The Other McCain

"One should either write ruthlessly what one believes to be the truth, or else shut up." — Arthur Koestler

‘Noticeably Monosyllabic’

Posted on | January 27, 2010 | 22 Comments

So says AOL News editor Steve Pendlebury, sampling blog reaction to the arrest of James O’Keefe:

Michelle Malkin: Ugh
Hot Air’s Allahpundit: Ohhhh boy
Political Byline: D’oh!
The Other McCain: Ruh-Roh
Instapundit Glenn Reynolds: Hmm

Maybe he expected us to say, “Wiretapping is as American as apple pie” or “If Mary Landrieu doesn’t get wiretapped, the terrorists win.” But Pendlebury is fair-minded enough to note Andrew Breitbart’s reaction:

“Let me state clearly for the record: wiretapping is wrong. But until I hear the full story from James O’Keefe, I will not speculate as to what he was doing in Louisiana,” Breitbart said.

Which is exactly right. As bad as this looks, based on the FBI affidavit and the available news reports, we don’t know if this was a “Louisiana Watergate” or some kind of made-for-video stunt or what. Remember when the headlines were about “anti-government sentiment” causing the lynching of a Census worker — later determined to be a suicide? We’ll wait to see what happens, and leave the crystal-ball stuff to the MSM psychics.

UPDATE: “Heh.” Meanwhile, Ace of Spades and Allahpundit go polysyllabic in seeking to understand what James O’Keefe was doing.

Category: Crime, Senate

Comments

22 Responses to “‘Noticeably Monosyllabic’”

  1. Stoutcat
    January 27th, 2010 @ 8:54 pm

    Patterico is all over this and he’s skeptical. He has said: “the affidavit does not say one word about any of them possessing any listening devices. Not one.”

    He’s also skeptical about the author of the WaPo writer who authored the story.

    I’m waiting to hear more. Surely if there had been anything damning (other than O’Keefe’s presence) we would have heard by now.

  2. Stoutcat
    January 27th, 2010 @ 3:54 pm

    Patterico is all over this and he’s skeptical. He has said: “the affidavit does not say one word about any of them possessing any listening devices. Not one.”

    He’s also skeptical about the author of the WaPo writer who authored the story.

    I’m waiting to hear more. Surely if there had been anything damning (other than O’Keefe’s presence) we would have heard by now.

  3. Buddy
    January 27th, 2010 @ 9:49 pm

    Smile……you’ve been set up by the white house 300 million dollar wh*re!

  4. Buddy
    January 27th, 2010 @ 4:49 pm

    Smile……you’ve been set up by the white house 300 million dollar wh*re!

  5. Miss Sharon
    January 27th, 2010 @ 10:03 pm

    Do we not have a legal system that presumes innocence before proof of guilt?

    KSM would be disturbed by those first reactions. I was.

  6. Miss Sharon
    January 27th, 2010 @ 5:03 pm

    Do we not have a legal system that presumes innocence before proof of guilt?

    KSM would be disturbed by those first reactions. I was.

  7. RES
    January 28th, 2010 @ 2:25 am

    Miss Sharon,
    The presumption of innocence only applies to Liberals/Progressives, such as John Edwards or Bill Clinton both of whom must be presumed innocent even after being proven guilty. Any conservative is presumptively guilty if only of the crime of conservatism, than which there is no crime greater.

  8. RES
    January 27th, 2010 @ 9:25 pm

    Miss Sharon,
    The presumption of innocence only applies to Liberals/Progressives, such as John Edwards or Bill Clinton both of whom must be presumed innocent even after being proven guilty. Any conservative is presumptively guilty if only of the crime of conservatism, than which there is no crime greater.

  9. Instapundit » Blog Archive » “NOTICEABLY MONOSYLLABIC.” Heh….
    January 27th, 2010 @ 11:57 pm

    […] “NOTICEABLY MONOSYLLABIC.” Heh. […]

  10. ic
    January 28th, 2010 @ 5:09 am

    FBI, somehow reminds me of Richard Jewel.

  11. ic
    January 28th, 2010 @ 12:09 am

    FBI, somehow reminds me of Richard Jewel.

  12. Carol Herman
    January 28th, 2010 @ 6:00 am

    Smile … You’re on Candid Camera. Alan Funt. TV that started it all in 1948. Talking mailboxes. Elevators that went sideways. People bringing film into a store to be developed, and the “setting” is switched for a Dry Cleaners to be there, two days later.

    You can’t fool me! Roger Moore got his start with stunt videos! This story? The kids wanted to see why no constituents of Landeiu’s (sp?) … could get through to her offices during the health care debate. On Tuesday she reported in public, there was something wrong with her phones.

    O’Keefe went in to prove the staff just took the phones off the hook.

    There’s nothing in the affidavit that says these kids were wire tapping. NADA. Stay tuned. The media reports were wrong. Imagine that. You’ve been lied to again.

    By the way, I loved Candid Camera! I still carry around memories of the episodes I saw, long ago. TV was in Black and White. No laws broken then. And, no laws broken now.

  13. Carol Herman
    January 28th, 2010 @ 1:00 am

    Smile … You’re on Candid Camera. Alan Funt. TV that started it all in 1948. Talking mailboxes. Elevators that went sideways. People bringing film into a store to be developed, and the “setting” is switched for a Dry Cleaners to be there, two days later.

    You can’t fool me! Roger Moore got his start with stunt videos! This story? The kids wanted to see why no constituents of Landeiu’s (sp?) … could get through to her offices during the health care debate. On Tuesday she reported in public, there was something wrong with her phones.

    O’Keefe went in to prove the staff just took the phones off the hook.

    There’s nothing in the affidavit that says these kids were wire tapping. NADA. Stay tuned. The media reports were wrong. Imagine that. You’ve been lied to again.

    By the way, I loved Candid Camera! I still carry around memories of the episodes I saw, long ago. TV was in Black and White. No laws broken then. And, no laws broken now.

  14. Jim O'Sullivan
    January 28th, 2010 @ 1:26 pm

    Speaking of monosyllables, how about 96 or so instances of the word “I.”

  15. Jim O'Sullivan
    January 28th, 2010 @ 8:26 am

    Speaking of monosyllables, how about 96 or so instances of the word “I.”

  16. Rae
    January 28th, 2010 @ 4:09 pm

    …blog reaction to the arrest of James O’Keefe

    Free the Landrieu Four!

    …these boys were imprudent at worst. Being Republican conservatives, they did not absorb the libertarian lesson that public property isn’t. Different rules apply to the state than hoi polloi. How dare they enter the holy sanctuary of Landrieu without due obeisance? And, preferably, a suitcase of cash.

    My own view: since the feds can crowbar your money out of you, and use it to enter your house or office under false pretenses, to spy on you, listen to your phone calls, read your emails, go through your underwear drawer, etc. what’s sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander. So I say, Free the Landrieu Four and all other political prisoners!

  17. Rae
    January 28th, 2010 @ 11:09 am

    …blog reaction to the arrest of James O’Keefe

    Free the Landrieu Four!

    …these boys were imprudent at worst. Being Republican conservatives, they did not absorb the libertarian lesson that public property isn’t. Different rules apply to the state than hoi polloi. How dare they enter the holy sanctuary of Landrieu without due obeisance? And, preferably, a suitcase of cash.

    My own view: since the feds can crowbar your money out of you, and use it to enter your house or office under false pretenses, to spy on you, listen to your phone calls, read your emails, go through your underwear drawer, etc. what’s sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander. So I say, Free the Landrieu Four and all other political prisoners!

  18. submandave
    January 28th, 2010 @ 4:21 pm

    Carol, one of my all-time favorites was when they loaded up a lane with ceramic bowling pins. The looks of the patrons’ faces as they watched their ball shatter the pins was great. Especially the fellow who quickly looked around, grabbed his jacket and bag and high-tailed it out.

  19. submandave
    January 28th, 2010 @ 11:21 am

    Carol, one of my all-time favorites was when they loaded up a lane with ceramic bowling pins. The looks of the patrons’ faces as they watched their ball shatter the pins was great. Especially the fellow who quickly looked around, grabbed his jacket and bag and high-tailed it out.

  20. Neshobanakni
    January 28th, 2010 @ 6:44 pm

    Once again, Carol Herman gets it right.

  21. Neshobanakni
    January 28th, 2010 @ 1:44 pm

    Once again, Carol Herman gets it right.

  22. uberVU - social comments
    January 29th, 2010 @ 3:20 am

    Social comments and analytics for this post…

    This post was mentioned on Twitter by rsmccain: @JENin140 @michellemalkin @allahpundit @rsmccain @instapundit “Noticeably Monosyllabic”? http://bit.ly/d1UD6Y [] #tcot…