MSNBC panel fawns over ‘heroic’ 47% video maker

What are some great moments in American history? A list of the top ten would certainly include Washington's victory at Yorktown, the Louisiana Purchase, and the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation. Oh, and of course there’s the clandestine filming of Mitt Romney’s infamous “47 percent” remarks by bartender Scott Prouty.

That was the consensus among panelists on MSNBC’s “Now” with Alex Wagner, which featured Prouty as a guest last night. Mediaite’s Noah Rothman notes that Prouty has been on a “whirlwind media blitz,” appearing “on every cable news outlet from MSNBC to… MSNBC.”

A clip of the segment can be viewed here, but for those who lack the stomach to sit through a minute-and-a-half of mindless hero worship, a partial transcript appears below:

FRANKLIN FOER (of “The New Republic”): Given that this is such a momentous moment in the course of the campaign and, therefore, American history, I propose a reenactment. I’m just like … curious, mechanically — like, did you — was there a moment — were you just watching the speech and then you just heard something that triggered you, or did you know you were going to record it from the start?

WAGNER (Crosstalk): What kind of camera did you use?

FOER: How the hell did you do it? Were you sitting there like —? I need to give some tips to some of my cub reporters about how to —

SCOTT PROUTY: Cannon Power Shot…. I just pressed ‘Record.’ When he started talking, I just pressed ‘Record.’ You know, I knew I was going to record it. I had bought the camera just so, maybe, we could take pictures with him at the end. But when he started talking, I just hit go. And that was it.

Later in the segment, BuzzFeed’s Ben Smith, who had been silent, essentially repeats Foer’s question, asking, “Did you plan to, sort of, use it against him when you hit play?” Maybe, to his credit, Smith had been tuning out his fellow panelists, or maybe he thought Prouty might give a different answer this time.

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Howard Portnoy has written for New York's "Daily News" and several national magazines. He has one published novel, "Hot Rain," (G. P. Putnam's Sons), and has ghost-written some dozen books on art and literature. He also blogs at Liberty Unyielding and formerly blogged at Hot Air. Click the ...

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