The big story now is that Aaron Schock notarized back-dated documents for his father seven years ago. The story states that neither “Schock or his parents benefited financially from using the incorrect date,” but that nevertheless, “using an incorrect date would be misconduct. Under the Illinois Notary Public Act, knowingly committing official misconduct is a Class A misdemeanor. Doing it through recklessness is a Class B misdemeanor.”
Schock’s response to the Journal Star when asked about it:
Schock told the Journal Star the information, released just weeks before the Nov. 4 primary, likely is the work of his “political opposition trying to paint me in a bad light.”
“Obviously, perception is everything and as a public official I have always worked hard and done my best both in public office and in private business. When you enter the public arena everything you do and say regardless of whether it pertains to public office is scrutinized. This is a case in point example of that,” Schock said.
I thought about exploring whether this issue is just political mudslinging or if it really does expose Schock’s character. But then I remembered that nobody cares.
We have a candidate for the 92nd district, Jehan Gordon, who shoplifted, was fined, but then didn’t pay the fine for several years — not until she was running for office. And yet she was nominated by the voters over Allen Mayer.
Schock earlier in his campaign had advocated selling obsolete nuclear weapons to Taiwan to try to intimidate China; he initially stood by his statement, then said it was a joke, then eventually said it was a mistake. And yet he was nominated by voters over Jim McConoughey and John Morris.
So official misconduct as a notary public seven years ago? Whoop-de-do. That won’t even be a blip on voters’ radar screens.
In an of itself, it’s not that big of a deal, but when you combine it with his comment of giving nukes to Taiwan, his petulance over the bill to the city of Peoria, and his betrayal of public trust while acting as a notary public, one has the beginnings of a political narrative that one cannot trust Young Aaron Schock’s trust.
His foreign policy pronouncements sound an awful lot like Sarah Palin. His comments on Barack Obama’s “socialism” sound an awful lot like her “dangerous radicalism” comments. Schock’s pronouncements on the economy are xeroxed right out of George W. Bush’s speeches. Has Schock learned anything during this meltdown? And now he’s gots the ethics of Bill Clinton? Sounds like a winning formula to me.
As to the tastes of the voters, there is an old saying “Fool me once shame on you; fool me twice . . .”
Left by Brian G on October 15th, 2008