Walker Prankster: The James O'Keefe of the Left

Wednesday, Gov. Scott Walker was “punked” by Ian Murphy. But Murphy might be taken more seriously if he hadn't attacked the the right's best known prank artist.

Yesterday, Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker was “punked” by Ian Murphy, editor of the Buffalo Beast, an alternative, local newspaper.

Murphy convinced Walker's office that he was conservative billionaire David Koch, and managed to get the governor on the line. Murphy then went on to bait Walker with a whole host of questions, although Walker managed to escape without saying anything disastrous.

The method is familiar: conservative gadfly James O'Keefe and company frequently use these sorts of undercover tactics to 'investigate' organizations with whom they disagree.

But the Buffalo Beast's Ian Murphy might be taken a bit more seriously if he hadn't already vociferously attacked O'Keefe and his methods in his publication's annual '50 most loathsome Americans of 2010' roundup:

Like Sacha Baron Cohen mixed with G. Gordon Liddy’s fetid stool. [O'Keefe] embodies every sniveling, Docker-clad College Republican to ever overlook the 9th fairway and obtusely bemoan lower class entitlements. A Breitbart disciple, he sparked the ruin of ACORN, an honorable advocacy group for the poor, by dressing like a pimp and editing like Leni Riefenstahl. In college, he decried learning about foreign cultures because he considered it an affront to American values. Those same values went unperturbed by the white supremacist meetings he’s attended. This year, he got busted trying to mess with Senator Landrieu’s office phones and attempting to “seduce” CNN’s Abbie Boudreau on a boat with fuzzy handcuffs and porn. Lately he’s been stalking a New Jersey special ed provider in order eliminate any remaining doubt about what an asshole he is.

It's a bit galling to see Murphy slam O'Keefe's methods as making the Breitbart-acolyte one of the 'most loathsome Americans', and then turn around and use similar methods himself.

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