As convicted federal criminal and rightwing dirty-trickster James O’Keefe repeated over and again this morning on ABC’s Good Morning America, “this isn’t about me.” (Full video at end of article.)
To that end, neither is The BRAD BLOG’s coverage of the scam artists’ phony ACORN videos, or his attempted wiretap plot in a U.S. Senator’s office, or his latest startling exposé for which he’s released video today (also posted at end of article) purporting to show that he was allowed a full hour for his lunch break during one of two training days as a U.S. Census worker in April, and even allowed to leave an hour or two early when that day’s training completed ahead of schedule. (Shocking, I know!)
Our coverage isn’t about him. Never has been. We expect partisan scam artists like him, and his employer, rightwing con-man Andrew Breitbart, to get away with whatever deceptive, partisan nonsense they can. This has always been about the utter failure of the corporate mainstream media in irresponsibly giving them a platform to publicize their propaganda, without even bothering to check any of the facts for accuracy first.
This morning, George Stephanopoulos did exactly that in the introduction to his “exclusive” interview with O’Keefe and Breitbart (who was on hand to enjoy some of O’Keefe’s spotlight as well, for some reason) by repeating an inaccurate report from the New York Times nearly verbatim, despite the “paper of record” having corrected at least part of it over two months ago, and despite their Public Editor (ombudsman) having been broadly ridiculed for an embarrassing attempt to defend it…
During the intro to his interview, Stephanopoulos reported:
That phrase mirrors, almost word-for-word, the January 31st NYTimes article which helped kick off The BRAD BLOG’s months-long exposé of the paper’s repeatedly inaccurate coverage of O’Keefe’s ACORN ‘Pimp’ Hoax.
Wrote Jim Rutenberg and Campbell Robertson in the Times on January 31, 2010:
That phrase, and many others akin to it in the NYTimes reportage, led a reader of The BRAD BLOG to request a correction from the paper. That request was met with firm resistance, and no small amount of dissembling from the paper’s Senior Editor Greg Brock, as detailed in the series of disturbing emails between the reader, Brock and myself, all published here.
As the Times Public Editor Clark Hoyt was subsequently brought in to arbitrate the issue, supposedly as the paper’s “readers representative”, he infamously defended the NYTimes reports by asserting, to the astonishment of many, in regard to their January 31st story [emphasis his]:
That remarkably lame defense brought calls for the Times to fire Hoyt along with his caricaturized depiction as a weasel in a panel of Tom Tomorrow’s political satire comic strip, The Modern World:
After several months of derision from readers and the blogosphere — and indisputable proof the paper had gotten the story terribly wrong, that, in fact, O’Keefe neither dressed as, nor “posed as” a “pimp” to secretly record ACORN workers, both Hoyt and the Times issued begrudging and partial corrections to several of their reports — including the Jan 31st report which Stephanopoulos re-iterated this morning to millions of Americans, almost word-for-word.
So will ABC, like the Times, issue a correction to their reporting? We’ve contacted them via their webpage to inquire, and will update you if/when we hear back.
For the record, rather than having dressed or even posed as a “pimp”, O’Keefe appeared in all of the ACORN offices as a conservatively dressed law student, telling workers he was the boyfriend of the prostitute, trying to help save her from an abusive pimp. The famous footage of O’Keefe dressed as a 70’s-era blaxploitation pimp was shot later and deceptively edited into the heavily-doctored videos as released on Breitbart’s site. Nonetheless, to help promote the absurdly named “ACORN Child Prostitution Investigations”, O’Keefe would appear on Fox “News” and in other outlets dressed in his “pimp” get-up, purporting to have worn it while secretly taping and interviewing ACORN employees.
As to the rest of Stephanopoulos’ “reporting” — in which he claims the illicitly taped videos “recorded ACORN workers giving them advice on how to cheat on their taxes” — that’s inaccurate as well.
The workers did not give advice “on how to cheat on their taxes” — unless by “cheating”, he means being told to pay their taxes, even on money supposedly earned via via prostitution, but specifying the job of the earner as “Performance Artist” on tax forms, since the IRS codes don’t offer an identification number for the job of “Prostitute”.
“What I do is I stand up to power. My mission is just to expose truth,” O’Keefe is seen announcing during Stephanopoulos’ intro in video shot after his recent federal guilty plea. His claim “just to expose truth”, of course, has been shown time and again, in official report after official report after official report after official report [PDF] to be an absolute lie. Nonetheless, despite occasionally tough-ish questions today (most of which O’Keefe simply dodged), Stephanopoulos allowed O’Keefe — even helped him — to further that fiction to millions of Americans on network television this morning.
Moreover, ABC offered no response to O’Keefe’s latest video from the U.S. Census Bureau. More responsibly, Washington Post blogger, Ed O’Keefe (no relation to James) did so in his own coverage today. The response is worth reading, as the Bureau’s spokesperson, Stephen Buckner, has clearly been paying attention, even if Stephanopoulos hasn’t been:
“Workers are instructed to report hours they work, which would include their time traveling to and from training,” said spokesman Stephen Buckner. “This is no different than the training session that Mr. O’Keefe attended in New Jersey, and during his previous employment with the Census Bureau last year. In his video, Mr. O’Keefe, an admitted criminal, does not disclose that he previously worked for the Census Bureau for nearly two months in 2009 without incident, allegation or complaint.
“That employment with us was well before his indictment and prior to his conviction of a federal crime last week. The Census Bureau obviously does not condone any falsifying of or tampering with time sheets by its employees. We are investigating the allegations in Mr. O’Keefe’s selectively edited video and will take appropriate administrative action with staff as warranted.”
A Census Bureau official also noted that O’Keefe’s decision to videotape the training sessions appears to violate Commerce Department policies against recording conversations.
The chiron for ABC/Stephanopoulos’ segment with hucksters O’Keefe and his employer/hanger-on Brietbart asked: “Journalist or Conservative Activist?”
The answer to the question, of course, is neither. James O’Keefe is certainly not a journalist, he’s a political agendist/opportunist, and there is nothing conservative, in the political sense, about breaking federal laws and lying to the public…Unless, of course, one means “conservative”, in the modern, bastardized sense, as in “George W. Bush was a ‘conservative'”.
P.S. When it was noted that the CA Attorney General found no illegalities by ACORN workers, as seen in O’Keefe’s videos, Breitbart leaped to his employee’s defense by responding deceptively to Stephanopoulos: “Is it illegal to help set up a prostitution ring in every single office?” Breitbart’s disingenuous rhetorical question was, of course, an out-and-out lie as well. The employees did no such thing, despite the way that both O’Keefe and Breitbart attempted to frame the heavily-doctored video tapes.
But that’s what these guys do. We’ve come to expect it by now. But it would be nice if the so-called legitimate media stopped offering them a platform with which to do it.
CONTACT
ABC’s Good Morning America contact page…
UPDATE 6/3/10 As they did with our coverage of NYTimes and the ACORN ‘Pimp’ Hoax, media watchdog FAIR has now picked up on the above report on ABC and Stephanopoulos, echoing our coverage and offering a few more fact checks as well. Details here…
George Stephanopoulos interviews James O’Keefe and Andrew Breitbart on ABC’s Good Morning America today…
James O’Keefe’s latest “undercover” hit-video, as released on Andrew Breitbart’s website this morning as well…
Brad you’re becoming the patron saint of endurance.
Isn’t there some sort of lawsuit available to the public to sue these guys for malice aforethought and lying with intent to lie? Maybe get Alan Grayson to interview these guys under oath so they either publicly admit to lying or get caught and prosecuted for publicly perjuring themselves?
And yeh in what non-Bush appointed judge’s court? And without which of Richard Mellon Sciafe’s most high priced attorney’s? Guess we’ll see that about the same time we see Exxon pay for the Valdez and BP pay for the DeepWater Horizon.
Stephanopoulos is a corporate tool. Always was, always will be.
Glad you are calling him on his inaccurate ‘reporting’. I can’t stomach the TV and don’t watch it, mostly because of toadies like Stephanopoulos.
I agree Brad, and thanks for the link to ABC’s contact page.
O’keefe not only lied about his appearance in the tapes, Breitbart lied (again) about the idea that anyone was helping them set up a child brothel.
A significant portion of the conversations in the unedited tapes deal with fleeing from abuse, not “setting up a brothel”.
They need to correct that.
But, on the plus side, i will credit the staff at GMA for playing the portion of the tape which Okeefe had edited out from his posted video.
And I have to say, it was funny watching Jamsey wince and anxiously divert away from the issues of his racist past or his criminal sentence.
I wish georgie got a bit more explicit with the results of the investigations into the ACORN videos… too bad he didnt, and that is something that needs to be stressed to ABC.
And it was both telling and pathetic that James and Andy (not lookin’ good these days) just kept trying to talk over the few issues that George did bring up. But I dont think they can fool anyone much longer. They’ll just waste everyones time and embrass themselves.
I see yet another crushing and mortifying blowback in the not so distant future for them.
But i have to say, I love the whole “Edict to the Boring! RISE UP!”-bs that Okeefe was throwing about. THE TERMINALLY DULL IN THIS COUNTRY ARE MAD AS HELL, AND THEY ARENT TAKIN’ IT LYING DOWN ANYMORE!!!!!
What a tool!
Ever notice there are no left wing flame throwers who get by with lie upon lie like the right?
Ever notice convicted criminals get out of jail and then go on MSM as expert pundits if they are of the right wing persuasion?
As Amy Goodman asks, “What would be the difference if we had state media?”
How long are we going to be shocked, just shocked, at the laziness of our so called reporters? Only giving one side of the issues with a few sound bites from the left thrown in and call “it” fair and balanced.This overt propaganda has been going on for 10 years. It is time to call state media what it is.
Somewhat off topic, but propaganda is so incidious. And it continues unabated in the main stream media.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5ioi_0jtO9RjMwPNRoXNCndRPRq3gD9G2O2AG0
I guess elections are now considered “violent seizures of power” and elected officials are “militants.” Well, the second part may be true, but the first is definitely not.
This story was picked up and run by “everyone.”
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&client=firefox-a&q=%22Israel%2C+Egypt+ease+Gaza+blockade+after+deadly+raid%22&btnG=Search&aq=f&aqi=&aql=&oq=&gs_rfai=
More Breitbart-Okeefe lies…
Breitbart states in the video above that Salon recanted their allegation that Okeefe is a racist…when in fact Salon did no such thing.
Salon’s correction here
There is no recantation of their reporting on OKeefe’s race issues…and Georgie Stephanopoulos let them get away with it.
#4 Molly, about a month ago Bill Maher was raked over the coals for about a week for one small slip up that wasn’t even a lie, he just got part of his facts wrong on Brazil and their independence of oil.
And he isn’t even considered a liberal!
#7 On Bill Maher’s little slipup?
As for Bill Maher isn’t a liberal.
News to me.
Make that a month
Hohohohohohohoho…. Ferret Face george
stephanopoulopoulopoulopoulopoulopoulopoulopoulos…
Remember “The ABC Debate Travesty”, george ?
Anyone notice how Breitbart quickly switched the memo on how to characterize this interview?
He initially went with the idea of GMA presenting a “Profile in Media Courage”, and tried to play it off like the interview was some kind of “victory.â€
His followers, lacking both their own conviction and opinion on the matter, followed suit. They were, at first, SOOOO happy because papa was happy.
Now Andy is MAAAD!!!
He now claims that he was “sandbagged” by George, because of the latter’s emphasis on james’s own record (but I am sure he was just pissed that an important and omitted portion of his tape was aired.)
What was once a “profile in Media Courage” has now become a “hack job peddling the Media Matters lineâ€.
LOL!!!! TOO FUNNY!!!!
And again, Breitbarts followers, lacking any individual response, follow him in his crash… now, suddenly, they are all mad at GMA for what they had praised less than a day before!!!!
His followers have no individuality, no personal conviction, and no sense of critical inquiry. They just parrot what papa says.
For example, in discussing the ACORN videos with people who follow BigGov.com, etc.., I have come to realize just how few of Breitbarts followers actually know what’s on those tapes…
….and I am talking about the posted tapes which james first uploaded, not the unedited ones on AG Browns website!
Seriously, most of them (that I have spoken with in person, through chat-boards, emails etc…), don’t even know what’s on the initial videos that james posted at all!!!!!
They make dramatic statements about all the “criminality†showcased on those tapes, but decidedly few have actually watched them.
Many of them confuse the cities, the persons and the narratives on each of these tapes when asked to discuss them.
Eg, just the other day, on the Mediaite comment page about this subject, I got into it with 2 people who were totally confusing the stories from San Diego, New York, and San Bernardino all the while preaching about how important it was to watch ALL of the tapes just to see the “criminality  but they hadnt watched these videos themselves!
Seriously!!! Its too ironic!
Granted, watching those tapes (both edited and unedited) and reading those transcripts is a long, boring and tedious job. (I’m sure james was relying on that tedium to keep people from fact checking his work.) But, on my own time, I personally took James’s challenge and did just that.
And I would say AG browns assessment about the heavily edited content is actually putting it delicately. James just lied, and his followers lie, because decidedly few of them have actually watched the very tapes which they consider sooo important.
What a pack of loons!
Being a convicted criminal will only enhance O’Keefe’s standing amongst Conservatives. Conservatives love liars, criminals, cowards, chicken hawks, self-hating homophobes, and those who exaggerate their military service.
There has never been a more wretched hive of scum and villainy than the Republican Party.
When I first saw it, I thought “Journalist or conservative activist? Did he cross the line?” referred to George Stephanopoulos.