From High Jinks to Handcuffs

That's the headline of major new NYT piece from New Orleans on James O'Keefe, the prankster who calls himself an "investigative journalist" and was busted with three others in Sen. Mary Landrieu's office this week for allegedly tampering with her phone system. Fun detail: O'Keefe's mentor, Ben Wetmore, responded to NYT request for interview by sending reporter copies of photos of Jayson Blair. Excerpt:

In the incident in New Orleans, several of the group’s central players came together. They had met through a small community of conservative college newspaper editors that is fostered by advocacy organizations supported by old Republican families like the Coorses and Scaifes.

One of those arrested was Stan Dai, 24, a former editor in chief of the irreverent GW Patriot at George Washington University, where he published an anti-feminist article lampooning the play “The Vagina Monologues.” His version was called “The Penis Monologues.”

Another was Mr. Basel, 24, the co-founder of a conservative publication at the University of Minnesota, Morris, that features headlines like “Third World Countries Need SWEATSHOPS” and “I Hate Che Guevara T-Shirts.”