Wow, that was dumb

I’ll second Megan McArdle’s thoughts on James O’Keefe’s arrest for trying to bug the office of a Senator and taping it on his cell phone camera:

James O’Keefe, the guy who did the ACORN sting, doesn’t seem to understand the difference between a completely legal recording of an interview between you and someone else, and a completely illegal and reprehensible wiretapping of someone’s phones. Journalists are not spies, and there are very good reasons that you need a warrant to bug a telephone system or otherwise eavesdrop on third-party conversations.

I mean, the affidavit reads like something out of a second rate spy thriller — or the latest installment of The Naked Gun. It was an incredibly dumb (not to mention illegal) thing to do. He should have known better.