anabolic steroids,” Cohen’s then-wife Debra York-Cohen said in a statement during their separation proceedings. “As a result he has an erratic and explosive temper.”

As a result of the allegations Cohen, who’s not the Democratic nominee for Lt. Governor, was ordered by a Cook County Circuit Court to undergo “initial and periodic substance testing.”

The divorce documents also allege that Cohen’s steroid use contributed to periodic episodes of violence against his family.

“On or about May 1st 2005, Scott came home in a fit of rage,” reads the statement. “Scott began swearing and cussing and an altercation began to ensue between Scott and our son. During this altercation the other kids were upstairs hysterically crying.”

 

And, I mean, who doesn’t want to have sex with your spouse after he admits to multiple affairs:

“He knows how concerned I am since he admitted to me that he has been sleeping around and is constantly taunting me about getting a sexual disease,” she said in court filings.

“He was physically abusive to me many years ago,” she added. “He has even brought women into our home and in my bed, with no regard to whether the (four) children are home.”

Among the specific allegations in her petition, Debra Cohen claimed that on May 9, 2005, after repeatedly “coming home at all hours in the middle of the night” for several days, Scott Lee Cohen confessed to several affairs and tried to have sex with her.

“Despite my refusals, he tried to force himself on me, until I pushed him away and emphatically told him no,” Debra Cohen claimed in the petition.

 

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The petition also includes allegations that Scott Lee Cohen repeatedly threatened Debra Cohen in writing after she filed for divorce.

“Ever since I filed for divorce (Scott Lee Cohen) continually threatens me in writing, by leaving me intimidating notes,” she alleged. “He stopped leaving me handwritten notes on paper, when he discovered I just take them down. Now he leaves harassing messages on my mirror in lipstick, so everyone, including my grandchildren who live with me can see these notes.”

She said she became so afraid of Scott during their marriage that she often asked her sister and mother to stay with her because she was afraid to be alone with him.

She claimed that one night, when Scott forgot his house keys, he kicked in the garage door to get inside while the rest of the family was sleeping. She also said she called police on several occasions to remove Scott from the house, in front of their children.

 

No dead bunnies reported so far. But now we will have every one of those police reports dug up.  And rightfully so.

 

Dude is like Jack Ryan meets Blair Hull meets Charlie Sheen.

 

UPDATE:  Forgot a little  Gary Skoien:

“He has even brought women into our home and in my bed, with no regard to whether the (four) children are home.”

Because It Worked So Well Last Time

Shut up Adlai:

 

Former U.S. Sen. Adlai Stevenson — who formed a third party to run for governor in 1986 rather than share the same ticket as two disciples of Lyndon H. LaRouche — said Gov. Quinn faces the same political reality in dealing with running mate Scott Lee Cohen.

“It would be very difficult for Pat Quinn, in good conscience, to run for governor with this fellow tied to him as if they’re joined at the hip,” Stevenson told the Sun-Times today.

“One answer is to do what I did, namely to resign the nomination and run as an independent with a different lieutenant governor candidate,” he said. “Of course, they can try to talk [Cohen] out of it, but I’m skeptical as to whether that would work.”

 

It didn’t work last time and it won’t work this time.  The better solution is, first to see if there is a way to get Cohen to resign, and if not, marginalize him and then use it as the way to get rid of the office.  Oh, and have standing articles of impeachment if Quinn dies and just move on down the line of succession.

And McKenna Pushes for Brady

From the inbox:

“I want to express my deep and heartfelt thanks to all the friends and supporters who were so generous to the McKenna-Murphy campaign.

“While we may have fallen a few votes short, we were able to successfully carry our message of cutting spending and not raising taxes across Illinois.  Given the current fiscal mess in Illinois, we hope all Republicans will join us in standing up for hard-working taxpayers and demanding more accountability and fiscal responsibility in Springfield.

“Now that Democrats appear to be coming together as a Party, Republicans must do the same.  There is simply too much at stake in this election to allow Party infighting to distract us from our mission.  Based upon the numbers available today, we stand ready to support Bill Brady who appears headed for the nomination, or whoever is declared the eventual winner.  We look forward to the process completing itself soon and working with our nominee to win in November.”

I’d say he doesn’t want Dillard winning a recount.

Lamb to the Lions

Scott Lee Cohen:

“I have no intention of stepping down or stepping aside. When the facts come to light, after my ex-wife and ex-girlfriend speak, the people of Illinois can decide, and I will listen to them directly. I am asking my ex-wife and ex-girlfriend to come forward and to talk with the media.

There are questions, and I will provide all answers honestly and openly. I only ask for time to do the interviews. 2005 was a difficult time in my life. I was going through a divorce, and I started running with a fast group. I was in a tumultuous relationship with the woman I was dating. We had a fight, but I never touched her. She called the police, however, she never came to court, and the charges were dismissed. I realized this relationship was not healthy, I ended it, and we parted amicably.”

 

What he doesn’t understand is how the media narrative works. To his credit, Cohen tried to get a bunch of this out before the election.  No one paid any attention, however.  The problem now is that he has entered into the consciousness of the press under an ethical cloud and will have them, with the help of the Illinois GOP and some Democrats, digging through every aspect of his life and very few people can stand up to that scrutiny.

And Roland Burris Won’t Be Seated

You’ll have to excuse me if I don’t think that Mike Madigan and Pat Quinn are the guys to go to regarding Scott Lee Cohen:

 

 

He’s basically repeating his talking points now, so I’m not live-blogging them. He said he didn’t see Mark Brown’s column last March about Cohen.

Quinn says there is a provision that allows the General Assembly to pass a law that allows the governor to pick a running mate. So, there’s the pressure point on Cohen? But could Cohen challenge that law’s constitutionality because he’s already won an election? Could be a long haul.

 

From January 2009:

With Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White refusing to sign papers authorizing Blagojevich’s appointment of Roland Burris, and Senate Democratic leaders refusing to seat anyone appointed by Blagojevich, House Speaker Michael Madigan’s spokesman Steve Brown maintained that the appointment is moot.

Asked why Democratic leaders didn’t foresee Blagojevich naming a senator, Brown essentially said there is no appointment. “It hasn’t happened. That’s only happened in some dark corner of the governor’s mind. It hasn’t been certified, so that makes it null. There was nothing to anticipate.”

How did that work out for ya?

He Didn’t Touch Her

Scott Lee Cohen is claiming that his arrest for domestic violence in 2005 was all  a misunderstanding and he didn’t lay a hand on his girlfriend at the time (who also happened to be a prostitute).

 

But the official police and court records show that the woman alleged Cohen put a knife to her throat and pushed her head against the wall.

In their October 14 arrest report detailing the complaint from the 24-year-old woman, Chicago police noted they observed “mild abrasions from knife wound” on her neck. They also noted “minor scars on her hand from her trying to defend herself against the arrestee swinging the knife at her.” The report notes the woman was seen by ambulance personnel but not taken to a hospital.

The case was dropped a month later when the woman did not show up for a court date.

Also, public records show that the alleged victim, Scott’s 24-year-old girlfriend at the time, was a prostitute. Six months before the October 2005 incident, she had been arrested after a police investigation of a Glenview massage parlor. She later pleaded guilty to a charge of prostitution.

Through a spokesman Cohen said he did not know at the time that the woman was a prostitute and that she had told him she worked as a “massage therapist.”

 

It appears that he technically is correct. He may not have put a hand on her, just a knife.

 

Boy, that Rickey Hendon sure showed Art Turner didn’t he?