James O'Keefe, new generation of Irish American patriot

By: Ed Farnan | Published Friday, March 11, 2011, 6:35 PM | Updated Friday, September 9, 2011, 10:07 PM

Looks like we have a new generation of conservative Irish American patriots coming to the forefront. At 26 James O'Keefe already has an impressive record in exposing corruption, bias and illegality in government funded organizations. He is the modern day version of a conservative Woodward and Bernstein.

Due to an O'Keefe undercover sting operation, yesterday saw the firing of NPR'S CEO and the firing of the organizations chief fund raiser. The expose' shook the institution to its's core after a hidden video caught the fund raiser denigrating American citizens and also showed the willingness to accept donations from a known radical Islamic group.

But this is only the latest in his expose' of wrongdoing in the government funded organization industry.

Previously he exposed the group ACORN,the recipient of hundreds of millions of taxpayer funds and known for it's fraudulent voter registration tactics all over the country. O'Keefe and his partner posing as a pimp and a prostitute went into ACORN offices around the country secretly recording ACORN officials giving them advice on how to better traffic in child prostitution and human smuggling, among other offenses. After the video aired Congress voted to cut off funding to the group and it later dissolved.

Other targets have included the expose's of unethical/incompetence by Planned Parenthood, the Census Bureau, New Jersey Teachers Union and other projects.

O'Keefe describes himself as an "investigative journalist without formal training" and said he follows Saul Alinsky's rule of making "the enemy live up to its own book of rules." He used the Alinsky tactic of caricaturing the political and social values of his enemies by carrying them to outlandish extremes.

O'Keefe began making hidden camera videos, while attending Rutgers University, when he and his associates attempted to have the breakfast cereal Lucky Charms banned from the campus dining halls on the grounds it was offensive to Irish-Americans. The point was to expose the oversensitivity & absurdity to ethnicity at Rutgers. He told an assistant director at Rutgers dining services that the leprechaun on the cereal box appeared to be "'an Irish-American' who is 'portrayed as a little green-cladded gnome or huckster'". " As you can see, we’re not short and green–we have our differences of height–and we think this is stereotypical of all Irish-Americans". Though O'Keefe and his associates thought they would be laughed at, the Rutgers official took notes, and said their concerns would be considered.

In 2010 O'Keefe formed his own organization, Project Veritas, meaning truth. Their stated mission is "to expose corruption, dishonesty, self-dealing, waste, fraud, and other misconduct in both public and private institutions, in order to achieve a more ethical and transparent society.

Looks like you've got your work cut out for you lad. Since there seems to be no more investigative journalism in the media these days, a vacuum was created. Young Mr. O'Keefe stepped up to the front and filled it. He is the epitome of the tough Irish spirit and tradition of fighting for what's right. Here's to ye Jimmy O'Keefe!.