Ugh, James O’Keefe. Andrew Breitbart’s protege and the man behind the downfall of ACORN ( because black voters tend to be Democrat voters ) is trending on Twitter after he began opining that the explosive secret Mitt Romney video released by Mother Jones and ensuing reaction demonstrates some sort of bias against his work compared with what he claims is a similar venture by the surreptitious recorder at the $50,000-a-plate Romney fundraiser.
James O’Keefe’s whiny contention that he’s been treated differently and that the reactions are somehow evidence of vast liberal conspiracy to spread facts are the perfect encapsulation of the false equivalency the right embraces when it comes to actual true things.
Andrew Breitbart, the now deceased mentor of O’Keefe (until Breitbart distanced himself when O’Keefe fell afoul of the law allegedly trying to wiretap Mary Landrieu’s office in Louisiana) pioneered the same brand of reporting his heir apparent embraced — misleading video based on much off-camera arranging to create one impression in total disregard for actual facts or context.
And to compare what O’Keefe has done to the secret Mitt Romney tapes is just that sort of disingenuousness. O’Keefe manipulated circumstances and cut tapes to create an impression different to the circumstances being recorded, most notably in his ACORN videos. (And when the full tapes were released, it became apparent that what O’Keefe claimed was misleading at best, and totally inaccurate at other times.)
But even that didn’t matter, as the minority voter outreach program disintegrated all the same.
However, to compare Mother Jones’ release of the tape to James O’Keefe’s efforts is an insult to Mother Jones, tapes and releases the world over. While O’Keefe tried his damnedest to create impressions of things that didn’t happen, an actual person caught actual remarks Mitt Romney actually said, remarks that were not selectively edited to create a narrative inaccurate to the one Romney presented.
In fact, Mitt Romney himself has addressed the remarks he himself made , standing by exactly what he said in the tape . And even more damningly, when asked, Mother Jones ‘ David Corn did not prevaricate and happily released the full nearly-hour long speech made by Romney at the dinner.
Mind boggling. Unheard of.RT @ jimacostacnn : Extraordinary. Romney calls on hidden cam leakers to put out the “full video”
— James O’Keefe(@JamesOKeefeIII) September 18, 2012
Yes, James O’Keefe, it may feel like you are being treated unfairly, but it wasn’t your views or affiliation that caused you to be rightly pilloried in the press. It was your dishonesty, your shady tactics and your desire to achieve an outcome based upon inaccurate information above all else that did you in. (That, and your failed deception with Landrieu, which allegedly broke laws .)
Have you watched the secret Mitt Romney tape in full yet? Do you think it was unfair to tape Mitt Romney saying what he actually believes?
[ Retraction notice: This article originally stated that James O’Keefe wiretapped the offices of Mary Landrieu’s office, a charge that was only alleged by members of the media. While O’Keefe was arrested he and four other men plead guilty to ‘Entering Federal Property Under False Pretenses’ – a lesser charge.]