Martin Eisenstadt’s Blog

Hats off to my old protege James O’Keefe for blowing the lid off of NPR’s cozy relationship with terrorists, latte drinkers and the pointy-headed liberal elites.  As a result of James’ undercover sting, it looks like Vivian Schiller and NPR’s glory days sucking at the trough of government largess are finally done, and the budget deficit now can be balanced.  I think the world deserves to know, though, that your motives were as personal as they were political, and for that I am proud of you.

It was just over a year ago, when you congratulated me on the overwhelming critical success of my book (#3 on the Washington Monthly’s top 8 books of the year), I distinctly remember the long walk we took near the reflecting pool when I cursed NPR and that perpetually befuddled Terry Gross for not doing a proper book interview with me.  I mused at the time that it could be because of an ill-fated encounter I’d had with NPR’s Vivian Schiller near the firepit at the Four-Seasons in Foggy Bottom.  (We were two attractive consenting Washington adults, so how could she take such umbrage for me wanting to split the bar tab, after what had just transpired in the coat check room?)  But you had my back, James, I can see it now.  “That harpy will rue the day she messed with Martin Eisenstadt!” you told me, and I must say, my heart filled with pride.  Like with many of my former interns over the years, perhaps I’d been too hard on you and not given you enough credit for your long-term loyalty.

I know over the years I’ve cringed occasionally that you were succeeding with the very tactics I once taught you, and that you arguably have been riding on my coattails since I first recruited you out of Rutgers.  Yes, I know that for tax reasons we officially had you on the books working at the so-called “Leadership Institute” in Arlington, Virginia, and I thank them for their paperwork support.  But anyone who played in Washington’s Think Tank Softball League knows full well that LI could never mount a full team and that you played (quite admirably) as our third baseman for at least a full season. (I even penned a chapter about it in my book, called “When Think Tanks Play Softball…“, and Vivian’s beloved NPR did a piece about the League but conspicuously didn’t mention Team Harding - further proof of her vendetta against me.)

It was in our post-game soirees in particular that I remember having long conversations with you about how gullible the left-wing media is, and how easy it is to set up phony websites and shoot hidden video.  In fact, I specifically recall telling you how easy it would be to entrap the community organizers at ACORN, and that I had already done such a video that was incorporated into a BBC documentary.  My loyal readers will recall this video we posted over a year ago showing very specifically how you’ve used my techniques.  Naturally, I was a bit too conflicted at the time to fully reveal the nature of our relationship, but I think the video speaks for itself:

But again, now that you’ve taken down one of my old adversaries, I am forever grateful to you, James, and wish you the best as you continue to further refine the lessons I’ve taught you.