Self-Parody at Think Progress

I wrote here about a Bloomberg News article that criticized the American Legislative Exchange Council (“ALEC”) for having the temerity to bring together state legislators and experts from the private sector to develop legislative solutions to the problems of the day. The horror!

As silly as Bloomberg’s attack was, it was quickly outdone by the youngsters at Think Progress, a billionaire-funded far-left web site with close ties to the Obama administration. Sadly, a billion dollars doesn’t buy what it once did, and the aptly-named TP’s forays into investigative journalism mostly provoke laughter. That was the case with respect to TP’s recent effort to invade an ALEC event.

Two kid “reporters” from TP, Scott Keyes and Lee Fang, tried to crash an ALEC event at a Marriott Hotel in New Orleans. They couldn’t produce press credentials, so they were not admitted to the event. Instead, Marriott’s security escorted them down the escalator and out the door.

That wouldn’t seem surprising to most people, but the boy sleuths from TP took it as one more sign that the dark night of fascism is descending. TP headlined: “VIDEO: Security Guards At American Legislative Exchange Council Conference Physically Attack ThinkProgress Reporters.”

While we stood by the second floor lobby of the conference hotel, security guards surrounded us, demanding that we leave. As we were leaving, they approached us, violently pushed us and twisted our arms. A guard approached Fang from behind, tackling him and later bending his arm to take his camera. Keyes, faced similar treatment: two security guards roughed him up on the escalator, taking his video camera, and cutting Keyes’ hand as he attempted to leave the premises.

This vicious assault by the Marriott security team was documented in a video that TP posted on its web site. The video is a classic of self-parody, presumably of the unintentional variety. Don’t miss the giggle that one of the boy sleuths can’t quite restrain, despite the violent attack to which he is subjected; he sounds, I am afraid, more like Nancy Drew than Frank Hardy:

TP offers this photo to document the security guards’ brutal attack on Mr. Keyes. It shows what appears to be a paper cut:

We understand that Scott is making a good recovery from his injuries, which apparently are not life-threatening. You can send him flowers c/o the Center For American Progress, 1333 H Street NW, 10th Floor, Washington DC 20005.

What is noteworthy about this farce is the pitiful standard that apparently satisfies both left-wing billionaires and the Obama administration. If they are content to pay for this sort of low comedy, the American people may have less to fear from far-left moneybags than we thought.

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