The Other McCain

"One should either write ruthlessly what one believes to be the truth, or else shut up." — Arthur Koestler

OMG: Did You See What Haley Accuser Will Folks Wrote About Ashley Herzog?

Posted on | May 26, 2010 | 46 Comments

Jesse Hathaway is a friend of a friend. I encouraged Jesse with his blog, Athens Runaway. Jesse went to college with blogger Ashley Herzog, whom I met at CPAC 2008. We’ll let Jesse take the story from there:

Folks has… a bad attitude towards women. And that’s understating it. To give an example, he stalked a close personal friend of mine, Ashley Herzog, creeping on her Flickr picture and making lewd blog entries about her, in which he talked about how Herzog, whom he described as a “20-something blonde Republicans [wearing] green eye shadow, black lace tops, pink dirty nothings and too much blush” made him “pull wood.”
Creeping on her again, Folks wrote about her “toying seductively with her ice water. Which according to a quick check of our dirty imaginations is… yup, even hotter.”

OK, to establish some bona fides: I’m the originator of Rule 5 (“Everybody loves a pretty girl”) and the guy who figured out how to deploy Google-bombs to make sure left-wing blogs couldn’t get traffic from using words like “bikini” or “nude” in conjunction with the names of conservative women. I’ve got an irreverent sense of humor, and can’t resist a double-entendre

A very happily married father of six — my daughter’s wedding is in July — I am nonetheless sympathetic to those young fellows whose  admiration of pulchritude is more concupiscent than aesthetic. After all, when I was a 20-something bachelor, I worked briefly as a DJ in Atlanta strip clubs. (I was a hell-bound Democrat back then.)

All of which is to explain that I am not easily shocked or offended by bawdy antics, but . . . “pull wood” ? I’m sorry. No, that’s wrong.

It’s one thing to cut up in the comments at Aces of Spades HQ. It’s one thing to confess your, um, ardent admiration for a movie star you’re never going to meet in a million years (e.g., Christina Hendricks, Natalie Portman, Anne Hathaway). 

However, for a Republican political consultant to employ the phrase “pull wood” when writing about a conservative journalist fresh out of college . . . well, you see why South Carolina sources considered Folks “dangerous and unreliable.”

Notice, by the way, that in the creeptastic post about Herzog, Folks used the “our founding editor” phrase that has appeared in some more recent FITSNews posts about Nikki Haley.

UPDATE: Via Red State, Ace of Spades and Verum Serum, here’s the creeptastic video in which Will Folks simulates a rather disturbing interview with Nikki Haley:

UPDATE II: What an absolute lying scumbag he is:

“My advice was that she and her husband sit down on a sofa together and talk about it the way (President) Clinton did,” Folks said in an interview with The Post and Courier Tuesday.
Folks said they had been in communication for two weeks before he posted his admission Monday that he and Haley had an “inappropriate physical relationship” before Folks got married. He told the Associated Press that the relationship happened in 2007, while he was working for Haley, writing speeches and news releases.
He wouldn’t say if he had intercourse with her but he said it was “inappropriate sexual contact,” it happened more than once and it ended by mutual decision.

So all that crap Monday about how he would have nothing further to say — yeah, that was a lie, too.

He’s e-mailing reporters, giving interviews to papers, and probably by January he’ll be standing on a street corner in Columbia hassling people leaving the inauguration:

 “Hey, I once got all sexy with her, y’know. Yeah, we were going at it hot and heavy. Don’t you recognize me? I used to be famous. . . . Say, can I bum one of your smokes there, pal? You wouldn’t happen to have a buck you could spare, would you? I’m a Vietnam vet, y’see, but they kicked me out of the homeless shelter and . . .”

The issue here, not to put too fine a point on it, is that Folks is acting like such a despicable worm — “a low rent piece of white trash,” as Dan Riehl pungently describes him — that you can’t believe a word he says.

Furthermore, let’s be clear: In the modern world, men and women work together. We do not institute sharia-style gender apartheid, because it is assumed that co-workers are capable of conducting themselves responsibly and professionally in such situations. It would be a terrible thing if a female candidate could not employ a male press secretary (or vice-versa) without it being inferred that they were sexually intimate.

If Folks habitually exploits work-related opportunities to “score” — which, according to both Michael Brendan Dougherty and my own sources, seems to be his modus operandi — then his behavior is antithetical to the entire concept of professionalism in the modern workplace.

Who would hire that kind of person in a position of trust? That’s what really shocked me about the whole Lewinsky scandal: The President of the United States is such a hopeless horndog that all it takes is a chubby intern flashing her panties, and next thing you know, he’s soliciting fellatio in the Oval Office?

OK, so when I was a young fool in my 20s (and a hell-bound Democrat), I was easily distracted. In fact, I met my wife at the newspaper office in Calhoun, Ga., and . . . uh, well.

My point is that if Will Folks was such a compulsive skirt-chaser that he couldn’t be trusted alone with a female candidate (or a female consultant, or a female reporter, or Maria the housekeeper at the Days Inn), then maybe he never should have been employed as a Republican political operative. I have often complained about GOP staffers being too buttoned-down and uptight, but as an alternative to creeptastic Will Folks maniacally humping everything with a pulse, buttoned-down and uptight looks a lot more appealing.

Comments

46 Responses to “OMG: Did You See What Haley Accuser Will Folks Wrote About Ashley Herzog?”

  1. Will Folks
    May 26th, 2010 @ 6:24 am

    We promise Nikki will play a more prominent role in future updates.

    And Ashley Herzog? She was my sex slave. Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, baby, yeah, OOOOhhh, OOOh.

    I need to clean my keyboard.

  2. Will Folks
    May 26th, 2010 @ 1:24 am

    We promise Nikki will play a more prominent role in future updates.

    And Ashley Herzog? She was my sex slave. Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, baby, yeah, OOOOhhh, OOOh.

    I need to clean my keyboard.

  3. RightKlik
    May 26th, 2010 @ 7:59 am

    Calhoun, GA?! My neck of the woods.

  4. RightKlik
    May 26th, 2010 @ 2:59 am

    Calhoun, GA?! My neck of the woods.

  5. Moshe Ben Avram
    May 26th, 2010 @ 8:38 am

    As a Vietnam Vet, although I understand where your coming from, I take exception to you using Vietnam Vets as a patsy for this despicable scumbags actions. To lump him and us vets together does us no justice.

  6. Moshe Ben Avram
    May 26th, 2010 @ 3:38 am

    As a Vietnam Vet, although I understand where your coming from, I take exception to you using Vietnam Vets as a patsy for this despicable scumbags actions. To lump him and us vets together does us no justice.

  7. Robert Stacy McCain
    May 26th, 2010 @ 9:02 am

    I take exception to you using Vietnam Vets as a patsy for this despicable scumbags actions.

    I wasn’t mocking vets. I was referring to the fact that every bum, wino and panhandler in D.C. claims to be a veteran. This fake-veteran pitch is apparently a technique taught in seminars at the D.C. Metro Academy of Advanced Homelessness, along with the bogus let-me-get-you-a-cab pitch.

    Having worked in D.C. since 1997, I can tell you that the obnoxious persistence of winos in our nation’s capital is enough to rid anyone of whatever sympathy they might ever have had for the so-called “homeless.”

  8. Robert Stacy McCain
    May 26th, 2010 @ 4:02 am

    I take exception to you using Vietnam Vets as a patsy for this despicable scumbags actions.

    I wasn’t mocking vets. I was referring to the fact that every bum, wino and panhandler in D.C. claims to be a veteran. This fake-veteran pitch is apparently a technique taught in seminars at the D.C. Metro Academy of Advanced Homelessness, along with the bogus let-me-get-you-a-cab pitch.

    Having worked in D.C. since 1997, I can tell you that the obnoxious persistence of winos in our nation’s capital is enough to rid anyone of whatever sympathy they might ever have had for the so-called “homeless.”

  9. Estragon
    May 26th, 2010 @ 10:42 am

    Michael Brendan Dougherty described Folks as “the essential South Carolina political blogger,” which makes him the second to believe that (after Folks himself). Folks’ reputation among people who actually live here is a sleazebag. How he came by this rep is subject to debate, but most just boil down to the fact he IS a sleazebag.

    Michael Brendan Dougherty isn’t the brightest bulb on the Christmas tree, if it weren’t already obvious. In his glowing account of Ron Paul’s entry into the 2008 Presidential campaign, he made the point that Paul had declined a Congressional pension. As an actively serving member of Congress, Paul isn’t eligible for a pension and any “declining” he does now is only for the rubes – the only thing that will matter is if he fills out the form once he is really eligible.

    Daugherty also falls hook, line, and sinker for the old Paul ruse about being against almost all federal spending. His research budget must have been spent on Cosmopolitans, because Paul is and always has been one of the top Republicans in Congress in the amount procured in earmarks and pork. He makes sure HIS pork is included in the final bill, which usually passes by a healthy bipartisan margin, but he votes “NO” so he can convince the dull of wit, like little Mikey, that’s he is “against spending.”

    So it seems Daugherty will believe anything uncritically if he’s stroked a little bit – and if there is anything Will Folks does know about, it’s stroking.

  10. Estragon
    May 26th, 2010 @ 5:42 am

    Michael Brendan Dougherty described Folks as “the essential South Carolina political blogger,” which makes him the second to believe that (after Folks himself). Folks’ reputation among people who actually live here is a sleazebag. How he came by this rep is subject to debate, but most just boil down to the fact he IS a sleazebag.

    Michael Brendan Dougherty isn’t the brightest bulb on the Christmas tree, if it weren’t already obvious. In his glowing account of Ron Paul’s entry into the 2008 Presidential campaign, he made the point that Paul had declined a Congressional pension. As an actively serving member of Congress, Paul isn’t eligible for a pension and any “declining” he does now is only for the rubes – the only thing that will matter is if he fills out the form once he is really eligible.

    Daugherty also falls hook, line, and sinker for the old Paul ruse about being against almost all federal spending. His research budget must have been spent on Cosmopolitans, because Paul is and always has been one of the top Republicans in Congress in the amount procured in earmarks and pork. He makes sure HIS pork is included in the final bill, which usually passes by a healthy bipartisan margin, but he votes “NO” so he can convince the dull of wit, like little Mikey, that’s he is “against spending.”

    So it seems Daugherty will believe anything uncritically if he’s stroked a little bit – and if there is anything Will Folks does know about, it’s stroking.

  11. Moshe Ben Avram
    May 26th, 2010 @ 10:45 am

    Like I said, I understand where your coming from, both as to Folks and to wannabe Vietnam Vets( most real Vietnam Vets don’t consider themselves victims ). However, as you probably well know, it’s not always what you say, but how you say it, and it appeared that you were mixing both Folks attitude and what he is doing with being a Vietnam Vet, so I just wanted to correct what I considered a misconception. As Voltaire once said “I may not agree with what you say, but I’ll defend to the death your right to say it”. Anyway, like your blog and keep up the good work. Thanks.

  12. Moshe Ben Avram
    May 26th, 2010 @ 5:45 am

    Like I said, I understand where your coming from, both as to Folks and to wannabe Vietnam Vets( most real Vietnam Vets don’t consider themselves victims ). However, as you probably well know, it’s not always what you say, but how you say it, and it appeared that you were mixing both Folks attitude and what he is doing with being a Vietnam Vet, so I just wanted to correct what I considered a misconception. As Voltaire once said “I may not agree with what you say, but I’ll defend to the death your right to say it”. Anyway, like your blog and keep up the good work. Thanks.

  13. T.L. Davis
    May 26th, 2010 @ 10:47 am

    Don’t worry, Mr. Avram, I took it the way Stacy said, not as a besmerchment of Vietnam Vets, but a typical tactic used by those wishing to appeal to our sympathies. The fact that Folks would be much too young to have served in Vietnam only attests to the bogus nature of the statement by a habitual liar.

  14. T.L. Davis
    May 26th, 2010 @ 5:47 am

    Don’t worry, Mr. Avram, I took it the way Stacy said, not as a besmerchment of Vietnam Vets, but a typical tactic used by those wishing to appeal to our sympathies. The fact that Folks would be much too young to have served in Vietnam only attests to the bogus nature of the statement by a habitual liar.

  15. Mike
    May 26th, 2010 @ 11:06 am

    Stacy,
    The South Carolina state capital is Columbia.
    Charleston is where the Ashley and Cooper Rivers form the Atlantic Ocean.

  16. Mike
    May 26th, 2010 @ 6:06 am

    Stacy,
    The South Carolina state capital is Columbia.
    Charleston is where the Ashley and Cooper Rivers form the Atlantic Ocean.

  17. Bob Belvedere
    May 26th, 2010 @ 11:22 am

    Hey…I was just looking in my copy of the OED at the word creep and right next to the definistion was a picture of Will Folks…go figure!

  18. Bob Belvedere
    May 26th, 2010 @ 6:22 am

    Hey…I was just looking in my copy of the OED at the word creep and right next to the definistion was a picture of Will Folks…go figure!

  19. Bob Belvedere
    May 26th, 2010 @ 11:23 am

    Of course, before I wrote my comment, I should have looked up the word ‘definition’.

    What can I say…it was ‘Nam.

  20. Bob Belvedere
    May 26th, 2010 @ 6:23 am

    Of course, before I wrote my comment, I should have looked up the word ‘definition’.

    What can I say…it was ‘Nam.

  21. Moshe Ben Avram
    May 26th, 2010 @ 1:55 pm

    Mr. Belvedere,
    Oh really! You were in Vietnam. What year, what area and what unit if you don’t mind me asking? To young to go there. Hmmm….then again, maybe you served in the Military afterwards or in the current Military in Iraq or Afghanistan serving our country. If you did fine, and welcome home. If you didn’t, shame on you. However, in the long run, if you did or didn’t doesn’t really matter. You ought to know better, because good Sir, your last comment is not only petty, but makes you look ridiculous. Have a pleasant day.

  22. Moshe Ben Avram
    May 26th, 2010 @ 8:55 am

    Mr. Belvedere,
    Oh really! You were in Vietnam. What year, what area and what unit if you don’t mind me asking? To young to go there. Hmmm….then again, maybe you served in the Military afterwards or in the current Military in Iraq or Afghanistan serving our country. If you did fine, and welcome home. If you didn’t, shame on you. However, in the long run, if you did or didn’t doesn’t really matter. You ought to know better, because good Sir, your last comment is not only petty, but makes you look ridiculous. Have a pleasant day.

  23. Ashley Herzog
    May 26th, 2010 @ 2:33 pm

    I question the timing–as soon as Haley is in the lead, he announces their affair? Yeah, I think there’s a very good chance Will Folks is trolling for blog hits and name recognition. His blog thrives on lascivious stuff like this, and what better way to get the entire state talking about you?

  24. Ashley Herzog
    May 26th, 2010 @ 9:33 am

    I question the timing–as soon as Haley is in the lead, he announces their affair? Yeah, I think there’s a very good chance Will Folks is trolling for blog hits and name recognition. His blog thrives on lascivious stuff like this, and what better way to get the entire state talking about you?

  25. Joe
    May 26th, 2010 @ 3:07 pm

    Moshe Ben Avram, you claim to have served in Vietnam during the war. I thank you for that service. I know Stacy, Smitty and I am pretty sure most of the regulars (with the exception of a few trolls) agree with me.

  26. Joe
    May 26th, 2010 @ 10:07 am

    Moshe Ben Avram, you claim to have served in Vietnam during the war. I thank you for that service. I know Stacy, Smitty and I am pretty sure most of the regulars (with the exception of a few trolls) agree with me.

  27. Robert Stacy McCain
    May 26th, 2010 @ 3:17 pm

    His blog thrives on lascivious stuff like this, and what better way to get the entire state talking about you?

    “Lascivious”! Doggone it, I missed a chance to use that one! But anytime I can work “concupiscent” into a post, I never miss it.

  28. Robert Stacy McCain
    May 26th, 2010 @ 10:17 am

    His blog thrives on lascivious stuff like this, and what better way to get the entire state talking about you?

    “Lascivious”! Doggone it, I missed a chance to use that one! But anytime I can work “concupiscent” into a post, I never miss it.

  29. Bob Belvedere
    May 26th, 2010 @ 5:47 pm

    Moshe Ben Avram: I was making fun of your foolish comments about Stacy’s quite funny mocking of the fake veterans. Anyone who interprets my remarks as making fun of Vietnam Veterans really needs to take to heart the following two suggestions…

    1) Purchase a sense of humor [I hear the price is down these days].

    2) You might want to see your doctor about getting the pole extracted from your ass, Clyde [especially before Obamacare kicks in].

  30. Bob Belvedere
    May 26th, 2010 @ 12:47 pm

    Moshe Ben Avram: I was making fun of your foolish comments about Stacy’s quite funny mocking of the fake veterans. Anyone who interprets my remarks as making fun of Vietnam Veterans really needs to take to heart the following two suggestions…

    1) Purchase a sense of humor [I hear the price is down these days].

    2) You might want to see your doctor about getting the pole extracted from your ass, Clyde [especially before Obamacare kicks in].

  31. Joe
    May 26th, 2010 @ 6:09 pm

    Bob, I think everyone knew you were joking, but give Moshe Ben Avram a pass.

    Plus as my parents used to say when I complained I was unfairly punshed for misconduct at school: “Well you might not have done it this time, but I am sure you did things you never got caught for.”

  32. Joe
    May 26th, 2010 @ 1:09 pm

    Bob, I think everyone knew you were joking, but give Moshe Ben Avram a pass.

    Plus as my parents used to say when I complained I was unfairly punshed for misconduct at school: “Well you might not have done it this time, but I am sure you did things you never got caught for.”

  33. Moshe Ben Avram
    May 26th, 2010 @ 6:25 pm

    Mr. Belvedere: How dissembling of you. You still didn’t answer the question I asked about your service and methinks it’s because you can’t. As for my sense of humor, I laugh everytime I read anything you write. As for the pole up my ass, Jack, that can come out. Unfortunately, it seems that your head is stuck up yours permanently. I hope Obamacare can fix your problem too, and have a happy, happy day.

  34. Moshe Ben Avram
    May 26th, 2010 @ 1:25 pm

    Mr. Belvedere: How dissembling of you. You still didn’t answer the question I asked about your service and methinks it’s because you can’t. As for my sense of humor, I laugh everytime I read anything you write. As for the pole up my ass, Jack, that can come out. Unfortunately, it seems that your head is stuck up yours permanently. I hope Obamacare can fix your problem too, and have a happy, happy day.

  35. Bob Belvedere
    May 26th, 2010 @ 6:27 pm

    Joe: I will let it go, but I will not do so before I make one quick statement: I won’t stand for anyone questioning my honor when they know jack about me.

  36. Bob Belvedere
    May 26th, 2010 @ 1:27 pm

    Joe: I will let it go, but I will not do so before I make one quick statement: I won’t stand for anyone questioning my honor when they know jack about me.

  37. Joe Biden
    May 26th, 2010 @ 6:32 pm

    I didn’t serve in Vietnam, I don’t want to make a Blumenthal mistake here — our attorney general from Connecticut, God love him.

  38. Joe Biden
    May 26th, 2010 @ 1:32 pm

    I didn’t serve in Vietnam, I don’t want to make a Blumenthal mistake here — our attorney general from Connecticut, God love him.

  39. Bob Belvedere
    May 26th, 2010 @ 6:33 pm

    I tried, Joe.

    Moshe Ben Avram: I did not answer your question because it was not worthy of an answer and had nothing to do with what I wrote. Let me spell it out for you: I W-A-S M-A-K-I-N-G A J-O-K-E.

    To charge me with claiming to have served in Vietnam based on THE JOKE I MADE is absurd.

  40. Bob Belvedere
    May 26th, 2010 @ 1:33 pm

    I tried, Joe.

    Moshe Ben Avram: I did not answer your question because it was not worthy of an answer and had nothing to do with what I wrote. Let me spell it out for you: I W-A-S M-A-K-I-N-G A J-O-K-E.

    To charge me with claiming to have served in Vietnam based on THE JOKE I MADE is absurd.

  41. Moshe Ben Avram
    May 26th, 2010 @ 6:53 pm

    Joe: I don’t need a pass, but I appreciate your sentiment and thank you.

    Mr. Belvedere,
    Let me explain something to you. When I came home from Nam, I didn’t ask anything from anybody. I didn’t complain to the VA, I didn’t play the victim and I’am damn sure not a wannabe and can’t stand them. I got married, went to work, raised two great kids and have lived my life. However, thru all those years, I have fought the stereotype of the crazy, drug addled Vet and at this time in my life, I feel I don’t have to apologize to you or anyone else as to my service, nor will I allow anyone to besmirch it. I wasn’t questioning your honor. If you read my statement, I asked you a question, then said, if you served, welcome home, and if not, shame on you for making light of my service. It seems to me, you don’t want your honor besmirched, however you want to make light of mine as a Vietnam Vet and then you get rude when I fight for mine. You can’t have it both ways Mr. Belvedere. Either both of our honors is sacred and worth fighting for, or neither is. I apologize for any misconception and have a pleasant day.

  42. Moshe Ben Avram
    May 26th, 2010 @ 1:53 pm

    Joe: I don’t need a pass, but I appreciate your sentiment and thank you.

    Mr. Belvedere,
    Let me explain something to you. When I came home from Nam, I didn’t ask anything from anybody. I didn’t complain to the VA, I didn’t play the victim and I’am damn sure not a wannabe and can’t stand them. I got married, went to work, raised two great kids and have lived my life. However, thru all those years, I have fought the stereotype of the crazy, drug addled Vet and at this time in my life, I feel I don’t have to apologize to you or anyone else as to my service, nor will I allow anyone to besmirch it. I wasn’t questioning your honor. If you read my statement, I asked you a question, then said, if you served, welcome home, and if not, shame on you for making light of my service. It seems to me, you don’t want your honor besmirched, however you want to make light of mine as a Vietnam Vet and then you get rude when I fight for mine. You can’t have it both ways Mr. Belvedere. Either both of our honors is sacred and worth fighting for, or neither is. I apologize for any misconception and have a pleasant day.

  43. CNN: ‘There Is Nothing in the Correspondence Proving Folks’ Claim That He Had an “Inappropriate Physical Relationship” with Haley’ : The Other McCain
    May 26th, 2010 @ 2:23 pm

    […] People who know Folks describe him as “dangerous and unreliable,” and he has been accused of online stalking. And here are the key text-messages that Folks cites as proof, beginning with an exchange with Wes […]

  44. Bob Belvedere
    May 26th, 2010 @ 8:35 pm

    1) shame on you for making light of my service

    Show me where I made fun of your service or of any veteran’s service. I was making fun of the fake homeless veterans who shake people down for money on the streets of nearly every city and, mainly, of your inability to see the joke.

    2) I am grateful that you put on the uniform of this country. I am grateful for anyone who has the guts to do so. I am especially grateful for those who go into harm’s way. Show me where I make light of your service.

    3)Regarding your honor and it’s besmirching: in fact, I took you at your word that you did serve, even though I do not know you or of you – I gave you the benefit of the doubt.

    -30-

  45. Bob Belvedere
    May 26th, 2010 @ 3:35 pm

    1) shame on you for making light of my service

    Show me where I made fun of your service or of any veteran’s service. I was making fun of the fake homeless veterans who shake people down for money on the streets of nearly every city and, mainly, of your inability to see the joke.

    2) I am grateful that you put on the uniform of this country. I am grateful for anyone who has the guts to do so. I am especially grateful for those who go into harm’s way. Show me where I make light of your service.

    3)Regarding your honor and it’s besmirching: in fact, I took you at your word that you did serve, even though I do not know you or of you – I gave you the benefit of the doubt.

    -30-

  46. Rule 6 « The Camp Of The Saints
    May 26th, 2010 @ 7:50 pm

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