October 27, 2008
Geoff Simpson and His Sock Puppets

Democratic state legislator Geoff Simpson is fighting against Republican Mark Hargrove for election in the 47th District.

Democrats recently slimed Hargrove, falsely implying he was not good on combatting sex offenders just because a sex offender contributed to his campaign.

There have been three people online coming out in support of Simpson on these matters, though. A couple of posts from someone named "ReadIt&Weep," and some more from "Just Wonderin'," and even one from someone named "Covington Republican."

"ReadIt&Weep" entered his email address as "molester@markhargrove.org." Charming. "Just Wonderin'" entered his address as "lies@pudgeisaliar.com." Both of them directly supported the claims made by the Democrats against Hargrove.

"Covington Republican" says Hargrove "seems like a real dunderhead. Nothing he said made much sense," and that "I won't vote for Simpson but I damn sure won't vote for Hargrove either."

What do all three of these posters have in common, other than attacking Hargrove?

They happen to share an IP address -- 71.231.253.145, a Comcast address -- that replied on Friday to an email sent to geoff.simpson@comcast.net (the same address listed by the House Democrats for his campaign).

Oops.

There is no mistaking it: these characters above are all Geoff Simpson, or someone very close to him in his campaign.

(The fourth post by "Just Wonderin'" was sent via an anonymizer ... sorry, Geoff, you're too late to hide your address, you've already been caught. The first was from 18.246.1.160, which resolves to an MIT student from Vashon, Tyler Williams. I have no idea what connection he has to Simpson.)

I don't really mind too much that Simpson is calling me a liar. I've been called worse.

I also couldn't care much less about people anonymously supporting the candidates of their choice ... even if it is themselves. Although, I would hope that public officials could be more forthcoming, even during campaigns.

But it's pretty low to invent an email address called "molester@markhargrove.org," apparently implying that Hargrove either IS a molester, or has molesters in his campaign. Maybe that wasn't the intent, but it sure seems like it.

However, there's no mistaking the intent, ladies and gentlemen, when your 47th District Representative, Geoff Simpson, is actually pretending to be a disaffected Republican voter who is against both Hargrove AND Simpson (and he has the gall to accuse me of lying!).

The stench of deception and desperation run deeply in that one, my friends.

UPDATE: I remembered that someone else had done something similar a year or two back on Sound Politics -- an elected official posting anonymously and getting busted for it -- but Stefan reminds us it was Simpson himself.

Cross-posted on <pudge/*>.

Posted by pudge at October 27, 2008 01:34 PM | Email This
Comments
1. Damn... You love Pudge.

Gezzz these fools

Posted by: Army Medic/Vet on October 27, 2008 02:04 PM
2. OOPS (Your loved Pudge)

Posted by: Army Medic/Vet on October 27, 2008 02:08 PM
3. Hopefully, he is losing.

My biggest worry (assuming a D landslide) is that the MSM when they wake up with a hangover ( buyers' remorse is another name), they realize how duped they have been and how unprofessional and unjournalistic they have been. Then, the hope is that they start reporting and investigating the faux pas of the likes of Simpson.

The overwhelming bias of the MSM in this election is staggering. By an 8 to 1 margin people realize this.

Perhaps, if my nightmare is realized, this will have been the last hurrah of the MSM.

Geoff Simpson should not be in public office. You think Obama is socialist? This guy invented the term!!

Posted by: swatter on October 27, 2008 02:09 PM
4. Right up Simpson's alley. He's a real twerp of a character, prone to this type of 13 year-old behavior. Why else would he have a toy fireman's hat on his signs?

Posted by: Sasquatch on October 27, 2008 02:13 PM
5. This would be a good time to recall the lame comments that Simpson himself posted here last year: "Who's the idiot?"

Posted by: Stefan Sharkansky on October 27, 2008 02:54 PM
6. Nice detective work Sherlock Holmes! You can say whatever you want about who posted those things. After all, who's going to fact-check you? You've already displayed your blatant disregard for the truth.

Where's the lie in the mailer Pudge?

Posted by: Just Wonderin' on October 27, 2008 03:06 PM
7. Hoisted on his own petard. I am dying laughing here. Nice work.

Posted by: So425 on October 27, 2008 03:37 PM
8. I understand politicians like to rely on blanket generalizations and then hope no one asks for specifics, but; specifically, Just Wonderin' what does "[w]here's the lie in the mailer Pudge?" refer to and what "truth" has Pudge blatantly disregarded?

Posted by: Randy on October 27, 2008 03:37 PM
9. Geoff the lie machine Simpson,

Wow. Just wow. Not only a dolt who forgets about IPs, but does so - TWICE.

And then lies about it with a later post. You know, Nixon was booted for lying; Clinton was impeached for lying. I guess you never learned, did you. Lies destroy politicians, when caught. You've been caught - TWICE.

What's that old saying? Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me? Well I guess in this case I can amend it to be screw up once, shame on you, screw up twice, shame and laughter on you!

And for the record, my IP this morning is 61.175.203.94 - that's here in Ningbo, China. Just so you know...

Posted by: Shanghai Dan on October 27, 2008 03:43 PM
10. Wow. You actually deny it's you?! Seriously?

So you, Geoff, never sent email to Ethan Daniels on Fri, 24 Oct 2008 17:18:33 -0700? Subject "Quote in Covington Reporter"? From a computer named "GEOFFDESKTOP"?

Received: from GEOFFDESKTOP ([71.231.253.145])
by OMTA14.westchester.pa.mail.comcast.net with comcast id WoJt1a00638zX8v3aoJtDt; Sat, 25 Oct 2008 00:18:54 +0000
From: "Geoff Simpson" <geoff.simpson@comcast.net>
To: "'Ethan Daniels'" <xxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxx.com>
References: <83c9043a0810231341l7fb968f0qeb95ab07debf34aa@mail.gmail.com>
Subject: RE: Quote in Covington Reporter
Date: Fri, 24 Oct 2008 17:18:33 -0700
Message-ID: <3F830F8D6D1945029B3656A7EA055017@GEOFFDESKTOP>

That's really not you, or someone on your staff, Geoff? Because otherwise, someone is stealing your e-mail, and you should look into that.

Posted by: pudge on October 27, 2008 03:56 PM
11. Sucks that Mark Hargrove accepts money from sexual predators and uses it for a political campaign doesn't it? Republican sex predators are a dime a dozen though. Maybe he thought it was so normal for a Republican to be a pervert, he figured the voters wouldn't notice?

Where's the lie Pudge?

Posted by: Just Wonderin' on October 27, 2008 03:57 PM
12. Oh, and Geoff, I already answered your question about the lie in the mailer. Three times. In the original post, and then in two comments. You can feel free to disagree with my view that the mailer made a false implication, but I explained it quite clearly.

Continuing to ask me "where's the lie?" even though I've explained myself clearly, only makes you look like a third-grader. Adults state their disagreement with a stated case; they don't pretend their opponent never made that case.

It's not as bad as being caught lying about being a Republican voter who was against Hargrove, though. That is EPIC FAIL.

Posted by: pudge on October 27, 2008 04:01 PM
13. Oh, and by the way, people, Geoff is now using multiple anonymizing proxy addresses. And now I figured out the MIT address deal ... it just so happens the kid's IP address is being used as a node in the Tor network.

So what happened is that Geoff initially posted from his IP, then switched to using Tor, but then forgot to for subsequent comments, and has now switched back to Tor.

But since we know it's you, Geoff, why continue the charade?

Posted by: pudge on October 27, 2008 04:07 PM
14. It's going to be fun watching Mark Hargrove lose this election.

And even more fun watching this blog continue its continuing march toward irrelevance.

Still no legitimate answer to why you lied in your original post pudge. You said the Democrats were lying about Mark Hargrove.

Name the lie.

Don't try to say it's about innuendo or assertions or IF/THEN arguments. Specifically tell us, your loyal readers what the mailer said that was not true.

Come on pudge, tell us.

Oh - everything it said was true?

Mark Hargrove is a political candidate supported by a sexual predator? Simpson has a great record of cracking down on sex predators?

That's what I thought.

Posted by: Just Wonderin' on October 27, 2008 04:34 PM
15. Pathetic.

"Just Wunderin'", wittle Jeffy back for more rock throwing, like his ads against Hargrove. What's the matter Jeffy, can't run on your record?

What a loser.

Posted by: Sasquatch on October 27, 2008 04:37 PM
16. Let's see.

Geoff keeps asking the question that's been answered clearly and explicitly multiple times, acting like a petulent third-grader.

Geoff ignores the fact that he lied by pretending to be a Republican voter, and that he called Hargrove or someone on his campaign a "molester."

Geoff continues to use Tor to try to mask his identity in vain.

Are you friends with Fred Walser, by any chance?

Posted by: pudge on October 27, 2008 04:40 PM
17. The 47th district; if "Just Wonderin" is really your state legislator. Wow.

I mean really...shocking stuff. "Republican sex predators are a dime a dozen though." Just ... wow.

Posted by: Randy on October 27, 2008 05:04 PM
18. Randy, yeah, it's just terribly sad. This guy is supposed to be a state legislator!

Posted by: pudge on October 27, 2008 05:24 PM
19. I have to say when I saw his support for that basket case of a bill to charge each of us hundreds of dollars more based on the engine in our car, that is when I realized how very very far out of touch Geoff is with the pocketbooks in this state.

We are all being reemed royally for a train that is so expensive and will virtually take less than 2% of people to work (if there are any jobs left in this state other than government). And Geoff supports expanding this experiment further, and pouring billions more down that rat hole.

Posted by: gs on October 27, 2008 05:36 PM
20. Where are our usual dimwitted pals:

demo-kid
David Matthews
tc
tensor

to tell us how it's all GOP lies?

Posted by: Crusader on October 27, 2008 08:45 PM
21. @17 I have the misfortune of being represented by Simpson. He is an embarrassment to all of us he represents. If you have the occasion to email regarding an issue with which you disagree you can expect a juvenile response fill with ad homenim based arguments and attacks; utterly devoid of any logic or reason. I remember emailing disagreeing with some lame-ass proclimation the leg.wanted pass to condemn the war in Iraq. I got a response filled with the typical tin foil hat talking points---Bush lied, bla,bla,bla. Typical leftist kook stuff. What shocked me was to learn the guy is a 9/11 Truther. He went to accuse Bush of masterminded the attack. So on the one had he suggests Bush is a dunce, then follows that up by suggesting he is one of the best masterminds the world has ever seen.

So his ignorance and stupidity shown here is no surprise. I wish I could explain why this guy keeps getting re-elected, but I can't.
Simpson, you sir, are an ignoramus. I'd send you a copy of School House Rocks if I thought it would help you understand how representative works, but I fear that would be over your head. Do us all a favor and pull out of the election. We'd be better represented if that seat went vacant than having you in office. And for the love of God, Shave that porn-star mustache. The 70's have long been over. No need to continue to look and dress like your Senior year in High School. Are those suits polyester? Wow! I bet you still drove around in a T-top Trans-Am with the firebird decal on the hood, huh?

Posted by: Dave on October 27, 2008 09:23 PM
22. @17 I have the misfortune of being represented by Simpson. He is an embarrassment to all of us he represents. If you have the occasion to email regarding an issue with which you disagree you can expect a juvenile response fill with ad homenim based arguments and attacks; utterly devoid of any logic or reason. I remember emailing disagreeing with some lame-ass proclimation the leg.wanted pass to condemn the war in Iraq. I got a response filled with the typical tin foil hat talking points---Bush lied, bla,bla,bla. Typical leftist kook stuff. What shocked me was to learn the guy is a 9/11 Truther. He went to accuse Bush of masterminded the attack. So on the one had he suggests Bush is a dunce, then follows that up by suggesting he is one of the best masterminds the world has ever seen.

So his ignorance and stupidity shown here is no surprise. I wish I could explain why this guy keeps getting re-elected, but I can't.
Simpson, you sir, are an ignoramus. I'd send you a copy of School House Rocks if I thought it would help you understand how representative works, but I fear that would be over your head. Do us all a favor and pull out of the election. We'd be better represented if that seat went vacant than having you in office. And for the love of God, Shave that porn-star mustache. The 70's have long been over. No need to continue to look and dress like your Senior year in High School. Are those suits polyester? Wow! I bet you still drove around in a T-top Trans-Am with the firebird decal on the hood, huh?

Posted by: Dave on October 27, 2008 09:26 PM
23. apologies for the double post

Posted by: Dave on October 27, 2008 09:36 PM
24. Quick, there has to be a PDC comnplaint in here somewhere! It's not like Simpson hasn't had to pay fines for violations before.

Posted by: Huh? on October 27, 2008 09:42 PM
25. What a fool. pudge is a Perl wizard. Only a really stupid guy would do such a poor job of trying to appear anonymous in light of pudge's expertise.

Posted by: Jeff B. on October 27, 2008 10:40 PM
26. Or maybe he just doesn't care what a few echo chamber righties think.

Posted by: Yawn on October 28, 2008 07:06 AM
27. The correct spelling is t-o-o-l not fool, but also applies.

The more time he spends posting here, the less time he is out campaigning and waving signs like Dunshee, Hope and even Loomis.

Posted by: swatter on October 28, 2008 07:07 AM
28. Yawn: riiiiight, because stuff on Sound Politics never ever goes mainstream. Pull the other one.

Posted by: pudge on October 28, 2008 07:57 AM
29. Anybody who's had dealings with Simpson is not surprised by any of this. At all.

Posted by: jimg on October 28, 2008 09:32 AM
30. Yawn @ 26,

If "he just doesn't care what a few echo chamber righties think", then why is he posting here in the first place?

Not to bright...

Posted by: David on October 28, 2008 05:11 PM
31. Jeff Simpson is a liar and should not be re-elected. He supports domestic violence legislation, while he has abused his ex-wife and kids both physically and verbally. His power tripping days are hopefully over come election day.

Posted by: sickofit on November 1, 2008 10:00 PM
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