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You are here: Home / Open Threads / Then they came for the pranksters

Then they came for the pranksters

by DougJ|  March 2, 201111:31 am| 46 Comments

This post is in: Open Threads

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That didn’t take long (via):

Although representatives deny any connection to the recent prank call on the governor, two legislators began circulating a bill Monday that would ban making trick calls masking the caller’s true identity.

Sen. Mary Lazich, R-Waukesha, and Rep. Mark Honadel, R-Milwaukee, authored a bill that would prohibit tricking the call’s recipient into believing the caller is someone they are not for malicious purposes.

“While use of spoofing is said to have some legitimate uses, it can also be used to frighten, harass and potentially defraud,” Lazich and Honadel said in an e-mail to legislators.

But as long as it’s still legal for Republicans to dress as pimps and plot the rape of CNN reporters, This Republic remains free!

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Reader Interactions

46Comments

  1. 1.

    harokin

    March 2, 2011 at 11:35 am

    But shouting obscenities at mourners at military funerals? A-OK!

  2. 2.

    David Koch

    March 2, 2011 at 11:35 am

    We won’t be safe until we ban prank identities on the twitter machine.

    Look at how badly Mayor Rahm and BP where treated with fake accounts.

  3. 3.

    gwangung

    March 2, 2011 at 11:35 am

    So, Republicans want to make it illegal to show how stupid they are?

  4. 4.

    Roger Moore

    March 2, 2011 at 11:35 am

    It’s all fun and games until somebody loses an eye does it to a Republican.

  5. 5.

    stuckinred

    March 2, 2011 at 11:35 am

    Can we go after the David Koch who has surfaced here???

  6. 6.

    Dave

    March 2, 2011 at 11:36 am

    Is proving Walker is a paid employee of the Koch Brothers considered “malicious”? I’d say it’s a god-damned public service.

  7. 7.

    biff diggerence

    March 2, 2011 at 11:39 am

    Mommy State Alert.

  8. 8.

    clone12

    March 2, 2011 at 11:40 am

    So does that mean we can frog march James O’Keefe?

  9. 9.

    BGinCHI

    March 2, 2011 at 11:41 am

    Good luck with enforcement.

    They should call it the “Amanda Hugginkiss” Bill.

  10. 10.

    Omnes Omnibus

    March 2, 2011 at 11:42 am

    Oh, for fuck’s sake. First, I guess there are a lot of 11 year olds who are going to jail. Second, Walker was gullible and fell for a prank. Deal with it. Fucking pathetic. Whiny assholes.

  11. 11.

    Omnes Omnibus

    March 2, 2011 at 11:44 am

    @stuckinred: I think he is real. I mean, he says all the right things. Why would he do that if he wasn’t real? A joke? A parody? Nah… Not on this blog.

  12. 12.

    Linnaeus

    March 2, 2011 at 11:45 am

    I am outraged at this blatant attempt to expand the oppressive power of Big Government.

  13. 13.

    Gin & Tonic

    March 2, 2011 at 11:45 am

    Speaking of pranksters, GOS is reporting that the moron from HBGary Federal has been canned. Anonymous is completely responsible for that scalp.

  14. 14.

    Ash Can

    March 2, 2011 at 11:47 am

    Republican butthurt never fails to crack me up.

  15. 15.

    Kryptik

    March 2, 2011 at 11:47 am

    And don’t forget, it’s entirely legal, and hell, JUSTIFIED even, to mischaracterize a political opponent’s motives and purposely misinterpret sarcasm for seriousness, as long as you have a TV deal that’s lazy enough to not even check on your own personal blog when you admit said comment was sarcasm.

    Of course, CNN has total faith in Erick Erickson’s unimipeachable civility.

  16. 16.

    JCT

    March 2, 2011 at 11:48 am

    These idiots are parodies of adults.

  17. 17.

    Zifnab

    March 2, 2011 at 11:49 am

    So what happens if you prank call from out of state? Do we need to get the FBI involved?

  18. 18.

    Jay in Oregon

    March 2, 2011 at 11:54 am

    @gwangung:

    “Hey, how about I call you an idiot in public, and you can convict me for revealing state secrets.”
    — Matthew Stoner to Michael Garibaldi, Babylon 5

  19. 19.

    TooManyJens

    March 2, 2011 at 11:55 am

    Great, does that mean that robocalls from Republican operatives pretending to be Democrats and designed to piss voters off will be illegal too?

    Yeah, like I don’t know the answer to that.

  20. 20.

    Kryptik

    March 2, 2011 at 11:57 am

    @TooManyJens:

    Of course not. How do you prosecute a robot, after all!

  21. 21.

    Ash Can

    March 2, 2011 at 11:59 am

    Methinks a couple of Republican WI state legislators need to be on the lookout the next few days for phone calls involving prominent right wingers, Oliver Klozoff, or running refrigerators.

  22. 22.

    Omnes Omnibus

    March 2, 2011 at 12:04 pm

    @Ash Can: I am sure Michael Hunt will call as well.

  23. 23.

    Davis X. Machina

    March 2, 2011 at 12:10 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus: We had an actual Michael Hunt here at my school years ago, and at the same time an AFS student named Horst Schmidt.

    Afternoon announcements were a hoot, some days.

  24. 24.

    jibeaux

    March 2, 2011 at 12:11 pm

    “to frighten, harass, and potentially defraud”

    Well, we already have handy laws for fraud and threats, as well as restraining orders. Unless the governor was more scared than he let on, I don’t see how the Buffalo Beast’s phone call would even fall into any of those categories. I don’t personally consider letting the public know what a douchebag a public official is a “malicious purpose.” But have fun with the litigation resulting from trying to enforce such a vague, overbroad, and Constitutionally dubious law.

  25. 25.

    jibeaux

    March 2, 2011 at 12:12 pm

    also too, my buddy Hugh Jass is pretty upset about this proposal.

  26. 26.

    Omnes Omnibus

    March 2, 2011 at 12:12 pm

    @jibeaux:

    Constitutionally dubious law

    Wow, understatement of the day.

  27. 27.

    Judas Escargot

    March 2, 2011 at 12:19 pm

    Greyface is displeased.

  28. 28.

    Legalize

    March 2, 2011 at 12:20 pm

    Hugh G. Rection has not been reached for comment.

  29. 29.

    Jay in Oregon

    March 2, 2011 at 12:23 pm

    Will the distinguished Representative Heywood Jablome be signing on as a co-sponsor?

  30. 30.

    JenJen

    March 2, 2011 at 12:23 pm

    Speaking of CNN reporters, how come John King keeps letting Erick Erickson pimp his lies about Greg Sargent?

    You don’t have to answer that.

  31. 31.

    jibeaux

    March 2, 2011 at 12:24 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    Yep. But I don’t think a court would ever get to the Constitutional implications, because it’s got to get over tiny hurdles such as defining “malicious purposes” first.

  32. 32.

    Kryptik

    March 2, 2011 at 12:26 pm

    @JenJen:

    Like I noted above on this exact same thing, CNN has the utmost faith in Erickson’s unimpeachable civility.

    Which gives you a sense of where things are skewed.

  33. 33.

    PIGL

    March 2, 2011 at 12:33 pm

    then too, there’s the noble and highly Republican industry of collections. Let’s just put them out of business, shall we?

    Thot not.

  34. 34.

    shawntos

    March 2, 2011 at 12:35 pm

    Oh my God! What will happen to The Jerky Boys? Will the FBI come after Sol Rosenberg and Frank Rizzo?

    See ya later there Jerky.

  35. 35.

    machine

    March 2, 2011 at 12:37 pm

    I have a golf buddy named Dave Koch. Maybe he can be pressed into service for calls.

  36. 36.

    Hawes

    March 2, 2011 at 12:45 pm

    As long as they leave Anonymous alone.

    Did you see this?
    http://news.yahoo.com/s/digitaltrends/20110224/tc_digitaltrends/anonymousseizeswestborobaptistsdomainduringlivetvconfrontation

    Hilarious and Awesome got married and had a baby named Justice.

  37. 37.

    Mike Kay (True Grit)

    March 2, 2011 at 12:55 pm

    O’Reilly is still after Jack Me’off

    https://balloon-juice.com/2011/03/02/then-they-came-for-the-pranksters/#comments

  38. 38.

    JenJen

    March 2, 2011 at 1:15 pm

    @Kryptik: Yes. And, not to mention, completely fucked up.

    I am in a bit of a mood today.

  39. 39.

    gnomedad

    March 2, 2011 at 1:36 pm

    Hate crime legislation is still over the top, though.

  40. 40.

    Mike in NC

    March 2, 2011 at 1:46 pm

    I denounce both Josef Stalin and prank callers.

  41. 41.

    Dave N.

    March 2, 2011 at 1:53 pm

    How would this even be enforced? By tapping every phone in the state?

    And then there is this little nugget: “However, law enforcement and government regulatory agents who use phone spoofing to fight crime would be exempt from the law.”

    Limited government at its finest – they can prank call us, but it is illegal for us to prank call them.

  42. 42.

    prince albert

    March 2, 2011 at 2:48 pm

    I approve of this bill. my fondest hope would be that our parliament considers a similar measure, posthaste!

  43. 43.

    mds

    March 2, 2011 at 4:19 pm

    @prince albert:

    Oh, can it, albert.

    But as long as it’s still legal for Republicans to dress as pimps and plot the rape of CNN reporters,

    James O’Keefe’s actions were illegal, he’s just not being held accountable for them. Now don’t you feel better?

  44. 44.

    scarshapedstar

    March 2, 2011 at 4:54 pm

    Constitution, anyone?

    Also, does this apply to Koch-funded push polls?

  45. 45.

    Rekster

    March 2, 2011 at 5:26 pm

    Next bill will be banning calls asking: “Do you have Prince Albert in a can?” and “Is your refrigerator running?”.

    The Republican Party also known as the No Sense of Humor Party.

  46. 46.

    Petorado

    March 2, 2011 at 9:01 pm

    Well this proposed law will keep the hardened criminals off the streets … and more importantly, off of my lawn! Republican win!

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