The recent arrest of James O’Keefe, for “masterminding” a sixth rate break in at Mary Landrieu’s office, reminds us once again of his original claim to fame, the famous “sting” he allegedly pulled off to expose Acorn’s nefarious doings. You may recall that he and a female right winger posed as a pimp and his prostitute, he all duded out in pimp togs, seeking and getting advice on ways to carry out their business without paying taxes. Added to the mix, they allegedly got advice on how to get away with promoting the prostitution of minors.
At the time the media was taken to task for failing to expose Acorn’s failings themselves, and of course, the version of events that I’ve set forth above has become as fixed a media meme as Al Gore’s alleged claim that he invented the internet. This McClatchy article, published today, repeats the story:
O’Keefe, the Internet “journalist” who became an overnight sensation after his undercover reports revealed unethical behavior by the liberal activist group ACORN, now finds himself in the middle of his own bugging scandal.
The real media failing, as usual, was its willingness to believe a right wing lie, even one spread by a smarmy 24 year old, without bothering to look into it at all. For like the Gore meme, there is precious little truth in this one.
Turns out that O’Keefe never posed as a pimp; he posed as the boyfriend of a girl who was trying to escape her pimp. He never wore those duds during the sting, only for his star turns at Fox. Turns out also that no one ever advised the pair not to pay taxes. They were told to pay, and how to do so. You can read a full analysis here.
But, as Bob Dylan once said, now’s not the time for your tears. To get to that point, we must once again look to the Democrats, who, within days, fell all over themselves to vote for a Republican sponsored bill to deprive Acorn of all federal funding, including that already committed. (The bill, signed by profile in courage Barack Obama, has been stayed by preliminary injunction as a bill of attainder.) Did the Democrats hold hearings to hear Acorn’s side? Of course not. Why do that when you have the word of a 24 year old, costume wearing, Fox adored Republican (perhaps the lowest life form on the planet) and skillfully edited film to boot? Acorn was serving their constituency, it was registering their voters, and it was entitled at least to its day in court, but the Democrats didn’t think twice about throwing Acorn under the bus. This was a repeat of the shameful way in which the Democrats did the same thing to Moveon after the Patreaus ad, and I’m sorry to say that every single Connecticut Congressman went along with the lynching.
Well, I have to go. I have to check my email to see how many messages I got from the Democratic National Committee, or the DCCC, or the DSC, asking for my money to help them fight the Republicans.
