Bloch Used Sockpuppets to Defend Himself

I will do anything--ANYTHING--to be able to use this image again. That's Scott Bloch and "Mr. Krabs" from Spongebob Squarepants...separated at birth?

Did you know that the head of the US Office of Special Council--Scott Bloch--used sockpuppets to defend himself against criticism? And that he may have done so in the Washington Post, the Topeka Capital-Journal, and the Lawrence Journal World? The always excellent TPM Muckraker and Andrew Tilghman fill us in:

We just learned that the head of the U.S. Office of Special Council, whose office and home were raided by federal agents last month, had a habit of instructing employees to go online and post comments rebutting news stories that he perceived as negative, according to a report from CongressDaily

"That did go on," said a former employee who has been involved in the activity. "Bloch would suggest posting things in the comments section. ... There'd be a negative article about Scott's involvement on something ... and [the] comment would be something like 'This Bloch guy is doing a good job." Two former OSC employees have gone so far as to describe Bloch as thin-skinned and "obsessed" with his press coverage.

Admittedly, Bloch has gotten some bad press in recent years. The man running the office in charge of investigating whistle-blower complaints, Bloch himself came under investigation in 2005 for retaliating against whistle blowers.

That's your Bush Administration in action--when anyone criticizes them, they resort to using sockpuppets. You can read more about it here.

Remember, kids. Always check those IP Addresses. This has been a public service announcement from your friendly neighborhood Blue Girl, Red State blog...

--WS