Rachel Maddow - Hidden camera records awkward political spies

[Galraedia]

[Gothmog]

1. The Michigan GOP got caught

This story is really very sad but funny

[iandhr]

2. I am with Rachel.

I feel sorry for those people with the spy assignment. Some of them seem to really resent being given that task.

[Curmudgeoness]

3. Oh well, you agree to work for the devil

don't be surprised if you must shovel brimstone into the furnace of hell.

[Archae]

4. Does anyone in the Michigan GOP have any brains?

[progressoid]

5. This is a crime in Michigan

Michigan Wiretapping Law

Michigan law makes it a crime to "use any device to eavesdrop upon a conversation without the consent of all parties." Mich. Comp. Laws § 750.539c. This looks like an "all party consent" law, but one Michigan Court has ruled that a participant in a private conversation may record it without violating the statute because the statutory term "eavesdrop" refers only to overhearing or recording the private conversations of others. See Sullivan v. Gray, 342 N.W. 2d 58, 60-61 (Mich. Ct. App. 1982). The Michigan Supreme Court has not yet ruled on this question, so it is not clear whether you may record a conversation or phone call if you are a party to it. But, if you plan on recording a conversation to which you are not a party, you must get the consent of all parties to that conversation. In addition, if you intend to record conversations involving people located in more than one state, you should play it safe and get the consent of all parties.

Michigan law also makes it a crime to "install, place, or use in any private place, without the consent of the person or persons entitled to privacy in that place, any device for observing, recording, transmitting, photographing, or eavesdropping upon the sounds or events in that place." Mich. Comp. Laws § 750.539d. The law defines a "private place" as a place where a person "may reasonably expect to be safe from casual or hostile intrusion or surveillance but does not include a place to which the public or substantial group of the public has access." Mich. Comp. Laws § 750.539a. You should always avoid these kinds of surveillance tactics.

Michigan law also prohibits you from "using or divulging any information which you know or reasonably should know was obtained in violation of the other wiretapping laws. Mich. Comp. Laws § 750.539e. To the extent this statute forbids you from publishing truthful information on a matter of public concern provided to you by a third-party (when you had no role in the wiretapping), it is probably unconstitutional. See Bartnicki v. Vopper, 532 U.S. 514 (2001).

In addition to subjecting you to criminal prosecution, violating these provisions can expose you to a civil lawsuit for money damages by an injured party.

http://www.dmlp.org/legal-guide/michigan-recording-law

[alfredo]

10. Are the Dems going to press the issue?

[progressoid]

16. I would hope so.

O'keefe got away with a 3 year probation for the Mary Landriau thing. But it's still worth doing IMHO.

[alfredo]

18. Conspiracy too?

[daleanime]

6. ........

[Glaisne]

7. What a bunch of

pathetic losers, morons and fools.

[emsimon33]

8. The Republicans feel that they are immune from consequences

[leftyohiolib]

15. the dont have to feel they are

[emsimon33]

17. Point well taken!

[C Moon]

9. The GOP is probably still beside themselves...

over the wonderful hidden camera that caught Romney speaking the truth.

[Spitfire of ATJ]

14. That was my first thought....

They got caught saying what they REALLY think and they just ASSUME the other side has equal contempt for the public but in different ways.

Which leads one to ask: What did they expect to capture on hidden video?

Did they expect to hear a Democrat talk about taking away people's freedom to drink sugary drinks and to smoke?

[rickyhall]

11. Like the website - all repugs are crooks & liers

It's all they have

[libodem]

12. The James 'Pimp' O'Keefe

Wing of the party. I heard him interviewed not that long ago hawking a book pushing these entrapment techniques. And then comes all the editing.

They can't play fair or by the rules because their message is stamp out the middle class until it becomes the poverty class and provide corporate welfare for the billionaires. The Republicans have no message. All they can do is fuck with ours.

[Spitfire of ATJ]

13. LOVE the graphic of the elephant with glasses.

[polynomial]

19. Lurk sneak and lie…

This is over whelming dazed and rendered me in a stunning way.

The young minds in absolute conscious action is what many could surmise as a pseudo IED approach to political games rather than political service. The GOP has identified themselves as a secret political terrorist group.

This serves an important point about the ethics from the grass roots up in gaming America rather than serving. These are the best of the young minds then what lurks in the background that America can expect from the really mature Republican mind.

No this is a breach of American political dynamics, which is a basic failure in the Constitution, the fourth amendment. Affirmation is gone to hell in the field of political service.

This reveals a very dark side of competitive free market, or free style gaming, or all along this has been the real business plan as most Republicans say “We should run government like a business”. To lurk sneak and lie…