It's pretty simple, actually. Commit a crime in the name of 'creating chaos for glory', call yourself an activist, strike a self-righteous pose where all criminal acts are justifiable when the goal is to 'expose corruption', and just like that, the world will forget what a sniveling, snarky, evil little weasel you really are while George Stephanopoulis lobs softball questions your way.
That's Andrew Breitbart's formula for the rehabilitation of James O'Keefe, his golden boy undercover video pimp. And what better target for O'Keefe than the census workers who already face unnecessary danger, thanks to the right-wing hysterics who claim they are agents of Dark Forces Against Liberty?
O'Keefe's short stint as a Census worker is the latest in a controversial string of attempts to expose alleged government waste or wrongdoing. He said he considers himself an investigative journalist, while critics have labeled him a political activist.
O'Keefe became an overnight sensation last year after he and a friend posed as a pimp and a prostitute to secretly record ACORN workers giving them advice on how to cheat on their taxes. The videos led to a massive political backlash and led to the community organizer's being shut down.
"This is not a left or right thing," he said of his stings. "This is about exposing corruption."
I'll call BS on that. If I learned anything from Breitbart's little panel with John Amato a couple of weeks ago, it's this: Andrew Breitbart doesn't know or care about today's issues. He is a man on a mission. The only thing that gets him excited is the possibility that he can put the screws to the people he hates. That's all. Nothing more. No altruistic love for politics or people or even conservative values.
Well, one conservative value clearly moves him. Money. O'Keefe's journohackery is just a way to make more of it. That's all.
In fact, NewsCorpse compares O'Keefe's latest report to reality. As usual, there are pesky little details that expose his bias and tendency to lie yet again, and expose O'Keefe to the possibility of additional criminal charges.
So what we have here is O’Keefe confessing again to a crime. He knowingly signed the time sheet despite his having lied on it about the hours he worked. He knew that it was unlawful to do so, yet he did it anyway. This couldn’t be a more clear cut case. What’s more, there are laws against interfering with the conduct of the census. Since O’Keefe never intended to provide the services to which he agreed upon on employment, he could be liable for additional charges in that regard. And that’s not all. The Washington Post reports that O’Keefe may also have broken laws relating to surreptitiously recording Commerce Department conversations.
Update: Media Matters has an excellent summary, too.
