Filmmaker Who Targeted ACORN Arrested in Alleged Senate Phone Scheme

[bodecea]

Fox News host Glenn Beck, who gave considerable attention to the ACORN videos on his TV show told his radio audience Wednesday that if the charges against O’Keefe are true, it is “insanely stupid and illegal” behavior. “I haven’t heard his side, but you don’t do anything illegal, that’s Watergate territory,” Beck said. “You don’t do anything to hurt security for the president or for a senator or anybody else. You don’t mess around with it. Ever.”

“They are, of course, presumed innocent until proven guilty,” wrote conservative blogger Michelle Malkin about the accused. “But for now, let it be a lesson to aspiring young conservatives interested in investigative journalism: Know your limits. Know the law. Don’t get carried away. And don’t become what you are targeting.”

Read more: Right wary of defending O'Keefe - Andy Barr - POLITICO.com

But lest we not forget who the "victim" is. Can't muster too much sympathy for her.

Don't become what you are targetting? What does Malkin mean about that?

 

[jillian]

You make it really difficult to have a serious discussion. And this incident, on a lot of levels, require a serious discussion.

why does it require serious discussion on a lot of levels?

i figure it appears they wanted to try to set up a U.S. Senator. so they broke in.

not the first time that's been done. this time it just isn't the president's men doing it.

 

[Shogun]

You make it really difficult to have a serious discussion. And this incident, on a lot of levels, require a serious discussion.

Then skip my posts. Or, better yet, block me entirely. You'll come to realize that responses like yours means two things to me. go ahead and ask around for someone whose been here longer than yourself to tell you what those two things are.

Tell you what. Why don't you block me, then you wont' feel any urge at all to respond to anything I post. I can't see sensoring myself just to placate you.

You don't seem to understand. You cried like a nelly little bitch about MY posts. Not the other way around. I don't really give a shit enough about you to do more than respond to your tears... about MY posts. If you choose not to censor yourself then so be it; but letting your bleeding pussy drip all over the floor when responding to, again, one of MY posts is just disingenuous of the nature of your original complaint.

 

[Vast LWC]

Yeah, I can sleep better tonight knowing that the FBI finally got James O'Keefe, he's like #4 on Obama top ten Most Wanted List

And if this had been a left-wing operative caught trying to wiretap a Republican Senator, you would be the person screaming for blood the loudest.

Seriously dude, your partisan hypocrisy is really obvious here.

You should quit while you're behind.

 

[AllieBaba]

Yeah, I can sleep better tonight knowing that the FBI finally got James O'Keefe, he's like #4 on Obama top ten Most Wanted List

And if this had been a left-wing operative caught trying to wiretap a Republican Senator, you would be the person screaming for blood the loudest.

Seriously dude, your partisan hypocrisy is really obvious here.

You should quit while you're behind.

You don't have to lie to make friends.

Wait, maybe you do.

 

[Vast LWC]

You don't have to lie to make friends.

Wait, maybe you do.

I not really sure what this even means...

Am I supposedly "lying" about frank, or is frank lying?

 

[beowolfe]

You make it really difficult to have a serious discussion. And this incident, on a lot of levels, require a serious discussion.

why does it require serious discussion on a lot of levels?

i figure it appears they wanted to try to set up a U.S. Senator. so they broke in.

not the first time that's been done. this time it just isn't the president's men doing it.

Why? IMO, this is why:

1. IF it was political espionage (and that has not been ruled out), that is very serious.
2. IF it was simply independent journalism, we need to know what he was looking for and what made him think he'd find it there? If Senator Landrieu, through this guys actions, is being alleged to have done something illegally, that's also very serious.

As one of 300 odd million shareholders of this nation, both scenarios, IMO, deserve a serious discussion among the shareholders.

 

[AllieBaba]

"And if this had been a left-wing operative caught trying to wiretap a Republican Senator, you would be the person screaming for blood the loudest."

but really, I just like to say that.

 

[Contessa_Sharra]

Seems o'keefe was busy trying to scam Planned Parenthood as well with that Lila Rose person, who posed as a 13 year old trying to get an abortion, even though she was 20.

Lila Rose is represented by CRC Public Relations, who were part of the Swiftboat Whores thing......

 

[jillian]

Why? IMO, this is why:

1. IF it was political espionage (and that has not been ruled out), that is very serious.
2. IF it was simply independent journalism, we need to know what he was looking for and what made him think he'd find it there? If Senator Landrieu, through this guys actions, is being alleged to have done something illegally, that's also very serious.

As one of 300 odd million shareholders of this nation, both scenarios, IMO, deserve a serious discussion among the shareholders.

Obviously, I have my own opinion on the subject. I think its clearly political espionage. There's nothing "independent" about this guy. Charge him, try him and see how it plays out. What will really be interesting is where the guy got the funding and whether anyone else was privvy to it. And could it be that it was done because her seat doesn't come up til 2014 and she supports health care?

hmmmmmmmmmm... I suppose there are a million conspiracies we can imagine.

I figure I'll wait for the trial.

 

[Article 15]

You don't have to lie to make friends.

Wait, maybe you do.

I not really sure what this even means...

Am I supposedly "lying" about frank, or is frank lying?

I wouldn't pay much attention to Babble on this one ... she seems to think this moron getting caught in the act of a felony is retaliation for the ACORN bit.

 

[chanel]

So, crimes against people you don't like shouldn't be prosecuted?
This was meant as reply to Chanel.

No dear. If they are guilty, they should be prosecuted. But I don't like Ms. Landrieau and would like to see her punished as well. At the ballot box.

 

[Vast LWC]

"And if this had been a left-wing operative caught trying to wiretap a Republican Senator, you would be the person screaming for blood the loudest."

but really, I just like to say that.

again, I have no idea what this means.

Are you disputing that a "right-wing operative" was involved?

Robert Flanagan was certainly an outspoken right-wing operative, and the son of a Republican appointed assistant AG who had every motivation to spy on the Senator.

O'Keefe may have investigated criminal activities at ACORN, which was admirable, but then instead of alerting the authorities, he brought his tapes to the press first, tainting the jury pool, and clearly serving right-wing political ends by doing so. Since then, he has been the main speaker at a slew of conservative events.

 

[Vast LWC]

You don't have to lie to make friends.

Wait, maybe you do.

I not really sure what this even means...

Am I supposedly "lying" about frank, or is frank lying?

I wouldn't pay much attention to Babble on this one ... she seems to think this moron getting caught in the act of a felony is retaliation for the ACORN bit.

Ahh, interesting point of view, I guess. LOL.

 

[jillian]

So, crimes against people you don't like shouldn't be prosecuted?
This was meant as reply to Chanel.

No dear. If they are guilty, they should be prosecuted. But I don't like Ms. Landrieau and would like to see her punished as well. At the ballot box.

you'll have to wait til 2014. and she isn't your senator. she represents louisiana. they get to pick their own senators.

 

[NYcarbineer]

Caller #1 to FBI: There's an Islamist nutball at Ft Hood.

Response: Yawn

Caller #2 to FBI: James O'Keefe...

Response: MOBILIZE SWAT!! TASK A SATELLITE!! WHERE'S Jack Bauer

Except that hasn't happened. The network news didn't even cover it last night. You know how pick 'em Frankenberry.

 

[Ravi]

You guys do realize there is a difference between someone committing a crime on video and a news story alleging that someone is committing a crime, dont you? Sure, the person on the video still has a pressumption of innocence. But no one is stupid enough to believe that they didn't commit the crime. Heck, even my clients who were stupid enough to video tape themselves committing crimes knew they were guilty.

But I suppose we should just ignore reality. We should make a judgment based on zero known evidence and throw away the key.

Except...none of those filmed committed a crime.

 

[Ravi]

Now, don't get me wrong. I think the fact that this guy caught corrupt ACORN employees in action was impressive.

Even though it didn't prove anything that the Republicans had been accusing ACORN of, he did expose a completely separate crime.

However, this latest exploit proves that he did not act to serve the public interest, but is instead a political hack. And a stupid one at that.

What crime did it expose?

 

[EriktheRed]

Here's some evidence. Not only of political party affiliation, but of motivation:

KTBS 3 News | Shreveport, LA: ArkLaTex News - Finley nominated to be U.S. Attorney

President Barack Obama has nominated a federal prosecutor in Lafayette to be U.S. Attorney for Louisiana's western district that is headquartered in Shreveport.

Stephanie Finley's nomination on Wednesday must be confirmed by the Senate before she can take the post.

Finley would replace Donald Washington, who was appointed by President George W. Bush and resigned on Monday. The U.S. Attorney's office is currently run by Bill Flanagan of Shreveport, the first assistant U.S. Attorney.

Bill Flanagan's son was one of the perpetrators that were arrested.

Bush hired Washington, who hired Flanagan, one would assume he's a conservative. And, more specifically, a conservative that was pissed that Democrats had appointed a Democratic choice for AG over him, instead of allowing him to make his temporary control of the AG's office permanent.

Also:

Conservative ties bind 4 La. phone plot suspects - TDS

The fourth suspect, Robert Flanagan, 24, wrote for the New Orleans-based conservative Pelican Institute and had recently criticized Landrieu for voting in favor of health care legislation after securing a Medicaid provision helpful to her state.

How's that for evidence?

Also, from the article I posted earlier:

James O'Keefe, Joseph Basel, and Stan Dai each founded or led the alternative conservative newspapers on their respective college campuses.

After graduating, O'Keefe, the filmmaker behind the ACORN stings, actually worked for a year as a recruiter for the Leadership Institute, one of a handful of conservative organizations that provide seed money to students who want to launch alternative newspapers.

Fostering the growth of alternative media on campus -- publications that are more often National Review-style opinion journals than reporting-intensive newspapers -- has been a tactic of the conservative movement for decades. The Collegiate Network, for example, was founded in 1979 and supports over 100 papers per year. CampusReform.org, the campus component of the Leadership Institute, employs 16 staffers.

Our first case is Stan Dai, who served as the editor-in-chief of the GW Patriot at George Washington University. Dai was also a Club 100 Activist of Young America's Foundation, and an Undergraduate Fellow on Terrorism of the Foundation for the Defense of the Democracies, according to a scholarship citation at the conservative Philips Foundation (h/t Lindsay Beyerstein).

<snip>

The GW Patriot, it's worth noting, is the same paper that produced John McCormack, the Weekly Standard scribe with the habit of getting into scuffles at political events.

Both O'Keefe and Basel seem to have gotten their start in the conservative college press with a little bit of help from the Leadership Institute, the group that aims to recruit and train conservative activists.

 

[Vast LWC]

Now, don't get me wrong. I think the fact that this guy caught corrupt ACORN employees in action was impressive.

Even though it didn't prove anything that the Republicans had been accusing ACORN of, he did expose a completely separate crime.

However, this latest exploit proves that he did not act to serve the public interest, but is instead a political hack. And a stupid one at that.

What crime did it expose?

Conspiracy to commit tax evasion and fraud.