There is no doubt that James O’Keefe brings a distinct and useful voice to the conservative movement. He is brave and more than willing to risk his neck to expose things that he believes to be unjust in our country. Most famously, he unearthed the corruption at ACORN, a government funded organization that was basically teaching people how to use the system to commit fraud.
Obviously, liberals hate him completely. This is to his credit. The coverings that normally hide the thuggish nature of leftist politics does not work when James is the person holding the camera or the microphone. Even more impressively, James owes a great deal of his success to the fact that liberals could not even discern when he was holding the camera or the microphone. Even with his level of fame, he is able to orchestrate infiltration campaigns and get much deeper into progressive circles than the average journalist.
Recently, however, James and his organization Project Veritas has run into a bit of controversy. His latest project was an undercover sting of the Washington Post. O’Keefe was accused of basically hiring an actor to pretend she had a sexual relationship with Alabama Senate candidate Roy Moore. The goal was to bait the paper into printing a completely false news story. Unexpectedly, the Washington Post didn’t bite.
Liberals who are angry at O’Keefe’s past victories now have the ammo they need to bring his efforts down a few notches. This particular gaffe has caught enough steam that the mainstream is paying at least a modicum of attention. People who never knew the names James O’Keefe or Project Veritas are receiving an introduction. Obviously, this introduction is not meant to place either term in the best light.
The real surprises are coming from conservatives. When O’Keefe was on top during the ACORN debacle and even throughout the 2016 Presidential campaign (in which James was quite successful in keeping the pressure on Hillary Clinton and the DNC), he seemed unstoppable. James was finally beginning to break through to the mainstream in 2016. He was making the interview rounds on top tier TV and radio shows. He was taking meetings with top fundraisers for local and state level campaigns across the country.
Whether it was a botched operation from the beginning, or the mainstream media simply caught on to his tricks, the incident with the Washington Post proved that it truly is impossible to win every battle. This begs the question: has O’Keefe outlived his usefulness to the conservative movement?
To be completely fair, James and his camera have never respected most people’s moral borders. His first claim to fame was as a student at Rutgers. His hidden camera journalism was more of a prank then. He was “caught” trying to convince a campus administrator that he wanted Lucky Charms cereal banned from the school as a racial insult to Irish people.
The accusations that are coming from the left because of the Post are drawing on all of these old O’Keefe stories. Critics are also taking this opportunity to spin all of the previous victories of Project Veritas into little more than college frat boy pranks. They are apparently having some success, because the discussion about O’Keefe is taking place in conservative political circles, not liberal ones. Opportunities that Project Veritas received to work with certain campaigns are being taken back.
O’Keefe, to his credit, is taking the heat in stride. He is not giving up any information on his role in the Post story, and he has not admitted to any guilt whatsoever. There is no reason that he should be put under the microscope so heavily in conservative circles, but he seems to be taking that in stride as well.
As thinking conservatives, we must be mindful to keep our opinions away from the drama that mainstream media liberals constantly try to stir up. If we are to keep America becoming great again, then our focus must be on supporting those with the gumption to take it to our enemies. James O’Keefe is definitely one of those people, and we owe him the benefit of the doubt. He has an opportunity to recover — and he shouldn’t rush it.
~ Liberty Planet
