Patterico's Pontifications

10/25/2009

Things That Make You Go: Hmmmmmmmmm

Filed under: Dog Trainer,General — Patterico @ 12:05 pm



In re-researching the ACORN scandal for my letter to Nick Goldberg, I ran across something interesting that I had missed before. Apparently, Giles and O’Keefe went to ACORN in Los Angeles — and an L.A. Times columnist implies they got kicked out.

By contrast, Breitbart says they didn’t get kicked out anywhere.

Someone is going to end up with egg on their face. Who do you think it will be? Breitbart? Or the L.A. Times columnist?

If I were a betting man, I know which way I’d bet.

When the ACORN San Diego video was released, Andrew Breitbart said on “Hannity”: “There’s no place, as ACORN tried to state, that kicked them out based upon the premise that they were doing something nefarious.”

In a September 23 column, L.A. Times columnist James Rainey — arch foe of Fox News — tried to prove otherwise. [Read the next sentence in a singsong voice, like people use when they make statements that they have to make, but that they think are really unimportant. — P] OK, sure, fine, a few bad apples tried to advise O’Keefe and Giles about how to successfully pimp out 13-year-old El Salvadorian girls. But, Rainey wrote, the scandal is not as bad as portrayed by those unreliable conservatives. For example, Rainey wrote:

[V]isits to other ACORN offices have gone almost entirely unmentioned. Lavelle Stewart, a fair-housing coordinator in the group’s Los Angeles office, told me this week that she tried to get the “prostitute,” who claimed she had been beaten by her pimp, to go to a women’s center.

“The fact she was not taking the help I offered her made me think something was not right,” Stewart said. “It raised a red flag.”

So, I guess O’Keefe and Giles hit ACORN in L.A., huh? And I guess ACORN in L.A. is claiming to be squeaky clean, huh?

That’s evidently how Media Matters took Lavelle Stewart’s claims, in a post titled LA Times report further undermines ACORN videographers’ credibility.

Surely, though, Lavelle Stewart wouldn’t claim to be squeaky clean when she isn’t, knowing that whatever she said is on tape. After all, nobody lies when they know they’re on tape, right? Wrong — as we found out in Philadelphia, when ACORN worker Katherine Conway Russell went on TV and lied about a) whether prostitution had been mentioned; b) whether Giles and O’Keefe were kicked out; c) whether Giles was dressed unusually; and d) whether she gave any help to Giles and O’Keefe.

In a butt-covering move, ACORN even filed a false police report claiming that O’Keefe had caused a “verbal disturbance” — something clearly belied by the tape.

Katherine Conway Russell’s mistake, apparently, was believing that because Breitbart hadn’t released the tape, he didn’t have anything on her. What she apparently didn’t realize is that Breitbart has been dribbling this stuff out, giving rope to people like her, who dutifully hang it around their necks with false statements that they think can’t be disproved.

I wonder if Lavelle Stewart is making the same mistake. I wonder if James Rainey is going to end up looking really stupid when all is said and done.

I guess we’ll find out, eventually. But I’ll say this: when Breitbart categorically states that no ACORN office kicked out Giles and O’Keefe for doing something nefarious, I believe him. Which means that my money is on Rainey looking stupid.

P.S. Did Rainey contact Breitbart, Giles, or O’Keefe for his column? He didn’t say that he did, so I assume not. But just to make sure, I have written Rainey and Breitbart to ask. I’ll let you know what they say, if anything.

47 Responses to “Things That Make You Go: Hmmmmmmmmm”

  1. They are just counting on the MSM protecting them, Patterico. Because it has been.

    But the internet, and Fox News, has no trouble putting out the information.

    The ACORNites also know that if they stonewall, and keep repeating their falsehoods, many people will believe them. Remember the Rush Limbaugh false quotes? No one in the MSM even checked. And ask your progressive friends—without even looking into it, they accept the falsehoods.

    Because it fit Teh Narrative.

    There is a culture war. This is part of it.

    Eric Blair (dd11cc)

  2. I’ve been arguing about this story for weeks with a fellow friend in journalism, and of course he dismisses this as all as “just a bunch of performance artists” who don’t practice “responsible journalism” and are really “just exhibitionists.” Gag me with a spoon, the spinning over this by the MSM is a better contortionist job that you’ll likely to see at a Cirque Du Soleil performance.

    Dmac (5ddc52)

  3. Dmac, so, because your friend assigns the labels, it then automatically negates any evidence, is that how it works?

    If *he* calls them performance artists who are just exhibitionists , how does that change the material on the videos? Does he see any inconsistency in that?

    Dana (e9ba20)

  4. Did Media Matters contact Breitbart, Giles or O’Keefe for comment or did they automatically assume what was in the LA Times was true? Surely they followed some pretense of journalistic principles, which they accuse Fox News of lacking, and attempted to ascertain the truth before acting as mere stenographers for the MSM. That is, unless they are so eager to believe the worst, they will publish absolutely anything which makes conservative look bad.

    You decide.

    daleyrocks (718861)

  5. Think of all of the so-called professional journalists who could have exposed these criminals and didn’t. Giles and O’Keefe are amazing. And Breitbart is awesome. I love the way he is rolling this information out slowly so that it doesn’t just flash and die.

    Damn, Hannah Giles is hot.

    the wolf (7cffb6)

  6. Dana, facts don’t matter to this group. Feelings do. So if you feel that the facts don’t fit Teh Narrative, you can reject them.

    Again, look at the number of our Left of center friends who believed that Limbaugh had actually said that James Earl Ray should have received the National Medal of Honor.

    That’s how Teh Narrative has portrayed opposition to its goals. The Right can do the same thing, of course; both sides must guard against “bumper sticker” politics. But the Left really does think that the Right is evil, not just wrong.

    It’s a culture war.

    Eric Blair (dd11cc)

  7. And, when fighting evil, anything goes?

    Eric Blair (dd11cc)

  8. I wonder if James Rainey is going to end up looking really stupid

    And you really have to ask ?

    A reader of this blog pointed out to me in an e-mail that PBS is now peddling a revisionist version of the Fannie Freddie story. I guess they have decided that enough time has passed and nobody remembers. I dug up an old post and expanded it a bit after I got the e-mail.

    This is SOP for the left and the legacy media.

    Wait until the dust clears and memories fade, then roll out the lie.

    MIke K (addb13)

  9. If *he* calls them performance artists who are just exhibitionists , how does that change the material on the videos? Does he see any inconsistency in that?

    No, because he hangs his entire hat on the theory that since they went in under disguises (but not aliases, btw), then nothing obtained after that is valid.

    Don’t ask me what my response was to that one, can’t print it here. But as Eric reiterated, the mind – set of so many of these folks is like concrete: quick to set, and never changes.

    Dmac (5ddc52)

  10. OT, the culture truth war on global warming — with a journalism professor doing the predictable thing to science.

    Read the comments. This professor asked me if I had seen Algore’s “An Inconvenient Truth,” so help me Deus. I told him no, because Gore is not a scientist, and the movie is not a scientific publication. This professor also cites the Union of Concerned Scientists as a reliable source.

    I think I stirred the nest by mentioning a recent paper supporting the cosmic ray hypothesis. Sorta destroys that “settled science” trope.

    Brother Bradley J. Fikes, C.O.R. (0ea407)

  11. ACORN did not offer to facilitate underage prostitution with that women, Hanna Giles.

    ropelight (e08903)

  12. It’s creepy how George Soros’ little David Brock eunuch person tries to slime these nice kids. They’re like in their 20s and David Brock is trying to ruin them. He’s a vicious and disturbed little man I think how he whores himself out for Daddy Soros.

    happyfeet (71f55e)

  13. I question the provenance of Katherine Russell’s police report. When was it actually filed? Who was the officer who took the report, and are there any direct or indirect connections to ACORN or Russell? Was the report backdated to give cover for Russell and ACORN after Breitbart’s initial reports surfaced?

    Enquiring Minds want to know. There is no another reason for Russell to expose herself as a bald faced liar, except as part of a limited hangout. You saw her lies, why would she do that unless it was to her benefit?

    A “limited hangout” is the term used for the willingness to expose one embarrassing transgression in order to conceal something much more sinister, and much more important in keeping Democrats in office, particularly Obama.

    ropelight (e08903)

  14. [V]isits to other ACORN offices have gone almost entirely unmentioned. Lavelle Stewart, a fair-housing coordinator in the group’s Los Angeles office, told me this week that she tried to get the “prostitute,” who claimed she had been beaten by her pimp, to go to a women’s center.

    “The fact she was not taking the help I offered her made me think something was not right,” Stewart said. “It raised a red flag.”

    Huh. The fact that a woman in a violent relationship with her pimp wouldn’t immediately go to a women’s center at the behest of a social worker is so unheard-of as to be suspicious. Why, women in that situation always eagerly get help once they are told it’s available!

    Is there even an imaginable less credible situation? How about this: Can you envision a situation where the reporting party even went so far as to deny the violent events occurred? That would be an even more obvious sign that the person disclaiming their previous report of violent behavior was, in fact, a Republican operative.

    –JRM

    JRM (355c21)

  15. Breitbart is playing the MSM with his finely tuned violin. When he is interviewed about what is still forthcoming, he looks like the Cheshire Cat. I hope he is enjoying orchestrating this, as much as we enjoy seeing it play out.
    I do recall some serious inconsistencies on the date that the alleged police report was filed, I think after the airing of the first video, and the fellow that was hailed for calling police was quietly fired.

    sybilll (d2533d)

  16. The police report in Philly was filed on the same day — it’s confusing because the time stamp on their camera is 4 years and 3 days off, but they say when they went. But the “report” was apparently made by someone other than the lady, and it falsely alleges a disturbance that obviously didn’t happen, given the tape embedded in the post.

    As for the San Diego guy, he didn’t call the police, exactly . . . he called his cousin. Two days later. Maybe his cousin told him he might be the target of a sting and it would be best to report it.

    Patterico (64318f)

  17. People who have last names that begin with R and H and what write for the LA Times do not deserve the benefit of the doubt, as they have proven themselves to be aggressively dishonest while servicing Teh Narrative.

    JD (abe6ab)

  18. “The fact she was not taking the help I offered her made me think something was not right,” Stewart said. “It raised a red flag.”

    That’s not Hannah and James. It’s not their MO and it wouldnt fit for what they are doing. They are trying to get assistance for starting a brothel of underage girls. Why send Hannah in alone to claim her pimp is beating her up? It does nothing for the narrative. Stewart either made that up or is confusing her w/ a real prostitute.

    chas (9d4aa2)

  19. I think they did talk about an abusive pimp at some locations, actually.

    Patterico (64318f)

  20. Andrew Breitbart is a sadist (in a good way) — he and his crew release just enough information about each incident to provoke a response from ACORN that is refutable with the release of just a little bit more information.

    And, like Wile E. Coyote, ACORN and Co. fall for it EVERY SINGLE TIME — they’re as predictable as a Jesse Jackson press conference.

    Better still, the more we hear about ACORN the more we see of Ms. Giles — yabba-dabba-DOO!.

    furious (71af32)

  21. I’d like to know more about the Philadelphia police report and whether the complainant worked at that ACORN office. Is anyone aware of a link that has more on that?

    DRJ (dff2ca)

  22. Furious, the Wile E Coyote analogy is very good. They really do seem to have a learning disability.

    MIke K (addb13)

  23. Here are a couple of posts about it; I’m not really sure what their sourcing is.

    Patterico (64318f)

  24. That was helpful. Thanks.

    DRJ (dff2ca)

  25. The purpose of the Philly police report was to confuse and confound.

    When you can introduce doubt, it benefits the accused, and lawyers can use that to create doubt in the mind of the public, as well as the jury, if it comes to that.

    Ag80 (815bcd)

  26. Didn’t the Philly police call happen after-the-fact, and the report noted that?

    JD (4fb388)

  27. Someone is going to end up with egg on their face. Who do you think it will be? Breitbart? Or the L.A. Times columnist?

    Report: Majority Of Newspapers Now Purchased By Kidnappers To Prove Date

    h/t: Mike C.

    EW1(SG) (edc268)

  28. Basing your argument on the silence of your opponent is never a good idea.

    Amphipolis (b120ce)

  29. I have a question. Why haven’t the Philadelphia police filed charges against the person who filed the false police report? Is this another case of in Philly, Democrats can get away with murder, and they GOP gets falsely accused of everything including murder?

    PCD (1d8b6d)

  30. The charges haven’t been filed because the local Black Panthers were policing outside of ACORNS offices.

    Dmac (5ddc52)

  31. Dmac, you sure the Black Panthers’ women aren’t policing or snitching from within the Police stations?

    PCD (1d8b6d)

  32. #5, the wolf said, “I love the way he (Breitbart)is rolling this information out slowly so that it doesn’t just flash and die.”

    Yes, he’s doing a masterful job of letting ACORN paint themselves into a corner before lowering the boom. So much so that I now wonder if O’Keefe’s claim his battery went dead toward the end of the interview is yet another trap designed to catch even more ACORN lies.

    ropelight (e79e24)

  33. Ropelight,

    You aren’t accusing Breitbart of using a “rope-a-dope” strategy against ACORN, are you?

    PCD (1d8b6d)

  34. PCD

    Are you implying that Acorn is a bunch of dopes?

    Oh, wait, they are!

    Yeah, what Brietbart is doing is a stead drip-drip-drip water torture on this sick organization.

    A.W. (b1db52)

  35. A.W.,

    Is is more like a cat playing with its prey before the kill.

    PCD (1d8b6d)

  36. I contend that protecting ACORN is behind Obama’s War on FOX NEWS. Sure, Mr Hope and his allies didn’t care for a media outlet not already in the tank for Teh One. But when FOX started showing O’Keef and Giles vids that’s when the knives came out. Especially the threat to other news outlets not to follow FOX’s leads. Axelrod showed his ass, and he revealed how frightened and vulnerable they are.

    Never forget Obama was an ACORN (Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now) organizer and lawyer. He’s one of them, SEIU too.

    If ACORN goes down, the whole rotten house of cards could fall, and change Mr Hope into Mr Disgraced and Rejected.

    ropelight (e79e24)

  37. Btw, damn you patterico, you made me remember that crappy song by the c&c music factory (not to mention gave me bad flashbacks to the arsenio show).

    A.W. (b1db52)

  38. JD in #17–are you going for a trifecta?
    Rainey, Rutten & Hiltzik? If so, you got it.
    Three swine more dishonest than these in “serving the narrative”, I’ve yet to see.

    Mike Myers (710e8b)

  39. Is is more like a cat playing with its prey before the kill.

    …more like Godzilla vs. Bambi.

    Dmac (5ddc52)

  40. With apologies to Hugh Hewitt, Dmac, it is more like the Packers obliterating the Browns.

    PCD (1d8b6d)

  41. PCD

    Maybe it is like taking the browns to the super bowl.

    (that’s a reference to a line i hear is in Zombieland.)

    A.W. (b1db52)

  42. A.W.,

    I’ll have to take your word for it. I haven’t see Zombieland. I have this problem seeing anything Woody Harrelson is in, including Cheers.

    Oh, to any longtime Hewitt listeners: Yes, I’m Dan from Anaheim that used to give Hugh a hard time about the Browns and the Packers wiping the floor with them.

    PCD (1d8b6d)

  43. A.W., since you brought in movies, how about Alderan vs. The Death Star?

    PCD (1d8b6d)

  44. i haven’t seen it either, but read about the line in a review. when a character announces he is going to the restroom, he says he is “taking the Browns to the Super Bowl.”

    I don’t know. every time i think about that line i laugh.

    A.W. (b1db52)

  45. A.W.,

    Maybe Brady Quinn will go if the Packers are playing in it and A.J. Hawk allows his brother-in-law to have one of his family tickets. (Quinn’s sister is Hawk’s wife.)

    PCD (1d8b6d)

  46. […] to contact Breitbart — or Giles or O’Keefe — to ask their side of the story. I predicted that Rainey would end up with egg on his face. When Breitbart started hinting that he had damning […]

    Patterico's Pontifications » Patterico’s Los Angeles Dog Trainer Year in Review 2009 (e4ab32)


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