It should come as no surprise that James O’Keefe is an unethical liar who produces deliberately deceptive videos to smear his political opponents. That’s been proven on many occasions. What’s surprising is that now even Glenn Beck’s web site, The Blaze, is confirming this after having analyzed O’Keefe’s latest videos attacking National Public Radio.
Scott Baker, Editor-in-Chief of The Blaze, published a fairly in-depth review of O’Keefe’s scam wherein he compared segments of the edited version to the original unedited source material. What he found he described in his conclusion as “editing tactics that seem designed to intentionally lie or mislead about the material being presented.” Here are some of the overt misrepresentations O’Keefe manufactured:
1) O’Keefe’s edited video portrayed NPR’s Ron Schiller as happily willing to take a donation from a Muslim Brotherhood front group. The long-form video downplays the connection to the Brotherhood, and discusses its current status as a moderate, non-violent organization.
2) The edited video portrayed Schiller reacting approvingly in a discussion of Sharia law. The long-form video shows that the response was actually to a different subject entirely. It was just edited in to make it appear as if he was responding the discussion of Sharia law.
3) The edited video portrayed Schiller as hostile to Republicans and conservatives. The long-form video shows him praising the GOP. Those remarks were completely cut out.
4) The edited video portrayed Schiller disparaging the Tea Party as racist. The long-form video shows that those remarks were actually the views of others that was describing.
5) The edited video portrayed Schiller demeaning the intelligence of conservatives. The long-form video shows both him and his NPR colleague defending the intellect of conservatives and even Fox News viewers.
6) The edited video portrayed Schiller asserting that federal funding for NPR was not necessary or desirable. The long-form video shows him going into detail about the necessity of those funds.
When Glenn Beck’s web site calls out a conservative for being unethical, there must be something seriously wrong. His lies must have been so egregious that they surpass the threshold for lying ordinarily maintained by people like Beck. Part of me worries that this whole critique of O’Keefe is a prank and that tomorrow The Blaze will reveal that they were just kidding to see if liberals like me would pick up the story. But for the time being it appears to be a legitimate thrashing of a corrupt propagandist.
Granted, The Blaze is not nearly as judgmental as I am, and much of their criticism was couched as questions, i.e. the article’s headline: Does Raw Video of NPR Exposé Reveal Questionable Editing & Tactics? Yes, it does! But they seem loathe to come right out and censure their ideological ally. Nevertheless, this damning analysis is a significant departure for a Beck enterprise. Perhaps there has been some influence from The Blaze’s new boss, Betsy Morgan, who once ran the Huffington Post.
The examples above are representative of the grossly deceptive practices that James O’Keefe, a convicted criminal, engages in repeatedly. They are further evidence that nothing he does or says deserves to be taken seriously.
This also demonstrates the crippling naivete of NPR for reacting so hastily in compelling the resignation of NPR chief Vivian Schiller. Have these people learned nothing from the Shirley Sherrod affair when an innocent person’s reputation was dragged through the mud based on fraudulently edited video? And are they oblivious to the very real harm they do by empowering jerkwads like O’Keefe?
The only attention that O’Keefe and his ilk should get when they release a video or publish a story is from the Weekly World News or Comedy Central. Responsible journalists should avoid these obvious fabrications like the plague. Why anyone in the media would afford this known liar any respect given his propensity for bastardizing the truth is beyond me. They only embarrass themselves by doing so.
And that goes for the targets of these phony stings as well. People on the left need to have much greater resolve to defend their associates and their principles in the face of vile and dishonest attacks from the right. Otherwise we are handing them unwarranted influence over the debate and cutting ourselves off at the knees. That has to stop NOW!
What a joke this guy is. Can’t this guy be stopped legally? Are there no laws to protect the american public from frauds like this? What the hell is wrong with this country? I don’t recognize it anymore!
Could it be that Beck is trying to strengthen his “news” credentials because of reports that Fox may not be renewing his contract? Ironic in the context of the “fair and balanced” (not!) network, but I suppose not out of the realm of possibility.
long may the left-wing media shrink. James o’Keefe is an American Hero!
Yeah boy, that Glenn Beck is such a left-wing media hack. How dare he show that O’Keefe is a liar.
So American Heroes are people who blatantly lie to forward a political agenda? You are such a patriot.
Are all your heroes convicted criminals? You must really love Charles Manson.
And Fox News’ Chris Wallace makes the lying propagandist James O’Keefe his “Power Player of the Week” for the second time.
So what you’re saying is that he’s ready to become a video editor for Sean Hannity.
Just got done reading the whole piece on The Blaze – and I see that you swung and missed on points 3 and 4. And #4 is the most damning.
“…tea partiers as racists…those remarks were the views of others that he was describing…”
Schiller agreed with those opinions. That makes those opinions his own. And that was where he did himself in. He alsgave praise to some Repoublicans but critcized others, so that point is rather muddy.
On the other points, however, what you said about O’Keefe is partially valid. I’m starting to get rather pissed off at O’Keefe. His videoes have kernels of truth in them, but then he loads up his stories with crap. I take his projects with several grains of salt. By the way, Glenn Beck echoed this sentiment on hour #3 of his radio show today. So the “prank” conspiracy theory of yours didn’t pan out. One other note: Howard Kurtz had a pretty good segment about this episode on CNN’s “Reliable Sources” Sunday morning.
Actually, there is no evidence that Schiller agreed with the comments he was recounting about the Tea Partiers being racists. You would have to be a mindreader to know that.
Also, I was joking about the Blaze article being a prank. And the Kurtz interview took place before the video was debunked, not that I’d have much confidence in Kurtz anyway.
It’s good to know that you aren’t embracing this loser. There are some serious conservatives who are effective at articulating positions – O’Keefe is not one of them.
I came across this story on google news and was taking it as credible journalism until the author showed otherwise with the comment” His (Okeefe’s) lies must have been so egregious that they surpass the threshold for lying ordinarily maintained by people like Beck”. However, I do share the author’s sentiment in wondering why diatribe such as this article and what Okeefe produce is given any attention by media sources.
Over at TVNewser raised the question of why O’Keefe and posse posed as Muslims? Is he trying to say there is something unsavory about the Muslim religion?
Yes. Yes he is.
‘…there is no evidence Schiller agreed with the comments…” – Huh?
“The edited tape inplies he was giving his own analysis…He does that in part, but he is largely recounting the views of two prominent Republicans, each of whom voted for Obama…At the end, he signals his agreement…”
That is from the Blaze column that you supplied your readers with. So I stand by my first point.
“The Kurtz interview took place before the video was debunked…”
You apparently missed the second part of that segment, when Kurtz and two NPR people talked about the latest info regarding the video. Kurtz even played a segment from The Blaze to illustrate that the tape had been doctored. However, all of them agreed that the Tea Party comments were still inexcusable.
“Is he trying to say there is something unsavory about the Muslim religion…?”
Are you talking about James O’Keefe, or Bill Maher?
I can’t believe two sides can be so far apart on an issue…..the reason Glenn Beck debunked, denounced this particular O’keefe story is because THIS TIME it was misleading….doesn’t that make more sense than the reasons you are giving!
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