So Big Government contributor and ACORN-stinger James O’Keefe has been arrested for – allegedly – conspiring to do something to the phone likes at Democratic LA Sen Landreau’s office.
Young, suicidally aggressive, and incarcerated is no way to go through life, James.
There’s no excuse, bummer for him, and if true it may well be that he’ll enjoy penal food for a bit (start eating bologna sandwiches now, acquire the taste for them).
The usual progressive subjects are leaping in the air and waving flags, claiming that this – somehow – devalues the videos he took at ACORN.
Hint: no it doesn’t.
My favorite line was from ACORN spokesman Kevin Whelan:
“ACORN’s leadership and grassroots leaders have taken a whole series of steps, including commissioning an independent report that shows actually there wasn’t illegal conduct by any of the ACORN employees involved, although we fired people involved for improper conduct,” Whelan said.
So it was improper, but not illegal, and therefore OK…right, then, move along.
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Something’s weird about that story- tapping a modern phone system isn’t childs play and they didn’t mention any tools or anything.
If it is true its unbelievably stupid.
I agree something is weird here. Maybe the idea was to bug the phones, but to place a microphone in an out-of-the-way place to pick up the office conversations. But while we are on the subject: the horse is long gone from the barn, but you do know that these journalists re-recorded the soundtrack of their Acorn meetings before releasing them, right?
_you do know that these journalists re-recorded the soundtrack of their Acorn meetings before releasing them, right?_
What do you mean? Is there any argument that those workers said what they said? I’ve seen the unedited tapes (no breaks), nothing was out of context, thats for sure.
Agreed that something feels odd about this story. Not only is fiddling a modern digital office phone system non-trivial, but since when has _any_ phone service crew showed with four guys? Sort of feels like the ostensible phone tampering might have been intended as a distraction from something else… 48 hour rule (at least) should probably apply here.
Patterico “also thinks something is strange here”:http://patterico.com/2010/01/27/washington-post-writer-makes-assumptions-about-okeefe-that-the-facts-dont-cash-again/ and jumps in with both feet.
Hmm, so if, say, a young muckraker was doing a story about a certain senator’s office that claims their phones have been ringing off the hook and/or having technical difficulties, does that raise new possibilities?
Cue- the Michael Moore voiceover “I picked up their phone- hey, it worked! So we asked to see their phone closet.. it looked to be in working condition. And then I was given a gun for visiting.”
We’ll see when/if there’s a trial.
But bugging people’s phones is illegal. Having, say, a hot scoop that a senator is on the take does not make the activity less illegal. And people who do it should receive the expected legal penalties.
Joe I think the going theory is that they were there to verify that the phones were working and not ringing off the hook. That being the case, there was no bug or intent to bug. Just the intent to show that the phones worked, which probably isn’t illegal. Passing yourself off as a technician on the other hand, dunno. Seems like a pretty stupid stunt regardless. Does anybody really buy it when their congresspeople turn the phone off and claim their too swamped to answer?
“The checking if the phone works” theory seems to make a lot of sense, should give a relatively minor fine….
I’m not sure how “pretending to be a phone crew” is viewed in court. It seems less bad than “impersonating an officer”, but I could definitely see a law on the books to prevent people who tamper with phone lines.
“Federal property” certainly has taken on the sanctified air of “His Majesty’s Lands, Movables, and Chattels.”
Why exactly does a senator have a state office in a federal building? I know that there is nothing fishy about it and that other senators have such offices, but I’ve seen many a senate office in malls and other humble accommodations. If you’re an elected official, shouldn’t you pay your rents locally whenever possible?
I’d like to see somebody ask Landrieu’s people about that, and I’d be especially gratified if they responded that they keep their office on federal property for security reasons.
Glen,
Why would that gratify you? At first glance, I’d say that “because the palace guard anywhere else can’t be trusted” isn’t exactly an attitude I’d like to see in our elected officials.
It appears to me that without the intent to tap or interfere with the phones, we’re talking about Andrew-Sullivan-level criminal charges that the feds would normally be reluctant to prosecute 90% of the time, but now that it’s “out there,” the boys are going to have to pay a fine. Probably less of a fine than the guy running across a football field with his index finger pointed in the air, but more than a few hundred dollars. Landreau may not even like the story out there much longer, and may pass on her views, but it’s really not up to her.
The irony is that the story is now actually viable, or at least as viable as it could ever be considering its pretty lame to begin with. If they pulled off this stunt the way they intended no-one would have heard about it or cared if they did.
kparker:
Landrieu has four offices in Louisiana, and all but one of them are federal property. Her office in Shreveport is in a federal courthouse.
Her one locally-owned office is in the Capital One Tower in Lake Charles, if you could call Capital One “local”. (If you’ve ever seen this building, it looks like the giant monolith in 2001, but without the inspirational powers.)
My point is, since senate offices are pretty useless establishments anyway, why not pay your rent money to the local economy? Vitter manages to do this; he has “7 district offices”:http://www.votesmart.org/bio.php?can_id=4615, and they’re all on private property. A small point, maybe, but I will insist on it.