# ACORN "pimp" arrested for illegally accessing Senate office; tampering with phone system **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [January 26, 2010, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acorn-pimp-arrested-for-illegally-accessing-senate-office-tampering-with-phone-system/526586 "2010-01-26T23:13:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2010, 6:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acorn-pimp-arrested-for-illegally-accessing-senate-office-tampering-with-phone-system/526586/121 "2010-02-04T06:24:24Z")
ACORN has also said he edited out portions of the tapes where the ACORN employees made it clear that they thought he was joking, and were playing along as a lark. The investigation also found that he had cut in overdubbed questions to make it appear as though they were responding to different questions and comments than what he had really said during the stunts. ---
**Author:** ![HelenTroy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/helentroy/32/86_2.png) [@HelenTroy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HelenTroy)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2010, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acorn-pimp-arrested-for-illegally-accessing-senate-office-tampering-with-phone-system/526586/122 "2010-02-04T17:39:39Z")
Mr. O’Keefe has some other pieces of work to add to his CV: > **[Race and James O’Keefe](https://washingtonindependent.com/75626/race-and-james-okeefe)** > > In 2006, I attended an event hosted by the Robert Taft Club, a proudly un-PC debate society run by young conservative activists who worked at the Leadership Apparently he has a little racism problem. Surprise! Also, the ACORN stunt is not his only badly thought out piece of gorilla journalism. > **[James O'Keefe's Wacky Gay Marriage Stunt](https://www.gawker.com/5462345/james-okeefes-wacky-gay-marriage-stunt)** > > See, they went around Massachusetts saying they wanted to get gay married (despite the fact that they were both supposedly straight, with girlfriends) (their girlfriends live in Canada) in order to take advantage of all the various benefits society... In this clip you see him trying to marry his male friend for insurance purposes and makes clear he is not gay. This is supposed to be some kind of big gotcha as if heterosexuals don’t sometimes marry for reasons having nothing to do with love. The more I read about him, the more I get the giggles. ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_Batty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jack_batty/32/3201_2.png) [@Jack\_Batty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Batty)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2010, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acorn-pimp-arrested-for-illegally-accessing-senate-office-tampering-with-phone-system/526586/123 "2010-02-04T17:53:37Z")
> [@HelenTroy](#): > > gorilla journalism. I’m not sure if you meant that the way it reads … but I like it. ---
**Author:** ![HelenTroy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/helentroy/32/86_2.png) [@HelenTroy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HelenTroy)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2010, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acorn-pimp-arrested-for-illegally-accessing-senate-office-tampering-with-phone-system/526586/124 "2010-02-04T18:13:34Z")
> [@Jack\_Batty](#): > > I’m not sure if you meant that the way it reads … but I like it. How about I say I meant it that way and look very clever? Did it work? ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2010, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acorn-pimp-arrested-for-illegally-accessing-senate-office-tampering-with-phone-system/526586/125 "2010-02-04T18:17:48Z")
Here’s a fairly detailed [Salon article](http://www.salon.com/news/james_okeefe/index.html?story=/news/feature/2010/02/03/james_okeefe_white_nationalists) on O’Keefe’s White Nationalist activities (funny that Fox News never mentioned that about him). The wheels are really coming off this little creep now. I think even Sean Hannity is going to have to run away from him now. Apparently Andrew Breitbart is saying O’Keefe’s arrest is all a conspiracy and a frame up by the US Attorney’s office. So much for any legitimate reputation Breitbart might have had left either. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2010, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acorn-pimp-arrested-for-illegally-accessing-senate-office-tampering-with-phone-system/526586/126 "2010-02-04T18:22:59Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > So much for any legitimate reputation Breitbart might have had left either. I assume this is hyperbole? Not the “so much for” part, the “legitimate reputation” part. ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2010, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acorn-pimp-arrested-for-illegally-accessing-senate-office-tampering-with-phone-system/526586/127 "2010-02-04T19:09:29Z")
He and Palin should share a show on Fox. ---
**Author:** ![Enderw24](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ba9def/32.png) [@Enderw24](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enderw24)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2010, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acorn-pimp-arrested-for-illegally-accessing-senate-office-tampering-with-phone-system/526586/128 "2010-02-04T20:42:06Z")
Palin, Pimp & Pals? ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2010, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acorn-pimp-arrested-for-illegally-accessing-senate-office-tampering-with-phone-system/526586/129 "2010-02-04T21:10:17Z")
> [@Enderw24](#): > > Palin, Pimp & Pals? Or he could play to the base by hosting “The Old Time White Supremacist Jamboree Hour” while Palin hosts “You Fuckin’ Betcha!” with Levi Johnston over on CNN. ---
**Author:** ![Projammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/projammer/32/559_2.png) [@Projammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Projammer)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2010, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acorn-pimp-arrested-for-illegally-accessing-senate-office-tampering-with-phone-system/526586/130 "2010-02-04T23:02:18Z")
What I really don’t get is that Palin was once elected to office. How in the hell did that happen? Who was she running against that she was the better choice? ---
**Author:** ![Lok](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e8c25b/32.png) [@Lok](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lok)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2010, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acorn-pimp-arrested-for-illegally-accessing-senate-office-tampering-with-phone-system/526586/131 "2010-02-04T23:42:38Z")
Have you been paying attention to US politics for the last decade? It isn’t about who is necessarily the better choice. (Actually, it never was really. Just who had the better machine.) ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_Batty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jack_batty/32/3201_2.png) [@Jack\_Batty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Batty)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2010, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acorn-pimp-arrested-for-illegally-accessing-senate-office-tampering-with-phone-system/526586/132 "2010-02-04T23:43:50Z")
> [@Projammer](#): > > Who was she running against that she was the better choice? Straight Line, please pick up the white courtesy phone. Straight Line, white courtesy phone. Thank you. ---
**Author:** ![joebuck20](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/74df32/32.png) [@joebuck20](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joebuck20)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2010, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acorn-pimp-arrested-for-illegally-accessing-senate-office-tampering-with-phone-system/526586/133 "2010-02-05T01:22:44Z")
> [@Projammer](#): > > What I really don’t get is that Palin was once elected to office. > > How in the hell did that happen? Who was she running against that she was the better choice? Well, the guy she was running against for governor was pretty corrupt. That, and most people probably had no idea what she was really like back then. Let’s face it, people don’t really pay much attention to state politics unless there’s some juicy Mark Sanfordesque scandal going on. I’m sure voters knew her basic stances on the issues, but she wasn’t really a high-enough profile figure that her personality or her deeper beliefs were going to receive a lot of scrutiny. ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2010, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acorn-pimp-arrested-for-illegally-accessing-senate-office-tampering-with-phone-system/526586/134 "2010-02-05T01:26:17Z")
She could win in Alaska right now. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2010, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acorn-pimp-arrested-for-illegally-accessing-senate-office-tampering-with-phone-system/526586/135 "2010-02-05T04:46:51Z")
Really? Must be something in the [del]water[/del] ice. ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2010, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acorn-pimp-arrested-for-illegally-accessing-senate-office-tampering-with-phone-system/526586/136 "2010-05-27T16:10:44Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha! I hope he gets the whole ten years, the little shit. Misdemeanor plea to entering the offices under false pretenses. [Three years of probation, 100 hours of community service and a $1,500 fine.](http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/27/us/politics/27landrieu.html?ref=politics) ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2010, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acorn-pimp-arrested-for-illegally-accessing-senate-office-tampering-with-phone-system/526586/137 "2010-05-27T16:17:37Z")
And the other two only got two years probation. I’d say the party got a bargain out of these guys – ACORN down and _lots_ of free publicity. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2010, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acorn-pimp-arrested-for-illegally-accessing-senate-office-tampering-with-phone-system/526586/138 "2010-05-27T16:26:01Z")
I saw that yesterday. The little bitch was allowed to plead to a misdemeanor. That’s too bad. I bet his sugar daddy, Breitbart, will pay his fine for him. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2010, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acorn-pimp-arrested-for-illegally-accessing-senate-office-tampering-with-phone-system/526586/139 "2010-05-27T16:27:38Z")
He’s just lucky he had a clearly biased judge. > [@](#): > > Magistrate Daniel Knowles III, who cited the defendants’ potential as investigative journalists though he was critical of this incident, > [@](#): > > Mr. O’Keefe, whom the judge described as “extremely talented,” :rolleyes: Still, the article does say the Mr. O’Keefe was considered the ringleader, so I’d say one more misstep and he won’t be anyone we hear about again except as a news subject. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2010, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acorn-pimp-arrested-for-illegally-accessing-senate-office-tampering-with-phone-system/526586/140 "2010-05-27T16:28:56Z")
He’s probably going to convince some idiot that his community service should consist of making ‘documentaries’ exposing left wing corruption. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acorn-pimp-arrested-for-illegally-accessing-senate-office-tampering-with-phone-system/526586.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acorn-pimp-arrested-for-illegally-accessing-senate-office-tampering-with-phone-system/526586.md?page=8)