Who is the Real Jason Berger?

Edina School Board Candidate Jason Berger? Let me introduce another Jason Berger.

I would not be making this effort, if School Board Candidate had not turned out to appear deceptive, in the least. I’ll defend Mr. Berger and anyone else exercising their rights and opinions, but not misrepresentation of opinions and intent.

So What’s Wrong?

Start by reading an important Candidate Jason Berger post in Edina Patch:

"

I'm sorry, I haven't been following this part of the thread that closely. If that's all you want to know, then I can easily attest that I do not blog, nor have I commented on the one referred to above [conservativecravings.blogspot.com]. I set up a webpage and blog to organize some content around product liability risk management a few years ago, but I just didn't have time to devote to it, and three other people were doing something similar.

We're just average people, and not as easily pigeonholed as you'd think. My dear wife voted for Al Gore in 2000, and if anything, I have become more liberal since joining the Catholic Church a few years ago. For example, I've had to abandon my support for the death penalty and have developed a lot of respect for Catholic social teaching and its advocacy of the "preferential option for the poor". I'm not sure what an "oppositional governmental style" really means, but if it's any solace, one fringy outlier isn't going to be able to do much more than waste a lot of Monday nights if he/she isn't able to work with the rest of the board. I don't have that kind of time to waste." [Emphasis added]

Check the Internet

• On the Internet, a Jason Berger goes by the “Internet Handle” (nickname) vonberger and uses that as his email address. Vonberger also appears in the name of his company. His profile has matching education and employment. See his own submitted LinkedIn profile.

• On the Internet, an Angela Berger goes by the Internet Handle of TripleThreat. Not much doubt who it is. See her own submitted profile.

Note: This article is full of internet links for you to click so that you can see the original documents referenced. Please look and read each one for yourself so you can make your own judgments.

Later in this article I’ll give you some of the considerable internet links that appear to challenge the public Berger campaign persona we are seeing. But first, let’s go where many current adverse commenters started:

The Blog

If you troll the internet, especially during general elections, this apparently
anonymous local blog will frequently pop up during Google candidate searches because many conservative blogs link to it or quote it. You will also find opponents who refer to it, for example, as "nasty" or assert that "Berger merits nothing but ridicule and condemnation." 

Conservative Cravings writers always sign off stating the writings are solely the opinions of the "authors" plural. Most articles are signed "TripleThreat," but not all. For example, here is a "Vonberger" signed post.

Before you say, “that could be anyone using those internet names,” please read enough Conservative Cravings blogs and you will find many writings, stories and references referring to identifiable Berger family situations, business, employment and education. 1+1+1 is still 3. Again, regardless of your political leanings, the more you read the more you can judge the spirit—especially in prolific election time blogs.

Past Blog Opinions of School Board Decisions

In the last School Board Election, TripleThreat and Vonberger’s blog said the non-partisan Edina School Board should be more politically partisan. Likewise, the blog weighed in similarily on our own City Council here and here.

Voters should know these beliefs, some of which are relevant because they are contrary to the impression given in Mr. Berger’s campaign writings.

Are there other writings on the Internet that we should care about as School Board voters? You Betcha!

On the recent Conservative Cravings blog (dated Sept. 26), it states they have not attempted to “scrub” their internet past as others have accused in other writings.

The Jason Berger membership in the “Art of Manliness” shows up when you Google search. But when you click Google’s link to the Art of Manliness website, his membership and thus his comments have disappeared. Never-you-mind, copies are still available (cached) in Search Engine archives with his last post dated January 22, 2011. Google search the phrase "Jason Berger Art of Manliness January 22, 2011."

That recent removal meets my definition of scrubbing.

How about elsewhere?

I am very concerned about this next post, actually bearing Jason Berger’s email address, which instructs on how to take over Freemasons and Knights of Columbus—both of which our candidate Jason Berger has joined. Therefore, I am inserting the entire excerpt:

VonBerger said...

"Your call to action is much awaited. We've all read enough VDH and Mark Steyn articles to choke a horse. Time to actually get out there and cause serious trouble for our enemy. This is how the Left gained the heights they now occupy. To do this will take something modern blogger types detest. You will need to organize, get away from the computer and come face to face. You will have to work with those whose personalities are irksome. All of that.

Apart from some kind of large gathering on an annual basis, you will need to organize local cells, much like our jihadi opponents. I would caution against trying to create such an organization from whole cloth. It's a waste of time. Men have had to band together in underground societies in all ages and countries. A movement in its nascent stage requires brotherhood, secrecy, exclusion, structure, discipline, etc. These organizations already exist, albeit in emaciated and moribund forms. I'm talking about fraternal societies: Freemasons, Knights of Columbus, Oddfellows, etc. Many of those dusty, old, orders will suit your needs quite well. A relative handful of young men can take over a sleepy/dying lodge and repurpose it. And no, this has nothing to do with the DaVinci Code, Dungeons and Dragons, cloak and dagger or any of that nonsense. This is meant to be practical advice, for what it's worth. Feel free to email me with discussions about how this might be done. Vonberger@comcast.net"

—Posted 12/24/2006 at 11:45 p.m.

How can we be sure this person is our Candidate Jason Berger?

On that same blog system since 2006, VonBerger has maintained a blog called The Occidental Man. Here’s a short sample quote: “…the Democratic Party has become the party of single women, soft males, and homosexuals. ”

Jason Berger even posted pictures of himself on this Occidental Man blog page.

So much for Jason Berger claiming he has never blogged! Remember his quote I started this article with?

Here is a Catholic blog site he also participates in (I too am Catholic) where his same vonberger email address appears with his real name Jason Berger. In the blog he mentions his daughter by name and disability. It has to be him.

In this post—dated Sept. 24, 2010—Vonberger talks about being a Freemason before becoming Catholic. It is included here to further validate the prolific Vonberger Internet post connections to Jason Berger.

Disturbing to me—if not you:

The website Stuff White People Like features a couple of interesting entries:

• Comment on Free Health Care, courtesy of VonBerger on Aug. 25, 2008 at 4:03 a.m. Go ahead and read.

• Comment on Comparing People to Hitler from Jay VonBerger on June 26, 2008 at 6:01 p.m. Please just read the article and comments for yourself. Make your own interpretation.

I’ve found more material than Edina Patch has space to publish.

I simply think that the Jason Berger presented to us in a School Board election
campaign differs considerably from the Jason Berger I found elsewhere. Wouldn't it be wonderful if they turned out to not be the same person, even though biographical information and pictures match?

For several decades Edina has had one of the top school systems in the U.S. I don’t want to see us mess up the main reason people moved into Edina in the first place.

Full Disclosure: Dick Novack heads Edina-based PoliticalModerates.org, a Registered Political Action Committee which operates among others, the EdinaModerates.com website and Facebook page. He and the PAC have previously been used as a subject, and informational reference, in the Conservative Cravings blog.