ArchPundit reports that today the FEC stated the obvious: John Bambenek has no clue what he’s talking about.
A few weeks ago John “the academic professional” Bambenek completed a stealth project of his and attacked the Daily Kos blog with a frivolous Federal Elections Complaint. In that filing, Mr. Bambenek claimed that Markos “Kos” Moulitsas and Kos Media, LLC were not running a media entity (a blog) but were somehow instead non-compliant Democratic Party operations and thus subject to FEC fines, etc.
Mr. Bambenek and his friends at the conservative blog Illinois Review were tickled pink with themselves and this stealthy project. Strangely, he did not file a complaint against the Ill Review blog even though they do the exact same thing the Daily Kos blog does (update: explanation of Illinois Review’s partisan activity here) — right down to directly advocating grassroots political involvement and donations through posts about candidates, the United Republican Fund, the Illinois College Republicans, and other partisan organizations.
Just one thing: Mr. Bambenek didn’t bother to actually read past FEC decisions and again proved himself to be an ignoramus.
Even conservative bloggers jumped all over Mr. Bambenek’s two-faced ignorance, repeatedly pointing out that the FEC had already decided a year before that private blogs were media entities and fell within the media exemption sections of political activity regulations.
And that is precisely what today’s FEC decision points out. In fact, Arch says, “John Bambenek filed a complaint lacking in merit to the degree that the FEC actually ruled on it in a reasonable amount of time” (emphasis added).
Mr. Bambenek and his ilk think they know how to not just run the state Republican Party better than the current gang in charge at IL-GOP, but that they also know how to do everything better than everyone else … just ‘cuz. “Just cuz” doesn’t fly for too long and it’s the reason conservative partisans of that stripe are falling out of favor not just in Illinois but nationally as well.
Without groups like the aforementioned URF for them to steer and blogs for them to play their Mighty Wurlitzer through (to help themselves sound important), they’d be laughed away. Instead, they’re given columns in newspapers (Mr. Bambenek wrote for the Daily Illini and still has columns at sundry blogs here and there) and quoted as sources for news articles.
These folks, whom I’m sure are fine citizens in their everyday lives, appear more and more often to be unable to grasp basic reality as this FEC ruling and earlier escapades like 2004’s Alan Keyes for Senate debacle demonstrate.

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September 6, 2007 at 10:24 am
Steve
I had a similar reaction. Yes, the Illinois Review people are exposed as absurd hypocrites once again.
This is why liberals need not worry in Illinois. Most of the conservatives are flailing around in a clueless state.
September 6, 2007 at 10:54 pm
robnesvacil
Steve, level-headed folks ignore the “absurd hypocrites” at our peril. Surely not everyone who voted for Gov. George W. Bush anticipated the precipitous erosion of our Constitution nor the acidic vitriol which has polarized our nation since 2000’s disputed election.
You may be right that mainstream folks need not worry, but we all ought to rightly be on guard and aware.
When clueless absurdity is not countered with truth, it becomes the only voice being heard.
September 7, 2007 at 3:52 pm
Just how dense are these folks? « Illinois Reason
[...] this week came word that supreme time-waster and hypocrite extraordinaire John Bambenek’s crass FEC attack against the Daily Kos blog was so meritless that the FEC not only unanimously rejected the [...]
January 15, 2008 at 3:55 am
News from Rob » Wingnut boob shoots for two-time loser status
[...] yes, the yo-yo who filed the FEC complaint against Daily Kos that was so wholly without merit that the Commission actually disposed of it (wearing clothespins on their noses, no doubt) in [...]
January 16, 2008 at 1:27 am
382 « Illinois Reason
[...] 382 folks enjoyed a single post on the comedic stylings of John Bambenek, filer of completely inane frivolous legal threats based solely on his myopic misreading of laws. [...]