Meet the “pimp” whose work was so successful it inspired a South Park episode.
Scenario: Last summer James O’Keefe and his accomplice Hannah Giles walked into several offices of ACORN, a left-leaning poverty organization group, asking if they would help him set up a brothel. He had a hidden camera and a tape recorder. The question asked them on his viral YouTube videos was: Would they support him? If you watched any news this summer you know the answer: Very, very yes.
You know there had to be at least one person who dressed as him for Halloween. Here’s what that person should have said at the Halloween party:
The Bruin Standard: Has your life changed since the videos were published?
James O’Keefe: I’m always on the phone, yes. And getting all types of legal documents in the mail, getting messages from thousands of people—many with their own ideas and the desire to do them. I want to follow up with them all, and I intend to. It’s a high task.
TBS: What morals should we draw from the investigation? What have we learned about ACORN, society and the left in general?
O’Keefe: I would not make this a left-right thing. This is about exposing the soul of an organization—or the lack thereof, and exposing corruption on a grand scale—corruption the establishment press has refused to report on. What if these underage girls were real? What if I followed up with that “Tax Specialist” in Baltimore and actually established my brothel? What if Juan Carlos in California actually set me up with his “contacts” in Tijuana? As for morals for investigative journalists: be courageous and creative.
TBS: What did you think of the mainstream media reaction to the videos?
O’Keefe: Almost every media outlet was dragged kicking and screaming into reporting on the story. The census cut ties and the Senate voted to de-fund ACORN before The New York Times assigned a reporter to the story. Even Jon Stewart pointed out how the media was slow to respond. The Washington Post, Associated Press and Columbia Journalism Review attempted to defame me with racial falsehoods but were forced to print corrections. But most extraordinary was the New York Times public editor admitted they had selectively edited a Bertha Lewis quote (about us getting kicked out in New York) in order to protect Bertha Lewis. It’s unbelievable that a bunch of kids with camcorders were able to embarrass the media establishment like this.
TBS: What was your purpose in timing the release of the undercover ACORN videos?
O’Keefe: Don’t fire all your ammunition at once. Expose their lies.
TBS: How do you consider yourself politically?
O’Keefe: Progressive radical. Nothing I did in the videos was “conservative.” I basically combined Morley Shaffer, Saul Alinsky and Borat. I got in an argument with a journalist at a CNN conference when she asked why I investigated “good organizations.” I didn’t realize journalists shouldn’t investigate organizations their conscience deems “good.” So I am radical in the sense I use tactics and strategies outdated news people are unwilling to use and progressive in the sense that I don’t think its worth conserving organizations which steal your money and facilitate the starting of brothels for underage girls.
TBS: How did you meet Andrew Breitbart, and what did he help you with?
O’Keefe: I gave Andrew Breitbart a call to tell him what I had in the videos. I don’t think he believed me. So I went to his home in Los Angeles and had a private screening for him. He knew from the moment he saw them they could be used as a weapon to expose the media. We soon discussed releasing them one at a time.
TBS: When is it right to lie to people and tape them without their consent?
O’Keefe: When you’re exposing the truth or when they have no expectation of privacy. Nobody complains about NBC’s “To catch a predator.” Remember: in some cases I used my real name and simply asked bizarre questions. You could likely expose their illegality without having to lie at all. For example, “Hi. My name’s James and I was wondering if ACORN would help me start a brothel with underage girls…”
TBS: Can you speak a little about your use of Saul Alinsky?
O’Keefe: Alinsky is a genius and has been central to my videos. His tactics are ideologically neutral, and stand the test of time. They can ultimately be used for truth and righteousness not just for anarchy and disorder (as they may have been used in the past).
TBS: How can people learn to do activism like you do?
O’Keefe: You can only learn once you do it—and if that means going in with the person to help them do it, so be it. That was the case with my teaching [former UCLA student and pro-life activist] Lila Rose. The communists understood this method well. On day one of being a communist, they would be given the hardest job. They would be forced to stand on street corners and hand out the newspapers – by engaging with people yelling at them, by being forced to stand up for their beliefs, by facing the fire, the newbie communist recruits would learn all they needed to learn—and would become “true believers” in the process.
TBS: Can one man change a country?
O’Keefe: One man with courage can change the world, but you have to be willing to die for your cause.