Sexism and politics at the Orland Days Parade

By Ray Hanania

County Commissioner Liz Gorman at the Orland Day Parade with family and supporters

The Orland Days Parade recently drew a large crowd, as it always does, as floats, fire, police and veterans groups paraded down West Avenue.

There were many local heroes in the lineup including Cook County Commissioner Elizabeth “Liz” Doody Gorman who walked with an entourage of supporters handing out candy to the hundreds of kids who were along the sides of the parade with their parents.

Gorman, the Republican Committeewoman of Orland Township, was walking with her group in front of the entourage of County Board of Review Commissioner Dan Patlak.

There’s been a nice truce in the war between Patlak and Gorman, mainly because Gorman’s huge popularity proved to be far too much for Patlak’s low name recognition. It was more a détente that benefits Patlak for sure because if Gorman ever really wanted to restart up her opposition to Patlak, the guy wouldn’t be holding office much longer.

So it was a little disturbing to watch as one of Patlak’s “volunteers” cozied up to a person (who he must have thought was just a member of the public) and then made a nasty, sexist comment that was extremely critical of Gorman.

Gorman’s entourage included some of her kids and her two dogs. And the Patlak stooge pointed to the dogs and asked the person, who was a stranger to him, in a sexist, disrespectful manner, “Which one is Liz Gorman?”

Gorman entourage followed by Patlak at Orland Days Parade

Women in politics have to put up with a lot of BS from men. Tough men are praised as “tough men.” Tough women are criticized as “vindictive.” It’s not an easy world. But the worst and most disrespectful thing you can say about a woman in public life is to call her the “B-Word,” referencing a female dog.

It wasn’t Patlak who made the comment. He was just walking down the street with that usual goofy look on his face that is so typical of his campaign literature. But he should be aware of what his underlings are doing.

Volunteers and minions don’t act like disrespectful morons on their own, unless they think it will make the boss happy. So when the Patlak volunteer made his derisive, sexist comment to the person he thought was just a member of the public, it reflects on Patlak personally and he is responsible.

As it turns out, the person the Patlak volunteer approached with his sexist, anti-woman comment was one of the Gorman’s volunteers, who immediately scolded the disrespectful and rude Patlak supporter.

Gorman deserves respect, especially from a male member of the Republican Party. Women are half the population and half the voters.

But politically Patlak must be an idiot. If Gorman wanted to take Patlak out in the next election, either by running herself or by slating someone else to challenge him, she could easily win.

Liz Gorman, Bruce Rauner, Sean Morrison

You think that a member of the Cook County Board of Review (the new, generic name for the County Board of Tax Appeals), like Patlak, might be smart enough to recognize that Gorman is today one of the most powerful Republicans in Cook County.

How powerful is Gorman? Well, she was smart enough to back Bruce Rauner for governor when Patlak backed State Sen. Kirk Dillard in the Republican gubernatorial primary last March. Rauner, who many believe is certain to win the November Governors race against incumbent Pat Quinn, has been very close to Gorman ever since and he’s held several major events coordinated through Gorman. Rauner’s association with Gorman has boosted his own chances and helped him easily edge past Dillard, Bill Brady and Dan Rutherford.

Gorman and Palos Township Committeeman Sean Morrison are hosting a Golf Outing for Bruce Rauner at Crystal Tree, Monday, June 23rd., with a who’s who of Republican and political activists who were invited to attend by Gorman. It’s a private golf outing limited to 100 people.

One person who won’t be at the golf outing is Patlak. The question is, will he still be at the County Board of Review two years from now?

Not the way things are going.