Now that full, unedited videos taken at ACORN sites in California have been posted by California AG (and Gubernatorial Candidate / Former Governor / Former Mayor of Oakland) Jerry Brown, we can clearly see O'Keefe's modus operandi for his pseudo-muckracking.
But what can this tell as about the borderline-bizarre incident in Sen. Landrieu's office?
Clearly, the ACORN tapes show that O'Keefe is taking advantage of a large segment of media and people that have fomented a strong desire for any kind of anti-progressive, anti-Democratic meem to latch on to. With Fox News accidentally running a parody Onion-style news clip about a climate change researcher freezing to death, we see that there is a market for anything that validates the worldview of the right wing.
The ACORN tapes show O'Keefe was not wearing the pimp outfit he appears in during the beginning of the edited tapes that were originally released. The tapes and investigation show ACORN workers doing exactly what almost any person would have done: calling the cops, taking the "prostitute" to the domestic abuse counseling center (conveniently located...at ACORN!), refusing to assist, and even screwing around with O'Keefe right back.
The reason the tapes worked so well is simple: a lot of people wanted to believe them.
So what was the phone tapping bit in Sen. Landrieu's office all about? They had no phone bugging equipment on them. They have stated that they were going to "pretend to test the phone system," even though none of the suspects were phone technicians. O'Keefe, using his cellphone, recorded the team entering the office and being escorted to the utility access entrance.
The team has claimed that they wanted to investigate Sen. Landrieu's reported aversion to answering constituent phone calls, but that doesn't add up: wouldn't you just tape a room full of staffers ignoring ringing phones? Getting to look at a central phone system wouldn't tell you much about who is answering what, and when.
If the team knew nothing about actually accessing the phone system, then all they wanted from the visit was video of them appearing to access the phone system.
With an audience extremely willing to believe anything that appears to confirm their views, and video of the "ACORN heroes" accessing the Senator's phone lines, all it would take is a well-made fake tapped phone call between "Sen. Landrieu" and god-only-knows-whom (a male escort? Osama Bin Laden?), and O'Keefe could have taken down a sitting Senator. Or, make it easier, just say the call is between an "unidentified staffer" and some sketchy contact.
Regardless of any denials or proof of fabrication (voice similarity tests, etc.), the video of the staffers accessing the Senator's phone system would be far more than enough "proof" to allow the Tea Partiers and right wing fringe groups to latch on, evidence to the contrary be damned, and propel the story forward.
Clearly, the new O'Keefe tapes show a propensity for exploiting the right's willingness to believe. The stunt in Sen. Landrieu's office appears random and bizarre, until one realizes the value of the video taken during the phone operation. Once that context is considered, the phone operation has a clear, and pathetic, purpose.
(Thanks for reading my first diary!)