O'Keefe & Giles hide from media as false claims about Acorn are exposed!

[sabrina 1]

Over the past week, when asked if anyone at any of the ACORN offices they visited had refused to co-operate with them, O'Keefe and Giles were clear. Not once were they rebuffed, they stated, over and over again.

But a different story is emerging as reported by Media Matters in the following link:

http://mediamatters.org/research/200909170031

From the link, part of the transcript from the Fox News Hannity Show:

Giles, O'Keefe, Breitbart, and Flynn each claimed every ACORN office the filmmakers visited was complicit

...... On the September 16 edition of Fox News' Hannity, Sean Hannity interviewed Giles, a Townhall.com columnist, and Andrew Breitbart, founder of BigGovernment.com, the website that first posted the ACORN videos. During the interview, Hannity asked Giles: "hen you go to Baltimore and D.C. and New York and San Bernardino and San Diego, and this all happened, were there any cities you went to where you just didn't get any videotape not worthy to air?" Giles replied: "We are airing it. It's pretty worthy. Everyone seems to be -- ." Hannity then asked: "In other words, you didn't go into one office, and they said, 'We're not going to help you do anything like that?' " Giles responded, "No."

Breitbart: "There's no place, as ACORN tried to state, that kicked them out based upon the premise that they were doing something nefarious." Following Giles' denial, Hannity turned to Breitbart and said, "Not one? Every place you went, they helped you or were willing to help you, either -- not report you for an underaged prostitution ring, evade taxes as we've -- ." Breitbart responded, "Right. The -- it is interesting. There's no place, as ACORN tried to state, that kicked them out based upon the premise that they were doing something nefarious."

O'Keefe: "None of the facilities kicked us out. That's a lie." During the September 13 edition of Fox News' America's News HQ, senior correspondent Eric Shawn asked O'Keefe, "ACORN says that you went to, what, five other places around the country where they kicked you out. ... id you find ethical, honest ACORN employees in any of the places that you went to that kicked you out and said, 'No, we're not going to do this. We're not going to cooperate. We're not going to have ACORN help you'?" O'Keefe responded that the people at ACORN are "liars" and that he "bsolutely" wanted an apology and later added: "one of the facilities kicked us out. That's a lie."

O'Keefe was a little testy when told that ACORN claimed they WERE kicked out of several offices and thanks to Hannity, in his best 'salivating-at-the-thought-of-bringing-down-a-few-liberals' mode, they were given the chance to lie, not once, but over and over again.

After hearing about their denials Acorn's Philadelphia Office made the following statement:

.... "e called the police and filed this report." In a newly released YouTube video, Katherine Conway Russell, ACORN Housing Corp.'s Philadelphia office director, stated that O'Keefe visited the office "ast July" with "another woman." Russell stated that "fter asking several general questions, began to veer off into suspicious territory." Russell said that O'Keefe eventually "asked about bringing girls from El Salvador and getting them papers, et cetera," but that "I told them that there was nothing we could do to help them, that I didn't know anything about what they were asking about." Russell also said that after she contacted another ACORN official and it became clear that O'Keefe "lied to get his appointment," they contacted the police.

Katherine Conway Russell produced a copy of the police report proving that O'Keefe and Giles lied about the Philadelphia office. Too bad these 'great journalists, didn't do a little investigative work by calling the police themselves in the various towns they visited.





Rather than answer questions about these major discrepancies in their story, it appears that the two 'heroes' of the far right, are now in hiding from the press. It looks like Hannah Giles decided to skip a scheduled interview on CNN after these revelations:

CNN's Tucker: "ACORN gave CNN a copy of the police complaint." On the September 11 edition of CNN's Lou Dobbs Tonight, CNN news correspondent Bill Tucker reported: "ACORN gave CNN a copy of the police complaint filed against the filmmakers In Philadelphia. The filmmakers, James O'Keefe and Hannah Giles are not commenting and Giles was a no-show for an agreed-to interview with CNN."

There is lots more at the Media Matters link, including the transcript from the Hannity Show and video of the statement from Katherine Conway Russell which is really worth watching.

The problem now for them is, there is no doubt they lied about the Philadelphia office so why should anyone take their word about the other offices?

There is also a statement from another ACORN worker taped by them, that they left out crucial parts of her conversation with them. And there is also the statement and the evidence in the video itself, to back up ACORN worker Juan Carlos Vera's statements,(whose heart-wrenching statements can be seen in mzmolly's OP here http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x6587421) that these tapes were heavily edited and at least these two workers were badly smeared, losing their jobs and ruining their lives.

It's way past time to start a thorough investigation into this operation. The Baltimore State's Attorney is considering an investigation into their activities in MD where they may have violated laws. She issued this statement last week:

STATEMENT OF STATE’S ATTORNEYS OFFICE FOR BALTIMORE CITY RELATIVE TO THE ALLEGED BALTIMORE ACORN INCIDENT

Baltimore, MD – September 11, 2009 – We have received inquiries from citizens and the media asking whether the Baltimore City State’s Attorneys Office would initiate a criminal investigation for acts allegedly committed at ACORN offices located in Baltimore. The only information received in reference to this alleged criminal behavior was a YouTube video. Upon review by this office, the video appears to be incomplete. In addition, the audio portion could possibly have been obtained in violation of Maryland Law, Annotated Code of Maryland Courts and Judicial Proceedings Article §10-402, which requires two party consent.

If it is determined that the audio portion now being heard on YouTube was illegally obtained, it is also illegal under Maryland Law to willfully use or willfully disclose the content of said audio. The penalty for the unlawful interception, disclosure or use of it is a felony punishable up to 5 years.

Baltimore City State’s Attorney Patricia Jessamy can be reached by email: [e-mail]
or by phone [phone].

She may need some support as the right are going after her since this was made public.

[Warpy]

1. At some point, there will be a lawsuit

and the unedited tapes will be shown.

Until then, the truth will likely be a matter of opinion.

Giles and O'Keefe used Michael Moore's techniques to go after an organization that helps poor people instead of going after the rich and powerful people who are keeping them poor.

That's what I find disgusting.

[mzmolly]

5. Michael Moore crosses every T and dots every I.

These people, not so much. ;)

I agree with you fully on the disgusting part.

[Enthusiast]

73. Disgusting plus!

They don't make words enough to describe these horrible people.

[sabrina 1]

6. Except that MM does a good job, he's a professional and does not

lie about what he does. These two people are liars, now proven beyond a doubt. They were trained by people who see nothing wrong with lying. I have yet to see MM lie, and that is a huge difference, because even if he is going after wealthy crooks, it would still be wrong to lie.

Otherwise I agree, there will be lawsuits and I hope sooner rather than later.

[proud2BlibKansan]

8. Somewhere I read that one of them saw a report on TV of ACORN fighting a foreclosure

and was outraged by ACORN's actions. So that's why they decided to do this sting on ACORN.

That's when they lost me for sure. I can't even relate to believing that people deserve to lose their homes and the capitalist corporate mortgage holders need to be defended.

[sabrina 1]

10. Have you read Mr. Scorio's OP

about O'Keefe saying one reason he went after them was because they were registering people to vote, who would only vote for Democrats? If not, it's a wonderful OP and should be on this page still.

They are despicable human beings, they have zero humanity but what more could be expected from people who graduated from Karl Rove's former training ground, Morton Blackwell's school of how to screw America.

[Beaverhausen]

18. I doubt the unedited tapes exist anymore

Surely the Philadelphia visit tape is long gone.

[mzmolly]

22. Might be on some sort of hard drive?

:shrug:

[drm604]

36. Yes, but they may have deleted them from their hard drives.

Although, in a criminal investigation, or I suppose even in a civil lawsuit, there are tools that can sometimes recover deleted files.

[SemperEadem]

54. nothing is ever deleted from a hard drive

a good forensic computer tech can go in an retrieve anything.

[drm604]

56. Not absolutely 100% completely true,

but yes, things can often (but not always) be retrieved. I think that would require a warrant, which may be possible if they've violated Maryland wiretap laws.

[armyowalgreens]

82. There are programs that can "clean" a hard drive disc.

[drm604]

32. Michael Moore never poses as anyone other than who he is.

In all respect, and I know you mean well, but they are not using "Michael Moore's techniques". As far as I know Michael Moore never pretends to be someone else, and never lies when he talks to someone.

[sabrina 1]

41. I agree with you. MM is very honest

and has never posed as anyone else in order to deceive anyone. He always gives people the chance to refuse to speak to him as they know who he is. And many have refused.

This kind of under-handed, sneaky, stunt is what they learn at Blackwell's Liberty Institute, where Karl Rove is a hero. They are low, nasty individuals who appear to be without any kind of moral fiber. MM otoh, is courageous enough to talk to media, to back up what he says and to challenge those who question him because he does his homework.

These are amateurs and not even people with any potential other than a willingness to destroy people.

[Warpy]

62. Mike has used guerrilla theater in the past

and that's very loosely what these liars were doing, too.

I realize it's a stretch for some people to realize a ripped off technique can be used for very great evil, but it can be.

Again, it's the nature of the target that makes these two so completely disgusting. The poor and powerless are always easy targets for everybody. There is just no sport in it, at all, and it smacks of just more bullying.

[drm604]

70. Define guerrilla theater.

What exactly has he done in the past that equates to what they're doing? I'm not saying I disagree with you, just that I'm not aware of anything he's done comparable to this.

[Warpy]

71. I'll refer you to the role playing he did on his TV show

with and without his staff. The YouTubes are probably out there somewhere.

[sabrina 1]

72. I think you might be referring to MM's interview with

Charlton Heston. That received a lot of criticism from the right, and as always when the right lays down the law, there are always those on the left who rush to say 'me too'.

But there was zero comparison to that, which was done right out in the open. The people around Heston knew who MM was, they knew he was being interviewed by someone who would publish it. Nothing at all similar to this. And, Heston was still head of the NRA at the time. And had managed to hold a huge rally not long before that, opposing those who were speaking out after a little girl had been shot.

There was no acting, or disguise to deceive him. That is not MM's style, that is Rovian style.

If the NRA had not wanted him to represent them, they should have supplied someone else for the interview.

Sorry, I cannot agree with your comparison at all. And it makes no difference whether your cause is right or not, if you lie, if you set out to destroy lives, as these two have done, it is wrong, no matter how just the cause. If MM operated this way, I would condemn it also.

[ProudDad]

83. The essential difference is that MM

is concerned with Truth.

These slimeballs were out to try edit together a misleading hit piece against their favorite target, Acorn, because ACORN has the audacity to have helped poor people over the last 40 years!

There IS a vast moral difference between seekers after Truth and lying propagandists like these clowns.

[bvar22]

59. What is NOT a "matter of opinion" is....

...that there was a Police Report filed in Philadelphia that discredits the claims of Faux News and these new heroes of the Right Wing.

[svpadgham]

84. Do you think unedited tape still exists?

n/t

[Warpy]

92. Chances are good

These people are liars. They are certainly not above heavily editing what's left to produce more tape that says exactly the opposite of what the office people actually told them.

[sicksicksick_N_tired]

89. What I wish is that us consumers of "media" could file a lawsuit.

Why couldn't we? The "media" holds itself out as objective fact reporters. Why isn't every distortion a breach of "truth in reporting" or something like that? Is there NO LAW that holds the "news media" accountable when it clearly distorts facts?'

I really do not give a shit about the greedy, gullible little minions who are paid by the bigger guys to pull this shit.

I WANT JUSTICE AGAINST THE REAL CRIMINALS!!!

That is what I want,...and surely there is some law out there that achieves ultimate justice. IF NOT, we need to start writing and advocating more just and equal and democratic laws.

[sabrina 1]

90. I like that idea. I don't know why the people could not file

a class action suit against Fox, eg. What are the elements needed to win a suit?

Maybe the ACLU could answer the question. I believe that what these rightwing ideologues are doing, what they are being to do, violates the spirit of the law. They are taught to lie, and when the media participates in the lies, knowing full well who they are and how they operate, they are complicit in the harm done to the country as well as to individuals.

Don't the have to have a license to get on the air? Maybe start there and see what the license requires of them ~

[robinlynne]

2. been just waiting for this. sure there's more where this came from.

[Louisiana1976]

4. Yes.

[mzmolly]

3. K and R. Well done!

The words are red when I drag my mouse over? Not sure if that's deliberate?

FYI ~ For some reason in the sentence above the B and N did not copy over? I think the MM formating was iffy?

"absolutely" wanted an apology and later added: "None of the facilities kicked us out. That's a lie."

Thanks so much for posting this Sabrina. :hi:

[sabrina 1]

7. Thank you, mzmolly and thanks go to Turborama also

for your great work on this story. It was from Turborama's post in your excellent OP that I found this information.

It's a bit of a mess, but I'm sure more will be written about this by others, as it should be. I absolutely abhor liars like this, with no concern at all for the consequences to the lives of others.

[sabrina 1]

15. Mxmolly, the same thing is happening to me.

When I run the mouse over it, the whole text becomes like a link, and red as you say. Not deliberate, I thought it was a glitch or something. I'll try to go in an see if I did something with some of the links or html before it's too late.

Btw, I did edit to include a link to your OP on Juan Carlos Vera in case people did not already see it. Hope you don't mind.

[mzmolly]

21. Don't mind at all.

:hi: Much appreciation for your great post on the subject. :)

[sabrina 1]

20. Just noticed your correction ~

I'm cooking, or trying to and missed that. I did go back to see what might be causing the problem with the mouse-over issue. I checked all the html tags and the links, but couldn't find anything.


I'll try to fix the what you pointed out if there's still time. Thanks for pointing it out.

[mzmolly]

23. I totally understand.

I find myself multitasking while I post, all the time!

[sabrina 1]

37. Lol, me too.

I found the problem you pointed out. Rushing I just copied and pasted and there brackets around the first two letters you highlighted, which them disappear. I had the edit window open, fixed the problem, and got the 'too late' message ~ lol. That will teach me to review more carefully before hitting post!

[democracy1st]

9. K & R

[Wizard777]

11. They're probably hiding out at Glen Becks place.

[ThoughtCriminal]

12. Did it occur to O'Keefe & Henchmen

That if there are official investigations that they will likely be testifying before a Congressional committee. Under Oath.

There might also be more than a couple of questions that will be "Uncomfortable".

[sabrina 1]

14. I think they were arrogant enough to believe that no one

would question them. They are products of the Republican network of think tanks and the Young Republicans and most likely have the backing of that entire noise machine, which includes Fox 'News' and the vast rightwing radio talkshow network.

Also, since Congress acted so quickly, based on these very flawed videos with Democrats running as fast they could to protect themselves from name-calling by the right, what did they have to fear>

If you look back over the past week, few were willing to step up and question this shady operation, including people on the 'left' who are always ready to jump on their own.

But if people keep pushing, it may be that they will be placed under oath, somewhere. I wouldn't place my hopes on Congress though. I have never seen such a spineless bunch of people in my entire life.

[MagickMuffin]

31. You would at least think there would have been congressional investigations before stripping funding

Especially since the RW smear machine geared up its campaing against ACORN.

Just saw a report on my local Fox News that ACORN is now dropping their call for an investigation into the smears. Don't know how much truth there is to the report, but the ACORN CEO is nuts but to pursue it. Those cretins had one objective with their little stunt and that was to discredit and destroy ACORN. The report also stated that Obama thinks there should be an investigation into the videos and that he didn't take a stand on whether federal funding should be cut.


Do you know what committee would be holding the hearings and who the Chairperson is???

We need that info so we can put pressure on them to dig deeper into the cretins role in this.


edit: word change

[sabrina 1]

44. You would think that. This happened so fast

people didn't have time to figure out what was going on. I can't think of any other situation where Congress has acted so fast, and as you say, without any investigation.

I just saw what Obama said, pouring more oil on the fire. Each day I find at least one other reason to regret my support for him.

He is turning out to be just another politician who used people on the way up, like ACORN, and then walked away from them all as soon as he didn't need them anymore. This kind of behavior, repeated now on too many occasions, doesn't bode well for those of us who supported him on his way to the WH.

As for Ms Lewis, I am disappointed if she has dropped talk of filing a lawsuit against these people.

I hope that some of the workers, at least Juan Carlos Vera who clearly was smeared, then fired by ACORN, has a case he should pursue, imo.

I don't know what Committee would investigate this, maybe the Finance Committee since it involves funding? I'll check that out and see who's on it.

[Beaverhausen]

13. HUGE K&R

I hope these kids as well as Hannity go DOWN with this crap.

[bullwinkle428]

16. "Chirping crickets" are all I hear, from the

"ACORN is teh evil" contingent at DU...

[Confusious]

25. Is there one?

I would think most people would support or at least be neutral about acorn.

I never heard of them before Obama.

[unpossibles]

61. well, a lot of people seemed to cheer when this happened

then again, they may be eating pizza in heaven now for all I know.

[KittyWampus]

28. there is no '"Acorn is teh evil" contigent at DU'. I did notice some DU'ers reacting to the tapes

but since when does that really merit attention? That's what DU'ers do every day- REACT.

[endarkenment]

52. There was a notorious thread claiming something to the effect that

because some employees went along with the scam, even if they did so thinking it was a joke, even if it were subsequently revealed that some or all of these employees were in fact in cahoots with the scam artists, ACORN itself was to blame and should be held accountable, regardless of any existing policies, and despite the lack of any actual valid evidence of organizational malfeasance. The OP of that thread included the detail that the OP was a victim of child abuse and that as a consequence the OP was an authority on these matters.

I believe that was what is being referred to here.

[kestrel91316]

75. I just said one time that if they were doing what the tapes showed them doing,

then they deserved to be in trouble.

I hope that doesn't make me part of the "acorn is teh evil" contingent. Frankly, I'm happy at this recent turn of events. The RWers who pulled this stunt may see the inside of a jail before it's over.

[sabrina 1]

91. I got a sinking feeling too when the story first broke. With

no one counter-acting it, it was hard not believe that maybe it was true. But what kept me from making a decision were the sources who I have trained myself never to believe until they are backed up by other reliable sources. When I found that O'Keefe was a product of Morton Blackwell's journalism school, the infamous institution where Jeff Gannon got his 'degree', I know something was wrong and figured we'd find out, as we have regarding other alumni of that infamous institution, Karl Rove, Ralph Reed, Grover Norquist, Jeff Gannon, that the story we were told, probably was not as it appeared to be.

Don't feel bad as they've done a fabulous job demonizing people like liberals eg, and especially ACORN who they've been after for years. Even people on the left begin to succumb to the propaganda.

[eleny]

17. I've been waiting for something like this to surface

I hope that everyone involved in this smear operation is quaking.

And what can I say about the Dems who were so quick to scorn ACORN? They're still so afraid of the big bad FoxNews.

Those poor ACORN workers who got fired. Innocent until proven guilty are only words until someone stands up for that right.

[BlooInBloo]

19. It's fun watching DUers who hate ACORN dig into their foxholes with Beck.

[KittyWampus]

29. Another person claiming DU'ers hate ACORN. I haven't seen anyone here who "hates" ACORN

And I've been watching this whole debacle without posting once about it.

[BlooInBloo]

30. There are a lot of things you don't see, I would imagine.

[provis99]

34. I agree Bloo. Plenty of DUers have been taking potshots at ACORN.

Disgusting, really. they're as bad as the wusses in Congress who voted down ACORN's funding because the Republicans told them to.

[drm604]

35. I do see some saying that we should abandon ACORN,

they're toxic now, Dems should dissasociate from them etc.

I suspect that at least some of the ones saying these things are concern trolls, but one or two do seem to be DUers of long standing (years) with large post counts. :shrug:

[Hansel]

63. Then you must not have been paying very close attention. nt

[applegrove]

24. I still want to know what GOP group was funding these two.

[sabrina 1]

33. O'Keefe started out with Morton Blackwell's

Leadership Institute, which is where he learned how to be a rabble-rouser on college campuses. Karl Rove, Ralph Reed, and other infamous rightwingers are followers of Blackwell also. O'Keefe received funding from them to start a rightwing publican at Rutgers:

http://www.wheresthepaper.org/Salon05_24MyRightWingDegree.htm

The Rutgers Centurion is a conservative monthly that got off the ground this fall with institute help. Rutgers student James O'Keefe founded the magazine after coming across a conservative publication at Tufts. "I said, why don't we have this?" O'Keefe remembers. He taught himself a page-layout program and got in touch with the Leadership Institute, which dispatched a staffer to take him and his coeditors to dinner at an upscale local brewery. The institute gave O'Keefe books on starting a publication, awarded him a $500 "Balance in Media Grant," and suggested never-fail places on campus to ferret out liberal excess. "They were really excited," O'Keefe recalls.

However, Blackwell supposedly doesn't fund him as he's worried that O'Keefe's 'work' mught compromise the LI's tax status.

I think I did read that he was given some funds from someone, but don't remember where I saw that. However, these groups are all connected to each other, so it shouldn't be hard to figure out who's giving him the money.

[applegrove]

38. Thanks for that. I knew the trail led back to some rich person somewhere in the GOP.

[fascisthunter]

80. always does... that's how these cowards operate

with their money and the suckers who are more than willing to do their dirty work for them.

[Junkdrawer]

26. ACORN has been defunded and discredited. Careers have ben ruined...

Now they disappear for a while until a new "Expose" is needed.

Ho Hum. Just another day at the office for the Fox/Limbaugh/Beck crowd.

[jasi2006]

42. If Congress wasn't so afraid, they should investigate this sting.

I hope that Maxine puts forth a measure to re=fund ACORN.

[sabrina 1]

43. Maybe we should write to her and the others who voted

against the bill to defund Acorn. Kucinich, Hinchley ad Maxine were among those who did not vote for it.

This is the second case where an ACORN worker reported them to the police. Juan Carlos Vera also reported them. That's two offices they went to, San Diego and Philadelphia. Someone's paying their travel expenses also. We need all that information. There's enough evidence to show that they are liars regarding ACORN taking no action against them.

It's an outrage that action would be taken against an organization on such suspect evidence without even a question raised.

[Hansel]

66. Unfortunately Al Franken did. I'm so disappointed.

He is smart enough to know that these videos were likely doctored. He has no excuse having actually written books on the tactics of the right wing. No excuse whatsoever to fall for this without further investigation into what really was going on here.

[sabrina 1]

77. Yes, that is disappointing. He above all, should be very cautious

about anything coming from the rabid right. I wonder if it would help to email him some info. I think they become insulated once they get to DC. Something seems to happen to them.

Didn't affect Kucinich, though, or Hinchey from Upstate NY who is always on the right side of the issues, or Maxine Waters.

We are always playing defense. I thought once we got a majority we wouldn't have to do that anymore.

[Scruffy1]

81. Al Franken

Yes he through Acorn under the bus. Particularly disgusting because it was voters like me that knocked on doors to get a historicaly high turnout, but he still has time to recant. Call the office and read them the riot act.

[kestrel91316]

76. Acorn only got 2% of their funding from the feds. They will survive without it.

[Turbineguy]

27. Looks like ACORN

has found a new source for funding.....

[drm604]

39. Really?

Where?

[sabrina 1]

40. I was going to ask the same question.

But ACORN does receive funding from various sources so the defunding by Congress won't close them down.

I also read that that whole thing in Congress was worthless, as the defunding of ACORN was attached to another bill. It was political grand-standing it seems.

[Turbineguy]

47. From a nice fat lawsuit.

[sabrina 1]

55. Ah, thanks for the response ~

you would think they would, but I read that they have decided not to sue. Someone probably advised against it. However, some of the workers definitely have a case, especially Juan Carlos Vera. I doubt he has the money for a lawyer though.

Which means, they'll disappear for a while, nothing will happen to them, lives have been ruined and the Democrats will avoid the subject like the plague. And the baby Karl Roves will be considered heros as Rove is. He played this dirty tricks when in college also, and as a result of letting go back then, look what happened to this country.

[Proud Liberal Dem]

45. It's a good thing

Congress hasn't behaved in a knee-jerk fashion and cut off funding yet.
:sarcasm:

oh wait................................................

[LatteLibertine]

46. Of course

I want corrupt people in Acorn to be dealt with properly. On the other hand, it's wrong to suggest everyone in the organization is corrupt and that none of them do good work. IMO President Obama should defend them with the above qualification.

IMO this whole thing is just more of some of the most wealthy attempting to keep poor and middle class people squabbling across racial lines.

[ooglymoogly]

48. We are looking at pure evil straight in the eye here.

These two+ fakers are the worst of humankind and should be loudly excoriated, without the slightest care for mercy. The days of turning the other cheek are done. We are in a battle for the very goodness of soul of this country and these folks are just a few of the prolific army of evil's soldiers.

[sabrina 1]

49. I totally agree with you. Evil is the right word.

They remind me of the woman who pretended to have been attacked by a black man during the election. Reading her background, Young Republicans etc., and how little she cared about lying or causing harm to innocent people who might have gone to jail for a long time had she been believed, you felt a great sense of evil.

That's why they are hard to fight. They are quite prepared to go to lengths no decent person will go to. They come from the same training camps as Karl Rove. Hundreds of them are being trained every year. Something needs to be done about them, that's for sure.

[90-percent]

50. MM vs. O'Keefe & Giles

Michael seems like a decent, humble, self effacing guy with a GOOD SENSE OF HUMOR.

O'Keefe & Giles seem like predatory misleading bullies and their humor is condescending.

Nice guy vs. bullies, if you ask me.

-90% Jimmy

[sabrina 1]

53. Yep, I think I suggested that yesterday

that someone like MM start following them around with a video camera asking them the questions we all have now. Great idea. They need to know that every dirty trick they come up with, can be done right back to them.

[redqueen]

51. This was such an obvious smear campaign.

Hopefully we're all done hearing from those DUers who tried so hard to help the RW spread this bullshit.

[Hansel]

65. It's like someone turned on the lights and they scurried away. nt

[Wizard777]

57. If all goes well soon they will be hiding from the cops.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ca_sxbu6FoA">Altogether now!

[madmusic]

58. Another example of the death knell of the presumption of innocence

Either the media has too much unchecked power or people are too quick to jump to conclusions.

Probably both.

[sabrina 1]

60. It's both, but even that wouldn't have gotten these two morons

the attention they got, if it wasn't for what Brock calls, the Rightwing Noise Machine. They were idiots, their lies so obvious that at least one Acorn worker played them for the fools they were and then forgot about them. Of course they were following the lead of David Horowitz when he paid students to secretly video-tape 'Liberal professors'.

The vast rightwing network of think tanks, 'schools' to teach young activists how to 'get attention', radio talk shows, and their own personal TV propatanda outlet, Fox News, they had all this behind them. These organizations, some of them, are tax-exempt like O'Keefe's 'journalism' school, the same one Rove attended and Ralph Reed et al, and they're raising an army of these punks every year.

They know what to do. Pick a target, go after them, doesn't matter if you lie, skirt the law, just make noise, then the rest of the organization will take it from there.

This little stunt is being hailed as one their best successes. Every single Democrat should have refused to sign that bill and started an investigation right away. They are approving of this cancer in our political arena and are equally complicit, imo.

I have all but given up on the Dem. Party except for a few. But with the party as weak as it is, I am afraid that these thugs will be back in power and even worse than they were in the past.

What was the point of winning, if we never use the power and everything remains the same? I don't see any 'change' at all. The rightwing is still in control.

[Hansel]

64. I especially love how Jon Stewart fell for it.

His program has made an industry on video taping people and then editing them to make the person look as silly as possible. He's admitted this on his show several times and has voiced aloud "why would anyone allow us to film them"?

Then he falls hook, line and sinker for the same technique, albeit the people wielding it were doing it for much more nefarious reasons.

Jon got punk'd and should be man enough to own it.

[sabrina 1]

67. I agree, he needs to treat it now the way it should have been

treated from the beginning. It was the worst attempt at acting ever seen, and he and the rest of the media allowed Fox to report it as if it deserved anything other than a visit from the cops. I hope he makes some fun of them now. It's really sad that he joined in with the lowest form of journalism I've ever seen and didn't expose it as such.

[kooljerk666]

68. CALL THE BALTIMORE DA!!..I was the only positive call they received!!

I called & railed on about all the good ACORN does & was told I was the only person who was for ACORN calling since this began.

I would urge the DA to press ahead with charging these two, just because all the rednecks in America are against ACORN does not mean the rule of law should be followed.

If these two were Muslim or brown/black they would be in Guantanamo by now.

Baltimore City State’s Attorney Patricia Jessamy can be reached by email: [e-mail]
or by phone [phone]

[sabrina 1]

69. Okay, thanks for the reminder, I had it on my list of things to do

today. Maybe you should write an action OP to let other people know. I posted her statement above, and have seen the rightwing blogs organizing to go after her:

"SHES BLACK" said one breathlessly. They are calling I'm sure.

They have a different number for 'communications' it is:

443-984-1121

I just called and spoke to the woman at the desk. She said she would make a note of the call and thanked me.

[aquart]

87. Re-read your second sentence.

[kestrel91316]

74. My favorite part:

"If it is determined that the audio portion now being heard on YouTube was illegally obtained, it is also illegal under Maryland Law to willfully use or willfully disclose the content of said audio. The penalty for the unlawful interception, disclosure or use of it is a felony punishable up to 5 years."

[sabrina 1]

79. Yes, I liked the five years part. They need a real education

these spoiled republican brats and as one DUer said, maybe when they get out, they can get help re-establishing their voting rights etc, from ACORN. :rofl:

[rvablue]

78. Just one more example of why 2009 WILL NOT BE like the 1990s

Try as they might with their orchestrated smear tactics, it ain't going to work this time.

NOW, we have the inter-tubes, great TV hosts like KO and Rachel who will call them out and millions of college students and young professionals -- who normally wouldn't be delving into politics -- chortling at John Stewart and Stephen Colbert every night.

Keep it up, guys. It's not going to fly this time. There are way to many very public voices and millions upon millions of unknown ones on the internet, looking into your lies and calling you out!

[sabrina 1]

88. I really hope you're right ~

We can debunk them faster now online, but they do have a lot of money and power behind them.

[irislake]

85. You sure have a lot of sleazeballs in your country.

Not that we don't have them north of the border but we don't give them so much media attention. Must drive you nuts.

[sabrina 1]

86. It does, trust us ~

I wondered how it looked to people from other countries ~ and yes, they get way too much attention here, but they work on and we have a dumbed down media ever since Rupert Murdoch invaded us.

[Turborama]

93. Kick, too late to rec but here's the post with the video of Katherine Conway Russell explaining...

...what happened: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=385x373378">Police Report Filed By ACORN Exposes False Claims By Nefarious Individuals Behind "Sting" Videos

Excellent work tying all this together, sabrina.

BTW I've added you to my buddies list to see if you add any new stuff to your Journal. ;-)


:kick: