This is beyond hilarious. A gonzo journalist who works for the Buffalo Beast (the website is up and down with crashing – read it here if you can’t get to the page) got through to WI Governor Scott Walker’s personal phone line and took about 20 minutes of his time by posing as billionaire tea-party funder David Koch. Sam Stein of HuffPo reports that the publisher has confirmed the call’s authenticity.
Walker doesn’t say anything especially shocking. What’s most remarkable is that, in the midst of a substantial crisis in his state, he has nothing better to do than yammer on with “David Koch” for 20 minutes. Give it a listen.
Please share widely!
Just a suggestion.
and, during the whole twenty-minute conversation, act like he and Koch were cohorts if they had no prior connection? It is well-documented that the Koch brothers contributed big money to Walker’s campaign.
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p>Hey, maybe that’s enough of a connection for Koch to get the governor’s ear. . . and mouth.
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p>Also, Walker must be really, really stupid.
probably never got to talk to the big bosses before. And I am not sure Scottie has any idea what “real” is.
…..ask Sarah Palin
For starters, the idea that he contemplated throwing stooges in the protesters to muck things up. The fact that he’s going to arrange it so that the Democratic Senators won’t be paid was pretty stunning. The worst thing is the fact that he was going to announce — “probably tomorrow” — a plan to lure the Democratic Senators back in the Senate to “talk,” but really do it as a rouse to trick them because it would (in their opinion) likely amount to a quorum.
it gave to the (edited-by-hacks) Acorn videos, right? Right?
is MA the only state in which all this stuff would be illegal? As law enforcement officers recorded by cell phone cameras keep remindng us, recording someone’s voice without their knowledge is considered an illegal wiretap around here.
Two Party Consent states.
if the recording is made public [shown, not hidden] and if you’re in a public place, you don’t need their explicit permission.
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p>You can walk right up to a cop on the street, pull out your video camera, and start filming with audio. You can’t record the officer’s audio secretly (say with a hidden camera).
The “journalist” (this is what passes for journalism these days) was in NY, Walker was in WI, neither is a two-party consent state.
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p>But it was an interstate phone call, and federal law requires consent of one party (according to the link).
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p>In MA, it is a FELONY.
…that he has not spoken directly with the Governor about this, but only to his chief of staff. Says something about priorities – the Governor will take a call from David Koch, but not from the Mayor of Madison:(
With the disclaimers that I haven’t heard these yet, and in the knowledge that any journalist recording a politician in any setting is probably legal for First Amendment reasons —
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p>I think this stinks. Highly unethical. I’d go as far as immoral.
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p>I’m glad Ryan made the ACORN videos comparison. Those were WRONG, and were widely condemned as such. And why? Because deception (or “pranking”) is inconsistent with pursuit of truth.
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p>I object.
For example, Ron Wilburn didn’t really want a liquor license when he offered Turner $1000. Those types of operations often involve deceit.
n/t
Governor comes across as sharp, ethical, and committed. (Wrong, of course — but sharp, ethical, and committed.)
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p>”Gonzo journalist” comes across poorly.
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p>It IS a revealing chat, though, and it dovetails nicely with this NPR report by Peter Overby.
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p>Bottom line, he gets nothing he couldn’t have gotten legitimately, face-to-face, on the record.
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p>No one agrees that this episode reflects poorly on all of us? If so I’ll drop the matter.
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p>
Perhaps an error?
When I started listening, I was expecting a gotcha moment…it never came.
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p>I’ll say that he sounded sincere in his beliefs, whether you agree with him or not. I have no problem with a politician using political posturing, tactical maneuvering, and legislative process to advance his agenda.