The Bishop and the Butterfly: Murder, Politics, and the End of the Jazz Age
    jollyroger's picture

    Free-Loadergate's hidden taper-Our hero: Sir or Madam, I salute you. Class traitor, true patriot, America's friend

    By jollyroger on Wed, 09/19/2012 - 3:55pm |

    Willard no doubt wishes that he had been able to confiscate all cell phones at the door, but that's a non-starter.

    Withal, someone paying 50k to attend (or a beautiful "paid for" guest...), someone surely not in the reviled 47%, did a real number on the guest of honor.

    The floor is open for nominations.

    I rule out the disgruntled help as too visible and too harried to pull off the taping.

    The more I ruminate, the more I lean towards a female hand on the record button.

    I love you, baby.

    Comments

    Funny how making a digital recording is still called "taping" by us dinosaurs who still "dial"a phone number.

    by jollyroger on Wed, 09/19/2012 - 4:09pm

    Frum at Dailybeast is now intimating that others might intimate that Obama illegally taped Mitt!

    Just when I was beginning to like Frum!

    Damn!

    Say, I thought a free-loader was a rainbow colored pill back in the 80's?


    by Richard Day on Wed, 09/19/2012 - 4:15pm

    Nah, those were "guzzle-muzzle loaders". I'm praying that it turns out to be a working girl. My third wife, The Hooker, was definitely down with the struggle.

    by jollyroger on Wed, 09/19/2012 - 4:21pm

    It's just in the nature of partisan horse race junkies to think conspiracy by the opponent, especially since Watergate was one example that actually panned out as real

    I recall a lot of people at TPM absolutely convinced that Mayhill Fowler (of the Obama "guns and bibles" story) must be an operative for Hillary's campaign, and not simply an ambitious wannabe scoop-getting journalist I remember some taking that story also to mean that HuffPo must be pro-Hillary and therefore an Obama enemy, when all Huffpo ever really was was pro-audience-growth and profits therein for Arianna

    Though I'm not one to shrink from the fun of partisan horse race, I try hard to keep eyes on the prize of wanting to deconstruct what it going on, rather than "supporting" a candidate by getting heavily invested in helping them maintain an illusionary picture of himself or herself.

    It's sort of like this: I try to remember I'm not a political operative but just the opposite--someone trying to strip away what they are doing, for my own benefit and understanding. David Frum is a political operative by profession, it's his business. I do wish fewer bloggers were wannabe political operatives, and rather just interested in trying to figure out reality rather than adding more layers of unreality.


    by artappraiser on Wed, 09/19/2012 - 5:44pm

    I know that about Frum!

    But he was lending me hope? Is that the proper phrase?

    I mean he wrote words that were lies for 8 years?

    I just was caught by his tone I guess for the last year or so. And now McKinnon? is that his name, is defending Mitt and I am breaking away from any possibility of compromise between left and right.

    This is ridiculous.

    Great comment!

    Political operatives win out!

    I never trusted Noonan (bewitched!) but....

    Oh well.

    They can all go to hell!

     


    by Richard Day on Wed, 09/19/2012 - 5:54pm

    My guess is that it was someone who connected with the catering of the event - which is why they want to remain anonymous.


    by Elusive Trope on Wed, 09/19/2012 - 4:37pm

    I don't wish to over-emphasize this but Frum is indicating a new Watergate inquiry.

    This is idiocy but when did idiocy stop the House of Representatives?

     

     

     

     


    by Richard Day on Wed, 09/19/2012 - 4:54pm

    I remember someone catching a beef over a recording of a Repugnant conference call awhile back. Every state has different laws re:surreptitious recording. The way to do it safely is to place a call to a voicemail box and then forget to hang up. "Oops! My bad.."

    by jollyroger on Wed, 09/19/2012 - 5:11pm

    staff are certainly on the list of suspects. its hard to imagine that an actual donor would turn on Mitt this way, but given the reputation of the sponsor for hosting orgies (not that there's anything wrong with that...) my mind wanders to compensated arm candy.

    by jollyroger on Wed, 09/19/2012 - 5:08pm

    Pretty Woman on the outside, Erin Brockovich on the inside.

    Or vice versa, in this case....


    by erica20 on Wed, 09/19/2012 - 5:11pm

    I can't wait for the movie...our own Jeanne d'Arc. Is Ashley Judd available to star?

    by jollyroger on Wed, 09/19/2012 - 5:14pm

    Heck, she's probably writing the script while we're dinging around posting these comments.


    by erica20 on Wed, 09/19/2012 - 5:33pm

    She knows how to make an entrance (NSFW) guaranteed to distract the security..

    by jollyroger on Wed, 09/19/2012 - 6:23pm

    From Charlie Pierce, the comeback speech:"I'm Mitt Romney, bitches.."

    by jollyroger on Wed, 09/19/2012 - 7:57pm

    The angle from where the video was captured locates where the culprit was in the room. 

    Presumably, the people who arranged the event were using a seating chart. In addition, those same arrangers were probably at the event with some memory of what happened when.

    Somebody has a short list of who could have done it.


    by moat on Wed, 09/19/2012 - 9:04pm

    Good point. There may be some digital fingerprints as well. It first went up on YouTube under a fake Rachel Maddow account. she beefed it, it came down, and reappeared under Anne Onymous. (hmmm.sounds like a woman ...) Unless uploaded from a cafe or library IP address...

    by jollyroger on Wed, 09/19/2012 - 10:32pm

    Given how many of the waits staff pass between the camera and Mitt indicates the position of the phone cam was not a seat given to anyone who paid to get into the event. Anyone who is anyone (i.e. those who were hired help) would have an unobstructed view of Mitt.

    I would add the non-shakiness of the shot indicates that someone probably set the phone to record and then walked away from it as it recorded. Anyone who has hosted such events knows the periphery is usually taken up with folding tables with bunting, and would be a perfect location to set down a phone next to some decorative item, and would not draw undo attention.


    by Elusive Trope on Wed, 09/19/2012 - 10:57pm

    James Carter the IV, the man who helped uncover the video alluded to a caterer or someone that worked for the caterer as the  person who filmed and uploaded the video to Youtube.


    by tmccarthy0 on Wed, 09/19/2012 - 11:20pm

    Revenge of the 47%....(assuming it's not deliberate obfuscation to protect)

    by jollyroger on Wed, 09/19/2012 - 11:49pm

    Contrary to paragraph one, we learn that St Obama events, cameras and cell phones are checked at the door. You only need to get burned once, I guess.

    by jollyroger on Sun, 09/23/2012 - 3:36am

    correction :"AT Obama events..."(stupid autocorrect!)

    by jollyroger on Sun, 09/23/2012 - 3:38am