talon news Plagiarist,gopusa.com and the pro-wrestling connection

while not as sensational as the gannon/guckert story,
another talon news article led to a little trip into the strange world of right-wing politics, propaganda, and "pro"-wrestling

http://www.mensnewsdaily.com/archive/newswire/news2004/1004/101504-bushy.htm

Pro-Bush Wrestling Coalition Experiencing Rapid Growth:
By Steve Roeder
Talon News
October 15, 2004
"For years leading up to the upcoming election, the national organizations of both political parties relied heavily on outreach programs and coalition groups for recruitment and to further secure their base"
"One such coalition organization is the 2 month old Pro-Wrestling Republican Coalition (web site), a group that brings together from across the Country,
professional wrestlers, wrestling fans, promoters, wrestling journalists, and merchandisers, who support the Republican Party and President George W. Bush.

A.J. Sparxx, one of the founders of the coalition, is a 10-year professional in the wrestling and sports entertainment industry.
~snip~
"I couldn't think of a better way to bring together the wrestlers and the great fans of pro wrestling than to create a group that supports the Republican Party and President Bush," Sparxx told Talon News"
In just 2 months, the PWRC has signed up over 700 new members from 39 different states across the country. With a constantly updated web site and frequent e-mails to the members, the PWRC has been quite active.

"With over 20 million Pro-Wrestling fans nationwide, our potential for growth is extraordinary," said Rich Ross, co-founder of the PWRC.

Professional wrestling shows on cable are watched by over 4 million people weekly.

"Some of our membership include major stars from professional wrestling as well as fans as young as 16, who are in our PWRC Junior Program until they are 18 and can vote," Ross continued.
~snip~
Bobby Eberle, President and CEO of GOPUSA, who serves on the Board of the PWRC as an Issues and Policy Advisor, sees the potential of tapping into a new conservative audience.
~snip~
Sparxx added, "We are really excited about where we can go with this group and having the stars of Pro Wrestling and the fans come together for something this important is a great feeling of being involved and playing a small role in getting President Bush reelected."

on the face of it this is in itself a pretty strange article about a republican group (gopusa) using pro-wrestling as a avenue for pushing their message in the hope of re-electing bush.
but we all now know bobby eberle of gopusa owns talon news,who published this article,and is involved in a propaganda scandal with a fake reporter using a fake name.
with that knowledge and a little help from google this article took on a whole new light.

steve roeder is possibly a fake name for a plagiarizing (fake?) reporter
A.J. Sparxx (the founder of this "coalition") is the fake pro-wrestling business name of the newjersey state editor of gopusa.com, Michael Illions
Bobby Eberle is involved in all of this as owner of both talon news and gopusa.com aswel as being a board member of this "coalition"

i find it disturbing how far they will go to push their message,its ironic too that pro-wrestling (both male and female) seem far removed from right-wing family values.

the trail:

Steve Roeder

http://pbahq.smartcampaigns.com/node/762
"Steve Roeder: Serial Plagiarist For Talon News"
http://whyareweback.blogspot.com/2005/02/fake-ass-talon-news.html
"Fake Ass Talon News"
http://whyareweback.blogspot.com/2005/02/steve-roeder-serial-plagiarist-for.html
"Steve Roeder: Serial Plagiarist For Talon News" (update with more info)

prowrestlingrepublicans=gopnews

http://www.gopusa.com/newjersey/editor.shtml

Currently, Michael is a small business owner and is a professional athlete in the sports entertainment industry.

http://www.gopusa.com/newjersey/commentary/12_13_Book_review.shtml (google has a cache)

Michael Illions is a Professional Athlete in the Sports Entertainment Industry of Professional Wrestling.
Known as A.J. Sparxx, he is the Executive Director of the Pro-Wrestling Republican Coalition.
Michael is also the GOPUSA New Jersey State Editor.

http://www.prowrestlingrepublicans.com/aboutus.shtml (with photos)

Domain name: PROWRESTLINGREPUBLICANS.COM

Administrative Contact:
Illions, Michael mbigop@aol.com

OUR FOUNDING MEMBERS & ADVISORS
A.J. Sparxx was most recently the co-owner of the New Jersey based Independent Wrestling Federation and the IWF Pro Wrestling Training Center.
Since 1999, the IWF has trained over 200 wrestlers and managers, many of whom now wrestle across the Country and Internationally.

Bobby Eberle - Advisor
Bobby Eberle was just featured in USA Weekend Magazine as one of 5 new Political Powerbrokers.
Eberle is also the President and CEO of GOPUSA.com.

some choice quotes from various wrestling sites relating to sparxx/illions

http://www.owow.com/RingsideWith/Indies/MissKara/


Carmine had a close working inter-promotional relationship with A. J. Sparxx, the President of the American Wrestling Council,
and Kevin Knight of the Independent Wrestling Federation promotion. Expressing to them her interest in the sport,
they took her under their wing and began showing her what it would take to make it in the sports entertainment business.
Invited to attend the IWF shows and get an "up close and personal" look from a "behind the scenes" perspective,
Kara become accustomed to being in and around the ring.
Most importantly she learned about the role a manager/valet must play in order to gain success.

http://www.411mania.com/wrestling/news/newsboard.php?news_id=396

In it's two year history, CAMP IWF, under the direction of Kevin Knight, AJ Sparxx and Biggie Biggs,
has trained 68 student-athletes who have competed in 1,100 matches for 15 different organizations throughout the Northeast.
A success-rate unparalleled on the independent scene. The IWF also produces 25 live events annually,
giving its students a build-in opportunity to gain valuable experience in front of live audiences

http://www.glorywrestling.com/gg/Shayla/S.asp



To the Head Instructors, Kevin Knight and AJ Sparxx: thank you for everything you have done.
You have implanted all your knowledge and expertise in me and I will never forget you for that.

http://www.glorywrestling.com/Hot100Chart.asp?chart_month=May&chart_year=2002

It seems that the matching of Allison vs. Alicia at the G.L.O.R.Y. event was no coincidence.
Apparently, the booker for the event...the controversial A.J. Sparxx...
granted a special request to pit the two girls against each other in the very first match of the show.

photo's

http://www.glorywrestling.com/gg/Alicia/pics/A2.asp?pp_id=143319440231pd10
Alicia poses with IWF Commissioner A.J. Sparxx, the man who believed in his rookie wrestler right from the start.


http://www.gopusa.com/newjersey/editor.shtml
Michael Illions New Jersey Editor

... here's another tie-in, do a Google Image Search for "A.J. Sparxx". The third image (titled "aj.JPG") looks like this:


... which is exactly the same as the gopusa.com Michael Illions picture posted by Monkie above, viz:



{Edit: those GOPUSA/Talon fellas just love the fake names, don't they? I don't want to be too bitchy or anything, but those female "wrestlers" don't seem to be obviously athletic. I don't suppose that they also moonlight as escorts, perhaps...}

He is quite open about his nom-de-leotard here

He mentions it here too (scroll down) Nice quote, BTW:


Not bashful about the nom-de-leather-mask here either.

Why is he tied in with a "Security Moms 4 Bush" rally?

Sadly, www.ajsparxx.com no longer has content. Mind you, it may have never had much content, if the Wayback Machine archive is any judge: http://web.archive.org/web/20010928220604/http://ajsparxx.com/

Am I the only one who sees parallels between the verisimilitude of "Professional Wrestling" and the "journalism" done by GOPUSA/Talon? Sure, there's a little less Lycra™ involved in the latter, but they both seem to involve theatrics, collusion and close physical contact.

was why i originally looked into this..
are they so stupid or do they think we are?or both..

Its emergence during the Reagan/Bush years puzzled me as I tried to figure the appeal of something so fake being so earnestly supported by those who found it appealing. In the end I decided it was simply a way to precondition people to accept falsehood as good enough and/or entertaining for them. Wasnt the WWF HQ'd in Langley? Im serious though, I think it was more than just a normal commercial entertainment enterprise, more closely associated with the Prop Ops passed thru Holly Would.

at least they were subtle.

while searching on google for A.J. Sparxx/Michael Illions i came across this press release

http://www.prweb.com/releases/2004/10/prweb168206.htm
http://www.blogsforbush.com/mt/archives/002376.html

"Security Moms Making NJ Safer


Security Moms to hold public NJ rally - Saturday, October 16 - VFW Post 6255, 970 Pompton Ave, Cedar Grove NJ.

Cedar Grove, NJ (PRWEB) October 15, 2004 - All are invited by "Security Moms 4 Bush" to attend their NJ Rally,
to be held on Saturday, October 16, at the VFW Post 6255, 970 Pompton Ave, Cedar Grove NJ.
Start time is 1:30, but attendees are encouraged to arrive early to sign in. Plenty of parking in 3 lots: the Macedonian Church lot (at light on Steven's), the Presbyterian Church lot (on Commerce), and the VFW lot (for handicapped, volunteers, and media).

Special guests include:
Steve Malzberg (WABC radio host/FoxNEWS political analyst)
Doug Forrester (businessman)
Debra Burlingame (9/11 Families for a Safe and Strong America)
Maichael "AJ Sparxx" Illions (Pro-Wrestling Republican Coalition, Executive Director)
Mike Barry (Port Authority Officer, helped bring the WTC US flag to Utah Olympic stadium)
Rich Rossillo (GOPUSA NJ, Executive Director)
Bill Thompson (NJ Christian Coalition, Vietnam Veteran)
Trade Martin (musician)"


michael "AJ Sparxx" Illions,executive director of the Pro-Wrestling Republican Coalition is also NJ editor of GOPUSA,
in the press release Rich Rossillo is GOPUSA NJ executive director,but i cant find any further mention of him connected to GOPUSA.
but when i searched for Illions and rossillo i came up with something really strange.

at around the same time as GOPUSA's bio for Illions has him involved in NJ republican activism the names of
Michael Illions,Richard Rossillo,and Kimberly DeMarco (Illions) turn up in the minutes of meetings of The America First Party
they even manage to become chairman,vice-chairman,treasurer,and secretary of America First Party Of New Jersey?

http://www.americafirstparty.org/docs/history/abouttheparty.shtml

"The America First Party was founded on the evening April 15, 2002.
The central focus of the party is to put America and all Americans first by electing candidates who will restore morality,
ethics, common sense, and service to public service, and will return our Constitution to its proper place in our Republic"

i also have to mention that before Michael Illions was GOPUSA's NJ editor another NJ young republican Sean Moronski held that post.

http://web.archive.org/web/20030724185552/www.gopusa.com/newjersey/editor.shtml

"Sean Moronski
New Jersey Editor

Sean Moronski graduated from Tulane University in 1991 with a Bachelor of Science in Management and New York University with a Master of Urban Planning Degree in 1995. He is a licensed professional planner in the State of New Jersey and a member of the American Institute of Certified Planners.
From 1999 through 2001, Sean served as Chairman of the New Jersey Young Republican Federation"


trail:

http://www.gopusa.com/newjersey/editor.shtml

"Michael Illions
New Jersey Editor

Michael Illions was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York and Staten Island, New York, where he was childhood friends with Congressman Vito Fossella (R-NY) before moving to New Jersey in 1996.
A graduate of Fisher Jr. College in Great Barrington, MA with an Associates Degree in Computer Science, Michael served as Director of Information Technology for 2 large-sized New Jersey Law Firms.

Currently, Michael is a small business owner and is a professional athlete in the sports entertainment industry. Michael also does computer consulting for a private K-12 school in northern New Jersey.

Michael has raised thousands of dollars for charities such as the Tomorrows Childrens Fund, the C.J. Foundation for S.I.D.S., the Don Imus Childrens Ranch for Kids with Cancer, and the Twin Towers Orphan Fund.

In 2003, Michael was elected and is serving as Treasurer of the Middlesex County Young Republicans and is a member in good standing of the Republican Jewish Coalition.
In 2002, Michael was appointed as an Honorary Chairman to the Business Advisory Council, chaired by Congressman Tom Delay, and received the prestigious National Leadership Award.

Michael is delighted and proud to be serving New Jersey as its GOPUSA State Editor. Michael was recently married in June of 2003 to his lovely bride, Kimberly."


http://web.archive.org/web/20031217124757/http://www.njyrf.net/middlesex/
Dec 17, 2003

Middlesex County YR Officers

Chair: Nadyne Perlin
Vice Chair: Vacant
Treasurer: Michael Illions

http://www.google.com/search?num=30&hl=en&lr=&safe=off&c2coff=1&q=site%3Awww.americafirstparty.org+Illions+Rossillo&btnG=Search


Minutes of the America First National Committee
Tuesday, February 4, 2003

Present:

~snip~

* Michael Illions of New Jersey

Absent:

~snip~

* Allen Finger and Richard Rossillo of New Jersey

Minutes of the America First National Committee
Tuesday, June 10, 2003

~snip~

The Secretary called the roll of National Committee members.

Present:

~snip~

* Michael Illions and Richard Rossillo of New Jersey

http://web.archive.org/web/20030202114727/http://americafirstparty.org/contacts/nj.shtml

STATE PARTY OFFICERS:

* Chairman
Mr. Michael B. Illions
2004 Green Hollow Drive
Iselin, NJ 08830
(732) 742-5620
NJAFP@aol.com


* Vice-chairman
Mr. Richard Rossillo
96 Linwood Plaza # 179
Fort Lee, NJ 07024
(201) 396-7701
rrossnj@yahoo.com


* Treasurer
Mr. Richard Rossillo
96 Linwood Plaza # 179
Fort Lee, NJ 07024
(201) 396-7701
rrossnj@yahoo.com


* Secretary
Kimberly DeMarco
96 Linwood Plaza Ste 179
Fort Lee, NJ 07024
(732) 634-2741
kai424@aol.com

http://www.americafirstparty.org/docs/minutes/2003/natcom2003_06_10.shtml

BE IT REMEMBERED that the America First National Committee met on Tuesday, June 10, 2003 at 9 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time, pursuant to the Resolution of the Operating Committee of June 3, 2003.

~snip~

The Secretary called the roll of National Committee members.

Present:

~snip~

* Michael Illions and Richard Rossillo of New Jersey

~snip~

Kimberly DeMarco was present, first as a guest, and then as a National Committee member from New Jersey

~snip~

On Tuesday, June 17, 2003, the National Committee met to resume the meeting of June 10 that had previously been recessed.

The Secretary called the roll of members of the National Committee:

Present:
~snip~
# Richard Rossillo, Kimberly Illions, and Michael Illions of New Jersey