Yesterday WaPo published a story about an attempted Project Veritas sting of WaPo. In case you missed it, James O’Keefe sent a woman to tell Washington Post reporters that she had been impregnated by Roy Moore way back when. But the reporters checked out her background and story, and instead published a story about confronting the woman about her lies and exposing Project Veritas.
The scam collapsed for a number of reasons. His fake source provided a flimsy cover story with odd details — she claimed to have only spent a few summers in Alabama, but provided a cell phone with an Alabama area code. The supposed place of employment that she provided did not have any person by that name working there. A search of her name turned up a social-media post in which she explained that she was going to “work in the conservative media movement to combat the lies and deceipt [sic] of the liberal MSM.”
If you’ve ever watched a spy movie, you’ll probably recall that the spies never get caught because they left a social-media post under their real name declaring “I’m enrolling in espionage school to become a spy!”
Instead of owning up to having been caught, O’Keefe put up a highly edited video on his Project Veritas site (to which I will not link) that purports to show WaPo reporter Aaron C. Davis admitting to O’Keefe that, among other things, the paper publishes negative opinions of Trump. However, WaPo had filmed the entire encounter also and published the unedited version, which clarified that Davis was talking about the editorial section.
This last bit of derp was so clumsy that even RedState called it out as a “a desperate attempt at damage control.” Jim Geraghty at National Review Online published a takedown of O’Keefe that could have run word-for-word at Alternet. Scott Johnson of the Power Tools referred to this episode as “O’Keefe’s exploding cigar.” And Red Dreher at The American Conservative practically begged people to stop funding O’Keefe. This last bit inspired the following comment:
We need a better class of rube in the US. Even the dumbest grifters make out OK these days–O’Keefe gets more than $300K a year to walk around stepping on rakes.
True enough. But this same commenter also said that O’Keefe wouldn’t be going away, because their class of rubes still believes him. And, sure enough, the flaming idiots at Gateway Pundit (to which I do not link) are celebrating O’Keefe’s great success. But the best Brietbart can do is claim that O’Keefe and WaPo busted each other. And I understand Drudge isn’t touching it, one way or another.
So O’Keefe will be around for awhile to step on more rakes. However, it’s possible that he’ll disappear from mainstream media. The days when his easily debunked claims are uncritically picked up by any but extreme right-wing media outlets are over, I believe.
See also Charles Pierce.
"However, it’s possible that he’ll disappear from mainstream media"
Why does anyone bother with this punk anyway. he's already done prison time for his wing-nut fuckery? "Project Veritas" just the name wreaks of self-aggrandizement, sad little miscreant!
He's a con artist making the best of a good thing, a surfeit of hapless sports politics addicts. I also see Gateway Pundit as conservatism's best attempt at online humor, a bit like the Onion. Except of course, since conservatives don't do humor well, one can use their imagination to presume that most of the crapfolly in the comments is coming from the same pranksters who intentionally soil Conservapedia, and then watch in amusement as hapless sports politics addicts pigpile onto that intentionally inanity.
Wile E. Coyote had nothing on O'Keefe!
In the words of that great American philosopher, Bugs Bunny:
What a Dope!
What a MAROON!!!
Another great American philosopher also has a great description of this buffoon:
Boy's about as sharp as a bowling-ball…
I think O'Keefe needs to hone his double naught skills.
But here's my paranoid fantasy; that Moore did indeed force an abortion on an underage girl; and O'Keefe's sting, even if failed, sufficed to pre-discredit any real revelation.
I admit that the fake story is one I want to be true; hence O'Keefe's opportunism.
My worst suspicion is that if the story's true, and comes out, and is verified and published, then that will have no effect on Moore's polls.
Paradoctor, your "paranoid fantasy" has a ring of plausibility. Corruption is at an astonishing level as noted below.
"Please think about this: the conservatives are defending the sanctity of life by setting up a woman to lie about having an abortion. In the effort to bring down fair-minded journalism, nothing is sacred. It is another case of corruption at an astonishing level" (E.J.Dione Jr. Washington Post today)
paradoctor,
And everyone else.
Moore will win the Senate seat in Alabama. *
He's now ahead in most polls.
My guess is 60% to 37% – with the remainder of the votes going either to the new guy who just entered, or other write-in candidates.
*Unless women of all ages, races, religions, etc, rise-up and vote against Moore, en masse.
But the problem is that Alabama is one of the strongest "Pro-life" states.
"Moore will win the Senate seat in Alabama"
Of course he will win, and Mitch McConnell and the rest of the republicants along with a blue dog or two will welcome him with open arms. We will hear "the people of Alabama have spoken and Roy Moore is their choice for the US Senate". The republican party has no bottom!
This guy is a major recipient of wingnut welfare. I was surfing the high-numbered channels on a friend's dish system, and I couldn't believe that O'Keefe and Project Veritas were there. Was this the Wingnut Channel or what?
O'Keefe has a smooth talking voice, and a telegenic appearance, and goes over well on TV. He can make his outrageous stunts seem reasonable when you listen to him. I could see him getting a gig at Fox if Project Smear blows up bigly.