Help me get the counterpoint re: ACORN issues

>Just asking. If the tapes are faked in some way, why do I see reports
>that the Whitehouse has fire Yosi Sargent?
>
>That the Whitehouse has fire ACORN from the Census job?
>
>That the IRS has fired ACORN from "tax assistance"?
>
>That Acorn has fired a number of people?
>
>That ACORN has closed a lot of offices?
>
>That ACORN didn't have a license to operate in Maryland?
>
>And I've already asked--if O'Keefe is operating illegally, where does
>that put Moore?
>
>If all of the Whitehose media outlets (NBC, CBC, WaPo, NYT, and so on)
>had the story why were they sitting on it? (and does that mean that
>because they "had the story" it is true after all?
>
>Just asking.
>

I can answer one or two, but don't know 'em all.

and let me say that whether or not a state is "two party consent" i strongly and always have disagreed with two party consent laws as fundamentally opposed to individual freedoms, the search for truth, etc. i strongly disagree with two party consent laws.

but assuming arguendo that okeefe et al violated two party consent laws in baltimore, the distinction is obvious.

moore approaches people with the microphone clearly visible. iow, people who are talking to him are well aware they are being recorded. this falls under "implied consent". if you speak to somebody who has a microphone shoved in yer face, most courts (at least in my jurisdiction) will say that doesn't violate two party consent.

the people speaking to okeefe did not know their conversation with him was being recorded.

fwiw, my state has two party consent BUT imo okeefe wouldn't have violated it here, since the restriction is on recording "private conversation". a conversation between an acorn employee and a client on tax matters, etc. is a business related discussion, and thus not 'private' in the sense that OUR two party consent law references.

but i have no knowledge of baltimore's law.

ACORN's top management should have suspended the workers in the videos pending an investigation, instead of immediately firing the workers and sending a message that the workers are dirt and don't deserve due process, and that the videos should be taken at face-value.

I don't know if Michael Moore has ever used hidden cameras. States have different laws on the subject. If he did, the next question would be if he used hidden cameras in a state where that's illegal.

As to why some media companies didn't treat video excerpts being gradually leaked to mislead as a huge story, it's a matter of whether such videos should be taken at face-value. No, they shouldn't. At least two ACORN workers who talked to James O'Keefe phoned the police afterwards.