I didn’t know whether to feel insulted or oddly flattered when Bob Beckel called me a “ho” Monday night on Sean Hannity’s show. He was discussing James O’Keefe’s current situation and for some reason brought me up. But not the real me: not the 20-year old committed Christian, brown-belt Jiu-Jitsu girl and aspiring journalist, who embarked on a secret summer adventure that caused a major political and media disruption in the fall of ‘09.

Nope, evidently the characters I played in the ACORN videos, Kenya and Eden, had Beckel a little confused.  After he called me a ho, the panel informed him I wasn’t a real hooker, only pretending to be one for the sake of the story. He defends himself by saying I was a very “convincing hooker.”

All I can say is, Beckel would know. (more…)

Like father like son. Chicago Alderman Isaac “Ike” Carothers has pleaded guilty to corruption and faces 28 months in jail.  His father, former Alderman William Carothers, was convicted of attempted extortion in 1983.

Here’s how Chicago’s WGN TV News announced the 31^st Chicago City Council Alderman since 1973 – but, hey, who’s counting – to be convicted of crimes that include paying a bribe, taking a bribe, extortion, attempted extortion, tax fraud, tax evasion, racketeering, and ghost-payrolling schemes.

Ike was formally charged with fraud and bribery last May by U.S. Attorney Patrick J. Fitzgerald, the legal beagle who has former Governor Rod Blagojevich facing trial this summer.  That is, unless Blago does enough talking to turn a plea deal. And that’s a potential factor that makes the Carothers’ case particularly interesting.

You can catch up on the details of Ike’s misdeeds in the Chicago print media here, here and here.

Let’s piece together lines from two of those articles. First, the Chicago Sun Times piece: (more…)