March 27th, 2011James O’Keefe’s ‘pay my credit card debt’ plea
James O’Keefe — the man behind the recent video that caused NPR executives to lose their jobs – sent an email to supporters asking for help to pay off $50,000 in credit card debt.
O’Keefe says in his email that he and his friends “took a leap of faith and racked up serious credit card debt to expose NPR.” Asking other like-minded individuals to pay off his credit card debt is, in my humble opinion, a little appalling. Here he is, trying to expose the “duplicity” of organizations such as ACORN and Planned Parenthood, when he’s dodging the responsibility of paying his own bills.
Is this really a good example of upstanding citizenry?
When an individual accumulates debt to further his career, and then asks others to pay for it, well, it is another sad testament to O’Keefe’s character. (O’Keefe has been exposed as a liar and a criminal — he was charged with tampering with Sen. Mary Landrieu’s phone systems and was sentenced to probation for three years.)
What probably prompted the email is a call (or several) from a collection agency. O’Keefe has been so busy exposing the character flaws in others that he probably totally forgot to pay his bills on time — that or he forgot that he has to earn a living to make a living.
O’Keefe also mentioned that if he was so lucky as to receive more than the $50,000 he’s asking for, he would produce more videos that would probably cause more people to lose their jobs.
I don’t know about you, but I was raised to believe that if you borrowed money, it was your responsibility to pay it back, no matter who you are.
If O’Keefe’s intention is to continue to trick people in furthering his agenda through his videos (and, hence, avoid earning a real salary), then maybe he should think about how he’s going to pay for it instead of relying on strangers to pay his bills for him. Maybe he could approach a venture capital firm? Maybe a reality show? Shoot, he could even call Michael Moore and see how he gets by.
Maybe, instead of this shameful attempt to avoid paying his own bills, he should get a little more creative and put his camera to better use. That or get a real job and pay off his debt like the rest of us do.