Chief Lawyer of Detroit Accuses James O'Keefe of Being "An Accessory to a Crime"

Published on Aug 5, 2016

In this video, James O'Keefe confronts Melvin Butch Hollowell, the chief lawyer for the city of Detroit about the video O'Keefe took which shows election officials offering undercover journalists the ballot of the Mayor of Detroit.

NJO: Title, video and blurb from James O'Keefe's YouTube channel veritasvisuals.

Shots Fired: James O'Keefe Confronts Katie Couric's Deceptive Editing in Gun Documentary

Published on May 25, 2016

In this new video, James O'Keefe confronts Katie Couric's use of deceptive editing in her documentary "Under the Gun". He explains that you can't trust the mainstream media when they falsely accuse journalists like O'Keefe of deceptively editing videos, but then actually deceptively edit and manipulate audio to deceive the public. O'Keefe argues that the mainstream media needs to be held to the same standards they hold him.

NJO: Title, video and blurb from James O'Keefe's YouTube channel VeritasVisuals.

Cutting vocals with @AnthonyDini for next video

jamesokeefeiii
Cutting vocals with @AnthonyDini for next video

NJO: Source: Instagram.

The CNN Caper document, Part I: Getting CNN to report on a fake story and then spoof them the same day

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, the first part of the CNN Caper planning document, Project "Getting CNN to report on a fake story and then spoof them the same day".

Source: Breitbart Unmasked.

CNN Caper

Overview:
Getting CNN to report on a fake story and then spoof them the same day
Target:
CNN
Activists: James
Technical people needed:
Video and sound engineer types
Written by:
Ben
Priority/Idea value ranking by James (1-10):
?

Discussion:

Specifically, as it regards Christian Hartsock and the video shoot, after our discussion together, I think it would involve too much risk and yield too few rewards to engage CNN while doing a video shoot. The danger to say something out of context, off the cuff, or potentially politically incorrect is too large. The mistake that Sorba is making by having CNN closeby for so long is the same logic here: this is a known unfriendly media organization whose primary story will be negative. Their best story would be one that ruined a center-right career.

The challenge is to create an operation that could spoof CNN, hurt their credibility and show the 'big lie' that they operate under, showing the truth that is unknown to the general public.

Potential 'big lies' as it regards CNN:
1. Their general bias against conservatives
2. Their own internal racism against whites
3. Their potential internal racism against minorities
4. Shoddy journalism, and low journalistic standards

Perhaps the greatest combination of these potential big lies would be to spoof CNN and get them to report on a topic that is entirely false. Fake journalism scandals are often news, with Jayson Blair and Stephen Glass being the most prominent examples.

Spoofing CNN

We should entice them with some video that they want to believe. The media has been in a frenzy for the past few years on a relatively small number of topics and subjects.

1. Tea party racism
2. Arizona racism
3. Sarah Palin
4. GOP leadership scandals

Certain past topics, such as the war or terrorism, seem to be relatively off the radar as it regards to the news interest of the mainstream media. Things that are on politics, the GOP, scandal, race issues, are all pertinent and relevant.

The general political issues of relevance:

1. Race
2. Immigration
3. Budgets

If we were to offer CNN evidence of racism, playing on these currently relevant issues, and produced enough supporting evidence to prove the claim we make, have them write a story and then prepare our allies to pounce, it could be a good way to undercut their credibility.

Things we could use to entice them:

1. False video evidence
2. False textual evidence and documents
3. False interviews

The false video evidence, for one, could be focused on the incident with Congressman John Lewis where he said he was called a "nigger" by tea party protesters, even though the video evidence disproved his claim.

Spoofing video evidence proving Lewis' claim, along with a good story that the tea party had suppressed such evidence, might be enough for CNN to report on the story.

The video evidence just needs to be simple, just Lewis walking by with a faint "nigger" said in the background, yelled by someone there.  The video evidence would need to be sufficient to get by potential fact-checkers at CNN who might analyze the video and audio.

Potential video:
1. Lewis walking by and someone saying "nigger"
2. Proof that the tea party had edited out the word 'nigger' from released video
3. Video footage of the tea party taking the video evidence from other people the day of the event.

Potential documents:
1. Frantic emails from within the tea party that shows the word was said, and how to cover up the video evidence.
2. Voicemails from tea party leaders couching people to say scripted lines and avoid admitting that there was racism at the event.

The danger is, of course, that the lie becomes the official truth, and so it would be necessary to immediately deconstruct this story on friendly networks and media outlets.  The goal isn't to draw out the scandal after all, rather just to embarrass CNN by having them report a false story.  So immediately reporting on the falseness of the story would be key.

Precautions against the story becoming false truth:
1. Releasing proof of its fraud the same day
2. The fact no one watches CNN
3. The impact of one day of news versus the collective effort of those battling the media establishment
4. The competition between liberal networks to show and report on CNN's failures
5. The extensiveness of our evidence showing that it was wholesale fraud
6. Exclusive reporting and interviewing with the tea party to explain why you did this, that you support the tea party types, and that you wanted to show what CNN 'had in their heart: hatred for normal Americans.'
7. The waning influence of the 'racist' label and charge.
8. Journalism outlets that will investigate and report on CNN's fraud.

I don't know the relevant and friendly media outlets, so that part of the discussion is not included here.  My guess would be that it includes Fox and the bloggers.

In order to spoof the CNN reporters, it would have to be careful and coy to mention the evidence or proof in question.

Discussion with the CNN reporter

James: "it's frustrating to keep having these racism stories come out about me, I'm just trying to report on issues, I feel like ACORN for example was helping more African-Americans than it was helping but no one seems to notice that."

CNN: "well, many of the people on your videos were black after all."

James: "but they were doing an overall disservice to the African-American community, they weren't helping with jobs, resources, access, and combating real racism.  It just seems like the 'racist' tag gets thrown on anything, even things that aren't racist, and doesn't get noticed on things that are really racist even on the right."

CNN: "what are you talking about"

James: "look, there is racism out there, in different organizations and movements, no one denies that, I'm just saying it's aggravating that I have to deal with it when I'm the one trying to get Breitbart and others to report on the real racism on the right, and the evidence that's out there."

CNN: "what evidence?"

James: "you know.  Look, I shouldn't even be talking be talking to you about this."

CNN: "well you are, what evidence?"

James: "well, like that John Lewis thing, the tea party was able to cover that up pretty fast and pretty effectively."

Timeline:

Stage 1 - plotting and planning
Stage 2 - research and gathering evidence, finding the right individuals
Stage 3 - producing the video
Stage 4 - audit, planning, gaming CNN
Stage 5 - alerting friendly outlets before the publication
Stage 6 - release of the video and the counterpunch from friendlys

To Do:

1. Assess whether this project has merit
2. Identify a reporter to use to float the story
3. Identify trustworthy talent that could handle the technical side of the production
4. Find tea party video from the Lewis event in particular, or other documents and evidence to use to buttress the story
5. Make a critical audit of the evidence and story, with an eye on what level of detail CNN is going to go through
6. Reassess the entire project and make sure there are no holes or problems before publication
7. Produce the video and evidence
8. Float it to the CNN reporter, find out when it will be released
9. Alert the friendly outlets, give them the evidence needed to show the story is a fraud

Permutations/Alternative versions:
a. Other angles:
1) fake story
2) fake journalist
3) fake source
4) fake advertiser
tape a call from a business CEO to the ad departemtn at CNN, have them call you back on theire personal cell number, goal is to get the ad dept. to agree to pressure the newsroom to adjust its coverage.
5) have a fake 'student newscrew' interview tope people at CNN

Minions / fellow culture warriors involved:

Ben R. Wetmore (who wrote the document)

Ben Wetmore

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.

WashU protest and James O'Keefe interview

Uploaded on Nov 10, 2009

Wash U students celebrated the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall by building a gulag on the quad to remeber those who died under socialism. James O'Keefe was there. I interviewed him about citizen journalism.  

NJO: Title, video and blurb from Darin Morley's YouTube channel Darin RebootCongress.

Minions / fellow culture warriors involved: 

Jonathon C. "Jon / John" Burns (a founding member of St. Louis Tea Party) 
Joseph "Joe" Basel 
Dirk Doebler (then president of the WashU chapter of Young Americans for Liberty) 
Emily Piontek (then member of the WashU chapter of Young Americans for Liberty) 
Phil Christofanelli (then member of the WashU chapter of Young Americans for Liberty)
Ben R. Wetmore (He implies his involvement in this blog post, mirrored here.)
 

James O'Keefe, Jon Burns, Ben Wetmore, Joe Basel, 2011

Dixie

 
Special thanks to the 4000 dollar 60 inch HDTV monitor LI bought me to produce and edit movies.

NJO: Originally posted on the blog Feathers of Steel at liberabit.blogspot.com. "LI" is The Leadership Institute. There was probably a bit more to this post, but the above title and sentence or sentence fragment are the only bits of it I could glean from the webs. Credit here goes to "wanderindiana" in this post on Daily Kos.

The matter of the Leadership Institute's role in providing James with video equipment is dealt with in further detail in this 2009 blog post (mirrored here) by Ben Wetmore.

The relevant paragraph:

"All the good things at the Institute while I was there happened despite the management, or by going around them. I was nearly fired, as was my boss Cong. Steve Stockman, for buying the initial video equipment that James used. It was a maddening place to work, frustrated by reality, exasperated by managerial incompetence but buoyed by hope and ideology that kept people working in the worst of circumstances usually until they were forcibly expelled."

The title of this post - either "Dixie" or "Dixie Special" - could therefore possibly be some sort of reference to Steve Stockman and/or Ben Wetmore, who are both from Texas.

On Writing Good Song Lyrics



This was an email I wrote to a friend of mine who produces music


We all want to be like the Beatles and Stevie Wonder, myself included, by using abstraction in song and poetry lyrics, where every human on earth can relate to our stoic themes like "Let it be..." "Until the ocean covers every mountain high---I'll love you always." but that's a slippery slope to climb, and I'm beginning to understand I can not pull it off - in the same way NOBODY but Ronald Reagan can stand up in front of the entire world and shout "Mr. Gorbachev Tear down this wall." If any other President had said those brave words at the height of the cold war to the entire Soviet Union, he would have been laughed off the stage. Artists, politicians and others who emulate those sages which preceed them; can't even come close. Examples include Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton and other black reverends whose rhetoric and passion, though practically identical, doesn't compare to the firey brimstone of Martin Luther Kings Jr's - who will make you cry if you just listen to him speak.

Artists like Stevie Wonder are revered because they were pioneers in their genre, and we may by some miracle receive that standing, but it will be by using different methods, different music, and different lyrics. I think we have so far. You say the melody I hummed was too close to Lenny Kravtiz "It ain't over 'til it's over", but this was a fact I disclosed and I realized after I was done conjuring it up. On the contrary, there are common progressions in music; many famous rock and roul / blue artists virtually copied the Bach Conciertos in the 1950s. The first ten notes of "Another old Lang Syn" are identical to the 1812 Overture. However, a vague similarity was not my intention. Neither is yours. Inspiration is a beautiful thing that can create entirely different things altogether.

Most of these lyrics in the video I sent you, like all initial melodic experiments, were improvd, but even if I sat down to think of them, I realize that my lyrical abilities need dramatic impovement. This is frustrating because I know in my writing my skill is in description and anology. But when you're describing a feeling of love, which is usually, in harmony, restricted by ryhme, the lyrics become redudant and sappy - and takes away from the power. I got to thinking about this more...

I think lyrics can be fixed with a little practice and discipline. First, I think songs; all our songs should tell a story. "Juliet" was half way there, but it fell into the same trap - my fault - since I took it away from where I originally thought it would go - it was originally a confrontation and it turned into a longing, bad move on my part. The story needs to be literal. And we are the best writers when we describe our exact surroundings because we instinctually are paranoid on describing them the way they appear to us in the best way possible - we speak in similies and use spatial and time references - which is great. But unless your shakespeare, poetry isn't intuitive nor immediate. We want to put words together and do what first comes to us, because we think that will sound the best - be the easiest and most natural. We value abstraction, because well, something vague can a) be applied to everyone and then they'll relate to it to themselves (Like that Dan Fogulberg song "Another Old Lang Syne" which touched everyone's heart because they also dream of reuinting with their high school sweetheart) and b) because "If it aint' broke don't fix it." But I'm beginning to understand that words do matter and can always be editing and fixed in music (Fogulberg's song, btw, was literally a story about a specific encounter at a grocery store) and the best composition is one that is edited and re-thought and restructured, and I think we can engineer great meaning into those resonant slots, and make them rhyme with time and patience the same way a manuscript is produced.

At this point, If I were to ryhme about that group of 3rd graders playing soccer over there it would sound more powerful that my song about love - because the words wouldn't be so abstract.

NJO: Originally posted on the blog Feathers of Steel at liberabit.blogspot.com.

What Your Professors Don't Want You To Read, Part I

What Your Professors Don't Want You To Read

NJO: Also: Books your professors don't want you to read. Basically the same page twice, hey ho.

Up from Liberalism "If you like liberalism, You'll Loathe Buckley"  William F. Buckley Jr. 11/26/2004

The Politics of Bad Faith Horowitz attacks the Acedemic Elite David Horowitz 11/26/2004

The Road to Serfdom Hayek proves that socialism will always lead to tyranny  F. A. Hayek 11/26/2004

Why we Fight Bennet reinforces a right and wrong with terrorism William Bennet 11/26/2004

Capitalism and Freedom Rutgers '32 connects political freedom with economic freedom Milton Friedman 11/26/2004

Why the Left Hates America Flynn exoposes the left for what it truly is  Daniel J. Flynn 11/26/2004

Michael Moore is a Big Fat Stupid White Man How Mikey edits those films very carefully Hardy and Clarke 11/26/2004

The Savage Nation Micheal Savage 11/26/2004

Our Character, Our future Alan Keyes 11/26/2004

Leadership Rudolph Giuiani 11/26/2004