ACORN Videos: San Diego and Tijuana Dreaming

posted at 8:46 am on September 17, 2009 by Ed Morrissey

James O’Keefe, Hannah Giles, and Big Government strike again, this time in the sunny clime of San Diego, California.  As they note, San Diego would be a perfect place to smuggle underage Salvadorean girls across the border into the US, but as Juan Carlos from ACORN advises, why bother?  Just set up the brothel in nearby Tijuana, where O’Keefe and Giles can operate outside US law.  In fact, the ACORN worker offers to partner with them if they do, because he’s got connections across the border:

“I have a lot of connections in Tijuana.”

He’s got a lot of connections, and apparently Juan Carlos is shopping for some social interaction, too:

In the second video, O’Keefe plays with Juan Carlos, telling him that he went to ACORN because some unnamed organization in Oceanside called the cops on them when they started talking about trafficking in 13-year-old girls. Even though Juan Carlos says he has cousins who are cops, he assures O’Keefe and Giles that he won’t drop a dime on them, and that he’ll help get the girls across the border. “Trust the Mexican people,” Juan Carlos says a number of times.

In the other four undercover projects, ACORN offered advice on tax evasion and hiding child prostitution, which was despicable enough. In San Diego, the ACORN staffer wanted a piece of the action. Is this a normal way for ACORN to raise funds?

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ACORN MAN!

The only appropriate response…

Mr. Joe on September 17, 2009 at 12:01 PM

ACORN MAN!

The only appropriate response…

Mr. Joe on September 17, 2009 at 12:02 PM

I was surfing and saw a headline from TIME mag. Is Glenn Beck Bad for America?

Can I just say: God bless Glenn Beck. God Bless Rupert Murdock for starting FoxNews. He’s an Aussie, so God Bless Austrailia they may have saved our Republic.

If it can be saved.

petunia on September 17, 2009 at 12:17 PM

I know Obama and his friends come from Chicago, but I didn’t realize they came from 1920′s Chicago. 1920′s Chicago, just computerized this time.

RBMN on September 17, 2009 at 12:32 PM

If they do, they do, at least we won’t try to prop them up. Although I assume you are talking about the differnt threshhold levels that are bound to be used.

Cindy Munford on September 17, 2009 at 11:52 AM

Yeah, lefties aren’t going to try to get conservatives to bankroll child prostitution. It will probably be something like catching them saying the N word or that gays should burn in hell or something that isn’t even illegal.

Speedwagon82 on September 17, 2009 at 12:33 PM

Why would we not fund Acorn when we funded Halliburton (which is much more evil and corrupt).

Halliburton is smuggling child sex slaves across the border and opening whore houses? Who knew?

The left’s desparate tu quoque arguments are getting more and more pathetic.

Nichevo on September 17, 2009 at 12:40 PM

You know the left would have prosecuted Halliburton, had tapes, had investigations, had crucifixions, if Halliburton had done anything illegal. Dick Cheney worked there and that’s all they ever did “wrong”. This ridiculous talking point of saying Halliburton was worse than Acorn is insane. It’s just a new iteration of “Bush did it.” God I hate liberals.

Haunches on September 17, 2009 at 12:45 PM

I wonder if there’s a New Orleans ACORN tape…

newton on September 17, 2009 at 12:45 PM

I was surfing and saw a headline from TIME mag. Is Glenn Beck Bad for America?

It’s the 4th headline on Yahoo’s homepage.

uknowmorethanme on September 17, 2009 at 12:46 PM

petunia on September 17, 2009 at 12:17 PM

Sure he is!

…Barack Obama’s vision of America that is. ^_^

Orange Doorhinge on September 17, 2009 at 1:05 PM

barnone on September 17, 2009 at 10:15 AM

I never said he was stupid…just that if he ever wants to achieve what he wants, to interview the administration, then he has to move on.
That eats at him, few on the left will give him any opportunity, so he has to, at times, pander.
Like saying there was only 75,000, or that ACORN can’t be tied to Obama…yet he has to milk ACORN for the ratings.
If Obama is re-elected he will leave FOX, so he can has access to Obama’s administration.

right2bright on September 17, 2009 at 1:06 PM

Actually, Halliburton did engage in behavior nearly as evil as what ACORN’s been caught at.

Or at least their predecessor Kellogg, Brown & Root did.

Or at least they did when they were Brown & Root, and they bought an up-and-coming Texas politician his House seat.

LBJ in the 1930s.

JEM on September 17, 2009 at 1:10 PM

Your tax dollars at work.

Hening on September 17, 2009 at 1:12 PM

Our Teenager in Chief is the head of ACORN.

Schadenfreude on September 17, 2009 at 1:13 PM

Interesting that the administration is trying to “distance” itself from a groups it specifically invited to the WH six weeks ago…

http://atlasshrugs2000.typepad.com/atlas_shrugs/2009/09/obamas-white-house-acorn-crime-covered-up-by-tides.html

Tides… SEIU…. ACORN… same group different names, and no one I would ever want to be associated with. At what point does it become “guilt by associationS”?

UnderstandingisPower on September 17, 2009 at 1:20 PM

o.k. I just finished listening to a radio interview with Bertha Lewis – her tone is totally different when she has a sympathetic audience……..

She intends to ‘help’ the employees that were terminated.

http://speakmymindblog.com/2009/09/17/bertha-lewis-different-interview-different-attitude/

sherryande on September 17, 2009 at 1:24 PM

Actually, Halliburton did engage in behavior nearly as evil as what ACORN’s been caught at.

Or at least their predecessor Kellogg, Brown & Root did.

Or at least they did when they were Brown & Root, and they bought an up-and-coming Texas politician his House seat.

LBJ in the 1930s.

JEM on September 17, 2009 at 1:10 PM

So curiously, when did Halliburton become the designated whipping point for Democrats if they helped (illegally?) put a Democrat in office? I’m not questioning your history so much as how their culture could have changed so much from the 30′s of “buying” a seat for a big Dem to being “on the take” from the Republicans? Or are you now saying they are an equal-opportunity offender?

UnderstandingisPower on September 17, 2009 at 1:25 PM

Miss Giles is cute, but being smart and courageous is what makes her hot!

My wife saw these kids on Beck’s show then turned to me and said, “I pray our boys grow up to be that courageous.”

+1 to wifey.

pugwriter on September 17, 2009 at 1:29 PM

Speedwagon82 on September 17, 2009 at 12:33 PM

It doesn’t take much, look how much milage and damage they did with Macawca. After all, the media is lumping the LaRouche idiots with the tea parties, townhalls, and the 9/12 rally.

Cindy Munford on September 17, 2009 at 1:37 PM

These kids have guts.

Terrye on September 17, 2009 at 1:40 PM

Although it’s entertaining to see ACORN auger into he dirt, I have to point out something I noticed. I guess it was so obvious that it didn’t dawn on me. Ms. Giles and Mr. O’Keefe, lets face it; do not look like a credible pimp and hooker. They’re just too clean cut and quite frankly they look like young adults dressing for Halloween. You’d think that the average thug would see those two walk into their office and know right away that this was a sting…but they didn’t. Why?
.
Common sense would tell you that if ACORN is in with some dirty cops, you wouldn’t have said dirty cops dress as a hooker and her pimp to set up some sort of deal with ACORN. It makes no sense to dress as if you’re going to do a sting and ACORN workers know what you’re doing but work with you anyway.
.
The only other thing I can think of is ACORN is so in deep with the highest branches of government & the media that they don’t even feel that they have to guard against any sort of sting by the cops or a hidden camera expose from the media. I’m not talking about high-dollar attorneys mind you. Gotti had the best lawyers and eventually he was busted.
.
This is a whole different beast of corruption. It’s like a plague that has infected every area of government & media. I have a feeling that ACORN is like roaches. No matter how much poison is put out to eradicate these disease-carrying pest, you will never destroy them. They will survive when all else is gone.

mizflame98 on September 17, 2009 at 1:42 PM

The guy has two big “acorns” to be so bold….

WyoMike on September 17, 2009 at 1:48 PM

Jonah Goldeberg at NRO just reported that the House has voted to continue ACORN funding.

If this is true, we are so screwed. Even our Congress sides with criminality, slime and sleaze over decent Americans.

We’re being forced to consider unthinkable actions to save our nation.

MrScribbler on September 17, 2009 at 1:50 PM

Ed, is it bad that I thought of “A Piece Of The Action” from TOS? Kirk in his pinstriped suit and snappy fedora?

Looks like James and Hannah are playing a game of Fizzbin with ACORN.

juanito on September 17, 2009 at 9:21 AM

LOL!

“Hey Scotty! This is Koik!”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oRNqYdg6Muk

Del Dolemonte on September 17, 2009 at 1:53 PM

Jonah Goldeberg at NRO just reported that the House has voted to continue ACORN funding.

If this is true, we are so screwed. Even our Congress sides with criminality, slime and sleaze over decent Americans.

We’re being forced to consider unthinkable actions to save our nation.

MrScribbler on September 17, 2009 at 1:50 PM

I’m trying to find the vote tally online. I imagine it was along partisan lines, but are the Dems seriously this crazy? If they force Obamacare through, they’ll lose 100 seats next year.

Doughboy on September 17, 2009 at 1:55 PM

New talking point which Juan Williams said last night and that I heard on the radio this morning: Why would we not fund Acorn when we funded Halliburton (which is much more evil and corrupt).

New Corollary: Whoever gets compared to Haliburton has lost.

Haunches on September 17, 2009 at 11:18 AM

Throwing the H word our (Halliburton) has only worked with the lower intelligence Leftists, as those with even a single brain cell know full well that (Democrat) President Bill Clinton gave Halliburton no-bid contracts during his War of Choice in the Balkans.

And (Democrat) President Lyndon Johnson climbed into bed with KBR, which became a subsidiary of Halliburton, 6 years before Dick Cheney was even born. His association with Halli made him a multi-millionaire.

Del Dolemonte on September 17, 2009 at 2:00 PM

So curiously, when did Halliburton become the designated whipping point for Democrats if they helped (illegally?) put a Democrat in office? I’m not questioning your history so much as how their culture could have changed so much from the 30’s of “buying” a seat for a big Dem to being “on the take” from the Republicans? Or are you now saying they are an equal-opportunity offender?

UnderstandingisPower on September 17, 2009 at 1:25 PM

Halliburton wasn’t “bad” when Democrat politicians were engaging the company’s services. It only became “bad” when Darth Cheney came along.

For the Left, recorded history didn’t begin until Bush and Cheney took office in 2001. Anything before that never happened-the 9/11 plots started then (not in 1996), and the 1998 Clinton Justice Department indictment against bin Laden, which cited his working relationship with Iraq, never happened at all.

Del Dolemonte on September 17, 2009 at 2:06 PM

Here’s the actual bill

http://speakmymindblog.com/2009/09/17/defund-acorn-act/

sherryande on September 17, 2009 at 2:09 PM

I’m trying to find the vote tally online. I imagine it was along partisan lines, but are the Dems seriously this crazy? If they force Obamacare through, they’ll lose 100 seats next year.

Doughboy on September 17, 2009 at 1:55 PM

I think he has that wrong. C-SPAN had the vote on adding the defunding, as an amendment to the student loan legislation. The amendment passed 345-75-2-all no votes cast by Dems.

The House is now voting on the bill as a whole, which, I believe, will pass fairly handily.

BuckeyeSam on September 17, 2009 at 2:09 PM

Speaking of ACORN and Jimmy Carter and CRA and smarmy things like that, I saw this by Byron York:

This morning House Financial Services Committee chairman Rep. Barney Frank held a hearing on H.R. 1479, the “Community Reinvestment Modernization Act of 2009.” The bill’s purpose is “to close the wealth gap in the United States” by increasing “home ownership and small business ownership for low- and moderate-income borrowers and persons of color.” It would extend CRA’s strict lending requirements to non-bank institutions like credit unions, insurance companies, and mortgage lenders. It would also make CRA more explicitly race-based by requiring CRA standards to be applied to minorities, regardless of income, going beyond earlier requirements that applied solely to low- and moderate-income areas.

Republicans on the committee strongly oppose the plan. “Instead of looking to expand the number of institutions that must abide by Community Investment Act regulations,” California Rep. Ed Royce said in prepared opening remarks at today’s hearing, “I think we should reassess the role this and other government mandates played in the financial collapse and consider scaling it back.”

In private conversation, other Republicans were more emphatic. “There is clearly arguable evidence that the CRA is at the root of this financial meltdown,” says one GOP committee member. “So what do they do? They try to expand CRA.”

The Democrats have enough votes to get this thing through. Might be time to bother your Congressman or woman again.

Terrye on September 17, 2009 at 2:10 PM

BuckeyeSam on September 17, 2009 at 2:09 PM

I was listening when they voted nay on the bill – its a separate bill

sherryande on September 17, 2009 at 2:13 PM

haunches:

I grew up in Oklahoma. Halliburton was the leading employer in my home town of Duncan, Oklahoma. And that was a long time ago. Halliburton has been around for decades and was used as a defense contractor all over the world by both parties. And so far as I know they did not give anyone any money to open any whore houses.

Juan can try that lame comparison, but I don’t think it will fly.

Terrye on September 17, 2009 at 2:13 PM

I can’t wait until they release the inevitable Chicago ACORN office video. You know it’s probably coming, and you know it’s probably jucy as hell, and you know it’ll probably be the last one.

crazy_legs on September 17, 2009 at 2:14 PM

Why am I not shocked that an ACORN employee would be eager to take part in illegal activities?

Oh yeah, it’s because I can remember wayyyyy back to last fall’s voter registration efforts.

hawksruleva on September 17, 2009 at 2:16 PM

I can’t wait until they release the inevitable Chicago ACORN office video. You know it’s probably coming, and you know it’s probably jucy as hell, and you know it’ll probably be the last one.

crazy_legs on September 17, 2009 at 2:14 PM

I’d wait until, ohhh, late October, 2010.

hawksruleva on September 17, 2009 at 2:18 PM

Halliburton has been around for decades and was used as a defense contractor all over the world by both parties. And so far as I know they did not give anyone any money to open any whore houses.

Juan can try that lame comparison, but I don’t think it will fly.

Terrye on September 17, 2009 at 2:13 PM

If they HAD, they’d be the most fastest-built, most efficient whorehouses ever. Unlike something an ACORN operation would create.

hawksruleva on September 17, 2009 at 2:19 PM

Are there more parts to this video available anywhere? It seems rather suspicious that the first video ends without the guy saying anything in response to the age of the girls.

bileduct on September 17, 2009 at 2:19 PM

BuckeyeSam on September 17, 2009 at 2:09 PM

you were right………..

sherryande on September 17, 2009 at 2:25 PM

hawksruleva:

Ain’t that the truth.

Terrye on September 17, 2009 at 2:29 PM

You know ACORN is in a panic when their shill here is floating the “they doctored the tapes” excuse again.

Cat is out of the bag dude. Time to find another excuse like aliens from outer space made ACORN do it.

viking01 on September 17, 2009 at 2:43 PM

I really wish you would refrain from referring to the future Mrs. TXUS in such a way.

TXUS on September 17, 2009 at 9:04 AM

LOL. Oh well I guess there is no point in stalking courting her anymore. I give up. You won. Have you set a date yet for the Holy Matrimony yet?

Geochelone on September 17, 2009 at 2:43 PM

Too late for Hannah. I already proposed. The wedding reception will be at Oak Alley Plantation. Just in time to see ACORNs falling from the trees.

viking01 on September 17, 2009 at 2:50 PM

This video, as it is currently presented, doesn’t pass the smell test. There are way too many cuts, it focuses mainly on Giles and O’Keefe talking, and the dude is just sitting there giving the occasional “yes” and repeating stuff that has already been said by O’Keefe.

Until an unedited video comes out I’m gonna have to say I’m not convinced with this one.

bileduct on September 17, 2009 at 2:51 PM

ACORN’s plant here keeps talking.

viking01 on September 17, 2009 at 2:53 PM

Here’s the votes

http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2009/roll718.xml

sherryande on September 17, 2009 at 2:55 PM

Surprised it’s not a headline on here yet

ace tomato on September 17, 2009 at 2:55 PM

No transcript either or unedited MP3 for this one either.

bileduct on September 17, 2009 at 2:57 PM

and talking…. and talking….

Note to Rahm:

Send a better troll.

viking01 on September 17, 2009 at 3:00 PM

Brooklyn DA is going to interview James O’Keefe to see if charges can be filed against ACORN………

sherryande on September 17, 2009 at 3:03 PM

Sorry to interrupt your jack-off session there, viking.

bileduct on September 17, 2009 at 3:03 PM

bileduct on September 17, 2009 at 3:03 PM

The whupped dog yelps!!

Pffft. Try not to be such an obvious Obamapimp gutterboy.

viking01 on September 17, 2009 at 3:09 PM

If it smells like a turd, it’s a turd.

And this video certainly has a stink about it.

bileduct on September 17, 2009 at 3:13 PM

bileduct on September 17, 2009 at 3:13 PM

That’s your upper lip from brown nosing Obambi.

Hannah was only pretending to be a prostitute.

What’s your excuse?

viking01 on September 17, 2009 at 3:18 PM

Excuse for what?

I didn’t vote for Obama.

bileduct on September 17, 2009 at 3:23 PM

bileduct on September 17, 2009 at 3:23 PM

LOL (points finger) Ah did not have sex with that woman… Miss Lewinsky.

You can’t fool us. You’re in the wrong game whippersnapper. Go play with the Kos kids.

viking01 on September 17, 2009 at 3:26 PM

It smells like infected stomach BILE in here. Did someone gut a Troll?

ronnyraygun on September 17, 2009 at 3:29 PM

Whatever guy. If you’re so ideologically blinded that you immediately think that anyone who doesn’t agree with you on any particular issue is a follower of your political rival, then your opinion is pretty much insignificant to me and you’re not worth having a conversation with on any topic, including the time of day.

bileduct on September 17, 2009 at 3:32 PM

bileduct on September 17, 2009 at 3:32 PM

Waaah. Waaaah. You’re out of your league here pissboy. Go get Axelrod some coffee.

viking01 on September 17, 2009 at 3:39 PM

Listen to the very first video again (Baltimore) or read the transcript. The ACORN staffer wanted a piece of the action there too. Remember how she suggested getting a matronly woman to run the house in order to avoid the suspicion that might be caused by having 13 unruly girls there? Then, seemingly unconnected, she went on and on about how old and matronly her daughter was at 31. (I think she had another dughter a bit older too.) By sheer coincidence she threw that otherwise non sequitur in there.

AnotherOpinion on September 17, 2009 at 3:50 PM

AnotherOpinion on September 17, 2009 at 3:50 PM

http://hotair.com/archives/2009/09/10/videos-acorn-advising-on-tax-evasion-for-pimps-and-prostitutes/

So you don’t have to hunt through the archive to find the transcript. Read it and see if you see what I saw. It is a long transcript so focus on pages 26, and 37-39.

AnotherOpinion on September 17, 2009 at 4:27 PM

It was obvious during the past election that something foul was going on inside ACORN. The rock was finally flipped over by a couple of brave kids, and it is shocking to see how pervasive the problem really is. The problem is not just with ACORN, but with the morals of the underclass that the ACORN staff is drawn from. I’m sure ACORN doesn’t send their staff to classes on “Helping Pimps Cheat On Taxes 101″. Maybe ACORN cherry picks people with the lowest morals to hire. Or maybe that is all that is available to choose from. That is one of the big questions I would like to see answered by real reporters.

cavman on September 17, 2009 at 4:52 PM

Is it just my imagination, or is Acorn no longer firing the people implicated in these tapes anymore?

After the first two tapes, Acorn came out publicly, almost immediately, to say they had “fired the few bad apples”.

But I haven’t heard anything about them firing that batshit crazy-lady, Tresa, or the folks from the other West Coast offices. Is Acorn worried about getting sued? Or are they just worried about running out of non-corrupt employees?

Meezles on September 17, 2009 at 5:00 PM

I really don’t get it. Juan Carlos is relatively well spoken and appears somewhat educated. How is it, then, that he could be fooled by kids like this? That young woman wouldn’t make the cast of a high school production of Chicago. I’m not criticizing her acting ability but her demeanor. And the naivete that the two budding journalists belied in their questioning sent off alarm bells that I think I heard while watching the clips. Unfreakingbelievable.

thegreatbeast on September 17, 2009 at 6:08 PM

thegreatbeast on September 17, 2009 at 6:08 PM

It works because of greed. Like many good cons and scams, the sucker is pulled in because of their greed despite any red flags they might see. In these ACORN videos the staffer gets to sign up 2 new people, fill out a home application form, get blackmail material on a future congressman, get the good favor of a future congressman, get the good favor of a future lawyer, get the good favor of a 100k per person business (converservatively a cool million per year), and either get a cut of the trafficing business, a cut of the fraudulent IRS form business, or a cut of maintaing a nice image for the house of child sex slaves business. If you are scum, that is just too tempting to resist.

AnotherOpinion on September 17, 2009 at 6:48 PM

Just got a call from LA. Gov. Jindal issued an order to end all funding for ACORN.

Christien on September 17, 2009 at 7:04 PM

ACORN will need to keep some thugs around in every office from now on to frisk people as they come in. Make them smoke dope, snort coke, spit on a picture of Reagan and perform sex acts before receiving illegal tax help. That should keep the conservatives away from now on.

JellyToast on September 17, 2009 at 7:41 PM

I called Grassley, Webb and about 3 congressmen today. I demanded a full-up FBI investigation with all the trimmings–badges, boxes of files gratuitously being carted away, subpoenas, grand juries, oaths and lots and lots of handcuffs.

Do your country a duty and get on the horn to the news outlets and DEMAND some absolute brush back hardball pitches to the One on Sunday. I even tried to contact Univision but mi espanol es muy mal amigo.

ted c on September 17, 2009 at 8:44 PM

Jindal issues order ending funding to ACORN

06:42 PM CDT on Thursday, September 17, 2009

WWLTV.com

WWLTV

Governor Bobby Jindal

BATON ROUGE – Governor Bobby Jindal has issued an executive order cutting off current and future state funding to ACORN following a series of incidents captured on videotape and the subpoena of documents from the group’s national headquarters in New Orleans by the state attorney general’s office.

Ohhh Snap! Christien links it. What’s the lower ninth gonna do now that ACORN can’t play. It’s going to be the SuperDome all over again…wahhhwahhwaahhwaahhh

ted c on September 17, 2009 at 8:46 PM

Nancy Pelosi condemns ACORN for moving kiddie whorehouses from San Diego to Tijuana in 3 … 2 … 1 ….
corona on September 17,

Nancy Pelosi claims she is unaware of this whole acorn scandal.

Strange she know nothing about this,
she can’t remember what happed in all those CIA briefings.

But she remembers in great detail what was happing in San Francisco during the 70’s?

Is Nancy senile?
Is this the start of Alzheimer’s?
Is the Botox leaking?

DSchoen on September 17, 2009 at 8:48 PM

Halliburton?

Only the dumb and the desperate still use “Halliburton” as an “issue” for anything.

Idiots got played by Soros to drive down stock prices of Halliburton.
Soros though Moveon and their useful idiots spun or made up every wackie story possible to hurt Halliburton, then out of the blue, Soros buys 2 million shares of Halliburton stock!

Those with an IQ above 12 realized they were played, had, bamboozled and stopped talking about Halliburton.

Now only the desperate and the dumb bring up Halliburton for anything, a dodge a deflection a change of subject.

So if someone brings up Halliburton as a shield ask em

“Seriously are you an idiot?”

DSchoen on September 17, 2009 at 9:44 PM

Still not convinced by this video, and there’s still no unedited audio or transcript.

This commenter at Big Government sums up my thoughts exactly:

blather ful · 7 hours ago
I’m sorry, at the end, the ACORN worker doesn’t strike me as someone who just had a chat about smuggling a dozen underage girls into the country for prostitution.

In fact, when I ignore the “context” that was setup and injected by the “film maker” and just focus on what the employee says and does, I don’t get the same result AT ALL. I also noticed there are some very creative edits… reorganizing the apparent order of the conversation, and making his answers seem much more implicative. I think this “expose” is quite possibly a fraud, actually…

When does he implicitly and specifically say “I’ll help you smuggle 12 girls into the country”?

When does he ask for money? No-one does that for free!

Half the time, his answers tell me he doesn’t even know what’s being asked… he says, “uh huh” in all the wrong places. A sign he isn’t getting it…

I am suspending my belief on this one. Show the full, unedited video. No cuts, no overdubs, no voice-overs. Otherwise, I’m calling BS on this one.

See, I’ve seen “mockumentaries” before. Very convincing “documentary style” films that could convince you of pretty much anything! Comments taken out of order or context, one half of a conversation ‘fleshed out” with a second half completely out of context with the original… creative editing.

As far as I’m concerned, this is pure BS invention, until otherwise proven…

Problem is, I”m seeing the same pattern in all the videos. Creative editing, partial or missing context when the employee speaks, overdubs, “suggested” context unsupported by the conversation…

I know, I’ll get flamed for this. But I smell a rotten fish here. Just saying… be objective before you accuse someone of anything…

By the way, I edit video and cut advertisements… I know how to make things look different than they are. In my opinion, these highly adulterated videos are doing just that…

Look again! Ask questions!

Peace.

bileduct on September 18, 2009 at 2:53 AM

The first two videos contain indefensible behaviour on the behalf of the ACORN employees, highlighting the poor recruitment, administration and training practises of ACORN.

But unless there is more to this video that has not been revealed yet, I suspect O’Keefe is overreaching here. The very nature of the way it has been put together is suspicious in itself. Not to mention the fact that the guy is basically just listening to O’Keefe talk, offering the odd “uh huh” and “ok” here and there, and repeating things back to O’Keefe.

bileduct on September 18, 2009 at 2:59 AM

Good heavens! Now he’s quoting himself!

viking01 on September 18, 2009 at 3:05 AM

Yeah, I’ve got so many socks on that site. Here’s another:

hadtocomment 55p · 6 hours ago
Sorry, I’m not buying this one at all…. At no time did he offer to help them. He didn’t ask for money. Seemed like there was a serious language gap, that limited his understanding. All he did was listen and ask questions! And it also seemed like he was trying to pump them for info to report to authorities.

The first 3 videos seemed pretty clear cut. Rotten nuts. This one is sketchy at best, and maybe just flat wrong. I’ll go so far as to give him the benefit of the doubt and say he was trying to get info to report them to the authorities.

I hope they have some facts that they aren’t sharing, or they may have bit off a libel suit.

bileduct on September 18, 2009 at 3:10 AM

I wonder if there is any truth to this:

Tim · 2 hours ago
There are reports in San Diego tonight that the target of this sting in National City — Juan Carlos Vera — actually reported these undercover flim makers to police two days after this video was recorded. The assistant chief of National City Police — Manual Rodriguez — confirms that Carlos approached a cousin who works as a detective with NCP and told this sworn officer that a pimp and a prostitute had come into his office. Furthermore, Carlos asked this detective if he knew anybody who could investigate the claims of human trafficking. The detective then reported the incident to a Federal task force on human smuggling in San Diego. About a week later, Carlos informed the detective this entire episode was a scam (as indeed it was). And, no crimes were committed.

bileduct on September 18, 2009 at 3:14 AM

Socks or sucks?

May as well quote Salon again, lightweight. No one is buying.

viking01 on September 18, 2009 at 3:15 AM

Sure.

Richard Falk, professor emeritus of international law and practice at Princeton University; distinguished visiting professor at the University of California at Santa Barbara: I would re-sign the 9/11 statement calling for investigation and clarification with respect to the series of questions that have never been satisfactorily answered. To call for an investigation along these lines does not make one “a 9/11 truther” or an endorser of a conspiracy theory. The deliberate blurring of the boundary between questioning the persuasiveness of the official version of 9/11 and the endorsement of an alternative theory of the events that implicates high officials in the Bush presidency seems designed to prevent further inquiry. Citizens in a democratic society deserve to know the truth, and to seek the truth in matters of such fundamental national importance should be treated as an expression of patriotic duty rather than the reverse.

bileduct on September 18, 2009 at 3:38 AM

bileduct on September 18, 2009 at 3:14 AM

Sounds like he did report to the police. That makes nonsense out of ACORN’s firing of him. I would have expected that they would reward him for having done the right thing.

If I were in this kind of situation, I’d have played along — to discover all the intelligence I could, before going to the police. But I would have gone to the police within minutes of these people walking out and driving off.

What I find interesting, however, is that, according to your source, it took him two days to decide to do that. Either he’s a slow thinker, or something finally prodded him into action. It would be interesting to know to whom he talked in the two days prior to going to the police — could he have found that the the pimp/prostitute situation had happened elsewhere and guessed that a sting was going down?

unclesmrgol on September 18, 2009 at 3:22 PM

unclesmrgol on September 18, 2009 at 3:22 PM

ACORN tends to attract and employ the lowest common denominator. If he did report it to the police two days later then he probably realized the deal fell through and he needed to cover his A$$.

What makes plaintive bileduct’s wistful shilling for ACORN here so comical is he’s still pimping the “doctored tapes” excuse. About as intelligent as Hillary blaming a vast conspiracy before the blue dress showed up. ACORN already tried that altered tapes shtick, finally gave up, and started passing out the pink slips.

viking01 on September 18, 2009 at 5:37 PM

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