More people seem to be upset about the Ashley Madison hack than about the edited videos being used to attack Planned Parenthood. Chris Hayes was positively apoplectic in talking about the breach, because it was actually ruining lives. In his defense, he tweets that this hack could just as easily have been one on confidential medical records, income tax returns or emails.
But why hasn't the attack on Planned Parenthood resulted in the same outrage? Nikki Haley has expressed her outrage at the Ashley Madison hackers while vowing to begin an investigation of Planned Parenthood in South Carolina. Not to be outdone, fellow idiot, Bobby Jindal, actually showed movies on a continuous loop outside of the governor's mansion of those abhorrent tapes.
But have you seen the video of Elizabeth Warren on the Senate floor denouncing yet another Senate vote to defund Planned Parenthood? Nobody is playing that on a continuous loop. I did not even hear it referred to on MSNBC; it might have aired at some point, but it surely didn't get the airtime of Donald Trump's latest attack of verbal diarrhea.
In Warren's speech, she gets right to the point: our republican Congress has repeatedly attempted to shut down Planned Parenthood, despite the fact that government does not fund abortion services. They have perpetuated lies and misdirection. They have blocked unrelated bills by adding amendments to defund, and continue to threaten to shut down the government if Planned Parenthood is not defunded.
Meanwhile, small businesses like Stem Express are feeling the pressure of the intense publicity resulting from the bogus Center for Medical Progress films, and intensified by by House and Senate demands for them to appear before congressional committees. They have essentially been forced to cut ties with Planned Parenthood in order to attempt to survive the assault. Of course, the right-wing media is using this to further insinuate that it is Planned Parenthood's misbehavior that caused the rift.
The greatest difference between the Ashley Madison hack and the assault on Planned Parenthood is that the latter is based on lies, editing and misdirection. Imagine, per Chris Hayes' tweet, that your income tax records were hacked, and then edited to show that you had broken the law in an egregious manner. That is what is going on with the attack on Planned Parenthood.
It happened with ACORN, when a couple pretending to be applicants entrapped employees into making questionable statements. Some of the same characters whose names have popped up egging on CMP provided the grist for the right-wing republican hate machine with the same dirty tactics. Housing, voter fraud, abortion: all red meat and headlines for the right-wing scam artists and the members of the echo chamber in Congress.
Here's the thing. Next time you find yourself talking politics in a restaurant or at work, next time you send an email to a friend or post to Facebook, imagine that what you say is being taped or copied. Imagine that at work there may be people who are listening to pick up anything you might say that could be heard as improper or inflammatory.
And how often does a friend, acquaintance, customer or stranger ask a leading question that you grudgingly answer in a way that you honestly don't believe rather than argue or be seen as different? How often have you not responded to racist, anti-gay or misogynist comments in a way that made it absolutely clear that you disagree? Imagine that this is being done in a planned and purposeful way. On tape. And then the tape is edited, further distorting what you just said.
That, friends, is the world we need to be worried about. Whether it is Ashley Madison or Planned Parenthood, people are able and willing to expose us, for things we have done or not done, things we have said or haven't said, intentions we had or never did have.
That is why we need to bring the debate back to the lies. Every time. We need to keep asking the accusers, as did Elizabeth Warren, "Did you fall down and hit your head???"
Because it could happen to Bobby Jindal, as it did to Mitt Romney, as it did to those playing out their fantasies on Ashley Madison. And just as those real faux pas can go viral, shit factories like the Center for Medical Progress can also crop up to "expose" right-wing groups. I like to think that those on the left hold to higher standards than that, but, hey, it could happen.
That is why we all just might want to take another look at this new world of warfare.
Showing posts with label ACORN. Show all posts
Showing posts with label ACORN. Show all posts
Friday, August 21, 2015
Sunday, August 16, 2015
Taking Down Planned Parenthood -- Know Your Enemy
The headline from two days ago on Politico was, "Human Tissue Firm Cuts Ties with Planned Parenthood after Videos." The article also says that the company, Stem Express, is a small biomedical tissue procurement company, does a small amount of business with Planned Parenthood which follows clear and correct ethical guidelines. The company announced its plan to end ties with PP after being questioned by no less than two congressional committees.
What we hear is a company distancing itself from a potentially bad actor. What actually happened is a small firm was threatened with congressional inquiries and bad publicity and due to that pressure ended a small, legal and proper business relationship. That's the part most of us don't hear.
In yesterday's blog, I mentioned the demolition of ACORN. It turns out that there is more than a passing similarity between the two smear campaigns. The Daily Beast describes decades' long attempts to attack Planned Parenthood with associates whose paths criss-cross in their nefarious schemes. James O'Keefe, whose similarly twisted and edited videos took down ACORN, had also had a hand in planned videos with Planned Parenthood as the target. The bad actor in the current assault is David Daleiden, head of the naturally ironically named Center for Medical Progress, who set up a fake biomedical research corporation as a cover to pose as buyers so that they could tape interviews with Planned Parenthood staff.
And then edited them.
What worked in taking down ACORN appears to be working with Planned Parenthood. Members of Congress also hard at work investigating Hillary's emails have positively leaped at the opportunity to use false evidence obtained under false pretenses to poison the public and mount pressure to take down Planned Parenthood. Yesterday I referred to killing the organization with the death by a thousand cuts. Associates pressured by adverse publicity and backed to the wall by less-than-esteemed members of Congress forced to cut ties with PP. Media showing over and over the doctored videos, burning the images into the minds of viewers. And corrupt and evil organizations like the Center for Medical Progress spreading lies to serve its twisted objectives.
If you google Stem Express, that small company that has been caught in the crossfire, you will find along with the search results the following "reviews:"
When there are enemies that have spent much of their lives plotting against their warped idea of women's reproductive health services and services created to particularly help the poor, how do we fight back? When the hate is so visceral and irrational, where does morality and truth get a foothold? When our political leaders are either part of that rabid mob of bullies or on the other side cringing and hoping to bargain their way to peaceful coexistence, the odds of survival appear to be slim.
As I said yesterday, what it will take will be to be as loud and passionate, as uncompromising, as unrelenting as those who have chosen to be powerful by attacking women, attacking the poor, attacking by lying, and will not ever stop.
When this quote is featured in an article about the outrage over the allegations:
What we hear is a company distancing itself from a potentially bad actor. What actually happened is a small firm was threatened with congressional inquiries and bad publicity and due to that pressure ended a small, legal and proper business relationship. That's the part most of us don't hear.
In yesterday's blog, I mentioned the demolition of ACORN. It turns out that there is more than a passing similarity between the two smear campaigns. The Daily Beast describes decades' long attempts to attack Planned Parenthood with associates whose paths criss-cross in their nefarious schemes. James O'Keefe, whose similarly twisted and edited videos took down ACORN, had also had a hand in planned videos with Planned Parenthood as the target. The bad actor in the current assault is David Daleiden, head of the naturally ironically named Center for Medical Progress, who set up a fake biomedical research corporation as a cover to pose as buyers so that they could tape interviews with Planned Parenthood staff.
And then edited them.
What worked in taking down ACORN appears to be working with Planned Parenthood. Members of Congress also hard at work investigating Hillary's emails have positively leaped at the opportunity to use false evidence obtained under false pretenses to poison the public and mount pressure to take down Planned Parenthood. Yesterday I referred to killing the organization with the death by a thousand cuts. Associates pressured by adverse publicity and backed to the wall by less-than-esteemed members of Congress forced to cut ties with PP. Media showing over and over the doctored videos, burning the images into the minds of viewers. And corrupt and evil organizations like the Center for Medical Progress spreading lies to serve its twisted objectives.
If you google Stem Express, that small company that has been caught in the crossfire, you will find along with the search results the following "reviews:"
Reviews
When there are enemies that have spent much of their lives plotting against their warped idea of women's reproductive health services and services created to particularly help the poor, how do we fight back? When the hate is so visceral and irrational, where does morality and truth get a foothold? When our political leaders are either part of that rabid mob of bullies or on the other side cringing and hoping to bargain their way to peaceful coexistence, the odds of survival appear to be slim.
As I said yesterday, what it will take will be to be as loud and passionate, as uncompromising, as unrelenting as those who have chosen to be powerful by attacking women, attacking the poor, attacking by lying, and will not ever stop.
When this quote is featured in an article about the outrage over the allegations:
“Unborn babies are being tortured as they’re being sucked out of the woman’s body,” said protester Laurie Hertzberg.it is hard to believe that we can shout loud enough to be heard.
Saturday, August 15, 2015
The Wrong Fight
Looking back on it, Obamacare was inevitable, because President Obama made it so. Regardless of the hurdles, the absurdities of the Democrats, the rage of the Republicans and the dollars of the corporations, he was going to exert every ounce of his power and determination until the Affordable Care Act happened.
Likewise, I believe that at some point Planned Parenthood will be defunded. Roe v. Wade has been red meat for stupid people since it happened in 1973; politicians and corporations have been tossing it to them knowing it would guarantee power. It took little time to create the shorthand equating Planned Parenthood with abortion with baby-killing.
Until we want our reproductive freedom more than the crazy people want to deny us, we will continue to roll down that hill to the inevitable crash.
Because the fight is not about what is rational. Whoever organized the surveillance, the editing and distorting of the tapes and the gradual and cleverly planned distribution over the internet and feeding of the media, knew that facts had nothing to do with their cause. Just as the ACORN blitzkrieg was orchestrated during the 2008 election season, the Planned Parenthood demolition was scheduled for the current presidential election season. Whether PP is taken down or not, all the buzz is about the nonchalance over killing babies, and the money scandal is just the topping (the ironic cherry if you will) on the icky mess.
We may have candidates like Bernie and Hillary that can win despite this mammoth publicity stunt, but Planned Parenthood will have to continue to fight until the day our not-so-mighty Congress glady (republican) or timidly (democrat) vote to defund. Possibly even worse, Democrats will give in to budget cuts, destroying Planned Parenthood with a death by a thousand cuts. Which has already begun.
When you Google Planned Parenthood, today the news headline is that "due to the increased questions" about PP, a major human tissue firm has cut ties. After the Wikipedia entry and PP's own Stand with Planned Parenthood page comes "Planned Parenthood Exposed". Then our own NPR, itself under constant siege, grabs readers with Ben Carson's accusation on for-god's-sake Fox News that Planned Parenthood is an attempt to control the poor black population. Like he cares. But if Fox News can play the "Fair and Balanced" game, so can NPR.
While Planned Parenthood is fighting for its life, and trying to fight while appearing not to lose its head, why are the rest of us debating this bullshit? I've heard Democrats calmly talk about the indiscretion of the PP employees caught on the doctored tape, or wondering why opponents just don't understand the importance of fetal tissue in health research, or defending PP because of course they are not "selling" fetal tissue for profit. And then there is the fact that abortion is a legal procedure, which at this point in our fragile existence is the staunches defense being presented.
Bullshit. The reason the anti-abortion brigade is not swayed by reason is because this is not about reason. Some holding the pitchforks are screaming "god" and "faith." Others are outraged about tax dollars whether or not they are being used on abortions because, well, they are being used for poor people. And then of course there are those who spit out "Planned Parenthood" the way they mutter "Obama."
Fact is, we should leave the rational arguments to Planned Parenthood. What we should be fighting about is the sneaking, spying, lying and conniving being done to this organization. If the government was doing it, it would be considered entrapment and thrown out. But because it is not a government investigation which would theoretically have to follow rules of ethics, this campaign of deceit is allowed to proceed, unquestioned and unchecked, cheered on by right-wing politicians, to annihilate another lifeline to women.
And we can count on the media to lead with the headlines provided by this sleazy front, without wasting time or money to investigate this attack on this women's health care organization.
So we are left with nonsense, but nonsense filled with incendiary words and accusations that will be repeated throughout the coming year. The threat of losing Planned Parenthood will be another of those battles we must waste time chasing rather than attacking the corporations that have bought our politicians and our country.
This fight is ugly. There are no rules. As long as we attempt to be reasonable we are going to slowly but inevitably lose. We should be outraged. Men should be outraged that their families are being assaulted. Women should be in a fury over the attempt to control their bodies; the attempt to end Planned Parenthood is a symbol, because once that goes the battle to end not just abortion but birth control will proceed with full speed, the warriors vitalized. And that tool Ben Carson has it half right: it is about poor African Americans, but it is his side that is destroying their lives and livelihoods. It is about women -- and men -- being unable to determine their financial security, to care for themselves and their families, to pursue college and career without fear of disruption. It is about a woman not having to cower when she is attacked, but being able to fight back and take back control of her life. It is about not having to hide in the shadows, living hand to mouth, and it is about not having to go back to the back-alley abortions, coat hangers and poisons of the days before Roe v. Wade.
It is about unlawful surveillance, it is about lying and misrepresentation, the weasels responsible for it and the media that repeats the lies. We have let our legislators get away with proposing to invade our privacy at a time when those same legislators are defending the right to carry a gun without restriction. We have been moving toward ever greater surveillance and threats to a woman's right to live in her body without interference while guns can be carried without fear of reprisal.
I am not going to be arguing about whether those conversations should have happened, doctored or not. It is the surveillance and lying that should not have happened. These are the crimes that should be investigated and prosecuted.
We lost ACORN and the enemies of our freedom said, "Job well done." We may not lose Planned Parenthood right away. Hillary may be defending it today. But over time, when the screams and threats of the attackers get louder rather than subside, even Hillary will make concessions to the rage and the hatred. Because it is scary and it doesn't stop.
I hope I am wrong, but I am not seeing the outrage and passion we need to win this war. Our elected officials need to join us in getting as apoplectic about the invasion of privacy in affairs of women's reproduction as republicans throwing red meat out at those voyeurs who harass women in front of abortion clinics.
Likewise, I believe that at some point Planned Parenthood will be defunded. Roe v. Wade has been red meat for stupid people since it happened in 1973; politicians and corporations have been tossing it to them knowing it would guarantee power. It took little time to create the shorthand equating Planned Parenthood with abortion with baby-killing.
Until we want our reproductive freedom more than the crazy people want to deny us, we will continue to roll down that hill to the inevitable crash.
Because the fight is not about what is rational. Whoever organized the surveillance, the editing and distorting of the tapes and the gradual and cleverly planned distribution over the internet and feeding of the media, knew that facts had nothing to do with their cause. Just as the ACORN blitzkrieg was orchestrated during the 2008 election season, the Planned Parenthood demolition was scheduled for the current presidential election season. Whether PP is taken down or not, all the buzz is about the nonchalance over killing babies, and the money scandal is just the topping (the ironic cherry if you will) on the icky mess.
We may have candidates like Bernie and Hillary that can win despite this mammoth publicity stunt, but Planned Parenthood will have to continue to fight until the day our not-so-mighty Congress glady (republican) or timidly (democrat) vote to defund. Possibly even worse, Democrats will give in to budget cuts, destroying Planned Parenthood with a death by a thousand cuts. Which has already begun.
When you Google Planned Parenthood, today the news headline is that "due to the increased questions" about PP, a major human tissue firm has cut ties. After the Wikipedia entry and PP's own Stand with Planned Parenthood page comes "Planned Parenthood Exposed". Then our own NPR, itself under constant siege, grabs readers with Ben Carson's accusation on for-god's-sake Fox News that Planned Parenthood is an attempt to control the poor black population. Like he cares. But if Fox News can play the "Fair and Balanced" game, so can NPR.
While Planned Parenthood is fighting for its life, and trying to fight while appearing not to lose its head, why are the rest of us debating this bullshit? I've heard Democrats calmly talk about the indiscretion of the PP employees caught on the doctored tape, or wondering why opponents just don't understand the importance of fetal tissue in health research, or defending PP because of course they are not "selling" fetal tissue for profit. And then there is the fact that abortion is a legal procedure, which at this point in our fragile existence is the staunches defense being presented.
Bullshit. The reason the anti-abortion brigade is not swayed by reason is because this is not about reason. Some holding the pitchforks are screaming "god" and "faith." Others are outraged about tax dollars whether or not they are being used on abortions because, well, they are being used for poor people. And then of course there are those who spit out "Planned Parenthood" the way they mutter "Obama."
Fact is, we should leave the rational arguments to Planned Parenthood. What we should be fighting about is the sneaking, spying, lying and conniving being done to this organization. If the government was doing it, it would be considered entrapment and thrown out. But because it is not a government investigation which would theoretically have to follow rules of ethics, this campaign of deceit is allowed to proceed, unquestioned and unchecked, cheered on by right-wing politicians, to annihilate another lifeline to women.
And we can count on the media to lead with the headlines provided by this sleazy front, without wasting time or money to investigate this attack on this women's health care organization.
So we are left with nonsense, but nonsense filled with incendiary words and accusations that will be repeated throughout the coming year. The threat of losing Planned Parenthood will be another of those battles we must waste time chasing rather than attacking the corporations that have bought our politicians and our country.
This fight is ugly. There are no rules. As long as we attempt to be reasonable we are going to slowly but inevitably lose. We should be outraged. Men should be outraged that their families are being assaulted. Women should be in a fury over the attempt to control their bodies; the attempt to end Planned Parenthood is a symbol, because once that goes the battle to end not just abortion but birth control will proceed with full speed, the warriors vitalized. And that tool Ben Carson has it half right: it is about poor African Americans, but it is his side that is destroying their lives and livelihoods. It is about women -- and men -- being unable to determine their financial security, to care for themselves and their families, to pursue college and career without fear of disruption. It is about a woman not having to cower when she is attacked, but being able to fight back and take back control of her life. It is about not having to hide in the shadows, living hand to mouth, and it is about not having to go back to the back-alley abortions, coat hangers and poisons of the days before Roe v. Wade.
It is about unlawful surveillance, it is about lying and misrepresentation, the weasels responsible for it and the media that repeats the lies. We have let our legislators get away with proposing to invade our privacy at a time when those same legislators are defending the right to carry a gun without restriction. We have been moving toward ever greater surveillance and threats to a woman's right to live in her body without interference while guns can be carried without fear of reprisal.
I am not going to be arguing about whether those conversations should have happened, doctored or not. It is the surveillance and lying that should not have happened. These are the crimes that should be investigated and prosecuted.
We lost ACORN and the enemies of our freedom said, "Job well done." We may not lose Planned Parenthood right away. Hillary may be defending it today. But over time, when the screams and threats of the attackers get louder rather than subside, even Hillary will make concessions to the rage and the hatred. Because it is scary and it doesn't stop.
I hope I am wrong, but I am not seeing the outrage and passion we need to win this war. Our elected officials need to join us in getting as apoplectic about the invasion of privacy in affairs of women's reproduction as republicans throwing red meat out at those voyeurs who harass women in front of abortion clinics.
Monday, September 30, 2013
A Planned Parenthood
For better or worse, much of my life has been a tight squeeze financially. So I have learned to stretch a dollar pretty much till I could see through it. That includes giving by volunteering rather than with cash.
There are two exceptions to that rule. The first is the American Civil Liberties Union, for which I maybe don't donate a lot, but I do donate annually. I figure, without the ACLU, we would most likely be, well, Russia.
The other exception is Planned Parenthood. This group, like me, knows how to stretch a dollar, but unlike me, they are under constant attack from (as Jim DeMint likes to say) enemies of freedom. Like ACORN, Planned Parenthood provides services to those who would do without. And like ACORN, Planned Parenthood's service to the underserved is a great opportunity for the wealthy and powerful. By attacking those who help the underserved, they are able to keep the focus off their own greedy schemes.
Right now, this very weekend, the Republican House added to their agenda of evil an anti-contraception provision to their already Grinchy funding bill.
Here in South Carolina, each year we are under attack by the truly anti-life right wing in our state legislature, with bills restricting doctors who perform women's services, redefining "life" in ever more absurd ways in order to restrict abortion, and attempting to prohibit access to contraception.
And of course, under attack throughout the country, is Planned Parenthood.
Which is why I am asking you all to do something I rarely do: donate.
Not as easy as you think. If you go to the Planned Parenthood website and click on "Donate" you may end up giving to the national organization, in which case our own center will get a mere cut. In order to donate fully to our own hard-working South Carolina branch this is what you need to do:
1. Follow this link: http://www.plannedparenthood.org/health-systems/
2. On the top right, click on "Donate."
3. On the right, where it says you can "Give to a specific local affiliate, click here."
4. At the top where it says Organization, scroll down and select "SC" and "Planned Parenthood Health Systems, Inc."
5. Be as generous as you can.
After all, doesn't every child deserve a planned parenthood?
There are two exceptions to that rule. The first is the American Civil Liberties Union, for which I maybe don't donate a lot, but I do donate annually. I figure, without the ACLU, we would most likely be, well, Russia.
The other exception is Planned Parenthood. This group, like me, knows how to stretch a dollar, but unlike me, they are under constant attack from (as Jim DeMint likes to say) enemies of freedom. Like ACORN, Planned Parenthood provides services to those who would do without. And like ACORN, Planned Parenthood's service to the underserved is a great opportunity for the wealthy and powerful. By attacking those who help the underserved, they are able to keep the focus off their own greedy schemes.
Right now, this very weekend, the Republican House added to their agenda of evil an anti-contraception provision to their already Grinchy funding bill.
Here in South Carolina, each year we are under attack by the truly anti-life right wing in our state legislature, with bills restricting doctors who perform women's services, redefining "life" in ever more absurd ways in order to restrict abortion, and attempting to prohibit access to contraception.
And of course, under attack throughout the country, is Planned Parenthood.
Which is why I am asking you all to do something I rarely do: donate.
Not as easy as you think. If you go to the Planned Parenthood website and click on "Donate" you may end up giving to the national organization, in which case our own center will get a mere cut. In order to donate fully to our own hard-working South Carolina branch this is what you need to do:
1. Follow this link: http://www.plannedparenthood.org/health-systems/
2. On the top right, click on "Donate."
3. On the right, where it says you can "Give to a specific local affiliate, click here."
4. At the top where it says Organization, scroll down and select "SC" and "Planned Parenthood Health Systems, Inc."
5. Be as generous as you can.
After all, doesn't every child deserve a planned parenthood?
Thursday, March 17, 2011
James O'Keefe -- One of the BAD Leprechauns
I would like to take this opportunity to say, "Happy St. Patty's Day". I don't care how much the holiday reflects stupid stereotypes and alcohol, to me it is a day of celebration. Of anything. It is inclusive -- we all know anybody can be Irish on St. Patrick's Day. There may be St. Patrick's Day sales, but only an idiot would waste the day shopping. Any other day of the year I can complain about food coloring and other additives poisoning us for no reason other than to make food look pretty, but on St. Patty's day, I'll take my beer green.
But there is a dark shadow I need to talk about on this March 17, and that is the creepy hero of the right-wing, James O'Keefe. We liberals don't like to believe that people are evil, but I would pretty much bet that this twerp would take candy from a baby. And because we don't want to believe in this jerk, he has been getting away, not just with ruining lives, but committing criminal acts.
And then he stands up and takes a bow.
Why not? It appears he is president of a non-profit organization called Project Veritas -- I kid you not. There do not exist italics that do justice to the irony of that last sentence.
We all -- even Glenn Beck -- know that O'Keefe sets up phony situations, and then falsifies the phony interview by tampering with the tape. The kind of set-up he has become famous for may not be illegal, but then falsifying the tape and presenting it as fact is certainly libel.
And yet he was able to provide the impetus for dismantling ACORN, an organization that on a shoestring has done great work organizing the poor and disenfranchised, which, of course, is exactly the point of O'Keefe's harassment.
Even after he was charged with attempting to tamper with Senator Mary Landrieu's telephones, the media still reports his episodes as truth, not fiction.
When NPR executive Ron Schiller was framed by O'Keefe, I would think by this time the media -- especially NPR -- would have taken a closer look. But once again, it cost good people their jobs, and, given the typical lemming-like behavior of many Democrats, will no doubt result in the eventual defunding of NPR.
And James O'Keefe? He calls his reporting "powerful" and "honest". But do we laugh at this pathetic and amateurish character?
Surprisingly, Scott Baker of Glenn Beck's blog, The Blaze, decided that O'Keefe does not in fact practice journalism. That he lacks the ethical values to which journalists should aspire.
I would have liked to write this column on April Fools' Day, but it couldn't wait. However, in the spirit of April 1, I end by observing that, indeed, Beck's blog is today advertising St. Patrick's Day sales.
But there is a dark shadow I need to talk about on this March 17, and that is the creepy hero of the right-wing, James O'Keefe. We liberals don't like to believe that people are evil, but I would pretty much bet that this twerp would take candy from a baby. And because we don't want to believe in this jerk, he has been getting away, not just with ruining lives, but committing criminal acts.
And then he stands up and takes a bow.
Why not? It appears he is president of a non-profit organization called Project Veritas -- I kid you not. There do not exist italics that do justice to the irony of that last sentence.
We all -- even Glenn Beck -- know that O'Keefe sets up phony situations, and then falsifies the phony interview by tampering with the tape. The kind of set-up he has become famous for may not be illegal, but then falsifying the tape and presenting it as fact is certainly libel.
And yet he was able to provide the impetus for dismantling ACORN, an organization that on a shoestring has done great work organizing the poor and disenfranchised, which, of course, is exactly the point of O'Keefe's harassment.
Even after he was charged with attempting to tamper with Senator Mary Landrieu's telephones, the media still reports his episodes as truth, not fiction.
When NPR executive Ron Schiller was framed by O'Keefe, I would think by this time the media -- especially NPR -- would have taken a closer look. But once again, it cost good people their jobs, and, given the typical lemming-like behavior of many Democrats, will no doubt result in the eventual defunding of NPR.
And James O'Keefe? He calls his reporting "powerful" and "honest". But do we laugh at this pathetic and amateurish character?
Surprisingly, Scott Baker of Glenn Beck's blog, The Blaze, decided that O'Keefe does not in fact practice journalism. That he lacks the ethical values to which journalists should aspire.
I would have liked to write this column on April Fools' Day, but it couldn't wait. However, in the spirit of April 1, I end by observing that, indeed, Beck's blog is today advertising St. Patrick's Day sales.
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