Planned Parenthood Foils Hoax
You remember how some conservative activists dressed up like a pimp and prostitute for a video to make it look like ACORN was helping them get out of paying taxes on a fictitious child-prostitution ring? Remember how they took Shirley Sherrod'a speech and edited it to make her look like a racist, and she was fired?
Somebody was trying to do that same sort of thing to Planned Parenthood but it backfired on them.
Planned Parenthood issued a statement:
Somebody went into Planned Parenthood offices all over the country with hidden video equipment to get staff to offer to help them with their teen sex-trafficking scheme. PP says the men asked for health services for themselves, so it is not clear what they were hoping for. Maybe they could get Planned Parenthood staff offering them some sort of treatment and then edit the video to make it look like something for female teenage sex slaves. I don't know, this stuff is too crazy to comprehend sometimes.
Planned Parenthood noted the connection and alerted the US Attorney General. A group called Live Action Films has admitted responsibility.
Interestingly, if you Google for "Planned Parenthood trafficking" (without quotes) you will find the preponderance of sites attacking Planned Parenthood.. A typical example is LifeNews.com, with its blaring headline: Planned Parenthood Possibly Caught in Abortion-Sex Trafficking Coverup.
This is actually kind of interesting. Of course LifeNews.com is an anti-choice site, but after they get past certain rhetoric about Planned Parenthood they actually add a few details:
Planned Parenthood offices may provide contraceptives, emergency contraception, screening for breast, cervical and testicular cancers, pregnancy testing and pregnancy options counseling testing and treatment for sexually transmitted diseases, comprehensive sexuality education, menopause treatments; vasectomies, tubal ligations, and abortion. The organization has been around since the 1940s and has provided services to many young women who could not afford them otherwise.
It may be too much for some people to understand that an organization like Planned Parenthood could provide an important and positive service to young women, even if it does support the option of abortion. I understand there are simple minds out there. You might find that a volunteer at Planned Parenthood has given erroneous or questionable advice. But Planned Parenthood is not involved in sex trafficking of teenage girls, and it is reprehensible to try to make them look like they are doing something they are simply not doing.
PPFA says:
Yes, this is astoundingly cynical. If you've got a case to make, make it. If you don't, go to your room and be quiet.
Somebody was trying to do that same sort of thing to Planned Parenthood but it backfired on them.
Planned Parenthood issued a statement:
Last week, Planned Parenthood Federation of America (PPFA) alerted federal authorities to a potential multistate sex trafficking ring. Over a five day period, visitors to Planned Parenthood health centers in six states said they were seeking information from Planned Parenthood about health services Planned Parenthood could provide to underage girls who were part of a sex trafficking ring. Subsequent to alerting U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, Planned Parenthood learned the identify of one of those involved and believes these visits are likely a hoax by opponents of legal abortion seeking to discredit Planned Parenthood, which delivers preventive health care and abortion services to three million women each year.
Men, sometimes accompanied by a woman, have visited at least 11 Planned Parenthood health centers in six states within a one-week time frame. During their visits, they claimed to be involved in sex trafficking of teens, some of whom are in the United States illegally. These men appeared at health centers without appointments and said that they were seeking health services for themselves, but they quickly turned the conversation to the sex ring they said they were managing. Planned Parenthood Informs Federal Authorities of Potential Sex Trafficking
Somebody went into Planned Parenthood offices all over the country with hidden video equipment to get staff to offer to help them with their teen sex-trafficking scheme. PP says the men asked for health services for themselves, so it is not clear what they were hoping for. Maybe they could get Planned Parenthood staff offering them some sort of treatment and then edit the video to make it look like something for female teenage sex slaves. I don't know, this stuff is too crazy to comprehend sometimes.
Planned Parenthood noted the connection and alerted the US Attorney General. A group called Live Action Films has admitted responsibility.
Interestingly, if you Google for "Planned Parenthood trafficking" (without quotes) you will find the preponderance of sites attacking Planned Parenthood.. A typical example is LifeNews.com, with its blaring headline: Planned Parenthood Possibly Caught in Abortion-Sex Trafficking Coverup.
This is actually kind of interesting. Of course LifeNews.com is an anti-choice site, but after they get past certain rhetoric about Planned Parenthood they actually add a few details:
The sting operations has the man posing as a pimp — similar to the way in which the liberal activist group ACORN was exposed — asking for abortions for his supposedly pregnancy clients. The clients, the man says, are either in the United States illegally or are minors. The man reportedly first inquired about treatment for a sexually transmitted disease and then detailed the alleged sex trafficking ring once granted a private conversation with Planned Parenthood staff.
The visits to the Planned Parenthood abortion centers reportedly occurred between January 11-15 at facilities in Virginia, Indiana, New York, New Jersey, Washington, D.C., and Arizona.
After Planned Parenthood officials began conferring together and with staff at the national office of the abortion business, Planned Parenthood’s vice president for communications, Stuart Schear, says it requested an FBI probe into the sting operation. He told AP that an internal investigation Planned Parenthood conducted revealed the man has connections with Live Action. He said the man’s face was picked up by Planned Parenthood security cameras and that abortion business staff believe he has ties to Live Action.
“On the face of it, we have to take it very seriously, and that’s what we’ve done,” Schear said. “At the same time, as we gathered more information, it came to our attention that this person has some connection with Live Action.” Planned Parenthood Possibly Caught in Abortion-Sex Trafficking Coverup
Planned Parenthood offices may provide contraceptives, emergency contraception, screening for breast, cervical and testicular cancers, pregnancy testing and pregnancy options counseling testing and treatment for sexually transmitted diseases, comprehensive sexuality education, menopause treatments; vasectomies, tubal ligations, and abortion. The organization has been around since the 1940s and has provided services to many young women who could not afford them otherwise.
It may be too much for some people to understand that an organization like Planned Parenthood could provide an important and positive service to young women, even if it does support the option of abortion. I understand there are simple minds out there. You might find that a volunteer at Planned Parenthood has given erroneous or questionable advice. But Planned Parenthood is not involved in sex trafficking of teenage girls, and it is reprehensible to try to make them look like they are doing something they are simply not doing.
PPFA says:
In recent years Planned Parenthood has been the target of activists attempting to portray the organization negatively by secretly videotaping inside health centers and publicizing heavily edited versions of those tapes to the media. Recent incidents are the first time that such visitors have told Planned Parenthood staff that they are involved in sex trafficking of minor girls.
"If a multistate sex trafficking operation is in place, those responsible must be pursued to stop the exploitation of girls and young women," said Schear. "If these visits are part of a 'dirty tricks' campaign, they must be condemned. Falsely claiming sex trafficking to health professionals to advance a political agenda is an astoundingly cynical form of political activity."
Yes, this is astoundingly cynical. If you've got a case to make, make it. If you don't, go to your room and be quiet.
posted by JimK at 9:59 AM
11 Comments:
How about if you suspect something is going on and you'd like to make sure before you say anything?
PP is a public charity supportred by tax preferenced contributions and conducting public clinics, holding itself out to be engaging in a certain mission.
There is nothing wrong with scrutinizing and investigating their activities.
"If you've got a case to make, make it."
You have to do some work to build a case.
It doesn't happen by magic.
And a "case" isn't made by heavily editing tapes to make PPFA appear to provide services for illegal underage prostitution rings. They got lucky with ACORN but the jig is up and this methodology is well known now. The bozos who have attempted to perpetrate this fraud should have the book thrown at them and do jail time. Then maybe they can rehabilitate themselves and get real jobs.
The mind-set of these "Shower Nuts" and "Pro-Lifers" is beyond reprehensible! Ethics and morality get pushed to the bottom of the heap, and trampled on, when these nut cases get on the war path.
"And a "case" isn't made by heavily editing tapes to make PPFA appear to provide services for illegal underage prostitution rings"
well there's no proof in this case that that happened
"They got lucky with ACORN but the jig is up and this methodology is well known now"
nothing wrong with the methodology
if they find PP didn't do anything, that's fine
ACORN got caught because they were guilty
"The bozos who have attempted to perpetrate this fraud should have the book thrown at them and do jail time."
in America, you're not supposed to go to jail unless you do something illegal
if this were illegal, Michael Moore would be serving a life sentence and few others in the media would be free now
"Then maybe they can rehabilitate themselves and get real jobs"
maybe you could send them to re-education camp
Communists love those
"The mind-set of these "Shower Nuts" and "Pro-Lifers" is beyond reprehensible! Ethics and morality get pushed to the bottom of the heap, and trampled on, when these nut cases get on the war path."
yes, how dare they investigate a liberal advocacy group
makes you wonder what else they're capable of
maybe they'll even say something TTFers don't like
AAARRRGGGG!!!
All States Increase in Support for Marriage Equality, With Majority Support in 17 States
These trends aren’t going to stop:
According to a special reported titled Polling Shows Americans Support LGBT People On All Issues released Wednesday by the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), the nation’s largest gay rights advocate, support for gay marriage has increased in all 50 states.
http://www.truthwinsout.org/blog/2011/01/14425/#comments
New Yorkers strongly support marriage equality
Quinnipiac has released its latest survey and support for marriage equality in the state of New York is at an all-time high. Nearly 20% more New Yorkers support state-recognized same-sex marriage than oppose it.
By the highest margin ever, 56 – 37 percent, New York State voters support legislation allowing same-sex couples to marry, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released today.
http://www.boxturtlebulletin.com/2011/01/27/30049#respond
that's what they said about the "trend" in California in 2008
everyone's OK with it until the discussion begins and the ramifications are considered
do let us know when the first state votes to change the definition of marriage to include deviant relationships
just one
get back to us
ACORN got caught because they were guilty
No they were not caught and they were not guilty. They were set up and Congress fell for it.
Excerpts from a press release from the Attorney General of California:
http://oag.ca.gov/news/press_release?id=1888
"...Last September, Gov. Schwarzenegger asked Brown to investigate the activities of ACORN in California. His request was triggered by tapes made by undercover videographer James O'Keefe III that purported to show ACORN employees providing advice on how to conduct a prostitution ring and commit other serious crimes.
But new, unedited videotapes discovered through Brown's investigation, as well as other evidence, shed clearer light on interactions between O'Keefe and the now-defunct ACORN.
Videotapes secretly recorded last summer and severely edited by O'Keefe seemed to show ACORN employees encouraging a "pimp" (O'Keefe) and his "prostitute," actually a Florida college student named Hannah Giles, in conversations involving prostitution by underage girls, human trafficking and cheating on taxes. Those videos created a media sensation.
Evidence obtained by 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."
The original storm of publicity created by O'Keefe's videotapes was instrumental in ACORN's subsequent denunciation in Congress, a sudden tourniquet on its funding, and the organization's eventual collapse..."
And here's an excerpt from Scott Harshbarger's report on the "highly edited" ACORN tapes published by Andrew Breitbart:
...1. Three of the six videos – Brooklyn, Los Angeles and Washington, D.C. –
involved only ACORN Housing employees, over which ACORN has no
control.
2. The released videos offer no evidence of a pattern of illegal conduct by
ACORN employees. In fact, out of the three videos involving ACORN employees, at least two involve extenuating circumstances.
3. The ACORN employees captured on video were members or part-time staff. They were not organizers or supervisory level employees.
4. None of the individuals captured on video consented to being video- or audio- taped, and four of the states where the videos were recorded appear to prohibit such taping without consent.
5. In offices where the videographers spoke with organizers, videos were not released.
6. Police reports regarding the video incidents were filed in Philadelphia and San Diego.
7. The released videos were edited or manipulated by the videographers and/or individual(s) acting on their behalf.
8. There is no evidence that any action, illegal or otherwise, was taken by ACORN employees on behalf of the videographers.
9. Experienced forensic investigators would be able to determine the extent to which the released videos have been manipulated to distort, rather than merely shape, the facts and the conversations, as ACORN alleges...
And here's an excerpt from Media Matters for America report entitled Breitbart confirms he was duped by O'Keefe and the ACORN pimp hoax
"...It turns out that Andrew Breitbart didn't actually know what was on the ACORN tapes when he helped launch them on his website last year, and used the videos to fuel his oddly personal crusade against the low-income advocacy organization.
That's right -- Breitbart didn't know what was on the tapes. Take a few seconds to let the implications of that confession sink in, and what it means to Breitbart's already dented credibility.
Recall that for months Breitbart personally vouched for the ACORN videos, braying loudly that they could not be ignored and that they represented the unvarnished truth. Breitbart claimed he had told "the truth" every step of the way about the controversial ACORN clips and bragged that "[t]hroughout the ACORN story I applied my conscience to the material."
But now it turns out that Breitbart was fooled by the ACORN pimp hoax and mistakenly assumed, after watching deceptively edited clips from his protégé James O'Keefe, that O'Keefe strolled into ACORN offices wearing the outlandish pimp outfit.
Now Breitbart, the chief promoter of the ACORN sting, claims he "didn't know" the truth about the tapes. Although he's quick to insist it doesn't really matter anyway.
And yes, that sound you hear is Breitbart throwing O'Keefe under the bus. Because it's O'Keefe who Breitbart now blames for the "discrepancy" regarding the pimp hoax. It's O'Keefe, who Breitbart once touted as a should-be Pulitzer Prize winner, who created the false impression that he walked into ACORN offices last summer dressed as a garish pimp..."
Watch the video of Breitbart admitting he didn't know the video was edited, while still claiming it doesn't matter.
After this fiasco and the similarly edited tape fiasco with Shirley Sherrod, Andrew Breitbart isn't cited by the MSM anymore.
You just can't stop yourself from perpetuating debunked lies, can you Anon?
actually, the ACORN incident wasn't the point of my comment
A TTFer made the comment that "they" got lucky with ACORN so I thought there was acknowledgement by liberals of something amiss in that case
of course, if Bea is going to quote Jerry Brown and Arnold Schwarzenegger, why not get the thoughts of Kim Kardashian to make it a celebrity triumvirate?
in any case, I find the whole ACORN thing too boring to pursue further
let me rephrase the original comment:
"nothing wrong with the methodology
if they find PP didn't do anything, that's fine
if some organization gets caught, it's because they are guilty"
point is, PP is accountable to the public that supports them and provides them tax-preferenced status
they are subject to monitoring and investigation by the media
nothing wrong with a sting
just ask Marvin Hamlisch
"Sting" does not equal "hoax," and attempting to create "hoaxes" is all Andrew Breitbart and his clown, James O'Keefe, are good at. Your pal, former medical industry hack Betsy McCaughey (see ‘Death Panel’ Myth Creator Betsy McCaughey Resigns From Medical Board), is only good at lying about health care legislation.
September 21, 2009
The Washington Times, among others, fell for the ACORN hoax
BREITBART: The politicized art behind the ACORN plan
January 26, 2010
At least the Examiner learned its lesson when O'Keefe tried to bug Senator Landrieu's office telephones
James O' Keefe the Acorn video pimp nabbed by FBI while bugging Senator Mary Landrieu's phones
July 14, 2010
At least one victim of the ACORN hoax did not fall for it
ACORN hoax victim files lawsuit against O'Keefe and Giles
July 19, 2010
Breibart posted another highly edited video that cost Shirley Sherrod her job
Video Proof: The NAACP Awards Racism–2010
July 29, 2010
Mrs. Sherrod knew the truth and she knew her rights regarding the wrong that was done to her
Sherrod to sue Breitbart, joins ACORN employees in seeking redress
September 29, 2010
O'Keefe tried to perpetrate another hoax, seducing a CNN reporter
Fake pimp from ACORN videos tries to 'punk' CNN correspondent but "Izzy Santa, who helps run O'Keefe's investigative journalism project" warned the reporter of the set up FAKE RIGHT-WING PIMP SCHEMES TO SEDUCE REAL CNN REPORTER
I find the whole ACORN thing too boring to pursue further
You spout the lies of Andrew Breitbart, James O'Keefe, and Betsy McCaughey like they are gospel.
I don't think the word you meant to use is "boring." "Embarrassing" is more like it.
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