From the files of Ben Wetmore: Reaching and recruiting 'millenials' - Rough draft outline

http://benwetmore.com/articles/speeches/1001_reaching-and-recruiting-millenials.htm

The Mary Landrieu thing

to do

Minions / fellow culture warriors involved:

Joseph "Joe" Basel
Stan Dai
Robert Flanagan
Ben Wetmore

Eric Kaiser Johnson: "Why is Contraception Wrong?"

Uploaded on Jan 21, 2010

Come on! If you're married and stuff, can't you just do whatever you want? Find out why contraception hurts your marriage in this Young Catholic Minute!

NJO: Video and caption from sometime Project Veritas culture warrior Eric Kaiser Johnson's YouTube channel Young Catholic Minutes.

From the files of Ben Wetmore: "The Structure of Video Activism"

NJO: "Benjamin Wetmore: A mentor of mine; a genius", said James O'Keefe in an interview in September 2009. So let's take a look at some of the wisdom of this certifiably mentorial influence on James' life.

Today, from January 2010, "The Structure of Video Activism".

Speech: The Structure of Video Activism
Ben Wetmore


1. figure out your values, and figure out what you want changed in the world
-easier said than done
-write out your values, write out your demands, it becomes a good action-list
-always a danger of mission creep
-many people get scared when things get dicey: anything controversial yields to the common man's temerity and anxiety. It's when people are afraid that it's most compelling, when you force them to take a side, when you make them physically uncomfortable, you force them to reset those careful mental equations they've constructed to live in a society with so many contradictions. Always force the common man to wipe the chalkboard clean and start anew.
-this keeps you focused.
-the dan Flynn rule that all channels about entertainment eventually become the E! television network. The desire for ratings, attention and popularity will always, inevitably, over time turn you into playboy/hustler magazine unless you have a solid foundation as to what your identity is, and so write out your principles and stick to them.

Practical example: neocons we were working with only wanted to do stuff about terrorism, they wanted to do all sorts of fabulous ridiculous and crazy things that I liked, but only on their topic, and they then became hostile to anything that wasn't advancing that agenda. The lack of an agenda will always eventually yield to a minority's serious agenda in time.
Practical application: write a mission statement and don't be afraid to be specific, then write out your demands. CM articles

2. pick a good and worthwhile target
-dont waste your time on bureaucrats/teachers/low-level people, strike the shepherd and the sheep will scatter. Find the lever, find the man behind the curtain.
-pick one that's well known, someone worth dethroning. Don't waste your time with low-level pukes who are just pawns of the king.
-pick the target, personalize it, polarize it and perpetually hit harder.
-explain to people the way in which the target hurts them, the way in which they hurt real people. This takes creativity but fundamentally isn't difficult.
-don't be afraid to attack people the media tells you is on our side, some of the best satire is focused on people who never get attacked: i.e. the banks.

Practical example: SGA vs. Ladner;
Practical application: name the target and set the goal; you want Mayor Smith fired.

3. learn about the target, find out as much information as possible
-need an information network of sorts, need to be among the people
-you can't just start making accusations or just going off half-cocked
-good research skills usually involves a lot of reading and a lot of listening
-reconstruct a resume, look up lawsuits, make public records requests
-publish everything you find on a basic blog at blogger, don't hide your dirt, the left does this with all their targeted congressional targets; the wash post called me for dirt on ladner, and I told them I published it all, I didn't have much to add; most journalists never publish the good stuff they find, they leverage it for more access or use it to boost their prestige; most reporters are entirely awful human beings.

Practical example: james accidentally going to a pregnancy center asking for a racist donation for an abortion.
Practical application: make a menu of all the questions you want to have answered, and make a separate list of all the known places of potential information on your target.

4. identify and exploit their weakness
-with public figures, its the most common complaint everyone knows
-provide documentation to confirm the conventional wisdom: is he an alcoholic? is he a womanizer? is he a gambler? feed into their preconceived expectations.
-hypocrisy always sells; use their values against them; internalize the values and language of your ideological opponents, it breeds an amazing amount of confusion.
-read psychology/advertising/marketing and counterinsurgency books: influence by cialdini is the best.
-gossip is often half-true

Practical example: PP racism; dog abortion; LTPC ("you're the most progressive people here")
Practical application: understand your opponents and anticipate their reactions

5. structure the jokes and criticism
-make sure to get feedback, make sure your stuff is actually funny; major risk: inside jokes that aren't funny to anyone.
-most jokes are relatively simple and direct
-pop culture references are easy and people latch onto them like white on rice
-always use a prop: the prop focuses their attention: make the prop funny in itself (we spent hours talking just about props); always use a costume, but make it relevant, chicken costume/bailout story.
Past props:
bailout - big checks
ltpc - gays
Chicken costume - all stunts
Gay marriage - assless chaps
ACORN - pimp costume
-new type of humor: awkward moments, a la the office; LTPC: Anton's comment "well maybe you can learn"

Practical example: the gay marriage video doesn't have enough jokes
Practical application: write out the jokes about your subject that are actually funny to normal people, and make sure those jokes are easily understandable, don't hide the ball and don't depend on inside information.

6. find the natural allies and assess what they can do for you
-most of the time it's just word of mouth/marketing
-but it can also be additional people and volunteers
-they can also waste your time, so avoid the bitches: everyone has an opinion and none of them are useful.

Practical example: SFLA is sitting on dog abortion; SFLA staffers also needlessly delayed the PP-racism project on almost endless theological debates/disputes, some groups and some people will never be converted, just as you can't stop to kick every barking dog, you can't stop to engage and win over every dissenting group whose support is conditioned on them agreeing entirely with you, most of the time their assistance is only word of mouth anyway.
Practical application: write out the people who can help you, and what they can realistically provide. Don't ask them for more than that, and don't involve them more than that. It's a time-suck.

7. figure out your endgame
-a firing isn't enough, you want permanent systemic change; you don't want same shit different day.
-best example: Rome's solution to Carthage; Carthage delondo est.
-howard dean didn't run to win, he ran to build a movement, and he did a fabulous job. People laughed at Soros 'wasting' 500 mil. in 2004, but he used it to build a movement and institutions that changed the world. His goal was not the Presidency as much as it was the entire nation, that's an endgame.
-most people fail to dream big enough here, have big demands so that the compromises are still amazing

Practical example: Ladner's gone and his replacements are still there, there was never a period of denazification; ACORN will likely get refunded or just change names; don't get depressed about this but keep perspective and find a way to set your goals in such a way that makes their recovery impossible.
Practical application: have a few written major goals, the things that would change the world if things were different. Have major unrealistic goals, because realizing them is much more realistic than you think.

8. strike where they're weakest, don't let up at all
-remain formless and be immune from criticism, don't lie cheat or steal because they'll find out and it'll make you a magnet for criticism; look at the insane ways they criticize james, imagine if he had done something stupid-- it would have been fatal to the project.
-dont fall for the trap that it's honorable to leave them alone when they're down, when they're down, kick twice as hard
-use as many creative ways possible to 'expand the conflict' so that they're fighting on all fronts; most people have zero ability to counter humor and art, for example
-don't fight 'fair', fair is for losers, winners win.
-keep a hard heart, and remember that they kill babies for sport, don't feel bad for them.
-it's like half-treating a virus, it'll adapt and grow stronger and attack again; or a killer in a thriller movie, Jason is never really dead.
-always be the punisher, never forget and never forgive short of full conversions: Michael schiavo will always be a free man for having killed Terri, but who is lodging weekly disbarment motions against Judge Greer? Answer: no one.

Practical example: the GOP has almost given up on ACORN. People are weak and often give up. I found reasons to hate Ladner on such a strong visceral level that I never gave him the benefit of the doubt. AU/rape cover-up; Ladner/scholarship revocation, find someone to blame for your angst, and remember Eric Hoffer's observation about people's motivations about mass movements.
Practical application: when you have something hot, never let up. Create a fanatical desire within yourself to prevail. Identify your own catalytic passions and hold onto them, never let go. Be angry, but stay smart.

9. plan for the long-haul, keep expanding the conflict to other people until they give in
-even if you step away from the fight for a week or year, come back to it and keep the pressure on
-these people are weaker than you think, but they also have better lasting power even though that seems contradictory -- over time you will win, but it will seem like forever.
-over time people will believe whatever sincere critique you offer
-someone will ALWAYS say this STUPID line, "but, if you attack them, you only make them stronger." which is code for "I'm scared, so let's not do anything and lose, because I'm weak." - this is almost always a mistake. if you have nothing to do, attack. if you have something lame to do, attack. attack their weak points every chance you get. not only does this make you aggressive, but it tests you and refines your work. As well, you never know what great things will come from action. Action, action action!

Practical example: it took five years for Ladner to get removed; no one expected ACORN to get defunded - the support for the Iraq war, in summer of 2006 there was still a great deal of public support, but the public critique wore them down and evaporated support.
Practical application: Always take action. Call me when you get depressed or discouraged, we'll go for a drink and I'll cheer you up. The cost of this is that I expect the same arrangement.

10. market your idea and not yourself
-vanity will easily become so consuming that you lose sight of what made you interesting, keep focused on the project, on the work, on what matters
-vanity is very appealing
-use attractive women
-don't get caught up with controlling the media message, provide the content and keep it going
-when you become the issue, you're no longer effective. Remain formless.
-glory comes at the cost of effectiveness, or as Reagan said or was quoted as saying, "there's no limit to what you can accomplish if you don't care who gets the credit."

Practical example: Lila/racism PP investigation; laura bush undercover op.
Practical application: Keep people around you who support you but who will give you serious feedback, and critical feedback, and actively solicit negative opinions and don't dismiss them. Imbue yourself with a culture of self-improvement.

James O'Keefe email to Amy Contrada, Subject: "Boston election day"

From: “James E. O’Keefe III”
Date: January 16, 2010 10:59:14 PM EST
To: Amy Contrada
Cc: xxxxxx@aol.com, Joe Basel
Subject: Boston election day,

Amy,

Two of my collegues are coming to Boston to infilrate the SEIU on election day. One of them is a female.

Would you be able to put them her up Monday night?

James 

NJO: Source: Buzzfeed.

Illiteracy Count: 3

1. collegues
2. infilrate
3. put them her up 

James O'Keefe email to Nadia Naffe, Subject: "Fwd: Travel Document - Boston 1/18/10"

From: “James E. O’Keefe III”
Date: January 15, 2010 2:46:09 PM EST
To: nknaffe@aol.com, Stan Dai , Joe Basel
Subject: Fwd: Travel Document - Boston 1/18/10

Nadia,

here’s what I could come up with- one stop but its along the way - no 12 hour flights, more like 4-5 hour flight.
leaving tampa mon at noon
leaving boston wed at 2pm so you can sleep.

keep in mind Wed morning is for additional work - if the polls are continuing if its close..

I’ll also get you a hotel room for the mon night - Joe is flying in overnight from San Francisco and arrives at 6:30am.

Joe will be picking you up shortly thereafter. But you will have to wake up around 7 on tuesday - your country needs you.

More details to follow.
James

NJO: Source: Buzzfeed.

James O'Keefe email to Nadia Naffe, Subject: "Boston"

From: “James E. O’Keefe III”
Date: January 14, 2010 11:10:49 PM EST
To: xxxxxxx@aol.com
Cc: Stan Dai
Subject: Boston

Nadia,

We’re willing to book you a plane ticket to Boston to get some footage from the SEIU busses.
Joe will be joining you taking care of logistics/equipment—- but i’ll be in new orleans causing trouble.
im confident your training will take you far.

Interested in making some more video history?

James

NJO: Source: Buzzfeed.

Mike Roman email to James O'Keefe and James O'Keefe's reply emails, Subject: "Re: ACORN videos / seiu / election"

On Wed, Jan 13, 2010 at 1:10 PM, mikeroman.com wrote:

Have time to talk around 8?

...

On Jan 13, 2010, at 3:41 PM, James E. O’Keefe III wrote:

Mike,

Got your info from John Fund.

I was the producer of the ACORN Videos

Would like to know whereabouts of the busses in Boston SEIU, et al are using in order to bus people in to vote in the Tuesday special election.

Thinking about sending some undercover folks up there.

James

...

From: “James E. O’Keefe III”
Date: January 13, 2010 4:16:14 PM EST
To: “mikeroman.com”
Subject: Re: ACORN videos / seiu / election

what time zone are you in. I’m assuming you mean 8Est. That works.

I’m 201-637-0564

NJO: Source: Buzzfeed.

James O'Keefe email to Nadia Naffe, Subject: "Fwd: brainstorm of sorts, here..."

From: “James E. O’Keefe III” Date: January 13, 2010 12:21:54 PM EST To: xxxxxxx@gmail.com, xxxxxx@aol.com Subject: Fwd: brainstorm of sorts, here - far-fetched? Maybe not?…


Your thoughts Nadia?


————— Forwarded message —————From: Heather Higgins Date: Wednesday, January 13, 2010 Subject: Re: brainstorm of sorts, here - far-fetched? Maybe not?… To: Steve Friess , James O’Keefe xxxxxxxxxx@gmail.com, Andrew Breitbart Cc: Foster Friess

Andrew and James, I’m forwarding what could be a very clever idea from Steve Friess in response to the intel below from John Fund re SEIU’s intentions in Tuesday’s election in MA. Don’t know what it would cost, but you all should talk.

Warmest regards -Heather Higgins


On Wed, Jan 13, 2010 at 12:25 AM, Steve Friess wrote:

Wouldn’t it be great if a “ACORN sting video” could be produced about these busses?

Dad - maybe bounce this off Breitbart?

Some black /Latina conservatives could be wired for video, and get picked up on one of these busses, and show what goes on. My guess -they are offering cash, (which I am pretty sure is illegal), and I also would wager that at least some of these busses are making more than one stop with the same people - ie getting them to vote twice -though I don’t know the mechanics of that.

Perhaps some private detective types would be needed to help track down the busses, and a block or two ahead of them to drop our cameramen off…

Too much to dream? Imagine pulling this off - legal / image problems for SEIU would be a good thing… think there’s upside to this?

Brietbart would know, and Fund would know - ‘if we catch them doing X, it could mean Y’ - I just don’t know what the stakes are…


On Jan 12, 2010, at 12:46 PM, Heather Higgins wrote:

Foster —See below from John Fund re SEIU -Acorn is in MA as well. It would be hugely helpful if you would assist with our non-glamorous but highly effective GOTV effort. If you could possibly let me know today, that would be helpful to our planning. This is such a great opportunity for making trouble in the best sort of way - I hope you can help us really capitalize on it.

Many thanks, Heather


———— Original Message ————Subject: FW: John Batchelor From: “Fund, John” Date: Tue, January 12, 2010 8:25 am To: ‘Michael Thielen’

Tip from Boston source (normally reliable)

Seiu contracting for buses on election day and heading to roxbury, mattapan, roslindale and jamaica plain. If you’re black or brown they’ll rope you in and take you to the polls, registration can be worked out.


Sent via BlackBerry from T-Mobile

NJO: Source: Buzzfeed.

Heather Higgins email to Andrew Breitbart, James O'Keefe and Steve Friess, Subject: "Re: brainstorm of sorts, here..."

From: Heather Higgins Date: Wednesday, January 13, 2010 Subject: Re: brainstorm of sorts, here - far-fetched? Maybe not?… To: Steve Friess , James O’Keefe xxxxxxxxxx@gmail.com, Andrew Breitbart Cc: Foster Friess

Andrew and James, I’m forwarding what could be a very clever idea from Steve Friess in response to the intel below from John Fund re SEIU’s intentions in Tuesday’s election in MA. Don’t know what it would cost, but you all should talk.

Warmest regards -Heather Higgins

NJO: Source: Buzzfeed.

Steve Friess email to Heather Higgins and Foster Friess, Subject: "brainstorm of sorts, here..."

On Wed, Jan 13, 2010 at 12:25 AM, Steve Friess wrote:

(Subject: brainstorm of sorts, here - far-fetched? Maybe not?…)

Wouldn’t it be great if a “ACORN sting video” could be produced about these busses?

Dad - maybe bounce this off Breitbart?

Some black /Latina conservatives could be wired for video, and get picked up on one of these busses, and show what goes on. My guess -they are offering cash, (which I am pretty sure is illegal), and I also would wager that at least some of these busses are making more than one stop with the same people - ie getting them to vote twice -though I don’t know the mechanics of that.

Perhaps some private detective types would be needed to help track down the busses, and a block or two ahead of them to drop our cameramen off…

Too much to dream? Imagine pulling this off - legal / image problems for SEIU would be a good thing… think there’s upside to this?

Brietbart would know, and Fund would know - ‘if we catch them doing X, it could mean Y’ - I just don’t know what the stakes are…

NJO: Source: Buzzfeed.

Heather Higgins email to Foster Friess, Re: SEIU / ACORN

On Jan 12, 2010, at 12:46 PM, Heather Higgins wrote:

Foster —See below from John Fund re SEIU -Acorn is in MA as well. It would be hugely helpful if you would assist with our non-glamorous but highly effective GOTV effort. If you could possibly let me know today, that would be helpful to our planning. This is such a great opportunity for making trouble in the best sort of way - I hope you can help us really capitalize on it.

Many thanks, Heather

NJO: Source: Buzzfeed.

Foster Friess and John Fund are or have been members of the Council for National Policy, a secretive and elite meetup organization of social conservative activists.

John Fund email to Michael Thielen, Subject: "FW: John Batchelor"

Subject: FW: John Batchelor
From: “Fund, John” Date: Tue, January 12, 2010 8:25 am To: ‘Michael Thielen’

Tip from Boston source (normally reliable)

Seiu contracting for buses on election day and heading to roxbury, mattapan, roslindale and jamaica plain. If you’re black or brown they’ll rope you in and take you to the polls, registration can be worked out.

Sent via BlackBerry from T-Mobile

NJO: Source: Buzzfeed.