Right Wing Hero James O'Keefe to Pay $100,000 Damages for ACORN "Sting"

Best picture this dweeb has ever taken, from Gawker.

Whenever there is a fresh right-wing world freakout going on (you know, Clang! FOX "News" Alert!), I roll my eyes. That's because so many of them are either not at all what they say they are, they're a cherry-picked nugget of outrage in an overall innocuous non-story, or they are freshly driven bullshit. And the king prince jester of the bullshit pushers is twerp-faced James O'Keefe.

O'Keefe puts together "sting" operations, and surreptitiously video tapes them. Then, he creatively edits them, and takes them to FOX "News" (particularly now that Andrew Breitbart is dead), where he then dresses them up, by wearing pimp clothes, or whatever will sell it best. This has made him a right wing hero, which is puzzling, but then, kinda not, given some of the other right wing heroes.

In any event, it's very gratifying to see this skeevy, bottom-feeding tool get what's coming to him.

[Excerpt]

James O’Keefe Will Pay $100,000, Apologize to Former ACORN Employee

Journalism school laughingstock and expert jazz hands practitioner James O'Keefe will pay $100,000 and apologize to a former ACORN employee who was fired after being featured in one of O'Keefe's 2009 "sting" videos. The heavily-edited videos were successful, in that they led to a congressional investigation that eventually shutdown ACORN, netting O'Keefe $65,000 in the process. The videos were also, apparently, illegally filmed, at least the one shot in California. Former ACORN employeed Juan Carlos Vera sued O'Keefe and his partner-in-crime Hannah Giles last year, saying the secretly recorded video violated California law that prohibits recording someone without their permission. . .

Read more at: Gawker

Idiot Proves Voter Fraud is Possible, Doesn't Prove it's Common

When Andrew Breitbart died, I thought maybe we'd be spared from ever hearing of his minion, the twerpy James O'Keefe, ever again. He's the one who stages sometimes elaborate, often dishonest "exposés" from an extreme right-wing perspective. But he's such a douche, that even if he had all his ducks in a row, he'd still just come off as a jerk. Here, he's proving that you can vote as somebody else if you know their address. Yeah. I've always known I could do that. . .provided I knew that person hadn't already voted, and provided that I wanted to commit a federal crime. I've never felt that inclination. And neither have very many other people.  [Story continues below]



The right has a very convincing argument for strict voter rules, with picture IDs, etc. "Who doesn't have an ID? You need an ID to get a movie at Blockbuster!" Yeah, nobody goes to Blockbuster anymore, but that isn't the point. The point is, there are large groups of people who do not often have photo IDs, whether you think that's stupid or not. And those people disproportionately vote Democrat. The fact of the matter is, Republicans didn't dream up voter ID laws because of some rampant voter fraud. More people win the big prize in MegaMillions and PowerBall in a given year than are busted for voter fraud. If it is a problem at all, it is amazingly small one. No, the laws are to disenfranchise particular voters.

I've been a voter for 28 years, first in Ohio, then in Nevada. I've never needed anything more than my name and my address to vote. When I registered, I filled out a card. I don't think I even needed ID then, just a bill with my address on it. I do have a photo ID, and can't conceive of not having one for myself. But since when do conservatives mandate official government papers for anything? And if you have to pay for them, isn't that an individual mandate? Not to mention a poll tax? And if they're given away for free, isn't that a giveaway?

[Excerpt]

James O’Keefe Proves That Pointless Form of Voter Fraud Is Possible


In a new video, a member of James O'Keefe's "Project Veritas" manages to enter a D.C. polling station and receive a ballot for none other than Attorney General Eric Holder, simply by providing Holder's address. . .

Read more at: New York Magazine

"Gotcha Journalist" (and Sean Hannity, Others) Get Themselves

If you're going to play "gotcha" with an ambush interview, you should probably be certain you have the right target. Didn't this doofus know what Bono looks like? And what the hell would it prove if they "got" Bono anyway? Hint: Bono isn't from Hollywood. Doofus.

[Excerpt]


Sean Hannity, Big Journalism run 'ambush interview' on Bono—but it wasn't him. Doh! 




Just when you thought the purveyors of ACORN conspiracy theories and heavily edited tapes of people
saying things that weren't what they actually said had reached a new peak in their efforts at pretend-time jourmanalism, they up the ante. Yes, the latest scoop from the Breitbart Brigades is an ambush journalism effort aimed at Bono. . .

Read more at: DailyKos

Jon Stewart Mocks Andrew Breitbart's Posthumous "Obama Tape"

He gets in a few good digs at Sean Hannity too.

The Daily Show with Jon Stewart
Get More: Daily Show Full Episodes,Political Humor & Satire Blog,The Daily Show on Facebook

"Secret" Breitbart Video of Obama Previously Aired on PBS in 2008

Young Obama, from source, Raw Story

Fail. The "secret" video was supposed to be so explosive that Breitbart was killed for it (ha!)? Not a secret. Not explosive. Kinda boring. Except that it shows that President Obama was a commanding speaker twenty years ago. FAIL.

[Excerpt]


PBS already aired Breitbart’s Obama footage

Breitbart.com editors Ben Shapiro and Joel Pollak said Wednesday on Sean Hannity’s radio show that they would release footage that proved President Barack Obama had “radical intellectual founders” — footage which was covered up by the mainstream media.  But before Breitbart.com released the footage, PBS Frontline published the full unedited video themselves, noting that they had previously included the footage in their election special The Choice 2008. . .

Read more at: Raw Story

Steven Weber: Fear Fracking

I haven't posted a piece by Steven Weber in quite a while. I've often said that the actor/writer writes like I think. . .If only my thoughts came out that well. Though I was slightly troubled by his revelation of a friendship with Andrew Breitbart (wow), his writing nearly always hits a bulls eye for me.

Anyway, I've been trying to figure out what the flying frack is going on with the GOP/Conservatives these days. To me, their unrelenting meanness--as evidenced by the late Andrew Breitbart and still-with-us Rush Limbaugh--is their brand now.  

Test welfare recipients for drugs! What, they don't use drugs more than other people? Who cares, test 'em anyway!

Actor/writer Steven Weber

All women who use birth control are sluts!

Gay people are evil!

On and on. But Steven's theory is fear. And fear may really be the root of it. Fear stokes other negative emotions, and can surely make a person mean. Make the people scared of the poor: They're drug users! Make them scared of "loose women." Make them scared of "teh gay." And you'll make them angry. And mean. And when you treat what they fear with meanness, you inspire a "they deserve it" reaction. I think ol' Brian from Wings is on to something here.

[Excerpt]


Fear Fracking 

I suppose it could be said that Rush Limbaugh and his brethren (and sistren) in the right-wing corporate media who regularly sculpt human behavior and current events into an unabashedly cruel and particularly paranoid narrative, only to then regurgitate it to their fact-starved audience like owls disgorging mouse-viscera into the open twitching beaks of its young, are only doing so because "It"'s there. . .

Read more at: Huffington Post

Conspiracy Corner: Breitbart Was Totally Killed by White House!

I didn't mean for this to become the "all Breitbart, all the time" blog, and predicted I'd never talk about him in my most recent post. But I added the caveat that I'd drop the subject unless there was a surprise. I think this qualifies, thought it should probably fall into the "shouldn't surprise you, but still does" category. I bring to you the possible replacement conspiracy theory to the birthers and the after-birthers (ew): the Breitbarters! They're so crazy, that after a harmless (but initially suspicious) package was delivered to Rush Limbaugh, they'd incorporated that into the theory. This shit moves fast these days, kids.

[Excerpts]

"I think he was so effective that he was murdered... and there are those that openly wanted him gone."

"If they really wanted him gone, then they could not have chosen a better time. His death sucked the air out of Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s press conference on Obamao’s forged documents."

[Editor: LMFO!]

All screen caps found at JoeMyGod.com

"He was walking alone late at night. Someone could have poisoned his drink in the bar, or got him with a KGB-style umbrella injecting in the calf. Motive: he was a very active and influential opponent of the far left-wing forces who openly confronted the Occupy creeps, and recently revealed that he had damning videos of the Dictator-in-Chief, who happens to be from Chicago, a bedrock of mob-style hits. Can’t rule anything out yet."

[Ed.: Impressive!]

"I'm surprised that it has taken this long. Expect more now that the Media has proudly provided [Rush's] address to the idiots on the left. Gated community might slow them down."

"Very little mention of the jogger seen running by Breitbart minutes before he collapsed, according to the witness."


[Ed.: Quick! Call CSI: Brentwood!]


"Breitbart ...warning. Limbaugh... Beck... Somebody trying to silence free speech?"

[Ed.: BECK? Who on earth cares about Beck?]

"So sorry about Breitbart, and now Rush. God save us from the loony left. Please let Rush and family be okay. They really want to shut us up, but if it’s war they want, it’s was they will get!!!!"

[Ed.: Fellow libs, they're on to us! Let's hope they don't have gun racks on their Rascal scooters!]

"[In response to the message above:] Yep, they are just BEGGING for it. And they shall recieve [sic]."

[Ed.: Wow. They've declared war on a mythical "they."]

"Way too many Freepers are conspiratorially-minded. Men who have defective hearts have heart attacks in their 40s which are often fatal. Sometimes things are as they are and there is no need to attribute them to 'outside forces.'"


[Ed.: Huh. A FReeper "concern troll" or a rare voice of reason?]

"Makes me wonder if the libs are trying to scare us into keeping obama [sic] in the WH by offing conservatives. I hope our four candidates have guards. Obama comes from the most corrupt sity [sic] in the nation and I put nothing past them. Firdt [sic] Breitbart and then Rush. To coincidental. It is WAR!!"

[Ed.: I was unaware that Honolulu was the corruption capital!]

"If his family were smart, they’d insist on an independent autopsy. I wouldn’t trust an opinion by anyone in bed with LAPD and Hollywood libs."

[Ed.: As with all conspiracy theories, there are many--maybe hundreds, maybe thousands--of co-conspirators.]

"Do you think the ME isn’t in on it?"

[Ed.: See?]

"It will take blood...eventually."

[Ed.: Somebody should really be keeping an eye on these people.]

"Sounds like 'they' are warning some folks. 'Don’t be like Brietbart [sic].'"

[Ed.: Wow.]

 "He could have been poisoned when he ate with Bill Ayers and Bernardine Dorn."

"I had the SAME thought. Beck has said in recent weeks bad things he won't go into any detail about have been happening to his family, himself and staff."


[Ed.: Disturbed minds think alike! And again with Beck? Only this crowd thinks Beck is anything other than a loon.]


"Andrew was killed.......I hope someone has those videos of the liar in cheif [sic]"

[Ed.: OMG!  Barack Hussein Obama must've been the mysterious jogger! It's all making sense now!]

"It’s mathematically possible to calculate the chance that a 42 [sic] year old would die of a heart attack in the same month that he is going to release politically damaging information. What you do is you determine the chance of the first event and multiply it by the percentage representing the second event.I’ll let you know, the probability of the first event is less than 0.01. Necessarily, the probability of both events is less than the probability of the first."

[Ed.: Must be that new math. That new crazy math.]

"I still cannot get over it. Maybe, just maybe, he had to fake his own death to save his family?"

[Ed.: And now, we have an alternate conspiracy theory. Interesting. . .]

"Weird day. Andrew Breitbart is silenced. Sheriff Joe reveals the birth certificate is an obvious forgery. And Rush gets a bomb scare.  The Rush one is interesting as maybe more credible threats had been recently made to his security team and they were on high alert. Weirder and weirder."

[Ed.: Breitbart looked 15 years older than he was, Rush's "scare" was a false alarm, and Sheriff Joe is a loony birfer. But I guess this is keeping these weirdos busy.]


All quotes found at the right-wing central command, FreeRepublic.com. I'd give you a link, but you can find this crap all over their site. 

Sam Seder on the Passing of Andrew Breitbart

This will very likely be the last post I ever write about Andrew Breitbart, unless there are surprises in the case of his death. But it has come to my attention, through a friendly rival blogger--whose opinion I often disagree with, but nonetheless respect--that my impropriety is somewhat out of character.

Maybe it is. But Breitbart was hardly Mr. Rogers. And was guilty of much worse. I'd hoped that my reasoning for my reaction would be obvious in the piece. And I've modified the post a bit to encourage reading it, to see where I'm coming from. Just to make it clearer, here's a piece by former Air America Radio host, Sam Seder of The Majority Report. Sam relates--in a slightly less brusque manner than does Matt Taibbi--pretty much how I feel about Breitbart.

And as I noted to my blogger friend, while I can often be irreverent, I am rarely so about the death of anybody other than say, Osama bin Laden. But as Clarence Darrow was alleged to have said, “I've never killed a man, but I've read many an obituary with a great deal of satisfaction.” I won't go quite that far, but I'll cop to understanding the sentiment. And I'm not sure it's necessary to be reverent or respectful over the death of a person who was wildly irreverent, and often disrespectful himself. 

Andrew Breitbart Eulogized by Rolling Stone's Matt Taibbi

This guy was only 43? Image from source, Rolling Stone.

This is perhaps the most honest, forthright appraisal of Andrew Breitbart you'll read anywhere. And since it's by one of my favorite writers, Matt Taibbi of Rolling Stone, I had to share.

(And, please, read the article before jumping on me too hard.)

[Excerpt]

Andrew Breitbart: Death of a Douche


So Andrew Breitbart is dead. Here’s what I have to say to that, and I’m sure Breitbart himself would have respected this reaction: Good! Fuck him. I couldn’t be happier that he’s dead.  I say this in the nicest possible way. . .

Read more (it's really good) at: Rolling Stone

Davy Jones, Andrew Breitbart. . .Ann Coulter, Harbinger of Doom?

Davy Jones. Andrew Breitbart. The common link? Ann Coulter. I'm just sayin'. . .

Coincidence?

Keith Olbermann's Worst Persons in the World, Feb. 15, 2012

I haven't posted a clip from Countdown with Keith Olbermann for a while, probably because I can't get it on Cox Cable in Las Vegas. But this one is good. The only thing is, I'd give Andrew Breitbart a lifetime achievement award.

Andrew Breitbart's BIG Announcement

Heehee. . .




[Excerpt]

Andrew Breitbart Needs A Hug

. . .Andrew Breitbart and his blogs of bloviation never entered my reality until FreedomWorks’ president wrote a post on BigGovernment.com that targeted me, personally, with half-truths, invasion of privacy, an illegal recording and a healthy dose of McCarthyism. After researching Breitbart further, I knew one day I’d make a silly video about him. After all, the man purposely makes himself into a media buffoon to increase his profile and drive hits to his websites. . .

Read more at: The D.C. Douglas Blog

James O'Keefe's Newest Bogus Video

This guy really likes to play dress up. Image from RawStory

I'm beginning to think that James O'Keefe is actually a performance artist. His right-wing "hooks" are just to get FOX "News" and right-wing sites to display his "art." Given that a) all of his big "exposés" are either more or less than they appear, that b) the big giant douche, Andrew Breitbart is his biggest supporter, and c) that O'Keefe is so fricking skeevy, I just wonder how the hell he's managed such fame/infamy. I mean kudos dude, you brought down the evil ACORN, even though you proved nothing. That's magic, man. But what else have you done, except look like an idiot while getting "FOX fans" to notice you?

[Excerpt]

James O'Keefe's Latest 'Terrorist' Medicaid Sting Goes After Woman For Following Law

Stop me if you've heard this one. A man goes into a public assistance office in Charleston, South Carolina in a kilt, tells them he's a member of the Irish Republican Army and asks for help for 25 fellow Irishmen in a hospital who need Medicaid. . . 

Read more at: RawStory