The two A.G.s

ryanteaguebeckwith — Wed, 02 Jan 2008 09:57:50 -0500

Here's another political gem from the Andy Griffith files.

In January of 2007, a YouTube clip from "The Andy Griffith Show" made its way around the blogosphere. It showed a handful of scenes from a 1967 episode about Opie's tape recorder.

In the scenes, Opie tries to convince his father to listen to a tape he secretly made of a prisoner confessing, but Sheriff Taylor refuses, saying even a guilty man has rights.

"The law can't use that kind of help," he tells Opie.

The clips were meant to contrast Andy Griffith with then Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, who was testifying about warrantless wiretapping before Congress at the time.

The Electronic Frontier Foundation called it a "civics lesson" that Gonzales should study. BoingBoing jokingly called Andy Griffith a "terrorist sympathizer."

The video was taken down after CBS claimed it was a copyright violation, though dozens of other clips from the show remain on YouTube.

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The two A.G.s