Rep. Jesse White (D-46), Ashley Jackson, and I

This page was last updated on June 11, 2013.

Mr. White lost in Beaver County in both 2006 and 2010. On Facebook, Mr. White describes his “Political Views” as “Moderate.” Sure. “Moderate,” “centrist,” etc. are leftyspeak for “liberal,” “progressive,” and other leftisms. On his campaign website, Mr. White describes his “style” as “fiery and aggressive.” According to his biography on his official website, Mr. White “operates his own law practice, White & Associates.” Despite the name, White & Associates appears to be a “one-man band.” Mr. White’s biography also indicates “He worked … in the legal department for the United Steelworkers of America in Pittsburgh.” Mr. White was convicted of defamation and invasion of privacy in April 2011.

Previous White pieces I critiqued are here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here.

Mr. White sometimes spams his opinion so you may find his pieces on his campaign website, the Beaver Countian, and/or Canon-MacMillan Patch.

The Jesse White story is the gift that keeps on giving. Until 6/9/13, I thought I was a simple observer. I was wrong.

Though I didn’t know it at the time, I first came into contact with one of Mr. White’s alter egos in December 2011. I found out when I read “Clamor over Rep. Jesse White’s online personas grows” in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette of June 9, 2013. That article mentioned one of Mr. White’s fake online IDs was “Ashley Jackson.”

In mid-December 2011 I noticed “Ashley Jackson” (AJ) recently “liked” “The Bird’s Eye View” on Facebook. This is the photo Mr. White used for AJ. When I went to the AJ Facebook page (the now-deleted www.facebook.com/ashjackson8869), I found the content to be mostly flame-throwing and name-calling by AJ and other contributors. On “her” About page, AJ claimed “she” was a “Journalist at Independently Employed, Studied at UCLA, and Lives in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.” Using this limited info, I conducted some quick Google searches trying to get background info. When I got no relevant hits, I suspected something was wrong but didn’t care enough about yet another flamethrower to waste more time investigating. That Mr. White chose “Journalist” for his alter ego’s career makes sense. Two of Mr. White’s buddies (here and here) are local “journalists” who engage in flame-throwing and name-calling.

On the AJ Facebook page, I also found the following post by “her” about “The Bird’s Eye View”: “It takes a real man to sit back and publish nothing but a steady stream of criticisms. Oh wait, he identifies himself as ‘unabashedly conservative’, which is code for ‘I get to be a self-righteous jag off and no one can ever question me.’” I don’t know if AJ posted any other comments about me.

I posted the following comment on “The Bird’s Eye View” Facebook page on December 20, 2011:

“Oh well, yet another local self-described journalist apparently doesn’t approve of my conservative ideology and/or my defense of it. Here is the entire analysis the journalist posted on her Facebook wall: ‘‘It takes a real man to sit back and publish nothing but a steady stream of criticisms. Oh wait, he identifies himself as ‘unabashedly conservative’, which is code for ‘I get to be a self-righteous jag off and no one can ever question me’.’’ I’m really hurt, especially by the name-calling. <g>

“Getting into fact-checking, I publish both critiques and papers on the TheBirdsEyeView.us website. As for ‘no one can ever question me,’ that’s probably why I set up this page so anyone – including the subject journalist - can post her/his own comments.”

I intentionally didn’t mention AJ in that comment because I figured “her” flame-throwing was intended to attract attention to “her” Facebook page and I wasn’t going to help.

Going back to AJ’s comment, “It takes a real man” to engage in name-calling while hiding behind a woman’s name and photo. Further, the BCT reported Mr. White “recently [5/15/13] voted in favor of House Bill 764, which would make it a crime to use [sic] impersonate someone online, or use false names online to harass, stalk or intimidate.” Regular readers won’t be surprised there was no name-calling on my part in any of my White-related critiques (links above).

Mr. White still appears to have an “Ashley Jackson” Twitter account (ashjackson8869), though it appears to be inactive. About “herself,” AJ wrote, “Thinker. Journalist. American. Thoughts and opinions are my own. Pittsburgh, PA.” The Facebook and Twitter accounts used the same photo. Does anyone know whose picture Mr. White hijacked to be the face of AJ? Of course, I guess it’s possible the photo is of someone who helped Mr. White with his scheme.

You can find comments here and here I wrote about the Jesse White saga before I knew he was “Ashley Jackson.” In some ways, Mr. White reminds me of former State Rep. Frank LaGrotta (D-Ellwood City), now a felon. Based on what I now know, I believe Mr. White needs help and I mean that sincerely.