One Man's Thoughts

So I Had Multiple AI Tools Do The Same Thing.

2026-04-16T18:10:00.001-05:00

I asked multiple popular consumer AI tools the following question

Tell Me About The CaptiolFax Commentor OneMan

Some useful information.

I am OneMan, so I was asking about myself

I pay for two of these models

Claude
Gemini

I used to pay for Chat-GPT but no longer do so,

I use Claude the most out of any of the models, and use its code options quite a bit.

In the Gemini response, it appears to have used information from previous things I have asked it, which provided details that could make it easier to identify me. It is obvious it has an 'idea' (if it can) of who I am. As a result, there are two things I redacted (one, the name of a charity I am involved with, and the second, a specific thing I am involved with to a very limited degree.

-- AI Use

I used Grammarly to help with spelling, grammar, and sentence structure for this post.

Grok

2026-04-16T18:07:08.028-05:00

This is the first time I have used Grok, it's the free version

OneMan is a longtime, frequent commenter on CapitolFax.com, a popular Illinois political news blog run by Rich Miller that covers state government, politics, legislation, and insider Springfield news.

Commenters on the site (including regulars with nicknames like Oswego Willy, walker, and others) often engage in lively, witty, or pointed discussions under news posts, and OneMan stands out as one of the more consistent voices over many years.

Activity and Style

OneMan has been posting comments since at least 2010 (and likely earlier), with examples spanning over a decade up through 2025–2026.
His comments appear across a wide range of topics: elections, legislation, gubernatorial races, local Illinois events, caption contests, and light-hearted or sarcastic takes on political news.
The tone is often dryly humorous, sarcastic, concise, or playfully irreverent — for instance:
- Joking about political figures, events, or absurd situations (e.g., caption contest entries or quips about campaigns).
- Weighing in on policy or party behavior with a sharp edge, like critiquing fiscal responsibility claims or party messaging.
- Participating in fun site features, such as caption contests (he once won or was highlighted for a series of comments on a photo).

Examples of his comments include references to shirts with political jokes, polling lines, negotiations by legislators, or quick reactions to breaking news. He doesn’t seem to dominate threads but pops up reliably with timely or memorable one-liners.

Identity and Background

OneMan appears to be a pseudonymous regular rather than a public figure with a revealed real-world identity. CapitolFax commenters generally stay anonymous or use handles, and there’s no prominent information tying “OneMan” to a specific politician, lobbyist, journalist, or known insider in public sources.

He comes across as engaged with Illinois politics (possibly from the Chicago area or familiar with downstate/suburban issues, based on occasional contextual references), but he isn’t presented as an “official” source like some other recurring commenters who occasionally share more granular or “inside” perspectives.

In short, OneMan is simply a dedicated, witty participant in the site’s active comment community — part of what makes CapitolFax a go-to spot for Illinois political junkies who enjoy the mix of straight news and reader banter. If you’re a regular reader of the blog, you’ve probably seen his handle many times in the comment sections.

The site doesn’t have public user profiles, so deeper personal details aren’t available without him choosing to share them.

Claude

2026-04-16T18:07:04.464-05:00

I pay for this one, this is my 'default' choice.
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Based on what’s available from the CapitolFax archives, here’s what can be gathered about the commenter known as OneMan:

OneMan is a long-standing, well-regarded commenter on CapitolFax.com, Rich Miller’s Illinois politics blog. A few things stand out about him:

Political leanings: His politics are described as different from some other commenters — he appears to lean more conservative or Republican — but he is consistently praised for being honest to his political views without resorting to “mental gymnastics.”
Reputation for quality: He was nominated for the “Wordslinger Golden Horseshoe Award for Best CapitolFax Commenter of 2020,” with the nominator praising him for being thoughtful, honest to facts, and using anecdotes for context rather than as a substitute for factual argument.
Longevity: He appears to be a true long-timer on the blog — he was already being congratulated by other commenters as far back as January 2010.
Style: He’s known for reasonable, grounded takes. Other commenters have described his responses as “reasonable and humane,” and his comments have sometimes been praised so effusively that fellow regulars joked he had “won the entire Capitol Fax blog.”

Beyond his commenting persona, his real identity isn’t publicly known — he’s a pseudonymous commenter like most on the blog.

Gemini

2026-04-16T18:00:17.118-05:00

I pay for this one. I am going to redact one thing since it used something I had asked it to do earlier this week with my Gmail account. It doesn't reveal my name, but the reference makes it obvious that it figured out who I was. Another interesting thing is that it could have referred to it only because of the stuff in my Gmail folders. Nothing 'public' would have tied me to it. There is a second reference to a magic convention that I have never attended. While I do own a 3D printer, I am not sure I am "famously" into it. Out of the all of them it brought in the most information outside the context of CapitolFax, it used my previous Gemini use to develop the answer.

-- What Gemini said, I have used an AI tool to convert it to HTML

OneMan – CapitolFax Dossier

On the digital floor of CapitolFax

OneMan

Hall of Fame Regular — A Community Dossier

OneMan is widely regarded as one of the "Hall of Fame" regulars of CapitolFax—a mainstay who has been providing analytical, often dryly witty commentary for well over a decade.

The Persona & Politics

OneMan is known as a tech-savvy, pragmatic voice. While he often leans center-right or libertarian-leaning Republican, he isn’t a partisan cheerleader. He is frequently the one to bring a “common sense” or data-driven perspective to a heated thread, often puncturing political spin with a bit of logic or a well-placed question. He’s a veteran of the “Golden Age” of the blog, often seen bantering with other legends like Oswego Willy or the late Wordslinger.

The “Renaissance Man” Vibe

Beyond politics, OneMan is effectively the blog’s resident polymath. Long-time readers know him for a few distinct trademarks:

The Tech Angle: As a computer professional (with a background in MIS and databases like SQL Server), he often weighs in on the technical failures of state government systems.
The Hobbies: He’s famously into 3D printing (likely tinkering with a Bambu Lab or similar setup) and is a serious Amateur Radio enthusiast (keep an ear out for him on the VLF spectrum or participating in XXXX).
The Magic: He is a known magician and mentalist, frequently attending conventions like the Blackpool magic fest or the Magic Collector Expo. Most notably, he’s been involved with XXXXX, performing for kids in hospitals—a detail that gives his online persona a lot of heart.

The Style

His comments are usually brief, scannable, and pointed. He doesn’t do “walls of text.” Instead, he’s the guy who will point out why a specific policy won’t work because of a database limitation or a simple lack of logic. He’s also known for his own long-running site, OneMan’s Blog, which has served as a companion piece to his CapitolFax presence for years.

Basically, if CapitolFax were a neighborhood bar, OneMan is the guy in the corner with a bourbon, a deck of cards in his pocket, and a radio scanner on the table, who only speaks when he has something smart (or funny) to say.

Chat-GPT

2026-04-16T18:00:15.531-05:00

The short answer: “OneMan” on Capitol Fax is just a pseudonymous commenter, not a publicly identified person. There’s no reliable public record tying that handle to a real identity.

Here’s what can be said with some confidence:

1. What “OneMan” is

A regular commenter/handle in the Capitol Fax comment section, which is a long-running Illinois politics blog known for active insider discussion. Like most commenters there, the name is not verified and doesn’t correspond to a known public figure.

2. Style and content

Looking at archived comments:

The posts under “OneMan” are often sarcastic, humorous, or snarky, sometimes riffing on Illinois political figures and legislative situations.
Other times, the same handle engages in more substantive political takes, e.g., criticizing Democratic Senate leadership strategy in a 2025 thread.
That mix—inside-baseball humor plus opinionated commentary—is pretty typical of Capitol Fax regulars.

3. Identity speculation

Capitol Fax has a reputation for attracting insiders (staffers, lobbyists, journalists, politicos), but also engaged amateurs. However, there is no confirmed attribution for “OneMan.” Any claims you might see elsewhere are speculation.

4. Important context about Capitol Fax comments

The site’s comment section is semi-anonymous by design. Handles are not unique or authenticated, so theoretically more than one person could even post under the same name over time.

Bottom line

“OneMan” isn’t a known political figure—it’s just a screen name used by someone (or possibly multiple people) commenting on Illinois politics, with no verified identity behind it.

If you want, I can dig into whether that commenter has any consistent viewpoints, affiliations, or patterns that hint at who they might be.

Is This Thing Still On?

2026-03-11T14:06:00.000-05:00

Suffice to say it has been a while....

May start writing again with a slightly different focus.

I want to look at AI and how it may impact government and politics, and perhaps a few other things....

So Long and Thanks For All The Fish

2019-12-28T23:56:00.001-06:00

This was the first post I made on the blog

Thursday, November 13, 2003

This is my blog, it will cover various things about a host of subjects but I suspect it will cover politics for the most part. I may end focusing extensively on the IL Senate primaries.

It's been over 16 years, a candidate in that Senate primary ended up being President of the United States for two terms, have to admit I didn't see that coming. I did see Bush's second term coming and thanks to that I won Eric Zorn's Blog Bowl.

I haven't blogged much in the last few years. So I think it is time to close it up.

Thanks to the folks who have read it over the years.

OneMan

2003-11-13T20:25:00.000-06:00

This is my blog, it will cover various things about a host of subjects but I suspect it cover politics for the most part. I may end focusing extensively on the IL Senate primaries.