Why some so-called “conservatives” in Illinois are a joke

Andy Martin says that ChampionNews.net’s John Biver’s endorsement of Pat Hughes for the U. S. Senate shows that Biver has contempt for conservatism and contempt for Republicans. Martin says that Biver may not be a double agent for Mark Kirk, but that Biver comes perilously close to acting like one.

U. S. Senate candidate Andy Martin says ChampionNews.net has “crossed the line into political, possibly criminal, extortion”

Martin says the threat by John Biver to attack candidates who do not defer to Pat Hughes, a sleazy attorney who has surrendered his law license, shows why the so-called “conservative movement” in Illinois a joke.

NEWS FROM:
ANDY MARTIN /2010
Republican for U. S. Senator
“He works for
the People of Illinois”
Suite 4406
30 E. Huron Street
Chicago, IL 60611-4723
(312) 440-4124
www.AndyforUSSenator.com
www.AndyforUSSenator.blogspot.com
www.AndyforUSSenator.wordpress.com

www.MarkKirk.us

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

ANDY MARTIN SAYS CHAMPIONNEWS.NET HAS MORPHED FROM A WEB SITE THAT PROVIDES SENSIBLE ANALYSIS AND WRITING INTO A RIGHT-WING CRACKPOT OPERATION THAT IS THREATENING POLITICAL EXTORTION.

(CHICAGO)(September 9, 2009) The right-wing in Illinois is in left field. That is the only way to characterize the latest crackpot threat by John Biver’s ChampaionNews.net to “question the judgment and character of anyone who stays in the race [for U. S. senator]…”

I have news for Jack Roeser, the man behind Championnews.net. Take your threat and shove it where the sun doesn’t shine.

If you think anyone should knuckle under to the petty extortion of John Biver, Mr. Roeser you are out of touch with reality.

But then “Combine” Republicans have always said the “right” was out of touch with reality. The latest threats by ChampionNews.net confirm a total loss of contact with reality.

I have never met Jack Roeser, and I don't intend to devote a great deal of energy to learning about him.

I do, however, regularly read ChampionNews.net (“CN.N”), and I find the general quality of their abstract writing and analysis to be excellent.

Indeed, as a result of the attention CN.N focused on SB 600, I became active in supporting SB 600. Roeser & Co,. are to be commended for their support of direct election of the Republican State Central Committee. That’s the way the Democrats do it, and that’s the way Republicans used to do it. And that’s the way we should do it.

I can’t speak for any other candidate. But if Jack Roeser thinks he can intimidate or bully me into supporting someone I can see as an unethical and incompetent lawyer, Pat Hughes, Roeser is a nut.

The fact that Roeser and Biver would even promote someone like Hughes destroys all of the credibility Roeser and Biver have built up through the excellent editorial work of CN.N.

Mr. Biver is entitled to his own opinions. He is not entitled to his own reality and his own warped sense of the facts. And he is absolutely not entitled to threaten to harass and extort people who do not surrender to his insane demand that Illinois Republicans vote for a joke like Pat Hughes.

Running for office is constitutionally protected. Threatening or harassing candidates is a criminal offense, 18 U.S.C. §245 (b)(1)(A).

Hughes is a 40 year-old "inactive" attorney, which is to say he surrendered his license to practice law in Illinois. Hughes has only voted a handful of times in his life. He has shown no interest in politics or democracy until earlier this year. That’s a weird background for someone who appears one day and says he should be a U. S. Senator.

Mr. Hughes says he is an outstanding lawyer. That' a delusional claim. I saw Hughes' presentation before county chairmen in Springfield on August 20th. If I had given the presentation Hughes did, I would have gone out and shot myself. Hugh's speech was pathetic, disgraceful and downright embarrassing. A first year law student at a good law school would be able to improve on Hughes' delivery.

So what is the secret of Hughes’ “success?” Bribery and fraud.

Hughes comes by bribery and fraud through his professional experience as a lawyer for a shady real estate operation. He claims to be an “attorney” but he surrendered his right to practice law in Illinois and went on ”inactive” status. That's very strange behavior for a 40 year-old lawyer. So he’s not practicing law. Hughes says he works for a real estate firm that has been sued for non-performance, on a project that was under Hughes’ supervision. No wonder Hughes did not want to be regulated by the Illinois Supreme Court.

Hughes greased political fixer Paul Caprio’s palm with $10,000 in cash, with promises of more cash to come. Caprio went out and cooked up a bogus "endorsement" session in Bloomington. Caprio then collected signatures on an “endorsement” letter without disclosing his employment by Hughes. Caprio even had the nerve to bamboozle Phyllis Schlafly, who now lives out of state. Caprio is lucky he hasn’t been indicted for fraud. Yet.

Hughes has greased the palms of other ministers to buy their support. I am sure they go out and preach the “Gospel of Jesus,” and forget about the part about the thirty pieces of silver.

Hughes has no experience whatsoever in government, public policy or communications. Maybe if he has some experience in one of these areas, he could be forgiven a lack of experience in all three. But Hughes has no experience whatsoever. He didn't even bother to vote, for decades.

Take a look at Hughes’ Bloomington video on the Internet. Would you hire Hughes to represent you in a major real estate deal? In court? No way.

Apparently Hughes just woke up one day and decided he should be a U. S. Senator, and started putting bags of cash in Caprio's hands.

Hughes is perhaps the biggest statewide clown candidate I have seen in over forty years of politics. He is such an incompetent character that I can’t even remember someone similar to compare him with. (If anyone has a suggestion, let me know.)

John Biver, the editor of CN.N, apparently met with Hughes and became an instant apostle of Hughes’ gospel. Whether cash changed hands is unknown.

But anyone who would take Hughes seriously is someone who cannot himself be taken seriously. That Biver is making extortionate threats to question the “judgment and character” of anyone who exposes Hughes’ corruption and incompetence, well, such an individual is himself manifestly lacking in judgment and character.

Who appointed Biver to be a king maker, so that he can threaten other Senate candidates with attacks? I have no idea. Biver has taken leave of his senses.

When Andy McKenna stepped down last month he said that one of his accomplishments over the past several years was to restrain the crackpot right-wing in the Republican Party. I don’t think McKenna neutered anyone. He certainly didn't drain John Biver's fever swamp. But people like Biver undermine themselves. They make a joke of “conservatism” and a joke of their own enterprises when they support comic book candidates for office.

Let me be clear on three issues:

First, Mark Kirk is a bad candidate, in some respects even an evil one, but he cannot be beaten by crackpot endorsements and criminal threats to harass people who run against Hughes. Kirk is not a Republican, not even closely a Republican. The fact that “Republican leaders” support Kirk is a function of the fact the entire party is blinded by corrupt cash from the Washington Beltway.

Second, Pat Hughes is a “candidate” with no prior record of political involvement, who has no business running for statewide office. Given the financial troubles of his seeming or apparent employer, Hughes is probably the only person in the United States who claims to be a “real estate developer” (he’s not really) who has time to devote to politics instead of trying to salvage his real estate business. Hughes has nothing to salvage because he is not a significant real estate operator. He is hot air from start to finish.

Finally, “conservatism” is an honorable calling. Raising alarms about the unborn is honorable. Seeking to restrain government is honorable. Seeking a secure United States is honorable.

But some conservatives are intent on leading the Republican Party to ridicule by supporting jokers and extremists who have no role to play in politics. Based on his presentational skills, Pat Hughes should be trying to run for city council, maybe. I can tell you no lawyer worth his salt would look at Hughes’ speeches and think he was anything but a loser.

John Biver is entitled to his own opinion. He is even entitled to support whom he wants for senator. But when Biver crosses the line from supporting a candidate, even a clown like Hughes, to threatening to “question the judgment and character” of anyone who stands up to a crook like Hughes,” Biver is wacko. Biver is no more of a conservative Republican than Mark Kirk.

Mr. Biver, your remarks of September 8th are a disgrace to politics and a disgrace to conservative Republicans, who should know better and aspire to higher standards. Mark Kirk can be beaten in the primary, but not by someone such as your candidate, who does a pretty good job of beating himself.

I invite sane conservatives to join me in working to defeat Mark Kirk. Crackpots like John Biver and his patsy Pat Hughes have no place in politics. Biver may edit a worthwhile little newsletter. But he lacks the “character and judgment” to genuinely participate in the political process as a conservative or Republican. Biver is a disgrace to both.