Posted on 09/13/2009 4:17:30 AM PDT by chessplayer
Amid all the conflicting reports on cable TV and the Internet as to whether or not the filmmakers who secretly taped two ACORN employees in Baltimore violated any law, let me add one historical fact that might bring a bit of clarity and context to the discusssion.
The Baltimore State's Attorney's office has brought felony charges in the past for what was alleged to be essentially the same act as that committed by James O'Keefe and Hannah Giles, the two who did the secret taping at ACORN.
(Excerpt) Read more at weblogs.baltimoresun.com ...
Fox really wouldn’t be criminally liable for O’Keefe’s videotaping of ACORN. But hopefully they would give him some more free publicity and help him against Obama’s fascists in Baltimore.
Remember Candid Camera? Alan Funt would be serving life.
Obama probably is already leaning heavily on Maryland to prosecute O`Keefe.
Everyone who can, should do exactly as O’Keefe and Giles have done and flood the net with videos.
John has been hired by Fox.
60 Minutes used secret tapeings for years... Guess it’s OK when you’re a liberal.
This is exactly what happens when government has been infiltrated by thugs....the laws are passed and used in the favor of the corrupt...
So far, in this country, wrongs are eventually righted....but it's always a long and painful march to the fight...one in which we all must participate.
It’s hard to believe that before going public with these tapes Breitbart and the two reporters, as well as FOX, didn’t have some sound legal advice.
Whistle blower.
We should be thanking these whitleblowers not persecuting them.
The Obamabots are absolute nutjobs.
I’m sure they did. The fact that ACORN has fired the workers they now claim did nothing wrong and the fact that ACORN claims the tapes were dubbed, tells me that ACORN is scared.
Another Lib double-standard — that Liberal bastion, “60 Minutes” did ‘fake customer hidden camera’ expose’s - on a weekly basis - for decades.....
"ACORN Sting Filmmaker May Face State Charges"
"Media Ignore ACORN Giving Business Advice to Pimp and Prostitute"
About ACORN emplyees - “Baltimore ACORN board chairman Sonja Merchant-Jones told WJZ-TV that “We’ve investigated and we found nothing that they did to be illegal. Absolutely zero.”
http://weblogs.baltimoresun.com/news/opinion/2009/09/acorn_prostitution_and_tax_eva.html
I would say unbelievable, but that would be a lie. I truly believe she believes the employees did nothing wrong.
Time to attack Stossel now that he has joined Fox.
Someone tell me why it is legal for NBC to set up those houses with minors and tape perverts without thir knowledge.
I hate perverts, but how does NBC get away with it?
” tells me that ACORN is scared “
Acorn has been playing the Race Card for all it’s worth, and, as far as I can tell, it ain’t working....
The times, they are a-changin’.....
Maryland also went after Linda Tripp
What was the outcome of the Stossel case?
Did they go after the couple that leaked Newt Gingrich’s cell phone call?
Glen Beck needs to show ALL the ACORN tapes. In for a penny - in for a pound...
If the Maryland DA indicted these two whistleblowers, he would make Nifong, of the Duke Lacrosse players fame, look like Clarence Darrow. The DA would then have to explain how people reasonably aware of a crime being committed, should be indicted for capturing evidence and presenting evidence of same.
http://www.nytimes.com/1996/12/07/arts/stossel-case-to-be-dropped.html
Stossel Case to Be Dropped
By BILL CARTER
Published: Saturday, December 7, 1996
http://www.nytimes.com/1996/10/23/arts/five-from-abc-charged-in-case-of-secret-taping.html
Five From ABC Charged In Case of Secret Taping
By BILL CARTER
Published: Wednesday, October 23, 1996
CNN also. They ran footage of the tape.
They moved pretty fast it seems to drop charges in the Stoessel case.
Bizarre! I got a Trojan warning from the second visit to the NYT from my anti virus software Avast.
Not blaming you, just noting how weird it is to get a Trojan warning from the NYT. Maybe software writers at Avast! have a sense of humor.
Remember ACORN began in Little Rock. Radke got free legal aid from Hillary Clinton to help form it.
I’ll repeat here what I stated yesterday on another thread.
This is exactly what happened to Linda Tripp.
At the time, someone here posted the relevant Maryland statutes governing this sort of thing.
Beck and Fox News and Breitbart and others need to defend the two kids against the tyrannical actions of Ms. Jessame and the LAW NEEDS TO BE THROWN OUT OR EXTENSIVELY MODIFIED!!
What is happening now is corruption pushing back against whistleblowers. It will happen again unless this is stopped.
Are you sure about that?
“It’s hard to believe that before going public with these tapes Breitbart and the two reporters, as well as FOX, didn’t have some sound legal advice.”
Yes. In any case, this will be difficult to MD to prosecute without looking like they’re obama’s thug enforcers.
Strange. That’s a direct NYTimes link. There are four hidden trackers; Doubleclick, google Adsense, Tacoda, and WebTrends. I wonder if one of those set off Avast.
BTW, I’m using ghostery to identify and block trackers.
*
Acorn doesn't know what is out there still, I'll bet they are scared. I hope there is alot more to come.
I can’t shake the feeling that those Acorn workers had contacted their gansta bosses while O’Keefe and Giles were in the office, telling the bosses that they had a couple of live ones, thinking they can shake them down for a piece of the action, and put them to use in the future. “Yeah, boss, these crackers are willing to break all kinds of laws!” “Sign them up!!!”
I hate to see him prosecuted. He should be considered a "whistle blower". In any event, if they do decide to prosecute him it will be detrimental to ACORN because it will keep this story alive and in the headlines for months and months.....
Since Balt & MARYland love the 'undocumented' so much they'll prolly get medals.
I have always wondered about the laws against taping conversations. It seems to me they are in place to protect a criminal element.
Hopefully, we are now at the point where thousands will stand up to the intimidation and say, NO! Honest people need to get their recorders and go after the corrupt politicians and their organizations.
I wish I was brave enough and in a position where I could do it. I do pray for these patriots.
The best defense is a good offense.
Fox just needs to play the tape over and over and over and over and over with comments about the President and his lack of moral authority to do any thing. They must ask everyday for an accounting of all the money given to ACORN and spent on who knows what.
(Not that I think there can be any criminality in exposing criminal activity but you can understand why politicians might not agree with me. I'm just pointing out the difference here between the ACORN videos and what Candid Camera used to show.)
ML/NJ
“It’s hard to believe that before going public with these tapes Breitbart and the two reporters, as well as FOX, didn’t have some sound legal advice.”
From another point of view, and just my own, I think these folks are surrounded by great legal advice or they would have not gone forward with this. It is the other guys who are making noise hoping it sticks.
Just my thoughts.
“I’m sure they did. The fact that ACORN has fired the workers they now claim did nothing wrong and the fact that ACORN claims the tapes were dubbed, tells me that ACORN is scared.”
Correct. ACORN knows it is guilty.
Now that corruption has become the normal course of business, we can expect to see whistleblowers going to jail.
Hey there stranger ;)
Actually- that was my thought too- I didn’t state it as well as you!
Sting operations in MD get the stinger in jail and you walk free plus line your pockets with lawsuit $$$
Showing it to the audience isn’t the issue, though. The issue is recording it without first getting consent, which is exactly what Candid Camera did. We live in an age where everything anyone does is considered some kind of affront.
Maybe they should file on the pair of patriots. That will insure that the tapes get the publicity they deserve. And expose the MD. government for what it is. Except for the legal expenses of the pair of investigators.
Seems like there would be reasonable cause now to depose all the acorn officials under oath, and then start the purgery charges, If there are more tapes, maybe they should be kept private, until after a number of depositions?
Hey, you wonderful stranger. We haven’t heard from one another in sometime. It is always good to hear from you.
I trust you are keeping well.
I have no real idea, but I have a feeling these folks at FOX have a building and more full of top lawyers to keep them safe from lawsuits. I certainly wouldn’t want to tangle with them. No way! : )
Just maybe ACORN opened another hornet’s nest by their threats.
Have you ever been stung by hornets? I have. It’s not fun.
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