Althouse: The ACORN sting.

September 11, 2009

The ACORN sting.

Shocking.

119 comments:

Anonymous said...: I love seeing places like CNN outraged at this type of "gotcha" journalism.

Because "gotcha journalism" isn't a major staple of journalism.

That the incident wasn't isolated is sad...; 9/11/09, 2:54 PM
Anonymous said...: "That the incident wasn't isolated is sad..."

That the incident wasn't isolated is scary. These poverty pimps are doing the next census at the behest of BO.; 9/11/09, 2:58 PM
Anonymous said...: And, we don't know how bad it is. Breitbart has no desire to put all this out at once. He's going to let this drip out slowly.

Andrew Breitbart is, possibly, the smartest guy in the country in regards to dealing with the current media.; 9/11/09, 2:59 PM
former law student said...: Cute. I miss Allen Ludden.; 9/11/09, 2:59 PM
Anonymous said...: Now, Heaven knows, anything goes.; 9/11/09, 3:06 PM
Synova said...: And we will get the skinny on the "prostitute's" (who's idea this was) youthful My Space blunder in... three... two... one...

BTW, Did you hear that Joe Wilson did No-Doz in college?

Shocking!

I find myself feeling sorry for the two (now probably four) ladies who are now out of a job so I have to remind myself that not one of them so much as showed discomfort at the idea of bringing in girls from another country to be prostitutes, and in the case of Baltimore, were explicitly told they were minors.

The "be proud of what you do" pep talk was a peach as well.

As was the (non) reaction to the out and out statement that the *whole plan* was to make as much money as possible in order to enter politics.; 9/11/09, 3:06 PM
Balfegor said...: Shocking.

Uh, really? How?; 9/11/09, 3:08 PM
Big Mike said...: @FLS, you didn't perchance mean Allen Funt, did you?; 9/11/09, 3:10 PM
hdhouse said...: Noted of course in the other two instances when this sting was tried it fail and the persons posing were turned into authorities.

Good heavens. Try and keep perspective sometime.; 9/11/09, 3:13 PM
BJM said...: @Synova, right about now Rahm's warming up the bus.

@scinfinty, CNN has more than enough on their plate today, what with all the layers of fact checkers to manage.; 9/11/09, 3:13 PM
Anonymous said...: I love seeing places like CNN outraged at this type of "gotcha" journalism.

Because "gotcha journalism" isn't a major staple of journalism.

Too funny. Love the fake outrage.

When I saw the first video of the Baltimore office, I couldn't help but remember all of those undercover 60 Minutes investigative reports.

Don't know if they still do those or not, but they were always fun to watch.; 9/11/09, 3:15 PM
The Drill SGT said...: Synova said...not one of them so much as showed discomfort at the idea of bringing in girls from another country to be prostitutes

To be clear to others, the use of "girls" in your sentence was not only in the context of "working girls" e.g hookers, but also as in "children" e.g. explicitly mentioned 13 and 14 Y/o sex trade children.

and how to get IRS "child care" deductions for the litle adopted ones.; 9/11/09, 3:16 PM
Anonymous said...: This is true ugliness. Child sex trafficing.

How the mighty, idealistic left has fallen.

If Obama doesn't condemn this, he's toast.; 9/11/09, 3:17 PM
BigFire said...: The reason for not publishing everything is not just for stringing viewers along. It also refute the claim by ACORN that it's just isolated incident, and the 2 Baltimore workers that promptly got fired.; 9/11/09, 3:18 PM
Anonymous said...: Noted of course in the other two instances when this sting was tried it fail and the persons posing were turned into authorities.

Can you point to them "failing" and being "turned into authorities"?

And, even if they did, it explains why they found two (so far) who not only had no problem with it, also reminded them to teach the girls to not talk to anybody in what way?

Saying "Well, MOST of this group's offices won't assist with helping somebody set up a brothel specializing in pedophilia" is really one of the more damning defenses out there.

So, hd is on record defending ACORN.; 9/11/09, 3:18 PM
Freeman Hunt said...: hdhouse, there were only two other places where it failed?!

Yeah, I guess that does give perspective. I'd have thought you'd have to do it 50+ times to get this result.; 9/11/09, 3:21 PM
The Drill SGT said...: hdhouse said...
Noted of course in the other two instances when this sting was tried it fail and the persons posing were turned into authorities.

Good heavens. Try and keep perspective sometime.

perspective? How about simple sample size 2 offices, 4 staff take the bait, 2 offices, unknown staff call the cops.

so right now its 2/4. but one would think that ACORN would have put any cop calling numbers out there already, and the Breitbart team may have more crooked locations coming.

so how large a sample size to you need to have a RICO case or conversely, can you sell 2 of 4, as isolated bad apples in one office :); 9/11/09, 3:21 PM
Balfegor said...: Noted of course in the other two instances when this sting was tried it fail and the persons posing were turned into authorities.

Good heavens. Try and keep perspective sometime.

Wait, so they did four offices (Washington, Baltimore, and the two others HD mentions), and 50% of them were willing to collaborate with a pimp to import additional prostitutes?

You think that perspective helps ACORN? Really?

If they had to try 20 places before they could get 2 that would help, well, that would still speak pretty poorly of their organization (imagine a corporation where 10% of their local offices are cooperating with flagrant violations of the law), but you could at least argue that it's not a huge issue. But 50% is pretty bad.; 9/11/09, 3:21 PM
traditionalguy said...: This story may be called a gotcha, but it is only shocking to people who have not spent any time among an urban-ghetto raised African American Community. Their community loyalty amounts to planned ways to get MONEY by finding ways around the rules. The laws are not now, and may never be, enforced equally among these street smart survivors as it is currently applied in middle class white communities. Sexual use of pubescent adolescent girls, robbery and overt racial discrimination, are not considered to be crimes within large segments of this African American community.; 9/11/09, 3:23 PM
The Drill SGT said...: seems like a lot of us had the same retort :); 9/11/09, 3:23 PM
Synova said...: And what we get when we rely on *feelings* is that I really *do* feel sorry for those women... and science might have the answer to why... This guy claims that there is a chemical reaction inside our heads that makes us reciprocate... and those women were completely HELPFUL and my silly wet-ware is shooting off chemical signals and positive feedback to make me RECIPROCATE that helpfulness.

Emotions are the stupidest thing to rely on EVER.

Sure they were helping... wouldn't you love to go some place and have people be that helpful?.. but they were helping a young woman set herself up in the sex trade to include bringing in underage sex workers and giving advice on how to lie on tax forms to qualify for housing loans and how not to have the illegal activity they were openly talking about come back to haunt them later.

And I STILL want to reciprocate.

That is my *gut* (or neuro-scientific oxytocin) response.

And if someone gets in trouble I want it to be someone who wasn't there being so freaking *helpful*.; 9/11/09, 3:24 PM
TWM said...: "Noted of course in the other two instances when this sting was tried it fail and the persons posing were turned into authorities."

Yes, can you please give us a cite for this statement? I do recall the ACORN guy saying it had been tried and failed before and that the Baltimore incident was an aberration, but since the DC one pretty much proves he is either a liar or a fool, I figure that is not one of the two you are talking about.

Share with us. Before they post another video.; 9/11/09, 3:24 PM
Patm said...: Patin CA said:
"
If Obama doesn't condemn this, he's toast."

The press will cover for him by not covering this at all. O won't have to say a word.; 9/11/09, 3:26 PM
Automatic_Wing said...: Community organizers. What would we do without 'em?; 9/11/09, 3:33 PM
A.W. said...: Hey, let's give Acorn our money. and let them run the census!

/sarcasm

sarcasm aside, does anyone think that congress is going to give a sh-t? at least the democratic side?

Btw, a bonus question... do you think they have more at big government... i mean they have already played that perfectly, first letting acorn say it was just those two women, and then it... opps, it was four women, at two branches... hehehe; 9/11/09, 3:34 PM
Shanna said...: Wow, this group just gets worse and worse.; 9/11/09, 3:35 PM
Roger J. said...: House: try to keep perspective folks--

You are one degenerate sick scumbag--really sick.; 9/11/09, 3:36 PM
Balfegor said...: seems like a lot of us had the same retort :)

Haha, yes. Thanks to HDHouse's helpful perspective, this actually doesn't seem quite as much like "gotcha" journalism as you'd think at first glance. This actually seems like a pretty big problem for ACORN.; 9/11/09, 3:36 PM
daubiere said...: "This actually seems like a pretty big problem for ACORN."

there are no big problems for ACORN. Uncle O will make sure of that.; 9/11/09, 3:39 PM
MadisonMan said...: If Obama doesn't condemn this, he's toast.

Why should anyone have to condemn a child prostitution ring. Why shouldn't anyone's umbrage not be taken for granted?; 9/11/09, 3:47 PM
The Drill SGT said...: Balfegor said...
Wait, so they did four offices (Washington, Baltimore, and the two others HD mentions), and 50% of them were willing to collaborate with a pimp to import additional prostitutes?

it's really much worse in reality. It has been my experience that when you want to give somebody extra-egal advice, you try to do it without witnesses. You know, one-on-one.

ACORN lady whispers, you know we really aren't supposed to tell you this, but if you do x...

If I were an ACORN lady, in an open room with 4 people, I'd not proffer advice that could make me and my firm a party to a dozen felonies, unless I was comfortable, very comfortable that my co-worker was fine with crime and thes two honkies looked like crooks.

so maybe in the other 2 alledged "called the cops" offices, one ACORN worker was not sure everybody who was party to the conspiracy was going to stay bent.; 9/11/09, 3:48 PM
EnigmatiCore said...: Because, as the videos show, umbrage cannot be taken for granted.; 9/11/09, 3:49 PM
Sofa King said...: Why should anyone have to condemn a child prostitution ring. Why shouldn't anyone's umbrage not be taken for granted?

When one shills for policies that funnel billions of dollars and constitutional functions (!) to people who evidently don't share such umbrage, it's a fair question.; 9/11/09, 3:50 PM
The Drill SGT said...: Why should anyone have to condemn a child prostitution ring. Why shouldn't anyone's umbrage not be taken for granted?

1. he worked for them?
2. GIBBS will get asked?
3. ACORN gets paid to offer housing counselling, so these ladies may have been Federally funded crooks?; 9/11/09, 3:55 PM
David said...: This tape would be attacked as racist if it were a parody, which I first thought it was. The Acorn women are so stupid and amoral that they must be caricatures.

A big question is how could these Acorn women be fooled by this guy? He says he's putting himself through Georgetown law by pimping for his girlfriend and a bunch of underage illegal immigrant girls? He asks clueless questions. Except for the pimp parody clothes and the hottie on his arm, he's about as big a suburban dweeb as you can imagine. Yet they swallowed it whole (pardon the metaphor.)

It will be very interesting to see if other journalists follow up with the women to find out more about them and Acorn. Acorn has fired them, but they are also a major threat to Acorn now. Are Acorn and the women so stupid that they would also have some under the table deal to encourage the women to keep silent?

Journalists will have to do the job, since my guess is that Maryland and Federal prosecutors won't touch it.; 9/11/09, 3:55 PM
Automatic_Wing said...: Why should anyone have to condemn a child prostitution ring. Why shouldn't anyone's umbrage not be taken for granted?

This issue seems a lot more significant that Skip Gates's little dust-up with the Cambridge PD, so I think Obama should weigh in here.

Did ACORN act stupidly here? Or was it the film-maker? Inquiring minds want to know.; 9/11/09, 3:55 PM
Revenant said...: Shocking

It is a little late in the game to be shocked by criminal activity by ACORN, isn't it? If you want to shock me, provide a link to them obeying the law. :); 9/11/09, 3:57 PM
Caroline said...: There have been enough instances of corruption in the ACORN organization to question whether they should be trusted to tally our census, and engage in voter registration. The administration needs to prove that the culture of corruption on display in those videos is the exception, not the norm, before one more tax dollar is sent their way.

To our so-called representatives: INVESTIGATE ACORN NOW! Or stop giving them our tax dollars!; 9/11/09, 4:01 PM
traditionalguy said...: President Obama will not take umbrage at his admirers no matter what they are caught doing. But let an Acorn official, like a Rev Wright did, say something slighting torwards Obama's image, and then the Bus Rolls. The DailyKos wing will be under the Bus any day now, and the New Obama will suddenly try to morph into a True Moderate. If that doesn't work, then he may crack up when he has no one left to be his admirers. Unless he morps then into a role of a World admired communist Revolutionary like Chavez. Stay tuned; 9/11/09, 4:04 PM
ricpic said...: If Obama only knew.; 9/11/09, 4:07 PM
ricpic said...: The ACORN women are so stupid and amoral that they must be caricatures.

Had any experience dealing with inner city blacks, David? These gals are standard.; 9/11/09, 4:13 PM
former law student said...: Yep, I meant Allen Funt.

I have no problem with rooting out corruption of whatever partisan flavor. Just don't pretend all the corruption is on one side or the other.

vw: menha: 5/8 of an ocean fish.; 9/11/09, 4:18 PM
miller said...: I'm shocked there is gambling going on here - Teh One™; 9/11/09, 4:22 PM
Salamandyr said...: It's obvious to me that this sort of bad element infested ACORN after Obama moved onto State Government as well as his history making period in the US Senate, and groundbreaking elevation to the Presidency. Such a thing could not have happened in the nation-wide organization, when he was working as a local organizer in Chicago, he would not allow it. This in no way reflects badly on him; these people were probably hired after he left, and didn't know.; 9/11/09, 4:23 PM
X said...: fls, the password is: ACORN; 9/11/09, 4:25 PM
I'm Full of Soup said...: For a country that is basically broke, we can afford to give billions to these alleged non-profits like ACORN and to scam groups like the ones Van Jones set up.

Is that why Jones was considered an expert on creating "green jobs"?; 9/11/09, 4:26 PM
rhhardin said...: What was learned in the ABSCAM sting wasn't that congressmen could be bought, but how little money it took.; 9/11/09, 4:29 PM
Revenant said...: Had any experience dealing with inner city blacks, David? These gals are standard.

Please stay off my side.; 9/11/09, 4:30 PM
Dust Bunny Queen said...: Not shocking in the least. ACORN is full of this type of graft, corruption, disregard for the law. The entire organization makes me sick because it gives legitimate groups who do real good a bad name. Because of ACORN, I never ever contribute to any organization or charity that isn't completely local and where I can't see the chain of custody for my donations.

The local food pantry run by a local non profit. The local library, also a non profit, since we don't have a public library. Booster club for the local high school sports and music program. THESE people get my money

ACORN should be investigated and the people who work there put into jail for voter fraud, tax fraud and accessory to all sorts of criminal acts.

WE the taxpayers are funding this attrocity. Is it any wonder we are pissed off?; 9/11/09, 4:33 PM
BJM said...: The complete lack of empathy and concern by the two women for 13 & 14 yr old Hispanic girls being illegally imported for sex slavery is the shocking part.

To make it worse, if that is possible, they advised the pimp to train the girls to be quiet. I think we know how pimps "train" their girls.

I'm probably going to take heat for what I'm about to write, but it's the elephant in the room.

How do women descended from slaves who were sexually brutalized and dehumanized as possessions justify facilitating enslaving another human?

Not moment of hesitation or a scintilla of doubt other than covering own their asses. Their complete ease and facile solutions with 13 yr prostitutes makes one wonder have they done this before. We're told they had to push for numbers.

Unfortunately we've come inured human trafficking in hellholes like Sudan, but Baltimore?

What has gone so wrong in our culture that this is business as usual and the organization isn't being charged?; 9/11/09, 4:49 PM
Methadras said...: ACORN organizes all kinds of stuff. Can't you see the service they provide by organizing things like scams and frauds, amongst their other good will services? LEAVE ACORN ALONE!!! LEAVE THEM ALONE!!! I MEAN IT!!!; 9/11/09, 4:51 PM
Kirby Olson said...: If the slightest piffle of inquiry reveals people this awful, what would a total inquiry into the organization reveal?

Even the brownshirts didn't descend into child prostitution.; 9/11/09, 4:53 PM
Wince said...: I'll say one thing, the 20 year-old woman who posed as a "prostitute" (or was it pimp?) is totally HOT.; 9/11/09, 4:56 PM
Wince said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 9/11/09, 4:57 PM
David said...: ricpic said...

"Had any experience dealing with inner city blacks, David? These gals are standard."

Ripic, that's ridiculous. If you want to judge an entire group by its worst examples, go ahead. I have plenty of experience with black people, "inner city" and otherwise. Most of that experience has been positive. These gals are not standard--they are the worst of the worst.; 9/11/09, 5:04 PM
KCFleming said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 9/11/09, 5:13 PM
KCFleming said...: How many billions did ACORN get from Obama?

Welcome to the United States of Chicago.; 9/11/09, 5:19 PM
Peter Hoh said...: Glad to see these bastards exposed.; 9/11/09, 5:21 PM
William said...: Faulkner observed that people who were once private property have reason not to respect the institution of private property. I just pass the observation along....In the first video, the two women appear to be kindly and helpful. But my God, look at the cause in which they are offering their help and kindness. How alienated they must be in order to be so tone deaf to the chords of common decency.....There is a teachable moment here, but anyone who teaches it will be branded as a racist. But really, thoughtful people of all races should wonder what forces conspired to make these women such moral imbeciles.....The white community has produced such villains as Simon Legree and Bull Connor, but it has also produced a larger community that has condemned them. These women are moral dwarves but they will not face disapproval in their own community. Thus the community will produce more such moral dwarves, and the beat goes on.; 9/11/09, 5:34 PM
Caroline said...: Had any experience dealing with inner city blacks, David? These gals are standard.

I guess you've dealt with them all, or at least a significant portion of the millions of inner city blacks to feel qualified to make that damning generalization of them all. You must get around.; 9/11/09, 5:36 PM
jayne_cobb said...: Just got this from Twitter but apparently the Census director is breaking all ties with ACORN

From Major Garrett; 9/11/09, 5:39 PM
Fred4Pres said...: It is so over the top to be a parody and ACORN does not even blink an eye. Wow. If you said this was the story no one would ever believe you without that video.

That ACORN acted this way in two separate offices is beyond shocking.; 9/11/09, 5:39 PM
mccullough said...: This is not the ACORN I knew.; 9/11/09, 5:43 PM
The Drill SGT said...: breaking news:

“We do not come to this decision lightly,” Census director Robert Groves wrote in a letter to ACORN, which was obtained by The Associated Press.
In splitting with ACORN, Groves sought to tamp down GOP concerns and negative publicity that the partnership will taint the 2010 head count.
“It is clear that ACORN’s affiliation with the 2010 census promotion has caused sufficient concern in the general public, has indeed become a distraction from our mission, and may even become a discouragement to public cooperation, negatively impacting 2010 census efforts,” Groves wrote.; 9/11/09, 5:48 PM
William said...: I have lived and worked among black people all my life. I have known many who were kind and generous and decent. That's just a fact. But it drives me crazy that cretins like Michael Vicks and others get a pass from the larger black community. These women and their friends will go to their death beds thinking that they were victims of an unjust trick. They will never once reflect that their behavior here was despicable.; 9/11/09, 5:53 PM
Revenant said...: Faulkner observed that people who were once private property have reason not to respect the institution of private property.

Maybe so, but nobody in America today was ever private property. Unless they were a slave in Saudi Arabia or Africa or some such.; 9/11/09, 5:54 PM
ricpic said...: You can't investigate ACORN. That would be racisss.; 9/11/09, 5:56 PM
Dust Bunny Queen said...: “It is clear that ACORN’s affiliation with the 2010 census promotion has caused sufficient concern in the general public, has indeed become a distraction from our mission, and may even become a discouragement to public cooperation, negatively impacting 2010 census efforts,” Groves wrote.

Absolutely. I was planning to give them all kinds of bogus information about the 12 illegal mexicans that I have cord-wooded in my garage, lie about my income and everything else. I though I would see if we couldn't skew the statistics to get some of that FREE gubmnit money.

After all, isn't that the goal of ACORN? Lie, distort, cheat and steal all the taxpayer money you can. If it works for the inner city blacks why won't it work for this Althouse Hillbilly....hmmmmm?

vw - gotst I gotst ta get me sum of dat free money.; 9/11/09, 6:02 PM
KCFleming said...: 11 ACORN workers were recently accused by Florida prosecutors of falsifying information on over 900 voter registration forms.

Voter fraud across the US.

Obama wins the election.

ACORN gets $8 Billion.

Connect

the

d
o
t
s.; 9/11/09, 6:21 PM
Revenant said...: Instapundit has a link to some ACORN official blaming the sting on Fox News' "racism". These people are truly beyond parody. They make truthers and birthers look sane.; 9/11/09, 6:28 PM
knox said...: Obama's connection to ACORN freaked me out more than anything else in those last weeks leading up to the election. I did some reading about them and it was alarming. There are many aspects of their tactics--and ruthlessness--that reek of Political Mafia.

So many on the Left ridicule the rest of us for being suspicious of ACORN. As we all have learned the hard way: these days, that means, "you're onto something!"; 9/11/09, 6:35 PM
Laura(southernxyl) said...: “It is clear that ACORN’s affiliation with the 2010 census promotion has caused sufficient concern in the general public, has indeed become a distraction from our mission, and may even become a discouragement to public cooperation, negatively impacting 2010 census efforts,” Groves wrote.

Translation: We can't deal with these people, because it looks bad.; 9/11/09, 6:35 PM
knox said...: why won't it work for this Althouse Hillbilly....hmmmmm

LMAO.

It's like the tea party people wearing shirts or carrying signs that say "Angry Mob."; 9/11/09, 6:38 PM
jr565 said...: Whoops, the same thing happened in DC with two completely different acorn representatives:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cWRTYD26Kxc&eurl=http%3A%2F%2Fhotair%2Ecom%2Farchives%2F2009%2F09%2F11%2Fvideo%2Dthe%2Dacorn%2Dpimp%2Dshielding%2Dnetwork%2F&feature=player_embedded#t=345

Yikes, and this group is going to have a hand at running our census?

Plus, I have to say, that the absurdity of this situation is profound. Here's a guy who comes to Acorn professing to be a pimp who wants to get into politics and use his pimping funds to run for office and these people don't even bat an eye about the outlandishness of that proposition.; 9/11/09, 6:40 PM
Kevin said...: Good news - the Baltimore City Maryland States Attorney is thinking of prosecuting the people doing the sting on felony charges for a covert audio recording.

No word on whether they are going to prosecute the ACORN workers for being willing to assist in child sex trafficking.; 9/11/09, 7:37 PM
former law student said...: 11 ACORN workers were recently accused by Florida prosecutors of falsifying information on over 900 voter registration forms.

And yet when Obama found enough falsified signatures on his opponents' nominating petitions to get them knocked off the ballot, Conservatives acted as if that was a Bad Thing.

Take one position on fake signatures and stick to it, willya?; 9/11/09, 7:48 PM
former law student said...: Obama's connection to ACORN

Obama taught community organizing techniques to ACORN members a couple of times.

Either community organizing is a useless sham or it is not. Please take one position and stick to it, Conservatives.; 9/11/09, 7:51 PM
Anonymous said...: “It is clear that ACORN’s affiliation with the 2010 census promotion has caused sufficient concern in the general public, has indeed become a distraction from our mission, and may even become a discouragement to public cooperation, negatively impacting 2010 census efforts,” Groves wrote.

Is anyone else sick and tired of the "so and so is a distraction" whenever someone, through their own actions, gets negative attention? It was the exact same line with Van Jones- "Oh, he knew he was becoming a distraction" It's not their fault, it's yours for paying attention to it.

What the hell is wrong with "This person screwed up, and we don't want him/them working for us anymore"?; 9/11/09, 8:02 PM
Chip Ahoy said...: Hey. Hey. Hey. Now, calm down!

This is no way to talk about the premiere community organization of low and moderate income people in the United States. Who every day are working for health care reform, living wage jobs, to end the foreclosure crisis, and to strengthen our public schools.

Or summat wot I copy/pasted from another site.; 9/11/09, 8:04 PM
Republican said...: This isn't shocking at all, because it comes as no surprise.

It simply confirms what we already knew, in a way people can't ignore.; 9/11/09, 8:12 PM
Mark said...: "Either community organizing is a useless sham or it is not. Please take one position and stick to it, Conservatives."

Oh, it is a useless sham; I have yet to read any reports of any U.S. ghetto being made more livable by Community Organizing. By all means, post some links, but everything I see is people crowing about putting band-aids on sucking chest wounds.

(Now gentrification, that cleans up ghettos. It also gets the gentrifiers vilified by the Community Organizers. Primary reason to follow in the next graf.)

But Community Organizing is a great way to milk Great White Guilt for beaucoup bucks. (Re: the recent contract with the Census Bureau.) So it's not totally useless, at least when it comes to making some easy money from the straights. The only thing (usually) that messes up the scam is for the Community to get healthy. Funny how that works.

Changing topics a bit, the dumbest thing that Obama could do would be to step in and get the Census Bureau chief to "change his mind due to newly presented but confidential information."

I give Obama about a one in three chance of actually sticking his hand into the sausage machine on this one.; 9/11/09, 8:18 PM
Rob said...: The short itme I lived in the Bronx, I had an ACORN knock at the door. As soon as he said ACORN, I said "I was not interested in anything ACORN had to say." He replied with a flippant "Whatever man!" and went on his way.; 9/11/09, 8:29 PM
knox said...: Either community organizing is a useless sham or it is not

Useless in achieving what ends?; 9/11/09, 8:31 PM
Ah Pooh said...: Follow the leader (or at least his sibling) -

"The New York Times reported on July 9, 2008, that Dale Rathke, the brother of ACORN's founder Wade Rathke, was found to have embezzled $948,607.50 from the group and affiliated charitable organizations back in 1999 and 2000.[1] "; 9/11/09, 8:34 PM
I'm Full of Soup said...: I bet the phrase "cutting ties" was carefully worded so Acorn's contracts can still be honored and they will still get a bundle of our money.

I bet the Acorn leaders have already instructed their attorneys to start the paperwork to re-create a new Acorn with a different name.

Let's have a contest Althouse; what would your readers suggest for a new name for Acorn?; 9/11/09, 8:44 PM
Balfegor said...: No word on whether they are going to prosecute the ACORN workers for being willing to assist in child sex trafficking.

Is being willing to assist in a crime (that the apparent principal didn't have any intention of perpetrating) a crime, though? What would it be? Conspiracy to commit a felony?

I expect the appropriate response would be to initiate an investigation into whether violations of the law may have occurred, only I don't know whether local prosecutors' offices have that kind of power -- to issue requests (not subpoenas) for documents and call people in for interviews -- without obtaining formal authorisation from a grand jury or whatever. Would that be the responsibility of the police?; 9/11/09, 8:48 PM
Chennaul said...: AJ:

APORN-

Mark Hemingway at NRO posts this-

STATEMENT OF STATE’S ATTORNEYS OFFICE FOR BALTIMORE CITY RELATIVE TO THE ALLEGED BALTIMORE ACORN INCIDENT

Baltimore, MD – September 11, 2009 – We have received inquiries from citizens and the media asking whether the Baltimore City State’s Attorneys Office would initiate a criminal investigation for acts allegedly committed at ACORN offices located in Baltimore. The only information received in reference to this alleged criminal behavior was a YouTube video. Upon review by this office, the video appears to be incomplete. In addition, the audio portion could possibly have been obtained in violation of Maryland Law, Annotated Code of Maryland Courts and Judicial Proceedings Article §10-402, which requires two party consent..

If it is determined that the audio portion now being heard on YouTube was illegally obtained, it is also illegal under Maryland Law to willfully use or willfully disclose the content of said audio. The penalty for the unlawful interception, disclosure or use of it is a felony punishable up to 5 years.; 9/11/09, 8:55 PM
Revenant said...: Either community organizing is a useless sham or it is not. Please take one position and stick to it, Conservatives.

What shift in position do you imagine is taking place here?

The profession of "community organizing" consists of funneling sums of money from contributing members of society to non-contributing members of society. It is "a useless sham" if one believes that people ought to work for a living instead of subsisting on the work of others. It is not a useless sham if, like Barack Obama, you consider "spreading the money around" to be an end in itself.

Either way, of course, it is a useless experience for a prospective President -- as Obama's incompetence has demonstrated.; 9/11/09, 9:02 PM
Crimso said...: "Let's have a contest Althouse; what would your readers suggest for a new name for Acorn?"

RICO: Real Integrity In Community Organizing; 9/11/09, 9:06 PM
William said...: ACORN: Sometimes we're the seed of mighty oaks and sometimes we're squirrel food.; 9/11/09, 9:12 PM
I'm Full of Soup said...: Crimso:

But that would be A LIE! Heh.

wv = rodenc; 9/11/09, 9:23 PM
I'm Full of Soup said...: Aporn and Rico. Pretty good suggestions so far.

Heck, Acorn is no diferent than the slum landlord who gets his wrist slapped so he starts over in a new town or state.

Afterall, most people have only one trick or two when it comes to making money. Gotta stick with what you know!; 9/11/09, 9:25 PM
Crimso said...: "But that would be A LIE!"

Going for the subliminal effect.; 9/11/09, 9:58 PM
Sofa King said...: I think they should reorganize as the National Association of Metropolitan Benevolent Local Activists; they'd probably have a much improved reputation.; 9/11/09, 10:27 PM
Clyde said...: When a Republican or a Republican-affiliated group commits misdeeds, the watchdog MSM is a barking, slavering pit bull, ready to rip the miscreant to pieces.

When a Democrat or a Democrat-affiliated group commits misdeeds, the watchdog MSM is a blind, deaf, toothless Chihuahua lying on a pillow, shivering and looking pitiful.

Don't think we haven't noticed the difference.

And of course, ACORN cries "Racism!!" As if to tell us about criminality, "It's a black thing; you wouldn't understand!"

Well, we all remember what happened to the boy who cried wolf. After a while, nobody believed him. And it's the same with those who cry racism where it doesn't really exist. Soon, nobody will believe them either.; 9/11/09, 10:35 PM
Freeman Hunt said...: Crying "Racism!" is pretty hateful toward black people in this case.; 9/11/09, 10:45 PM
Shanna said...: 11 ACORN workers were recently accused by Florida prosecutors of falsifying information on over 900 voter registration forms.

And yet when Obama found enough falsified signatures on his opponents' nominating petitions to get them knocked off the ballot, Conservatives acted as if that was a Bad Thing.

You don't think there is a different in registering false voters and fine toothing your opponents petition for signatures that you can get knocked off, to benefit yourself by making sure you have no opponent? Really? Come on.

Ok, I saw the "pimp" guy (I guess) briefing on the news tonight and he looked the least pimplike I've ever seen. The girls hooker outfit cracked me up.; 9/11/09, 11:00 PM
Revenant said...: And yet when Obama found enough falsified signatures on his opponents' nominating petitions to get them knocked off the ballot, Conservatives acted as if that was a Bad Thing

Got an example, or is this another invented inconsistency? I'd love to hear more of these "exposing voter fraud is BAD" conservatives you claim exist. :); 9/11/09, 11:24 PM
The Crack Emcee said...: I'm sorry (to those of you that know me a bit) to be so self-focused here, but - in light of this - doesn't my outrage seem justified? I mean, ACORN and Barack haven't fooled me one bit - I'm not shocked by this but call it parr for the course, and expect more, and worse, to come - but I catch hell for saying it, mostly because others can't (or don't want to) think it's happening, when every bit of evidence I've provided on my blog - all of it pretty outrageous because it comes from the supposedly "peace and love" crowd - supports the only conclusion possible:

That this is what it's all about.

A few days ago, the subtitle of my blog said something like, "The fact the NewAge movement has existed for decades without serious investigation should be a profound source of anger, embarrassment, and shame" and it's even more true today. I can see these betrayals - almost before they happen - only because I'm observing them through the filter of NewAge. It's the missing piece to the puzzle. Observing the Left without it is pointless. Fuck Marx, fuck Lenin (and Lennon), fuck everything else they say they're into and focus on the "spiritual" Left - and you'll find there is none. All that's "Left" is what you see before you - say it with me, traditionalguy:

It's an unyielding vision of Hell.; 9/11/09, 11:45 PM
Balfegor said...: And yet when Obama found enough falsified signatures on his opponents' nominating petitions to get them knocked off the ballot, Conservatives acted as if that was a Bad Thing.

The thing is -- as I understand it, they weren't even falsified. There was just an obscure rule that the signatures be in joined-up writing, in cursive, but the signatories had mistakenly signed their names in block letters instead. Obama used this technicality to throw their signatures out.; 9/12/09, 12:04 AM
Methadras said...: Just Lurking said...

I guess you've dealt with them all, or at least a significant portion of the millions of inner city blacks to feel qualified to make that damning generalization of them all. You must get around.

Look here buddy, I lived in Detroit. Nuff said.; 9/12/09, 12:29 AM
Unknown said...: Gee. We don't need journalism. We need amateur sting operations with NO journalistic integrity, accusations taken out of context with no disclosure, and amateurs going from office to office trying to catch some fool who would allegedly help.

Let's follow the money. Hmmm. This was done in July... but it's coming out now, just as the health insurance industry is losing its grip on the scam job its pulling skimming 20% cost and profit off our $2,400,000,000,000 health expenses while disallowing coverage, dropping patients, excluding pre-existing conditions, forcing someone into bankruptcy every 30 seconds, providing the 37th in quality, encouraging drugs over prevention, and destined to bankrupt our county. It seems odd that this undercover sting operation would come out yesterday -- and more today... huh?

Can we follow the money please?

But, WHY do you rednecks want to attack our president so bad? You do know, if you had ANY education at all, that he is our 5th or 6th black president don't you? If you didn't know that, you are am uneducated fool. You probably think ACORN stole votes. They didn't But, you also DO know republicans stole and disenfranchised over 5 millions votes... yet Obama still won. Oh gosh, that slipped your brilliant educated minds?

Folks. Obama is president. He won by an overwhelming majority. Insurance is paying over a million a day (much more) attacking health care with BAD FAITH lies. Sue them! That's ILLEGAL.

And you f-ing rednecks, these are not End times. Go masturbate to your Sarah Palin photos and shoot yourselves in the balls. Then see if your insurance will cover it.

Okay, now scroll down to the retort they want you to say... commie pinko.... hmmmm socialist.... hmmm... boy it's tough when you're paid to pretend you want to defend big insurance... and it's tougher when you are a racist tool fool who can't be honest with themselves. Ooops. You woke up and you're the minority in the US now, Red. Ooopsy.; 9/12/09, 12:46 AM
miller said...: Thanks, gmail, for your post.

Do you have a newsletter I might subscribe to?

Oh, and I can give you a free hint: simply dumping your rage and hostility is not the optimal method to convince people of the clear rightness of your argument.

You might want to fine-tune it a bit next time you post.; 9/12/09, 12:57 AM
Crimso said...: Gmail might also want to quit calling others racist as it engagaes in racist rhetoric itself.

"He won by an overwhelming majority."

Yeah, super-genius. You make that statement but we're the ones who are stupid and uneducated.; 9/12/09, 1:08 AM
Mark said...: "And you f-ing rednecks, these are not End times. Go masturbate to your Sarah Palin photos and shoot yourselves in the balls. Then see if your insurance will cover it."

Considering that I read the transcript for the Baltimore ACORN sting, I'm surprised that someone could come up with something funnier.

gmail, you rock.; 9/12/09, 1:15 AM
dhagood said...: You probably think ACORN stole votes. They didn't But, you also DO know republicans stole and disenfranchised over 5 millions votes...

and how have been enjoying your visit to our planet?; 9/12/09, 1:44 AM
Anonymous said...: Gee. We don't need journalism. We need amateur sting operations with NO journalistic integrity

Are you arguing that what happened didn't actually happen? I guess that whole "macaca" thing involving George Allen should've been ignored since, you know, it was filmed by an amateur with a distinct axe to grind.

accusations taken out of context with no disclosure

Feel free to provide the context that would make this OK.

Let's follow the money. Hmmm. This was done in July... but it's coming out now, just as the health insurance industry is losing its grip on the scam job its pulling skimming 20% cost and profit off our $2,400,000,000,000 health expenses while disallowing coverage, dropping patients, excluding pre-existing conditions, forcing someone into bankruptcy every 30 seconds, providing the 37th in quality, encouraging drugs over prevention, and destined to bankrupt our county. It seems odd that this undercover sting operation would come out yesterday -- and more today... huh?

In case you've missed the polls, Obamacare is dying. This video didn't start that process.

Now, go ahead and tell us this was all "sarcasm" and we just don't "get it".; 9/12/09, 6:34 AM
traditionalguy said...: Crack... The New Age blinds men's minds so that they can no longer see virtue and evil as different activities. The indentification of Sin in scripture is a great tool to open the mind to the discernment between the two. The Christian tradition does not run away from calling out Sin as an evil spiritual power because Christians alone have the antidote to overcome that power. The tragedy is that most Christians have become ashamed of having and using that power for fear of appearing uneducated. There are exceptions of course, and those men and women endure ridicule for it, as I am sure that you understand. So keep up your courageous work. You are needed to do that work more than you know.; 9/12/09, 8:09 AM
William said...: The ACORN sting is like one of those performance art pieces where the point of the art is not the art, but the audience's reaction to it. The outrage on the right, the minimal reporting by the MSM, the charges of racism by the left all seem so scripted. Everyone retreats into kibuki because the real moral of this piece is so unknowable.....I found the woman's behavior in the first ACORN tape not just wrong but incomprehensible. Why would a black woman want to help a white pimp set up shop selling Hispanic children? The usual triggers for evil behavior seem absent. She is not acting out of bigotry or greed or despair. She seems to be doing this just to be helpful. To say that she is monumentally stupid or incorrigibly banal just begs the question. People don't die of a fever because they have a high temperature. The women in the first tape seem good natured and enjoy being of assistance. Can the wish to be helpful be perverted to such evil ends?; 9/12/09, 8:48 AM
John said...: "Can the wish to be helpful be perverted to such evil ends?"

Of course it can. Read Eichman in Jeruselem sometime. Eichman was just a bureacrat and an expert on refuge affairs doing his job. He was just trying to be helpful. It was not his fault that he was helping with the murder of millions of people. Evil is mundane and always comes wrapping in a cloak of good intentions.; 9/12/09, 8:55 AM
KCFleming said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 9/12/09, 9:08 AM
KCFleming said...: Their earnest and friendly assistance in the effort to subject young girls to rape for pay is proof enough of ACORN's ultimate aims to reject them without any other evidence.

But they will skate by.
And those who object or report it will be investigated.

This is what the United States of Chicago looks like.; 9/12/09, 9:08 AM
Anonymous said...: I haven't read the transcripts or watched any videos...only read the posts here. The whole affair appears to validate what I've thought of ACORN from the beginning.

But, setting that aside, is it possible that the ACORN workers were merely going along with what they thought was a joke?; 9/12/09, 9:54 AM
Fred4Pres said...: Prosecutors in Baltimore are considering prosecuting O'Keefe for illegally taping a conversation in the ACORN matter. How's that for shocking.

Make him a martyr, that will make the issue go away.

And Dudley Do Right, not a chance in hell. Go watch the video.; 9/12/09, 10:33 AM
BJM said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 9/12/09, 10:45 AM
BJM said...: Ya gotta be fast around here!

I guess I'm not surprised as they prosecuted and convicted Linda Tripp for wiretapping Lewinsky to protect Clinton and this is Charm City.; 9/12/09, 10:50 AM
Mr. Smarterthanyou said...: Hmmm, black folks supporting slavery, as long as someone else is the slave. Not much has changed in 400 years, except that they want white Americans to pay for what was a blip on the slavery timescale...; 9/12/09, 11:24 AM
William said...: I think we should add alienation to the list of seven deadly sins (and drop lust). Alienation is the sin that empowers the Eichmanns' in our midst. There's a kind of steal this book ideology that underlies their behavior. I think their feeling was that anything that adds to the corruption and disfunction of society will hasten the revolution and,, thus, is good. Theirs' was not the banality of evil but the altruism of evil. I think the left intuitively understands what is going on. Hence the wish to punish the reporter.; 9/12/09, 11:25 AM
BJM said...: I was reading various links to this story and this graf from the DC video jumped out:

"She's not going to put on (the loan application) that she's doing prostitution ... she doesn't have to," a now-fired ACORN staffer says. "You don't have to sit back and tell people what you do.""

Not verifying employment and credit was in large part responsible for the high foreclosure rate and Fannie & Freddie implosion.

Why are non-verified loan applications still being processed?; 9/12/09, 11:25 AM