As a Veteran, a Past Commander of an American Legion Post and an active participant in Veterans issues I have a special disgust for those who would denigrate any Veteran for any reason. More times than not this ire is put upon us by those who loathe the idea of serving our Great Country in any capacity in the Military. I just have to believe that this is the case in this instance. Once again Larry and his Cronies have stooped to a new low, the farmer Joins his PIGS in the STY!

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10/17/2008
This is my first time running for elected office but I am not new to politics.

Thus, I expected that when I began exposing the corruption and pay-to-play politics I knew existed in Will County Executive Larry Walsh’s Office, Walsh would ultimately send his political attack dogs after me and ratchet up his smear machine.

After I received the endorsements of the major law enforcement unions in Will County(1), I expected desperate acts from Larry Walsh.

But, with Walsh and his Chief of Staff Matt Ryan under FBI scrutiny(2), their desperation and resulting duplicity even surprises me.

Through a fraudulent Will County Democrat newsletter that fronts as a newspaper, Walsh (who is a listed staff member for the periodical–SEE ATTACHMENT BELOW) and his henchmen have made some of the most vicious AND untrue allegations that you can level against someone, accusing me of being dishonorably discharged from the military (I served in the U.S. Air Force from 1976-1980) and accusing me of being a “wife-beater”.

I have campaigned on a commitment to bring transparency to Will County government. So it is in that spirit and with the backing of my family that I respond to these malicious lies so that Will County residents have the facts and they can make up their own minds about what kind of person they want as their County Executive.

I will not allow myself or my family to be beaten up in a back alley by Larry Walsh, by Larry Walsh’s “newspaper”(3) or by Larry Walsh’s political hatchet men. So here we go:

I. Larry Walsh Lie #1

First, regarding my military service, I am not going to play the “he said, he said” game. After this aspersion was cast, I ordered my DD214 from the United States Air Force. The DD214 is my military discharge papers. They should arrive this week. I will post my discharge papers on my campaign website(4), for all to see.

And when I do, I want the record to reflect that Mr. Walsh disrespected me and every other veteran in Will County and in our nation by spewing a lie about my service in order to smear me and score cheap political points with the hope that some would only hear the allegation and never the truth. It is outrageous.

II. Larry Walsh Lie #2

Second, re: the allegation as to my former marriage. Here is the complete story:

My ex-wife Mary and I were married for 11 years. We had one child, our son Tyler.

Within weeks of Tyler‘s birth and throughout the 11-years she was in Tyler‘s presence, Mary suffered from significant mental illness developing first with postpartum depression and then to postpartum psychosis and later to bi-polar disorder. Her depression was and is severe, requiring 10 hospitalizations in 10 years with each stay longer than 25 days.

She has been prescribed multiple drug regimens for years and has been under the care of a doctor for more than 17 years.

In the last year of our marriage, she began hurting herself and family members. I made the decision to divorce.

On the day I told her that I would file for divorce and seek custody of our children, Mary called the Joliet police and claimed that I had battered her. Although there was no such incident and no signs of such incident, I was subjected to the police policy to arrest and separate.

I was not only found innocent of the charge by a Will County Judge but I was granted an “Order of Protection” which prohibited Mary from coming into contact with me or our children.

I was subsequently granted a divorce and custody of our children. Mary was granted only “Supervised Visitation”, requiring that a third party be present in order for her to visit the children. Mary has elected not to exercise her right to that supervised visitation at any time since our divorce.

After being found innocent of the charge Mary had leveled against me, the allegation and complete record were expunged.

I continue to raise Tyler, as I did my other children, in our home in Joliet where we have lived for the past 20 years.

These are the facts. And, again, I have the documentation to back up what I say to be true as well as the most important thing to me: the custody of my children to ensure they are raised as they have been–in a safe, loving home.

I want to add that I did not recount the detail above to embarrass anyone or assign blame. But the above is the truth and I felt I should lay out the facts and let informed Will County voters make up their own minds once presented with all of the relevant information, and not just my opponent’s desperate smears.

I should add one more thing, even after everything our family has been through, I still believe in erring on the side of safety when it comes to domestic violence. That means reporting any such incident. If someone is falsely accused, as I was, the courts can and will sort it out, as they did in my case.

With all of this now explained in painful detail, I also want Will County residents to consider the kind of person who would knowingly print falsehoods of this nature for political gain.

I want Will County residents to consider the kind of person who would, for political gain, cravenly attempt to exploit the serious issue of domestic violence and to, in effect, trivialize the suffering of the many families who have had to deal with actual domestic violence.

It is unconscionable that Larry Walsh and his guns-for-hire would knowingly and purposefully spread a story of this nature that they knew to be false. And, yet, that’s precisely what they have done.

If this is the kind of politics you want, the politics of character assassination, the politics of malicious lies and desperation, then Larry Walsh is your candidate, Will County.

If you reject this sort of politics, then, whether you vote for me or not, please let Larry Walsh and his crew know.

Whether I win or lose this election is less important to me than seeing someone in a position of public trust get away with the brand of malicious deceit practiced by Larry Walsh.

Finally, I have delivered a “cease, desist, and retract” letter to Larry Walsh’s fake newspaper. I plan to follow through with all appropriate legal action against Larry Walsh’s fake newspaper and anyone else who cares to engage in libelous and slanderous conduct against either me or my family.

Thank you for your attention to this information.

Sincerely,

Dan Kennison
Your Candidate for Will County Executive