- Stay Connected
Connect With Us
Right Wing “Outraged” Over Latest O’Keefe Video
James Moran being sworn in by Nancy Pelosi in 2007 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Just a little political identity quiz here, okay?
Say you saw someone walk up to a member of a campaign staff and start pitching an idea to use the names of 100 people who are registered to vote but seldom do vote to cast fraudulent votes. The campaign staffer listens to the pitch, expresses doubts that it would work, but finally says, “Well, why don’t you look into it.”
Would you assume that the staffer had just given permission for voter fraud? Would you assume the staffer had just politely gotten rid of a jerk?
If you said yes to the first question, you’re a Republican. If you said yes to the second one, you’re a Democrat.
This is exactly what happened to Patrick Moran, the son of Virginia Democratic Congressman Jim Moran. The exchange was secretly videotaped by the infamous James O’Keefe’s Project Veritas – you know, the guys who actually committed voter fraud in New Hampshire by using the names of people who had died within days of the primary. Patrick Moran has resigned from his father’s campaign over the video.
Republicans are screaming that Patrick authorized voter fraud on his father’s behalf. The people with five brain cells to rub together are wondering who’s funding O’Keefe now that Andrew Breitbart is dead. The Moran campaign is saying that maybe Patrick is guilty of an error in judgement and should have walked away.
Absolutely not. Patrick should not resign and he did not commit an error in judgement. He did what any polite person would do in a similar situation. He listened to some crazy person, tried to disagree with him and then got rid of him. Hell, I’ve been known to accept pamphlets from door-to-door missionaries just to get rid of them. It’s easier than fighting with them.
James O’Keefe, by Donkey Hotey (taken from O’Keefe’s mug shot)
O’Keefe’s heavily edited ACORN video caused that organization to lose funding and eventually close. The right wing has used that video to attack community assistance organizations. Other of O’Keefe’s projects have not gone so well. He was arrested for trying to bug the phones in Louisiana Senator Mary Landrieu’s district office. He was not only outed when visiting Occupy Wall Street, but posters were put up telling OWSers that if they saw him again, call a cop because he was violating his parole from the Landrieu arrest. And then there was that little attempt at proving how easy it was to commit voter fraud in New Hampshire. Those failed because the jerks he sent in were too nervous or used the wrong middle initials and called attention to themselves. His flunkies got cold feet. Election officials in New Hampshire wanted O’Keefe and company prosecuted.
This man is slime. He edits his videos to prove his thesis, and the right wing thinks he’s a great journalist. Journalists record stories. They don’t create them.
Patrick Moran did nothing wrong. He did not solicit voter fraud. He did not agree to voter fraud. He did not posit this idea on his own. He was the victim of a man who delights in destroying good people for his own ego trip. This incident was not proof of any wrongdoing from the Democratic Party, but proof of the slimeball tactics the Republicans will pursue to try to discredit an opponent.
Related articles
One Response to Right Wing “Outraged” Over Latest O’Keefe Video
Socialize
For A Gay Friendly Get Away
HarmonyG
October 26, 2012 at 4:32 pm
O’Keefe is that he is a year-round campaign tool, funded by wealthy donors in secret. He was caught lying about this by the Village Voice already.
He is not “uncovering” voter fraud, he is creating it – the whole idea of going into someone’s offices and suggesting criminal activity to fish around and see if someone is agreeable is ridiculous. In law enforcement, it’s entrapment which is prohibited. In media, it’s unethical because it creates situations that are not necessarily happening otherwise.
O’Keefe not only does not investigate Republicans, he intentionally buries videos that exonerate Democrats. Several of his videos were deceptively edited when they did not portray wrongdoing as clearly as this one. For example, taking subjects out of context via overdubbing.
O’Keefe was convicted for one stunt and is still being sued right now civilly for breaking CA privacy laws in San Diego. One of his former colleagues has come forward to say she helped O’Keefe illegally wiretap Member of Congress Maxine Waters. She also says O’Keefe harassed her after she drank with him and found herself unable to control her muscles. She says he attempted to buy her silence and then smeared her in an online video.
O’Keefe has already settled one harassment charge and has had a written plan exposed that included inappropriate sexual conduct with a female reporter and had another written plan exposed which sought to smear Obama’s pastor as an anti-Semite, a communist and sympathetic to infidelity and child molestation…
The kid in the video is dead wrong and is a fool for trusting someone he just met, but we cannot extend his actions to anyone else, including the father, the party or the left without evidence. Because O’Keefe does make these leaps, for example smearing the whole of Acorn management for the actions of low level staff, it shows he is part of a larger effort going on to suppress access to voting through restrictive ID laws. O’Keefe’s job is to gin up the threat so the lawmakers can come in and save the day.
Just like the defund-Acorn bill was all written and teed up when his sting videos were released, O’Keefe’s current work is done to foster a narrative that in-person vote fraud is a problem when it’s been rarer than death by lightning strikes. Because all of his benefactors are hiding, we know they are ashamed and fear repercussions, but there is little doubt they are the same folks pushing ALEC legislation through a bought Congress to tip elections.
People should insist we have this conversation on the front pages of the papers, and pit this one instance of a kid agreeing to fake fraud against the real fraud by experienced operative Nathan Sproul where registrations were discarded, addresses were changed and voters are routinely misinformed, misled, intimidated and disenfranchised through improper challenges.
This investigation is a waste of tax dollars because the videographer suggested the crimes and only law enforcement can conduct undercover criminal stings. But real vote fraud should be investigated immediately…