Last night, I received this tweet from GOP propagandist, con-man, unapologetic hypocrite and liar Andrew Breitbart:
Poor Andy has had some trouble keeping his stories straight of late. But, in any case, the above tweet is just something to keep in mind in the days ahead. I suspect it may come in handy for future reference…
On a related note… I’m scheduled to be a guest on his buddy Larry “Stage_Right” O’Connor’s Internet radio show tonight. In addition to his nightly show, Larry works in theater here in Southern California and is a contributor to Breitbart’s “Big Government” site, to Breitbart’s “Big Hollywood” site, and to Breitbart’s Big Journalism” site, which Andy just introduced in January with this post. Unlike O’Connor, accused federal felon and fake”pimp”/liar James O’Keefe is actually paid by Breitbart to produce content for those same three sites.
Tonight’s Stage Right Show with O’Connor and me, at 9p PT (Midnight ET) can be heard live online here. You can also call in, if you like, at (347) 850-1946. It should be a lively show.
CORRECTION, 11:52pm PT: I originally wrote that “Larry works at a theater in Orange County, CA”. In fact, as he pointed out to me on tonight’s show, it would be more correct to say that he works in theater in and around Southern California. My apologies for any unintended mischaracterization.
POST-SHOW UPDATE, 11:59pm PT: We were blessed with a “surprise” phone call from Andy Breitbart during tonight’s show, and then a visit from wingnut blogger and Deputy D.A. “Patterico” for a li’l 3 on 1 action which went on for a screaming two and a half hours or so, literally.
Among other high/lowlights is where Andy now claims he never lied, and never said that O’Keefe was dressed as a pimp outfit in the offices of ACORN. That, despite having represented the entire O’Keefe/ACORN scam in that way many times, including in his own Sept. 21, 2009 Washington Times column, where he wrote:
His Clintonian parsing of that sentence tonight, in order to claim it doesn’t say what is says, will make your head split open. When a link is available for the audio archive, I’ll post it here. If you can stand to listen 🙂
UPDATE: 2/17/10 You can listen to the streaming version of the audio right here. And here’s a downloadable [MP3] (appx. 2.5 hours), as requested in comments.
Either option, prepare for your head to bleed. As Media Matter’s Eric Boehlert noted today in “Breitbart tries, and fails, to explain away the ACORN pimp myth”, his quick blog item on it, “The fun begins at the 36 minute mark” when caller “Andy” somehow makes his way to the front of the queue.
For more details on Andy’s silly explanation for having lied in his own column, and how that dog don’t come anywhere close to hunting, and how many others in the media fell for it, see both Boehlert’s full column today, “James O’Keefe and the myth of the ACORN pimp” (to which the prior link above is a quick follow-up), as well as my own coverage today of all of the above…
UPDATE 2/19/10: Giles Admits O’Keefe, Breitbart ACORN ‘Pimp’ Story was a Lie: ‘It Was B-Roll, Purely B-Roll’. Woman who posed as prostitute confirms repeated misreporting by NYTimes, many others. Full details…
UPDATE 2/21/10: “In CPAC Meltdown, Breitbart Forced to ‘Apologize’ for ‘Apparently’ Lying About ACORN ‘Pimp’ Story”. Full details…
UPDATE 2/23/10: “Exclusive: NYTimes Public Editor Declines to Recommend Retraction for Multiple Erroneous Reports on False ACORN ‘Pimp’ Story” Full story, Hoyt’s emails…
UPDATE 2/24/10: Hoyt responds to our on his emails and accuses The BRAD BLOG of having a “political agenda” on par with O’Keefe and Breitbart. Also, blogosphere issues blistering response, petition, call for Hoyt to step down. Full details, Hoyt’s email response, right here…
Stomach turning..childish ..Braddy??!!! What the…?! …You were obviously the adult in the ambush… I wish you had reminded them of David Iglesias and the GOP’s ongoing efforts to “stoke fears over voter fraud”:
http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpoin...ed_by_dojs.php
“David Iglesias says he’s shocked by the news, leaked today to the Associated Press, that the FBI is pursuing a voter-fraud investigation into ACORN just weeks before the election.”
“I’m astounded that this issue is being trotted out again,” Iglesias told TPMmuckraker. “Based on what I saw in 2004 and 2006, it’s a scare tactic.”
Brad – You need some new talking points. You sound like an idiot focusing on what O’Keefe was supposedly wearing and not the conduct of the ACORN employees. It doesn’t even sound like you read the Harshbarger report you’re so fond of citing either.
You’re aware that he didn’t even interview the ACORN employees who appeared in the videos, right? He notes that the conduct displayed is basically symptomatic of an out of control organization lacking supervision, training or internal controls. Have his recommendations for improvement been implemented yet Brad?
That CRS report you keep mentioning? Why do you keep failing to mention the multiple pages of investigations of ACORN currently in progress noted in the report when you talk about it?
I think the other show participants had it right that you were more interested in defending the actions of ACORN than actually getting the basic story right.
Daleyrocks,
The Brad Blog must beg for $5 donations while the Drudge Report sends Breitbart a bajillion dollars per day — and you have the gall to argue facts?
Typical Republican with the money superiority and the insistence on facts.
Brad,
Are you going to have downloadable audio available for that wingnut show? Patterico seems to think you played dirty by attacking him after he got off the phone, while failing to respond accurately to his assertions on air. Something tells me that he has typical right-wing selective memory, so I’d like to hear the exchange.
(Stage Right has a streaming version available, but I’d prefer a download…)
Soul Rebel –
Yup. Will try to get it for ya! Been buried in a bunch of media stuff this morning, but out soon to catch up with all!
Interesting phrasing by Breitbart. “I’ve told truth every step of the way”.
I would suggest there is a considerable difference from the phrase ‘telling truth’ and telling THE truth every step of the way. I can still remember Karl Rove pooh poohing any knowledge of Siegelman whistleblower Jill Simpson by saying, “I never met the woman”. But did he know who she was? Of course. These vermin are pathological liars and their language is filled double talk and half truths. So Andrew, did you tell THE truth every step of the way?
Cue recent Daily Show flashbacks in my head:
http://www.hulu.com/watch/12233...s-name-calling
You give drudge too much credit. He sends lots of hits though I’m sure.
As for donations here, thanks for reminding me to send one in to Brad right after I post this. 🙂
@Brad, this guy (GOP propagandist, con-man, etc) is not worth the space on your site, man.
Of course I like to peek in on the drama from time to time, but we’ve (you, I’m sure) have got more important things to be doing, IMO. I’m not sure how many people can drive past a train wreck and not take a peek. But there are too many train wrecks every single day any more, on every site I go to.
Completely OT possibly, but, has anyone else ever felt uncomfortable that whether it’s good news or bad news, all we read each day is something about a republican of some flavor and the drama surrounding them?
The drama is indeed hard to look away from no doubt, and it needs to be told far and wide, these terrorists should not be allowed to destroy our country without a fight. But, is what’s going on right now really the best way forward?
After 8 years of staying on top of all the bad news of the day, should we really be bothering with these smucks like this, daily, still?
Could someone please do me a favor and post a few links to sites talking good news about Democrats while ignoring all the republican drama? (Other than whitehouse.gov of course)
This garbage has taken up too much of all of ours’ time to date, don’t you think?
If you could surgically remove all traces of any republican scumbag you ever heard of from the matrix, replace them with a more productive and bipartisan party more willing to do the peoples work and we had a more equal 2 party system that actually worked a bit better overall sans a lot of this drama…
What would we be reading about on blogs each day, in general?
What (good or bad) news would BradBlog be spreading to the masses here?
A bit deep I guess, but I just have to say that I for one and sick of these pricks I see news about each day, everywhere, when does it end?
When do the people rise up and call for a blackout of all republican propaganda?
Whether bad news or good news, they always get their names spelled right. Even the pimp…
Give me some good news, Brad. We can all use some good news.
We should all be talking up some good news.
Thanks
INFOPRO – Amen!
YES!! I’m so juiced about your keen observation / suggestion / request that I’m restraining myself from rudely typing this in all red letter caps in order to be certain I’ve adequately expressed it to the fullest measure!
I’d like to know, too. ARE there such news sources anymore? Because I can’t find any. All I DO now is read / hear about republican this, teabagger that; every discourse reduced to cater to their crude stupidity – debate framed by them, designed to dumb down and distract the rational rest of us. And it works, largely thanks to us!
I don’t understand why, in trying to be “inclusive”, non elitist, non-intellectual and overly polite to the lying bullies, we allow this to continue. Especially ironic that we do so much stooping to conquer while chastising the pussy Dems in Congress for doing the same – allowing the minority to drive the narrative, cock-block legislation from passing that is overwhelmingly supported by the majority, getting constantly rolled by the meanies…
but we do.
And they win, either way.
They lie, Fox News(and the NYT) repeats the lie, then all we do is repeat the lie some more with every resource and spare mic we have by refuting the lie in an attempt to set the record straight but by then the lie has been told TWICE to the people who want to believe it no matter what evidence exists to the contrary and those of us who already know it’s a lie have to hear it on every news station, blog, radio show.
Good fun, though you could have been more succinct.
The edited video and the “unedited” transcript and audio would be thrown out of court if it got there. So Patterico and the others are essentially asking why we aren’t spending more time on the blank sheet of paper that represents the case against ACORN.
We sorta need a little more than that — say, the unedited video — before there is even anything to talk about to begin with.
With all due respect to Jeannie Dean @ 8, Infopro @ 7 said:
Yup. Without a doubt. But, you see, it doesn’t go away if folks like me simply ignore it. Truth is, this garbage, this political agenda masquerading as “news” that Breitbart and friends put forward, has squeezed real news from virtually every inch of the broadcast and print spectrum.
We are in the mess we’re in, in this country, precisely *because* of this garbage, and it shows no signs of getting better as even the NYTimes, as this entire story began, is simply repeating the garbage, by rote, and then quoting Fox News and an accused felon as a source when called out on it.
Their reporting helped lead the Congress of the United States, for Chrissakes, to pass an unconstitutional bill defunding an organization that actually helps people move toward the American Dream by owning a house, and voting (legally!) to partipate in their own democracy. And the President of the United States signed that bill!
All due to an utterly phony story, sold by phonies and bought by the legitimate press as if it wasn’t phony.
Just like the “death panels” and the “dangers of closing Gitmo” and the “election integrity advocates are conspiracy theorist” nonsense.
This is the source of your problem. And George W. Bush wouldn’t even have served in office had their been a real media that didn’t bend to the whims of the Breitbarts and Drudges and Limbaughs and Becks and Hannitys and O’Reillys and on and on as those liars and charlatans suck every bit of truth out of every inch of media.
Ignore it and look for “good news” at your own peril. And mine.
You’d be reading on this blog about the failure of the Democrats, which is why, as I wrote previously, the wingnut liars are jackasses and we could all, otherwise be having a Dem/Obama bashing party together if their criticism had anything to do with the very real things that Dems/Obama *need* to be criticized and have feet held to fire for.
Since the link I gave u above. It’s about all I got. And, I’m sorry to say, it ain’t much.
It ain’t the liars sucking out the oxygen that has caused lack of good news, it is lack of good news, thanks to the liars sucking out reality.
It doesn’t end, until we end it. Ignoring it does not make it go away. Wish it did.
I have done, and will continue to for years.
But the Republican propaganda has succeeded in even getting the White House to back off on their own call for an end to Republican propaganda, as I covered at Alternet.
When I can find some, I will.
I know you will, Brad. 🙂
I’m not suggesting ignoring anything, theres no way back from here until this madness is brought back into upright position. With your help.
Thanks for all you do.
I have some good news. Two books. Full of good news.
Europe’s Promise by Steven Hill
Returning to the Teachings: Exploring Aboriginal Justice by Rupert Ross
There’s amazing stuff going on. Mostly somewhere else at the moment but reading this stuff really is inspiring. There are so many other and better ways to do so many things. If we can only pry our cultural consciousness off its addiction to ignorance, fear, denial. Transformation, joy, and responsibility sound a helluva lot more rewarding.
Brad-fly,
You’re doing Herculean things and you’re doing them with zazz-on-a-shoestring. I did not mean to imply that the Breitbart / NY Times piece isn’t some of your best and most important work. On the contrary, it’s so harrowing it’s given me hives on my bum in the shape of a cartoon pimp.
Of course we can’t ignore them. And you, especially, can not – charged as you have been as their only grown-up supervision, the only one spanking them into some kind of age-appropriate human shame.
You’re on point for us all, duty bound to correct the public record on behalf of the poorest, most disaffected among us from so much mountainous peaking of snow-phony, trumped-upped, (felonious?) humpity-dumpity…
I don’t envy you the task and I am saddened that you are too alone in it.
But isn’t there an alternative, some half-way house between ignoring them and continuing to allow them to drive the Toyota Corolla drunk with our collective best in the back-seat without a passenger side brake during a Noreaster? Isn’t there a snow mogul of difference between reporting the story, calling for accountability (as you have done) – and becoming entrenched in (or the target of) a two-hour, on-air, seething, rage-a-thon? (I haven’t heard the audio, just going on your description.)
While your career has ascended to great heights just fine without my paltry $5.00 a year and bad career advice, I don’t like that for you. I don’t. You’re Pulitzer-worthy, he’s subterfuge. How does it advance your POV? What does it lend you? Cuz the way I see it, you lend him ratings and credibility. And exposure he wouldn’t have had otherwise. And another lambchop of a platform for his little monsters to all come a callin’, creepy crawlin’, and name callin’, here…
..and all he can lend you is a headache, or a paranoid tweet-fest of stupidity.
#3 If Brad was into the wingnut welfare more than the truth, he would have went that way I’m sure.