Double standard exists

In “Conservative activists caught in phone ‘fix’” [News, Jan. 27], we see that James O’Keefe III and three others “were charged with entering federal property under false pretenses to commit a felony.” O’Keefe is the same fruitball who pretended to be a pimp in order to discredit ACORN, an outfit conservatives despise.

If O’Keefe had been a liberal activist, the right wing and most of the mass media — these days, pretty much the same thing — would be screaming for his blood and calling him a terrorist: “He tried to sabotage our democracy!”

We also see that, since the Watergate disgrace, conservatives have not developed a greater respect for the Constitution and the democratic process, but have developed a proud tradition of encouraging a new generation of “plumbers” to game the system.

And, proving the rotten apple doesn’t fall far from the tree, when O’Keefe’s father says his son “wouldn’t break the law. He would know better than that,” we see the proudest tradition of conservatives — when caught doing something wrong: lie, lie, lie.

— Michael Spence, Tukwila