Conservative filmmaker James O'Keefe, you will recall, is the young man who recently exposed corruption in ACORN. Though his methods were not mainstream, they brought to light the type of "community organizing" ACORN has been engaged in and what American dollars have been supporting.
Fox reported at the time:
Officials with the controversial community organizing group ACORN were secretly videotaped offering to assist two individuals posing as a pimp and a prostitute, encouraging them to lie to the Internal Revenue Service and providing guidance on how to claim underage girls from South America as dependents.
Read the full article here.
Mr. O'Keefe is back in the news, this time for something he has allegedly been caught doing.
According to Fox:
The independent filmmaker who brought ACORN to its knees last year with undercover exposes was arrested this week along with three others, including the son of a federal prosecutor, and accused of trying to interfere with the phones at Louisiana Sen. Mary Landrieu's office.
[...]
O'Keefe's arrest "is further evidence of his disregard for the law in pursuit of his extremist agenda," ACORN CEO Bertha Lewis said in a statement. The organization's Twitter feed commented on the news: "Couldn't have happened to a more deserving soul."
Read more here.
I certainly condemn any such actions and, if he is guilty, he will have to take responsibility and face consequences, regardless of whether he thought there was something to be uncovered. Though some espouse the notion that the end justifies the means, I assert that one who engages in corruption to expose corruption loses all credibility. One who speaks out boldly against unethical behavior ought to walk the walk.
This brings me to the irony of ACORN's Twitter feed. How could they possibly have anything to say about someone deserving punishment? How dare Bertha accuse anyone of being an "extremist"? Maybe it's just me, but registering dead people and Mickey Mouse to vote just might be the epitome of extreme, and if she doesn't know that, well, there goes that credibility I mentioned.
In the spirit of "never allow a crisis to go to waste," it should come as no surprise that Democrats want to use the charges against O'Keefe to gain a political advantage.
The Fox article went on to state:
Louisiana Democrats are seizing on the incident as political ammunition to attack Republican Sen. David Vitter, who is up for re-election later this year.
James O'Keefe's drama is front and center, it's being used to promote the Democrats' partisan agenda, and they're ready to hang him from the rafters.
Contrast him with a man named David Kernell. You may not even know who he is, although you should. Kernell is the son of Tennessee Democratic legislator Mike Kernell, the same son who hacked into the email and stole personal information from a sitting governor and vice presidential nominee.
The LA Times reported that the Department of Justice said:
The single count indictment, returned on Oct. 7, 2008, and unsealed today, alleges that on approximately Sept. 16, 2008, Kernell, a resident of Knoxville, obtained unauthorized access to Gov. Palin’s personal e-mail account by allegedly resetting the account password. According to the indictment, after answering a series of security questions that allowed him to reset the password and gain access to the e-mail account, Kernell allegedly read the contents of the account and made screenshots of the e-mail directory, e-mail content and other personal information. According to the indictment, Kernell posted screenshots of the e-mails and other personal information to a public Web site. Kernell also allegedly posted the new e-mail account password that he had created, thus providing access to the account by others.
Kernell was released without being required to pay bail, and almost a year and a half after committing this felony, he still hasn't been brought to justice. Notice that O'Keefe has been accused of attempting to commit a felony, while evidence supports that Kernell actually carried out that crime. Kernell, however, has been handled with kid gloves, while O'Keefe has been manhandled and dragged into the spotlight. Something is rotten here, and it stinks. So what is behind the major difference between these two? The obvious difference is that the crime against Governor Palin was a greater violation--not just a thought in a man's mind, but one that he saw through. How is it then that he's slipped so far under the radar?
There's nothing new under the sun. As Governor Palin is wont to say: it's "politics as usual." Once again the double-standard that exists between the treatment of those on the left and those on the right is glaring. No one is condoning illegal activity from either side of the aisle; all we're asking for is one set of rules. It's like Trent Lott being raked over the coals for making racially insensitive comments, while Democrats looked the other way when Harry Reid referred to a "Negro dialect" and the benefits of a "light-skinned" president, words that--had he been a Republican--would have led to his swift exit from stage right. Instead, he was given a pass, his record of being "on the right side of history" commended, and granted incredible grace and mercy by Al Sharpton, of all people. I'm all about grace and mercy, as long as they're not selective. The left's selective outrage is not any more attractive.
The difference between O'Keefe and Kernell is political affiliation, period--and that double-standard is getting old. If, in fact, James O'Keefe is guilty of attempting to commit a felony, he has to take what comes. But please, finally, apply the same sense of justice to David Kernell, who's been charged with not just making an attempt, but actually carrying out a felony against Governor Palin. Consistency please, and justice--for all.
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