An Open Letter to Ginni Thomas

Dear Ginni,

May I call you Ginni? I feel like we're girlfriends and we need to chat the way girlfriends chat.

I heard about that unfortunate voice mail you left for Anita Hill at 7:30 on Saturday morning, asking that she apologize to your hubby, Clarence Thomas, for what she did to him almost 20 years ago, and it left me scratching my head. Did Clarence pour your Appletini's a little too strong on Friday nite? Was it a drunk dial by chance?

Look, I get it. Really I do. Women like us, we don't like some woman humiliating our man in public. That's our job, right? And Ms. Hill let the entire world know about your hubby's little sexual proclivities. Whether she was into his fetishes or not, she should have followed the Woman Code and just kept her yap shut, right? I mean, if you want to publicly demean and degrade him, well, that's your right, but for some other woman to come out of the woodwork and air his dirty laundry, well, that's just wrong. Wrong. So, I get it. And I get why you're still walking around with this grudge 20 years later.

Ya, except no, I don't. I don't get it. In fact, I don't get it at all. I think you just sold out all of your women sisters.

When I heard your pathetic message to Ms. Hill, all I could think was "here we go again, blaming the victim." Ms. Hill, whether you believe her testimony or not, was a victim of sexual harassment. Your husband made unwanted sexual comments and innuendos to her in the workplace. He told vile jokes. He made lewd gestures and suggestions. And you just wanted her to swallow hard and keep it all to herself, because at the end of the day, she wanted it all, right?

Have you stopped to think about young women who watched those hearings in 1991, having been victims of sexual assault and/or sexual harassment themselves, and saw a woman of great strength muster all the courage in the world to face her fears and speak her truth? For a few minutes, they may have been inspired to come out of the closet and tell someone what they had been a victim of. And then just seconds later, they saw Anita Hill being raked over the coals by Senators during questioning and in the media as everyone searched for ways to blame her for your husband's infantile behavior. Surely, Ms. Hill must have encouraged him or been a willing participant, right? What woman doesn't love it when a man hands her a can of soda with pubic hair on it?

I can only imagine that watching what Ms. Hill went through almost 20 years ago in the press, many young women learned the lesson that they would be forever better off swallowing their pain and keeping their mouths shut, lest they too get assaulted again by the "blame the victim" mentality in our society.

Your voice mail message probably opened many old wounds for women who've gone through twenty years of self-loathing and blaming themselves in an effort to avoid the pain of public scrutiny. And quite probably, your message, and the press it's gotten in the last 48 hours, has taught a new generation of women that they must keep their mouths shut because at the end of the day, everyone will think they did something to deserve it and by stepping forward, they are ruining the lives of the men who hurt them.

That's some pretty messed up thinking that women need to protect men who hurt them, but from my listening of the message you left for Anita Hill, I gather that's what you believe.

Ginni, I believe you owe women everywhere an apology. October in National Domestic Violence Awareness Month and rather than encouraging women to hide in the shadows and carry the secrets of men who abuse them by harassing them in the workplace, assaulting them in the dorm, or beating them behind closed doors and "blaming the victim," you owe it to your gender to stand up and encourage all women to speak their truth.

So give it some thought. And certainly pray about this and hope that one day you will help us understand why you did what you did. Okay. Have a good day.

Little Merry Sunshine

Arlen Specter: A Wolf in Sheep's Clothing?

Today is not sitting right with me.

You may have heard that Pennsylvania Senator Arlen Specter began the day as a member of the Grand Ole Party (aka Republican Party) and will go to sleep tonight as a Democrat. And that confuses me.

Sure, I like the idea that, with the addition of Senator Specter and once Senator Al Franken is allowed to be seated, the Democrats have the all-important 60 votes necessary to quash a filibuster.

But this switch wasn't about Senator Specter disagreeing with the fundamental things Republicans believe or even embracing Democratic principles. Senator Specter himself today admitted that his switch had everything to do with the fact that he did some polling and discovered that he probably would lose in a Pennsylvania Republican primary next year. He also made it known that he wouldn't just automatically vote along party lines. The fact is that the Republican party is now dominated by ultra-conservative fundamentalists who use abortion as a litmus test and Senator Specter's 2008 pro-choice voting record would not sit well.

The thing is that I can't get the images of Senator Specter grilling Anita Hill and calling her a liar in the 1991 Confirmation Hearings for Clarence Thomas's nomination to the Supreme Court.

"The lowest point on the first day of the hearing came when Pennsylvania Republican Arlen Specter implied that Hill had simply fantasized Thomas' asking for dates and his lurid remarks about pornography. It is all but inconceivable that a similarly qualified man, black or white, would be accused not merely of lying but of imagining things." — Time Senior Editor Jack E. White, October 21, 1991.

Of course, I suppose that maybe we should be grateful for Senator Specter's behavior during those hearings. Watching 12 white men grill Anita Hill as though she was a criminal mobilized feminists nationwide and 1992 became known as the "Year of the Woman" as the number of female Senators grew from 3 to 5 and women were elected in droves to many other offices around the country.

Maybe. But I still can't help but think Arlen Specter's switch was more about self-preservation than about a shift in his fundamental beliefs. And I just don't trust that. I'll always look at him and wonder if he's just a wolf in sheep's clothing.

You Can Call Me Reverand Little Merry Sunshine

You'll recall that last fall I attended a meeting with the Cook County Assessor's Office regarding the reassessment of my home (and all the others in my township). My assessment had increased 45% in 12 months and also included many inaccuracies about my home (1 1/2 car garage, 2 1/2 baths, etc.), but despite numerous appeals in past years, I could never get the County to change my assessments and inaccurate description of my home.

So I hired an attorney to do the job for me this year. And just moments ago, I learned that I had success. I'm gonna save $400 this year and $1200 over the next three years! Yeah! Of course, the attorney cost me $270 PLUS all the paperwork.

But evidently I didn't have to work that hard. In fact, it seems that if I'd simply spent 30 seconds to complete a form online I'd become an ordained minister and could then slap a cross on the front of my house - all for FREE mind you - and I could completely eliminate my property taxes!

Man's home is castle—and church
State gives Lake Bluff estate a religious break worth $80,000 in property tax, but village says not so fast to pastor-owner

By Susan Kuczka Chicago Tribune reporter
11:06 PM CDT, July 16, 2008

A Lake Bluff resident said he converted this $3 million estate into the Armenian Church of Lake Bluff so his ailing wife and daughter can worship. (Tribune photo by David Trotman-Wilkins)

When George Michael placed a cross on the side of his lakefront mansion, neighbors assumed the decoration was simply a display of the man's religious faith.What his neighbors didn't know is that Michael had decided to convert his $3 million residence into the Armenian Church of Lake Bluff, qualifying him for a nearly $80,000 break on his annual property tax bill.

Now, locals are questioning whether the property is a church at all. Village officials wonder how they'll be able to make up the lost revenue, and residents worry that their share of the tax burden will grow as a result.

Meanwhile, Lake Bluff officials notified Michael that if he is running a church, he'll need to pay more than $115,000 in fines for failing to get the village's permission, setting up a possible court battle.

"It's a honkin' house," said Shields Township Assessor Teresia Yakes, who recently appraised the Michael mansion.With "No Trespassing" and "Private Property" signs everywhere, the Shore Acres subdivision looks like an unlikely place to open a church.

Michael told state officials last month that he began his North Shore congregation more than a year ago after he got a pastor's degree from an online religious site.

While only a handful of close friends and family attend the church, Michael opened his house of worship to spare his disabled wife the hardship of having to travel to practice her religion, attorney Mark Belognia said.

"He's a devoutly religious man, as is his family, and this is the best and only way for them on a weekly basis to practice their faith," Belognia said.

Neighbors said they have never seen evidence of Sunday services held at the home. Village officials said Michael didn't approach them about special permits he would need to open a new church.

'I do find it a stretch'

And in February, the Lake County Board of Review rejected Michael's claim that he had converted his home into a church, ruling the property's use appeared more consistent with a residence than a church, said board Supervisor Martin Paulson.

"I do find it a stretch," Paulson said of the state's June 12 decision to grant Michael a property tax exemption.

Michael, owner of a Chicago real estate firm and a bank official, won the state exemption after he presented the Illinois Department of Revenue with a copy of his clergy license from the Church of Spiritual Humanism, photos of a church altar, the church's affidavit of organization from January 2007, church bylaws and copies of weekly church bulletins dating to December.

He also provided copies of a quitclaim deed from March 2007 that transferred ownership of the couple's 22,000-square-foot home—formerly listed in the name of his wife, Susan—to the Armenian Church of Lake Bluff, and an October 2007 church bank statement from Citizens Bank & Trust in Chicago. Michael is vice chairman of the bank, Belognia said.

Michael also provided a list of 10 members and officers of his parish council, including at least one who is an independent contractor with Michael's real estate firm, Michael Realty & Associates in Chicago, according to his attorney.

The information Michael supplied convinced state officials that the residence in the 1900 block of Shore Acres Drive was a church.

"We didn't go up on a Sunday morning and see if there were services, but we did require them to sign an affidavit and send us church bulletins about services," said Revenue Department spokesman Mike Klemens. "We did enough checking . . . to convince us that yes, even though the village doesn't want to grant the exemption, and the Board of Review didn't, it is a church, it's being used as a church, so we granted it."

Michael's attorney said his client jumped through the bureaucratic hoops so that his wife and daughter—both of whom are physically disabled—could avoid travel to attend Armenian church services elsewhere. Previously, the Michaels had regularly attended services at St. Gregory the Illuminator Church in Chicago, his attorney said.

"He believes he has a constitutional right to practice his faith, that he violated no zoning codes and that he properly received a property tax exemption for his church," Belognia said.

Michael purchased the home on a bluff overlooking Lake Michigan in 2004 for about $3 million. He built an addition that contains a playroom for his children and installed an electric lift so his wife could get down the bluff to the beach below his home. He was billed $79,758 for 2006 property taxes.

The Michaels live in the house but have set off a portion for the church, the attorney said.

Although Lake Bluff officials plan to appeal the state's decision, village manager Drew Irvin said officials on June 24 sent Michael a $115,000 bill for violating zoning ordinances, based on the very affidavits Michael provided to the state. Local ordinances do not allow for operation of a church in an area of town zoned as "country estate residence" without a special permit, Irvin said. Village code allows a fine of up to $500 per day, per violation. According to Michael's application, he had been operating a church for 460 days, but village officials levied a fine for half that much, Irvin said."The village is simply following up on zoning violations," he said.

$10.3 million in dispute

The zoning dispute is not the only financial matter Michael faces.

Last month, a Milwaukee bank—M&I Marshall & Ilsley Bank—filed a foreclosure lawsuit against Michael and his brother, Robert C. Michael, in Cook County Circuit Court, seeking $10.3 million in unpaid mortgage payments and loans on commercial buildings, storefronts and residential buildings in Chicago and nearby suburbs.

Michael declined an interview, but Belognia said he hoped to amicably resolve the zoning issues. He notified the village July 3 that Michael would suspend services.

The Diocese of the Armenian Church of America in New York, meanwhile, has no record that the Armenian Church of Lake Bluff exists—or that it has been consecrated as a house of worship.

Michael remains registered as a parishioner at St. Gregory, according to Rachel Goshgarian, director of the diocese's Zohrab Information Center.

UPDATE 7/19/2008: John Kass of the Chicago Tribune ran a column yesterday about what an upstanding guy Mr. Michael is (not).