Andrew Breitbart dies of "natural causes"

[timmgirvan]

Originally Posted by Rupert Pupkin

Any time a journalist does a negative story or an expose', it can hurt peoples' lives and careers. Does that stop journalists from doing these stories? Of course not.

there must have been massive evidence for ACORN to be defunded as they were!

[Antitrust32]

i will always be grateful to Breitbart and co for shutting down that sham organization ACORN.

[bigrun]

Originally Posted by Antitrust32

i will always be grateful to Breitbart and co for shutting down that sham organization ACORN.

Yeah, well see how the shut down has affected people...







It's all Obama's fault..

[Riot]

Originally Posted by timmgirvan

there must have been massive evidence for ACORN to be defunded as they were!

Nope. Just gullible congresscritters. And a public that doesn't pay attention when the story is later debunked.

Just google "ACORN Breitbart fraud" and you'll gets multiple hits on the exposure of Breitbart as a dishonest liar about ACORN, when investigated by various Attorneys General and the Congressional Research Service".

Investigations by former Massachusetts Attorney General Scott Harshbarger, Brooklyn District Attorney Charles J. Hynes, California Attorney General Jerry Brown, and the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service, among others, have served to exonerate ACORN of the most outrageous charges of criminality (while still criticizing ACORN employees and leadership).

More important, from the perspective of journalistic ethics, those investigations revealed that the videotapes released and promoted by Breitbart’s website were selectively and deceptively edited to serve as propaganda, not news.

http://www.salon.com/2010/07/21/acorn_10/

The right-wing zealots were forced to release their unedited ACORN pimp tapes to California Attorney General Jerry Brown. Brown found that O'Keefe had never claimed to be a pimp, and that the editing was creative to the point of dishonesty.

He's not the first to find similar nefarious-ness behind the ACORN tapes. James O'Keefe, an activist who thinks he's a journalist, had claimed that he'd wandered into ACORN offices dressed as a pimp, accompanied by a friend dressed as a prostitute, and found them willing to dispense illegal advice. Previous investigations had found that, and Andrew Breitbart (his mentor at BigGovernment.org, who aired the videos) had done some, um, creative editing.

But Brown's findings are the most damning yet. Here, via MediaMatters, is one excerpt from Brown's office's report, and another from their press release. The findings echo those of all the professionals — including the Brooklyn DA's office — who have looked into the matter

http://gawker.com/5508190/okeefe-and...everely-edited
.

Hey - what do you think of ALEC, btw? Pretty outrageous, huh?

[Rupert Pupkin]

Originally Posted by Riot

Nope. Just gullible congresscritters. And a public that doesn't pay attention when the story is later debunked.

Just google "ACORN Breitbart fraud" and you'll gets multiple hits on the exposure of Breitbart as a dishonest liar about ACORN, when investigated by various Attorneys General and the Congressional Research Service".





Hey - what do you think of ALEC, btw? Pretty outrageous, huh?

That is all well and good but it still doesn't change the fact that the New York Times reviewed all of the ACORN unedited tapes and transcripts and concluded, "The most damning words match the transcripts and the audio, and do not seem out of context."

[Riot]

Originally Posted by Rupert Pupkin

That is all well and good but it still doesn't change the fact that the New York Times reviewed all of the ACORN unedited tapes and transcripts and concluded, "The most damning words match the transcripts and the audio, and do not seem out of context."

Oops, sorry, I wrote an answer but mixed up Sherrod and ACORN. So deleted it. My bad.

Lissen, I don't care what the NY Times thinks - I care that it was found that Breitbart LIED and ACORN did not do what it was accused of.

[Rupert Pupkin]

Originally Posted by Riot

Oops, sorry, I wrote an answer but mixed up Sherrod and ACORN. So deleted it. My bad.

Lissen, I don't care what the NY Times thinks - I care that it was found that Breitbart LIED and ACORN did not do what it was accused of.

You can hang your hat on your conclusion. I will hang my hat on the fact that the New York Times said the most damning evidence against ACORN on the videos was legitimate.

Here is a quote from your article from a previous post: "Investigations by former Massachusetts Attorney General Scott Harshbarger, Brooklyn District Attorney Charles J. Hynes, California Attorney General Jerry Brown, and the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service, among others, have served to exonerate ACORN of the most outrageous charges of criminality (while still criticizing ACORN employees and leadership).

It says the Attorney Generals and DAs were critical of ACORN employees and their bosses. Just because nobody was charged with a crime, that doesn't mean that they didn't do anything wrong. They obviously did plenty wrong and that is why the AGs, the DAs, and the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service were very critical of ACORN.

[Riot]

Evidence obtained by [Attorney General] Brown tells a somewhat different story, however, as reflected in three videotapes made at ACORN locations in California.

One ACORN worker in San Diego called the cops. Another ACORN worker in San Bernardino caught on to the scheme and played along with it, claiming among other things that she had murdered her abusive husband. Her two former husbands are alive and well, the Attorney General's report noted.

At the beginning and end of the Internet videos, O'Keefe was dressed as a 1970s Superfly pimp, but in his actual taped sessions with ACORN workers, he was dressed in a shirt and tie, presented himself as a law student, and said he planned to use the prostitution proceeds to run for Congress. He never claimed he was a pimp.

"The evidence illustrates," Brown said, "that things are not always as partisan zealots portray them through highly selective editing of reality. Sometimes a fuller truth is found on the cutting room floor."

I agree that Breitbart was indeed a "passionate conservative", and I'm sure those that liked his work will miss him.

[Rupert Pupkin]

Originally Posted by Riot

I agree that Breitbart was indeed a "passionate conservative", and I'm sure those that liked his work will miss him.

I would never condone any journalist "deceptively editing" a story. With regard to the ACORN story, I don't know if O'Keefe was to blame, or Breitbart, or both. But whichever one of them (or both) was responsible, I would condemn that behavior. I don't think a journalist should ever do that.

However, I still do think they uncovered some good stuff. The New York Times thought so and even the AGs, DAs, and the non-partisan commission were very critical of ACORN after reviewing the undedited tapes and transcripts.

With regard to Jerry Brown's comments, he is not exactly unbiased. He is a partisan, liberal democrat.

[GenuineRisk]

Originally Posted by timmgirvan

there must have been massive evidence for ACORN to be defunded as they were!

Sure. Just like there was for the Iraq War.

You have way too much faith in your Congresscritters, Timm.