[Vision2020] Dems like secret recordings

Tue Oct 2 21:44:53 PDT 2012

I don't think it's unethical. I don't think there's an expectation of privacy at a political fundraising event; I doubt the principal could be more out of place than here. Moreover there's a public interest in knowing what a candidate for president thinks. Especially one who thinks we should speak of tax policy in quiet rooms.

As for the bar in this election: It's still well above the 'McCain's black baby' or the Willie Horton campaigns. 

Sunil

> Date: Tue, 2 Oct 2012 19:21:43 -0700
> From: godshatter at yahoo.com
> To: philosopher.joe at gmail.com
> CC: vision2020 at moscow.com
> Subject: Re: [Vision2020] Dems like secret recordings
> 
> 
> It's not Romney talking about the 47% to a bunch of wealthy donors that 
> I'm referring to when I refer to ethics.  It's the surreptitious taking 
> of a video and then giving it (selling it?) to a political magazine and 
> the subsequent mass media frenzy this ignited that I'm referring to.  
> That's the "low bar".  He wasn't saying it in a place that he thought 
> fact-checkers would be pouring over his words.  He said it in a private 
> home to a private group of donors.  For all I know, he doesn't believe 
> it but said it because his prospective donors believed it.
> 
> My remarks about Obama weren't meant to absolve Romney of whatever crime 
> he performed by being saying what he said, I just wanted to point out 
> that *all* politicians of any real calibre do the same thing.  They 
> censure themselves when they might be quoted and are more direct when 
> speaking in trusted groups.  Unless you are Jesus or the Dalai Lama, you 
> do the same thing, as do I.
> 
> Paul
> 
> On 10/02/2012 03:50 PM, Joe Campbell wrote:
> > I don't see your point, Paul. Obama would do it, so it is OK for
> > Romney to do it? People should be entitled to insult half the country
> > if they have the expectation that that half is not listening? When you
> > are pandering to voters in your party, you're entitled to say whatever
> > insulting thing you wish?
> >
> > How is criticizing someone for insulting half the country setting the
> > bar "too low"?
> >
> > You seem to have this fatalistic attitude that politicians are jerks
> > and there is nothing we can do about it. No point criticizing Romney
> > since Obama does the same. I say: If it is wrong, say something. Don't
> > put up with offensive crap from politicians. I don't care who does it.
> > It is just WRONG to insult half the country when you are running for
> > President of the United States of America. Wrong for Obama, wrong for
> > Romney.
> >
> > Joe
> >
> > On Tue, Oct 2, 2012 at 2:56 PM, Paul Rumelhart <godshatter at yahoo.com> wrote:
> >> This was a private fundraiser at a private home in Boca Raton Florida.
> >> There didn't look to be more than a dozen attendees that I could see from
> >> the video (not counting the servants, of course).  I'd say he had a
> >> reasonable expectation that he wasn't going to be video-taped and uploaded
> >> to YouTube.
> >>
> >> I would have to think that Obama would say things in such a setting that he
> >> wouldn't want uploaded, either.  You speak to your audience, especially when
> >> it's supposed to be a closed affair.
> >>
> >> If this were in a public venue or was a public event, I wouldn't be talking
> >> about ethics in this case.  It doesn't matter to me, anyway, since I'm not
> >> voting for either person.  I just don't like how low the bar is in this
> >> election.
> >>
> >> Paul
> >>
> >>
> >> ________________________________
> >> From: Sue Hovey <suehovey at moscow.com>
> >> To: Paul Rumelhart <godshatter at yahoo.com>; Tom Hansen <thansen at moscow.com>;
> >> Moscow Vision 2020 <vision2020 at moscow.com>
> >> Sent: Tuesday, October 2, 2012 2:09 PM
> >> Subject: Re: [Vision2020] Dems like secret recordings
> >>
> >> But should someone have an expectation of privacy when speaking to a large
> >> group of supporters at a fundraising dinner.  Seems to me this really isn’t
> >> an “in ones home” issue.
> >>
> >> Sue Hovey
> >>
> >> From: Paul Rumelhart
> >> Sent: Tuesday, October 02, 2012 1:25 PM
> >> To: Tom Hansen ; Moscow Vision 2020
> >> Subject: Re: [Vision2020] Dems like secret recordings
> >>
> >> I was going to ask about the ethics of secretly taping a candidate in
> >> someone's private home when they had a real expectation of privacy, but I
> >> didn't want to wade through the hatred.  What does Obama say behind closed
> >> doors?
> >>
> >> Paul
> >>
> >>
> >> ________________________________
> >> From: Tom Hansen <thansen at moscow.com>
> >> To: Moscow Vision 2020 <vision2020 at moscow.com>
> >> Sent: Tuesday, October 2, 2012 11:23 AM
> >> Subject: [Vision2020] Dems like secret recordings
> >>
> >> Courtesy of the Letters section of today's (October 2, 2012) and the
> >> imagination of Moscow's Leonard Johnson.
> >>
> >> -------------------------------------
> >>
> >>
> >> Dems like secret recordings
> >>
> >> I believe it logical to assume that Democratic Party political campaign
> >> operatives have over the past three years, at minimum, surreptitiously
> >> recorded the statements, speeches and informal musings of every American
> >> citizen that seemed to be potentially a Republican candidate for election to
> >> the office of president of the United States in the November 2012 general
> >> elections.
> >> Leonard Johnson
> >> Moscow, Idaho
> >> -------------------------------------
> >>
> >> Just because you are paranoid, Mr. Johnson, doesn't mean that they aren't
> >> after you
> >>
> >> Paranoia self-destroya!
> >>
> >> Seeya at the polls, Moscow, because . . .
> >>
> >> "Moscow Cares"
> >> http://www.MoscowCares.com
> >> Tom Hansen
> >> Moscow, Idaho
> >>
> >> "We're a town of about 23,000 with 10,000 college students.  The college
> >> students are not very active in local elections (thank goodness!)."
> >>
> >> - Dale Courtney (March 28, 2007)
> >>
> >>
> >> =======================================================
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> >>                http://www.fsr.net
> >>            mailto:Vision2020 at moscow.com
> >> =======================================================
> >>
> >> ________________________________
> >> =======================================================
> >> List services made available by First Step Internet,
> >> serving the communities of the Palouse since 1994.
> >>                 http://www.fsr.net
> >>            mailto:Vision2020 at moscow.com
> >> =======================================================
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> =======================================================
> >>   List services made available by First Step Internet,
> >>   serving the communities of the Palouse since 1994.
> >>                 http://www.fsr.net
> >>            mailto:Vision2020 at moscow.com
> >> =======================================================
> 
> =======================================================
>  List services made available by First Step Internet,
>  serving the communities of the Palouse since 1994.
>                http://www.fsr.net
>           mailto:Vision2020 at moscow.com
> =======================================================

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