Re: The O'Keefe Scandal

This may well be the biggest news story of the year, not because of the specific incident in question, but of the subsequent and surrounding acts. This could be the final spear in the soft underbelly of the blind, biased monster known as the Main Stream Media.

See more below.
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Statement from James O’Keefe

by James O'Keefe

The government has now confirmed what has always been clear: no one tried to wiretap or bug Senator Landrieu’s office. Nor did we try to cut or shut down her phone lines. Reports to this effect over the past 48 hours are inaccurate and false.

As an investigative journalist, my goal is to expose corruption and lack of concern for citizens by government and other institutions, as I did last year when our investigations revealed the massive corruption and fraud perpetuated by ACORN. For decades, investigative journalists have used a variety of tactics to try to dig out and reveal the truth.

I learned from a number of sources that many of Senator Landrieu’s constituents were having trouble getting through to her office to tell her that they didn’t want her taking millions of federal dollars in exchange for her vote on the healthcare bill. When asked about this, Senator Landrieu’s explanation was that, “Our lines have been jammed for weeks.” I decided to investigate why a representative of the people would be out of touch with her constituents for “weeks” because her phones were broken. In investigating this matter, we decided to visit Senator Landrieu’s district office – the people’s office – to ask the staff if their phones were working.

On reflection, I could have used a different approach to this investigation, particularly given the sensitivities that people understandably have about security in a federal building. The sole intent of our investigation was to determine whether or not Senator Landrieu was purposely trying to avoid constituents who were calling to register their views to her as their Senator. We video taped the entire visit, the government has those tapes, and I’m eager for them to be released because they refute the false claims being repeated by much of the mainstream media.

It has been amazing to witness the journalistic malpractice committed by many of the organizations covering this story. MSNBC falsely claimed that I violated a non-existent “gag order.” The Associated Press incorrectly reported that I “broke in” to an office which is open to the public. The Washington Post has now had to print corrections in two stories on me. And these are just a few examples of inaccurate and false reporting. The public will judge whether reporters who can’t get their facts straight have the credibility to question my integrity as a journalist.

The government has now confirmed what has always been clear: No one tried to wiretap or bug Senator Landrieu’s office. Nor did we try to cut or shut down her phone lines. Reports to this effect over the past 48 hours are inaccurate and false.

As an investigative journalist, my goal is to expose corruption and lack of concern for citizens by government and other institutions, as I did last year when our investigations revealed the massive corruption and fraud perpetrated by ACORN. For decades, investigative journalists have used a variety of tactics to try to dig out and reveal the truth.

I learned from a number of sources that many of Senator Landrieu’s constituents were having trouble getting through to her office to tell her that they didn’t want her taking millions of federal dollars in exchange for her vote on the healthcare bill. When asked about this, Senator Landrieu’s explanation was that, “Our lines have been jammed for weeks.” I decided to investigate why a representative of the people would be out of touch with her constituents for “weeks” because her phones were broken. In investigating this matter, we decided to visit Senator Landrieu’s district office – the people’s office – to ask the staff if their phones were working.

On reflection, I could have used a different approach to this investigation, particularly given the sensitivities that people understandably have about security in a federal building. The sole intent of our investigation was to determine whether or not Senator Landrieu was purposely trying to avoid constituents who were calling to register their views to her as their Senator. We video taped the entire visit, the government has those tapes, and I’m eager for them to be released because they refute the false claims being repeated by much of the mainstream media.

It has been amazing to witness the journalistic malpractice committed by many of the organizations covering this story. MSNBC falsely claimed that I violated a non-existent “gag order.” The Associated Press incorrectly reported that I “broke in” to an office which is open to the public. The Washington Post has now had to print corrections in two stories on me. And these are just a few examples of inaccurate and false reporting. The public will judge whether reporters who can’t get their facts straight have the credibility to question my integrity as a journalist.

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More:

Correction Request: Talking Points Memo

Correction Request: Newsweek

Correction Request: New Orleans Times-Picayune

Correction Request: Los Angeles Times

Correction Request: The Atlantic

Correction Request: The Huffington Post

Top 10 Things I Learned Listening To SOTU Last Night

From Big Journalism:

Top 10 Things I Learned Listening To SOTU Last Night

Posted by Rich Trzupek

10) It’s really, really hard to be President – people expect you to do things and stuff.

9) America needs to be more like China.

8) Five year plans: they’re not just for Stalin anymore.

7) It’s still Bush’s fault.

6) Equity demands that it should be ten times more expensive to go to college in order to do something productive than it should be to go to college in order to become a bureaucrat.

5) Spending more public money on health care will still reduce the deficit. Really. It will.

4) Ending the influence of lobbyists and operating transparent government remains as important a promise to make today as it was during the 2008 campaign.

3) Joe Biden is very, very bored.

2) The problem with Washington is that everyone is eternal campaign mode. Accordingly, everyone should follow the President’s example and limit themselves to no more than 158 interviews and 411 speeches per year.

1) Nancy Pelosi’s face really is frozen.

(Honorable Mention: McCain-Feingold was passed during Teddy Roosevelt’s administration, for in overturning it the Supreme Court “reversed 100 years” of law).

What REALLY Happened at the March for Life

Great Scott!!

Memo to Democrats: It's about the issues. Get it?

Good Heavens

"Separation of Church and State." Those words are tossed around a lot nowadays, usually and most often by people who do not know the original (and only applicable) context of them.

Firstly, should the church and the state exist as two separate entities? Yes. Even the Bible teaches us this. In Exodus, when God established the nation of Israel, he appointed Moses to be the political/judicial leader and his brother Aaron to be religious leader. However, He never intended for the two to be antagonistic toward each other. Quite the opposite, the very first law He gave Moses was that we should "not have any other gods before [Him]." But by establishing two different, separate institutions - church and state - He allowed for them both to focus on their own responsibilities while complimenting but not competing with each other.

Flash forward a few millennia. The Danbury Baptist Association wrote to Thomas Jefferson, worried that this new government he and his peers were forming would become too much like the one they were leaving - that it would mandate religion and religious practices. He responded with a letter, the letter from which we get the infamous above phrase. Here is the text of the letter:

Believing with you that religion is a matter which lies solely between man & his god, that he owes account to none other for his faith or his worship, that the legitimate powers of government reach actions only, and not opinions, I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the whole American people which declared that their legislature should make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof, thus building a wall of separation between church and state.

Read that carefully, for that is the original source, context and intent of the sentiment "Separation of (or between) church and state." The intent was not to keep religion out of the state or to keep religious beliefs from influencing the state (as are so often claimed in the current marriage and abortion debates), but to keep religion free from government interference, either by establishing a national religion (as England had done) or by prohibiting an individual's practice of their religion.

So, it is with that in mind we approach today's topic:

Apparently, last August, our President held a webcast with clergy across the country, asking them to sermonize in favor of his health care plan.

Yes, that's right. He asked them to give sermons that pushed his political agenda.

Now, in light of the true intention of Separation of Church and State, is this appropriate behavior for a sitting President?

Of course, the nameless White House officials quoted in the article say that wasn't really what the President asked, that he doesn't actually expect them to give political messages from the pulpit. Duh!

That doesn't jive at all with what the members of the webcast have reported. They felt the intent of his statements was just that, based on the conversation that went on.

I've already posted my opinion on Obama's faith. This seems to fall in line with the impression he gives that faith is a facade, a useful tool to pull out when he needs to influence voters, but not something essential in his own life.

George W. Bush was often criticized for being too openly evangelical, such as stating that his favorite philosopher was "Christ, because he changed my life." But you can't name one instance where Bush tried to influence what was being preached in the pulpits. This is, in American history, unprecedented.

First, Obama tried to interfere in local schools. Now, he's trying to interfere in our worship services.

Take heed, and keep an eye out. We've just started the second year.

Equality for Thee, But Not for Me

Let's take a poll, shall we? The punishment for a 1st grader bringing a plastic fork/knife/spoon utensil to school: suspension The punishment for wearing an anti-Obama t-shirt to school: suspension The punishment for a group of Arab-American 11th graders to design and wear these shirts to class: Nothing. Read the full story. They were not identifying with the towers in that graphic.