Frum pulls a quick one.

First, to garner our sympathies, he writes:

[…]

“Researchers found that during the first four years, users steadily limited what personal data was visible to strangers within their school network. Yet through changes Facebook introduced to its platform in 2009 and 2010, the social network actually succeeded in reversing some users’ inclination to avoid public disclosure of their data.

In fact, the social network’s new policies were not only able to partly override an active desire not to post personal details publicly, but they have so far kept such disclosures from sinking back to their lower levels, according to the study. They also found that even as people sought to limit what strangers could learn about them from their Facebook profiles, they actually increased what information they shared with their friends.

Facebook’s CEO Mark Zuckerberg has famously said that privacy is no longer a social norm. He’s worked mightily to make those words self-fulfilling, and in tandem with other technologies (smartphones) and social media (notably YouTube), Zuckerberg has succeeded.

Well, yeah, who doesn’t resent how Facebook has been data mining on everybody.

Then Frum adds:

The demise of privacy as a social norm is leading to the demise of privacy as a legal right. Scott Prouty likely won’t face legal sanctions for videotaping Romney.

Oh, nice one. As if Prouty could actually be convicted of a crime!

Frum tries to rationalize:

Mike Edmonson, spokesman for the Palm Beach County State Attorney, explains why not: “For the law to be broken, the person being taped must have a reasonable expectation of privacy.” Once upon a time, a speaker might have expected that an off-the-record, closed-door speech in a private home would be “private.” No longer. The less privacy we have, the less we have a legal right to — and the less we have a legal right to, the less we will have.

Yeah, sure.

It’s as if the problem with the election was Prouty, and not fundamentally what Romney said, which is what he and his listeners also happen to believe.