September 29, 2010; Source: CBS News | When fact is stranger than fiction, the story must involve the very strange conservative videographer James O’Keefe. Remember his pimp-and-prostitute videos that helped bring the already troubled ACORN network down? Then we encountered him getting arrested at Louisiana Senator Mary Landrieu’s office trying to pull a stunt there. Now he’s been caught trying to set up CNN reporter Abbie Boudreau by luring her onto a love boat of some sort where amidst dildos and pornography he or his associates would “faux seduce” her and videotape it.

Why target Boudreau? She  has been reporting on young conservative activists for CNN. Apparently, O’Keefe was outed by one of his Project Veritas colleagues, Izzy Santa, who tipped Boudreau off about O’Keefe’s plan, which included a “condom jar,” a ceiling mirror, Viagra pills, fuzzy handcuffs, and a blindfold, which would be accompanied, according to Santa, by O’Keefe attempting to have a “bizarre sexual conversation” with the CNN correspondent.

O’Keefe’s intent was to somehow discredit CNN for trying to “portray [O’Keefe] and [his] friends as crazies, as non-journalists, as unprofessional and likely as homophobes, racists or bigots of some sort.” We don’t know about O’Keefe’s potential problems with racism or homophobia, but this wacky conservative Love Boat scheme (which he titled the “CNN Caper”) could be used as convincing prima facie evidence that he and his colleagues are non-journalists, unprofessional, and indeed crazy.—Rick Cohen