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Democratic congressional candidate John Laesch has almost no chance of defeating House Speaker Denny Hastert this fall, so apparently he has enough time on his hands to pick on an anonymous blogger. This is what candidate Laesch wrote on Soapblox Chicago:
It occured to me that in the wake of Joe Lieberman’s loss that I should spread a little party cleansing soap and water around the 14th District.
Before we start slapping Hastert around with some amazing research generated by an amazing and anonymous blogger (digging around D.C), I thought we should spend some time outing Mr. HRC.
“HRC” publishes a blog called “50 Miles Out of the Loop.” HRC has written some incredibly harsh things about both Hastert and Laesch, but Laesch claimed today when we spoke that he ordered the investigation into HRC’s identity to find out if a pro-Hastert person was writing it. Laesch’s statement has zero credibility. If you don’t believe me, peruse HRC’s blog for a few minutes nanoseconds and you’ll see why.
Laesch said he wanted to “send a message to whoever HRC is.” What message would that be? “It’s the same message that we should be sending to Joe Lieberman that it’s time to understand that the primary is over and move on.”
So, what would Laesch do if Hastert used his own blog to out an anonymous blogger who was supporting Laesch? “I don’t care what Hastert posts on his blog,” Laesch says.
So, let me get this straight. Laesch is so riled by what some micro-blogger writes that he has an opposition researcher look into his or her identity, but he doesn’t care what’s on Hastert’s blog?
Meanwhile, the folks who run SoapBlox were so embarassed by Laesch’s post that they removed the item from the front page. SoapBlox is not exactly a hotbed of pro-Lieberman activity, to say the least, so Laesch has been essentially dissed by his own allies.
And a commenter at SoapBlox produced an e-mail from the person Laesch claims writes the blog, Mark Blackman, flatly denying the allegation. HRC also denied the claim.
For the record: I am not Mark Blackman (I don’t know who that is). And I doubt this Blackman fellow is a 38C.
“If somebody is out there attacking you we’re gonna put him down, it’s that simple, especially if it’s baseless and factless,” Laesch said, claiming that HRC has written “slanderous things” about him.
In a deliciously ironic twist, it’s Laesch who relied on an anonymous blogger to make what appear to be “baseless” and “factless” and possibly even “slanderous” remarks.
What a jerk.
posted by Rich Miller
Tuesday, Aug 15, 06 @ 11:25 am
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I agree that Laesch obsessing over a blogger when he should be campaigning against Hastert looks bad.
However, HRC has made specific allegations of sordid arrests in specific locations and gotten other people to pass these rumors. When challenged to produce evidence HRC hasn’t produced document one, even though HRC claims Laesch was arrested for stuff that has a sex angle to it.
So, I can sorta see Laesch being PO’d at HRC.
The origin of HRC’s beef with Laesch also seems kinda petty. HRC is upset because she believe Ruben Zamora’s nominating petitions were challenged by a Laesch ally and Laesch denied it.
Maybe Laesch should have done a better job of denying the role of his supporters without saying anything specific enough to be labeled a lie, but challenging nominating petitions is part of the game.
HRC needs to accept that while she may have liked Ruben Zamora he wasn’t a viable candidate because he had insufficient money and organization.
Comment by Carl Nyberg Tuesday, Aug 15, 06 @ 11:33 am
When you attack a blogger, you invite all the other angry bees from their hives.
For a young man, he isn’t very up-to-date in his thinking, is he?
His actions make Hastert look better than before.
Comment by VanillaMan Tuesday, Aug 15, 06 @ 11:36 am
Real Campaigners ignore the nits and gnats. The Kid ain’t got the grapes.
Comment by Pat Hickey Tuesday, Aug 15, 06 @ 11:41 am
It seems like Laesch should be committed, I met his staffers in line at a function and they are full on sure that they are taking out Denny Hassert
It must be fun to chase after Windmills like Don Quoxoite (SP)
Comment by The Crux of the Matter is this Tuesday, Aug 15, 06 @ 11:48 am
Don’t you have to be 25 to run for Congress?
Comment by HANKSTER Tuesday, Aug 15, 06 @ 11:49 am
He’d be too busy calling for dollars to worry about all of this if he was running a real campaign. Campaign finance reports suggest that he’s not even doing that when he isn’t obsessing over bloggers.
Comment by ArchPundit Tuesday, Aug 15, 06 @ 11:51 am
HRC NEVER made the alligations of Mr Laesch’s sorid past. It was a person who commented on her blog and also was posted on another blog.
HRC has been going after “Heavy D” for quite a while. HRC also showed her dislike for Laesch when he started boasting that he had overthrown the Kendall County Democratic Party and replaced a “stagnant” administration with a more active one.
The “stagnant” administration was actually the family that had taken a disbanded party and raised it up to the point where it was actually doing something. Since the overthrow there has been much animosity but very little has gotten done. Many of the people who were recruited are now extreamly dissilusioned (pardon my spelling) and no longer want anything to do with the “new Leadership”.
HRC has simply stated that she doesn’t like the new leadership, what and how they did things, or the lies they have told on their way to power.
Getting back to the real point, what John Laesch did by falsly outing a blogger shows a total lack of class, and makes many folks question his sanity. HRC spends 99% of her time blogging going after his opponent. So why does he feel the need to attack a person that atttacks his enemy?
The kid is showing that he’s just plain dumb.
Comment by Political Insider Tuesday, Aug 15, 06 @ 11:55 am
Rich, best headline ever. Very direct.
Comment by STAVROS Tuesday, Aug 15, 06 @ 12:18 pm
[…] The diligent Rich Miller has the details about how Speaker of House Denny Hastert’s opponent is waging war on a anonymous blogger—who himself loathes Hastert. What sin did this blogger commit that has John Laesch wasting the time of his staff trying to “out” the blogger’s identity? Well, he allowed a commenter to say some very unflattering things about Laesch. […]
Pingback by Hastert’s foe has no class … but at least he’s actually campainging » Peoria Pundit Tuesday, Aug 15, 06 @ 12:25 pm
So i started looking at all these blogs and i came across this on Hastert’s blog
http://www.hastert-for-congress.org/?sectionid=12§iontree=12
I wonder who this mystery person is…
Comment by Anon Tuesday, Aug 15, 06 @ 12:48 pm
“I wonder what the response would be if the QOTD was to guess Capitolfax bloggers identities?”
I suspect that the overwhelming response would be, “Who gives a rat’s @$$?”
Comment by So-Called "Austin Mayor" Tuesday, Aug 15, 06 @ 2:15 pm
Why are bloggers (and posters) so vehement about protecting hidden identities? Goofy.
Comment by hmmm???? Tuesday, Aug 15, 06 @ 2:59 pm
So, “hmmm” you wouldn’t mind then if I published your IP address, linked to comments you made previously under different names, etc.? Perhaps you’d prefer that I block you from posting more anonymous, unidentified comments like you did just now until you reveal who you really are, where you work, etc?
I thought not.
The bottom line is Laesch should’ve known better and now he’s stirred the nest up so much that some seriously bad things could happen very soon.
Comment by Rich Miller Tuesday, Aug 15, 06 @ 3:03 pm
IL insider,
While this may seem like a distraction to you, it’s not necessarily so for the people of the 14th district. OK, maybe Ruben Zamora was not the perfect candidate, but he had integrity. Maybe some of voters value integrity (I know I do, but what do I know?). If we had elected servants with integrity, we wouldn’t have this stupid mideast quagmire. Yes, we’d still have problems, but we’d have (more) people interested in solving them.
Laesch was a petty officer. How does that make his credentials as good as Duckworth’s when she was a major? He served around three years. Please, don’t equate him with her. And you have the nerve to ask Rich if he’s for real. Are you for real?
If this was the first “jerk” reaction Laesch had made, it would be a different story, but he has a history of these “jerk” moves, some of which has been documented by HRC since January.
Comment by grenadia Tuesday, Aug 15, 06 @ 5:21 pm
Thanks Rich, this kid needed some tough love. to quote one of Laesch’s supporters (or maybe it was John himself in disguise) “Politics ain’t grab ass ya know.”
Comment by Kankakee Voice Tuesday, Aug 15, 06 @ 5:42 pm
What? A politician with a bad temper? Clearly, that makes him unqualified for higher office.
Ho hum. Must be a slow news day.
Comment by red Tuesday, Aug 15, 06 @ 5:54 pm
Hastert needs to go
Comment by anon Tuesday, Aug 15, 06 @ 6:06 pm
This guy has really consumed too much of his own Kool Aid. He really believes that he is a player on the national stage.
However, with quotes like this, it doesn’t seem like he ready for prime time… especially in the Land of Lincoln:
“Abraham Lincoln, I don’t know if you know this, he didn’t do it (free slaves) for the right reasons- social justice- he just did it because so many white people were out of work because they couldn’t compete with slave labor.†August 8, 2006 Townhall meeting
Comment by Jennifer D Tuesday, Aug 15, 06 @ 6:37 pm
Ha! This is hilarious, Rich! And you’re right, John Laesch is a jerk.
Comment by Bridget Dooley Tuesday, Aug 15, 06 @ 6:54 pm
What surprised me was that Laesch did not take the excellent advice given in the comments and delete the post. For the record the current SoapBlox community is composed of supporters and opponents of Laesch and a lot more that really don’t particularly care. For myself I was embarassed more for John than for the creditability of the blog. But yes, having such an immature post on the front page, would not have been appropriate.
But anyway, glad you enjoyed the piece. We made somebodies day.
Comment by Jeff Wegerson Tuesday, Aug 15, 06 @ 7:53 pm
Instead of Dems casting a ballot for Hastert, just leave it blank opting to vote for none of the above. It’s an undervote & just as important.
There’s always hope for 2008. Start looking & recommending candidates NOW. Laesch is history, & YES — Hastert’s got to GO!!!
Comment by Philosophe Forum Tuesday, Aug 15, 06 @ 8:33 pm
I think the real jerk is a ty-dye wearing political gadfly who wants to call a decorated military veteran names.
This Laesch guy seems to have a pretty impressive story. He was defending our Country while Hastert was cashing in on insider real estate deals with Dallas Ingemunson.
Comment by Anon Tuesday, Aug 15, 06 @ 10:26 pm
I’m not surprised that 9 months after people first started saying Laesch was full of it, he has proven it himself. I’m just sorry so many people drank his kool aid during the primary and we ended up with no choice at all.
When a candidate can’t get straight if he was honorably discharged or medically discharged and even claims to have an African American brother in private e-mails. You have to wonder if there is anything going on between his ears.
More then anything I feel sorry for the 14th for having been robbed of a real choice come November.
Comment by Concerned Citizen in the 14th Tuesday, Aug 15, 06 @ 10:27 pm
HRC did make the accusation. But a lot of this is angry Zamora supporters who think that Laesch’s win was some kind of a violation of the principles of democracy.
Yeah, it was a mistake to make that post. Just like it was a mistake for Zamora to support the Hastert backed Republican candidate for mayor of Aurora. They can’t all be Jesus all the time.
Comment by MiloStark Wednesday, Aug 16, 06 @ 10:10 am