In New Video James O’Keefe Exposes Himself – As A Lying Scumbag

Just last week James O’Keefe was revealed to have plotted an elaborated scheme to incite violence against police officers and blame it on peaceful protesters. His associate in the affair withdrew on moral grounds, so O’Keefe fired him. Now he is subject to a possible wrongful termination lawsuit and the flurry of bad publicity that results from orchestrating a despicable act of provocation that might have gotten someone killed.

Fox News James O'Keefe

On the heels of that embarrassment, O’Keefe has rushed out another of his video atrocities wherein he attempts to defame unsuspecting victims by deceiving them and later editing the video to misrepresent what actually occurred. Perhaps he is hoping to shift attention from the ethical failings currently burying him.

In this episode (video below) O’Keefe sent his flunky to Cornell University to pretend to be a prospective student with questions about campus activities. The premise in this charade is that the flunky supposedly got Joseph Scaffido, an Assistant Dean of Student Activities, to agree that visits by Middle East terrorists and care packages to be sent to ISIS would be acceptable to the school administration. However, as with all of O’Keefe’s deceitful projects, what he delivers is hardly credible evidence of anything untoward.

The first notable contradiction in the video is that O’Keefe repeatedly claims that the flunky was inquiring about starting a “pro-ISIS” club at Cornell, however, at no time did the flunky ever say the word “ISIS.” He would refer only to helping Islamic state freedom fighters. If the Assistant Dean did not pay close attention it would be easy to presume that the phony student was merely interested in helping people who are victims of a tragic civil war.

What’s more, the flunky never said the word “terrorist,” instead referring only to freedom fighters. Since the days of Ronald Reagan that phrase has been interpreted to mean heroic citizens seeking to overthrow a tyrannical dictator. So once again, if that was Scaffido’s understanding, his response would not be the least bit controversial.

The controversy enters with O’Keefe’s narration that inserts the words “ISIS” and “terrorist” in place of what was actually said. Then O’Keefe slanders Scaffido by concluding that he is pro-ISIS and that Cornell welcomes terrorists to its campus. This overt dishonesty occurs from the opening seconds of the video and continues throughout. For example, here are the questions that O’Keefe claims were asked, followed by Scaffido’s answers and then the actual questions in parentheses:

O’Keefe: What if you wanted to start a pro-ISIS club at an American Ivy League university?
Scaffido: There are a lot of our student organizations that do things like that.
[Actual question: I think it would be important to maybe just probably educate, but to maybe send [distressed communities humanitarian] care packages whether it be food, water, electronics.]

O’Keefe: Would the Assistant Dean of Students have a problem with the humanitarian clubs sending care packages to terrorists?
Scaffido: That’s a good question that. And I think programs like that really do have a good place here at Cornell.
[Actual question: Maybe we could bring a freedom fighter to speak. That would be possible? That would be great. Just to hear the situation, what it’s like their lives and why they are fighting. I mean, do we know why they’re fighting?]

The problem that is apparent is that Scaffido’s answers above were not in response to the actual questions asked. And O’Keefe’s own video supplies the proof that he is being deliberately deceptive. If you re-read the actual questions and then the answers you can see just how amoral O’Keefe’s editing tactics are.

Scaffido may at worst be guilty of being somewhat inattentive because he was not expecting an impostor to visit him with intent to commit journalistic fraud. What he conveyed in his responses was a healthy respect for academic freedom and tolerance for diversity. Those are qualities that O’Keefe and his rightist cohorts detest. Already this lame video has been promoted by conservative news outlets like Hot Air, The Daily Caller, and of course, Fox News.

It is highly unlikely that Scaffido was opening the doors of the school to terrorists. O’Keefe surely knows that, but he is more interested in spreading his lies than producing anything that resembles real journalism. The notion that Cornell is recruiting terrorist students and speakers is so utterly idiotic that you have to question the mental status of anyone who would believe it.

The sad consequence of this is that everybody must be on their guard for ridiculous stunts like this lest they be dragged in and smeared by unscrupulous jerkwads like O’Keefe. And the fact that O’Keefe is too stupid to avoid exposing his own deceit doesn’t make his despicable antics any more palatable.

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UPDATE: Cornell University president David Skorton has responded in a statement condemning O’Keefe’s “smear” job saying in part that…

“Project Veritas, the organization behind this shoddy piece of “journalism” has been repeatedly vilified for dishonest, deceitful activity.”

UPDATE II: O’Keefe put another video attempting to smear a Catholic college in Florida as pro-ISIS. It suffers from the same flaws as the Cornell video. And now O’Keefe has even been smacked down by the conservative Weekly Standard for his smarmy antics.

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7 thoughts on “In New Video James O’Keefe Exposes Himself – As A Lying Scumbag

  1. “Exposes himself” is about the only publicly humiliating act Mr O’Keefe has not committed.

  2. Mark, you suggest here that Scaffido very likely had no idea O’Keefe was advocating for showing kindness to the enemy, and you support your little theory by asserting that —

    “If the Assistant Dean did not pay close attention it would be easy to presume that the phony student was merely interested in helping people who are victims of a tragic civil war.”

    And then you say —

    “What’s more, the flunky never said the word ‘terrorist,’ instead referring only to freedom fighters. Since the days of Ronald Reagan that phrase has been interpreted to mean heroic citizens seeking to overthrow a tyrannical dictator.”

    So it’s your belief, Mark, that as far as Scaffido was concerned, all this Moroccan student was doing was expressing his support for heroic, tyrant-defying rebels and dispossessed war victims, right?

    But then you go and say THIS…

    “What he (Scaffido) conveyed in his responses was a healthy respect for academic freedom and tolerance for diversity.”

    Do you see the contradiction there, Mark? Scaffido could only be showing a healthy respect for academic freedom and tolerance for diversity if he thought the kid’s ideas were controversial — but according to you, he didn’t think that. According to you, he thought he was being asked to support the cause of war victims and heroic citizen-rebels trying to unseat some bad guys.

    So if that’s the case, well… as far as Scaffido was concerned, what sort of diversity was he being “tolerant” of?

    Do you see my problem, Mark? You can’t have it both ways.

    So it sounds like you knew, in your bones… that Scaffido knew.., that this “Moroccan” kid was asking that Cornell University treat some very bad guys with some soft velvet gloves.

    • Not exactly. The “student” was asking about activities that might have been regarded as controversial, at least in the eyes of the student. To some, helping Syrian refugees and/or rebels is considered controversial. It appears to me that Scaffido was assuring him that the University encourages students to be engaged in responsible social welfare work, like most universities.

      He was not agreeing with the student or giving the imprimatur of the school to his proposed activities. There may be some students who would object to helping Syrians. Scaffido may personally object to it himself. Therefore, his response does indeed demonstrate tolerance for diversity and academic freedom without ever approaching sympathies for terrorists, as O’Keefe implied.

      Do you really believe that Cornell would knowingly support terrorist groups on its campus? Because in order to accept O’Keefe’s premise, you have to accept that Cornell would welcome ISIS and permit them to operate freely, and even get financial support. That seems to me to be a rather absurd notion, on the scale of Alex Jones’ conspiratorial hysteria.

      And if you don’t believe that Cornell would knowingly support terrorist groups, then you must agree that O’Keefe is a lying scumbag whose video is deliberately deceptive. That’s the point here.

  3. If this O’Keefe guy was a leftist, or anarchist, or black (or any combo of) he’d already be shot dead by cops, or in prison, or wanted and on the run. But he’s a politically-connected, right-wing, white guy… with all the special privileges that come with that. What a reprehensible sleaze-bag!

    • Green, how many innocent blacks and Leftists are being locked up or gunned down every year in your estimation? I just want a ballpark figure. I’m really curious.

      • Not talking about “innocent” people – talking about blatantly dishonest media manipulation and political ratfukery designed to create bogus scandals. O’Keefe’s stunts are promoted and protected by powerful people on the political right. The is no left-wing equivalent.

  4. “To some, helping Syrian refugees and/or rebels is considered controversial.”

    Mark, who believes that giving aid and succor to refugees is immoral?? A significant percentage of Americans would HAVE to believe that in order for such behavior to be considered “controversial.” It’s almost like saying, “We’re going out on a big limb, giving aid and comfort to the homeless.”

    And your article — perhaps significantly — fails to address the Hamas of it all. Is there any reason for that, Mark? Even allowing that Scaffido somehow — incredibly — failed to register the multiple use of the phrase “Islamic State” during the interview and managed also to conflate the phrase “Freedom Fighters from the Islamic State” with some kind of Conservative-friendly anti-Islamic rebellion, or something (big hypothetical, I know, but let’s just go with it)…. even allowing all that, the interviewer ALSO professes sympathy for Hamas and inquires about lending THEM aid. And more than once.

    So now we are asked to believe that Scaffido, who seems neither deaf nor mentally incapacitated, failed to hear and/or comprehend multiple appeals for sympathy to both Islamic State and Hamas.

    Do you — Mark NC — HONESTLY believe that is what happened here?

    As for your question “Do you really believe that Cornell would knowingly support terrorist groups on its campus? ”

    In an age of rampant ethical relativism…. in an age of BDS… in an age when anti-Zionist hysteria is at a fever pitch… in an age when THIS is happening in modern-day Iran…

    https://news.vice.com/article/this-is-what-happens-when-iran-uses-construction-equipment-to-kill-people

    — at the same time THIS is happening on the campus of an Ivy League University…

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OD1PnbJwfSw

    — is it that hard to imagine a University lending at least tacit sympathy to the enemies and opponents of the “Imperialist” West.

    (Oh, and Iran, I remind you, is — along with the House of Saud — the biggest sponsor of terrorism in the world right now)

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