Hannity, Breitbart lead conservative media fundraising for activist videographers sued by ACORN
On the heels of ACORN filing a lawsuit against conservative activists Hannah Giles, James O'Keefe, and Breitbart.com LLC, Sean Hannity, Andrew Breitbart, HotAir.com's Allahpundit, and NewsBusters have offered to -- in the words of Hannity -- "put out the word" to "help" Giles and O'Keefe raise money for their legal defense. Conservative media figures -- led by Glenn Beck -- helped Breitbart strategically release and aggressively promote the undercover videos that sparked ACORN's lawsuit.
ACORN files lawsuit against O'Keefe, Giles, Breitbart.com
Suit filed after alleged "illegal videotaping" seeks "injunction against further distribution" of a hidden-camera tape. From a September 23 Washington Post "44" blog post:
The Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) announced Thursday it had filed a lawsuit against James O'Keefe, Hannah Giles and Breitbart.com LLC for what it alleged was "illegal videotaping" of ACORN employees in Baltimore.
The group filed its suit in the Circuit Court for Baltimore City and is seeking "a preliminary and permanent injunction against further distribution" of a hidden-camera tape made by O'Keefe and Giles that aired on BigGovernment.com, a Web project of Andrew Breitbart's Breitbart.com company, along with compensatory and punitive damages. [WashingtonPost.com, 9/23/09]
Conservative media rush to launch virtual telethon for O'Keefe, Giles
Hannity: "Hannah, if you get in trouble ... we can help you. We'll put out the word." After interviewing Giles and her attorney about the lawsuit, Sean Hannity stated, "Well, listen, Hannah, if you get in trouble and you need the lawyer, I'll tell you what, we can help you. We'll put out the word. I'm sure there's a lot of people that may want to help you with a legal defense fund. And if you get to that point, let us know, and we'll be glad to bring you back on." [Hannity, 9/24/09]
Breitbart on O'Reilly: "We will be advertising Hannah and James' legal defense fund." After Bill O'Reilly asked, "[D]o you have lawyers helping you with it because, you know, this is expensive," Breitbart stated, "We're -- we're working on that right now. And I want everybody to know that we will be advertising Hannah and James' legal defense fund at BigGovernment.com. The amount of -- the responses so far in e-mail form are overwhelming." [The O'Reilly Factor, 9/24/09]
HotAir's Allahpundit: "Dig deep: Hannah Giles defense fund launches." In a September 24 HotAir.com blog post titled, "Dig deep: Hannah Giles defense fund launches," Allahpundit wrote that Giles' father -- conservative activist Doug Giles -- "sent out a blast e-mail about it a little while ago and I'm told the link's posted on his Facebook page, so fire away. Not that she'll need the money: The lawsuit's weak, the jury will be on her side, and apparently Hannity's set to beam this link out to America on tonight's show, which means she'll be swimming in dough come morning." Allahpundit further promised, "I'll post the info for O'Keefe's defense fund once it's available." [HotAir.com, 9/24/09]
NewsBusters: Breitbart "Reveals Defense Fund Initiative." Promoting Breitbart's O'Reilly Factor appearance, NewsBusters quoted Breitbart's promotion of the legal defense fund and included a link to Breitbart's BigGovernment.com. [NewsBusters.com, 9/24/09]
Conservative media strategically leaked, aggressively promoted secretly recorded tapes
Breitbart, Beck distributed secretly taped ACORN videos. O'Keefe first posted his secretly recorded video on Breitbart's BigGovernment.com in an effort to engage in -- in the words of Breitbart -- "a multimedia, multiplatform strategy" that included Fox News. Fox News, led by Glenn Beck, went on to facilitate Breitbart's "strategy" of releasing the videos."
I've never contributed to ACORN in the past, but I'm very tempted right now.
Even though ACORN makes a lot of mistakes they are not an Evil Entity.
"Hannity The Mis-Informer" wants to donate funds for their Defense?
When it was he and his Conservative Cronies that are pushing this phony Suspense?
Speak truth to power.
Mr. News
I'm wondering who in the noise machine will be the first to declare that they cannot get a fair trial in this country. Due to all the publicity.
I too would like to see the uncut versions. If they still exist, of course.
FACE IT! That entire organization is dirty. What's so hard about admitting that?
Their game plan isn't an attempt to vindicate O'Keefe and Giles. The evidence appears rather strongly stacked against the two.
I think Breitbart, Beck, and Hannity would love nothing more than to get their followers tied up in a case like this financially and emotionally. They would love nothing more than to paint this situation as two young conservative kids versus a big evil organization that secretly pulls government strings behind the scenes.
The end game? After getting people riled up and after O'Keefe and Giles lose, blame activist judges and push for judiciary reform going into 2010. After all, EVERYONE knows that O'Keefe and Giles would have won if not for the liberal activist judges...
Conservative children are victimized at school by all the pro administration brainwashing. A President might give them motivational messages to stay in school. The next step is socialism. Their children apparently are very susceptable to this.
Religion, especially fundamentalist, change the constitution/ Jesus is returning to burn the sinful 6000 year old world variety is under attack. The very existence of our heterosexuality is at stake.
The mainstream media is all powerfull. Even hours and hours of Rush, Bill O, Hannity, Fox, Wiener savage and all those angry blond republican chicks can't stop it.
Obama is an extreme leftist. We know this because he is not an extreme conservative.
Acorn... They are everywhere... stuffed all our voting booths, turned our brothels into sucessful capitalist ventures. A sinister sneaky organizations unlike the out in the open / billion dollar / got the government in their pocket organizations that are always being picked on by liberals.
Someone might make us responsible for keeping our planet healthy. We might have to be responsible for our actions and put in what we take out. God forbid that happens.
Illegal aliens exist to destroy everything we hold dear. Working for next to nothing doing jobs that would otherwise go overseas obviously makes them dangerous, unless of course the labor is good for corporations and investors.
This is a partial list. Conservatives complain so much it makes you wonder if they really hate America, hate the constitution, hate government by the people and for the people.
I am so very, very tired of hearing about what the next step will be if we let Obama get away with something. Recently I heard this about the Death Panels - that while they admitted that the current legislation doesn't actually set up any Death Panels, the format of healthcare reform would demand that we ration care and deny it to those whose lives we would deem to be worthless.
If they found a million dollars they would claim it was a government conspiracy to steal their liberty by making them pay more taxes.
I guess you're just selectively negating the entire eight years of the Bush administration?
Question: who is crying about racism? Left or Right? When did racism become a republican vs demoncrat thing? What about all of the republicans of color? Jimmy Carter must make you so proud.
Hmmmmm...where have you been hiding?
Go ahead send your money to these two little liars or spend it on good cause, ACORN!
And why is it relevant? Because showing only a part of the interaction likely doesn't show us the full story, and in several of the cases it's quite clear that the story we got from the edited video is a distortion of reality.
No one said that they had to show it all on TV, you nitwit. Only that the unedited tapes need to be made available to figure out if they actually do represent the actions of the ACORN employees in full or if some mitigating behaviors were left on the cutting room floor to make them worse than they actually were, as they maintain.
See, if there's no mitigating info in the edited-out info, then the videographers shouldn't have any issues with letting anyone see it.
But what have they done? They didn't even return calls to CNN for interviews, and had only talked with FoxNews. If it were truly news, they would have been willing to talk to any news group.
You lose all around.
These two exposed quite possibly the MOST CORRUPT origination in America I want to know why a organization like this needs or should get TAX MONEY for anything. What they do should be funded by private donations only not tax payers.
This goes for all organizations liberal or conservative I see no positive out of these nothing but class warfare.
Really? Because of these rather dim employees, who obviously did need to either be fired or adequately trained? Or are you buying into the idea that they did something wrong with registering voters--that's all bogus and a bunch of nonsense. IT's been debunked REPEATEDLY on here.
The MOST CORRUPT organization: now there would be a contest. How about Blackwater? Or Halliburton? Remember the 8 million bucks in cash shipped into Iraq on pallets that just disappeared???
Wow.
Here's some racist teabaggin' evidence:
http://crooksandliars.com/david-neiwert/acorn-handy-substitute-n-word-912-ev
Now Julia, I will cut rugrat some slack. Faux doesn't slip very often from their important ACORN theme. And they fly flags & everything about Bush/Iraq/9/11 so he might not know how BushCo stole the taxpayers blind. So having your cable teevee stuck on Faux could just be a sickness.
And yet...he comes on this web site. Not to read the articles and follow the links, and use his noodle. But to dribble on about ACORN being the MOST corrupt "origination." It boogles the mind, really.
With that problem solved.
Now for you to blame the low level employees is a deliberate misdirection of the the issue. This organization has been around too long not to have proper training for its employees........ or has it.
It looks to me that these people know exactly what they are to do, the company pays you according to the number of voters you register, they "help" people acquire loans for homes? just how does that happen.
Facts are you you need 20 percent down, you get a credit check then fill out the paper work and become qualified according to your income. I you can't meet those requirement you don't buy a house.
Oh wait you loosen the requirements, choose a house you could never afford, don't disclose your proper income, put no money down and receive a loan. what organization helps you fill out loan documents
Then you live in the house for 5 years when you can no longer afford the home you claim you have been discriminated against "because you didn't understand what you were signing"
..."The mortgages that ACORN worked out with the banks did have lower underwriting standards than were customary. They allowed a higher percentage of a family's income to go to debt repayment, and counted rent and utility payments, not just credit card payments, as evidence of ability to pay back a loan. The loans were also more forgiving of past credit problems, as long as the recipient was making a proven effort to address them. But ACORN provided loan deals only to people who went through counseling on budget and credit issues. In 1992, First Nationwide Bank Vice President Neal Halleran told the Chicago Tribune: "Transaction by transaction, [loans from the ACORN program] would appear to be performing no worse than our portfolio overall." According to the Tribune, First Nationwide had contacted ACORN to initiate the lending program."
Again you have taken one paragraph from 1992 long before the the problem really came to light with Freddie and Fannie and used one bank to justify the whole program.
In your mind EVERYTHING is just fine if only one bank has no problems with the loans am I correct.
Take of the rose colored glasses and realize that only a certain amount of people can and should afford homes. For the rest should rent, now the tax payers are on the line for paying for homes people should have never purchased and the government was complicit in the whole thing.
That's your opinion, stated as fact. If you have any evidence at all that more people defaulted on mortgages as a result of ACORN's advocacy, cough up a link. Opinions don't count.
Now I usually just throw it away, because it's full of propaganda. But it's still disturbing to me that such a large organization that is tax exempt is doing this, and right out in the open.
I wonder which is worse. Letting poor people that have gone through counseling and are on the right road get loans to get homes and are no more in default than the general population. Or a large organization that doesn't have to abide by the rules of not being politically affiliated, but seems to be blatant about being just that.
ACORN is the equivalent of the Army at Abu Ghraib - the employees/soldiers implicated are either too incompetent to be part of their respective organizations, or the management of both is supportive/complicit in the respective behaviors. Theres one Abu Ghraib, and two ACORN offices, so with ACORN its obvious the latter is the case.
Hellooooooo, There is no 13 year prostitutes to smuggle in the country.
That's one heck of an argument to support ACORN and their wretched nature.
Did you come up with that nugget of wisdom all by yourself or did somebody help you?
Wow!
As a follow-up: are you an ACORN employee?
Ain't it funny how "free speech" only applies to liberals? When it goes AGAINST the American liberal it's just a matter of time until all efforts are being exausted in an attempt to silence said "free speech".
The only thing we know for sure about the eventual judgement in this "case" will ultimately depend on which court it will be tried in. I'm sure there will be every effort from ACORN and their supporters (I still wonder how anyone who openly supports this organization is able to sleep at night) to have this case heard in the most liberal court they can find!
These type of comments are what is killing this country
Why would you diss the USSC's decision that stopping poor people from voting in state elections was unconstitutional? The 24th Amendment to the US Constitution forever banned a poll tax in federal elections, because it's not okay for people without the need for govt aid to declare that people who need govt aid shouldn't get to vote.
You can leave this nation whenever you desire, or you can refrain from acting like a dipwad by saying that some people don't deserve to get to vote! You should hang your head in shame for even thinking such a thing, and for your own good, you should stop proving in public how offensive your opinions are.
I will forever remind people that you dissed the USSC and our Constitution by saying that poor people shouldn't get to vote. You might want to discard this screen name and pick another.
ACORN won't notice the loss of public funding for their routine operations. They'll only notice it in their reduced ability to help the poor. It's the people they could have helped who will be the real losers unless another organization can step up and do the job that ACORN did so well.
The evidence has shown that these two kids went around to numerous offices, and were turned away from several. Then they proceeded to lie about this profusely on television.
They found a couple of low-level miscreants and exposed them. But the innocent people were ALSO taped illegally and without their consent. If you break the law, you have to face the consequences.
In the infamous words of Rep. Wilson: YOU LIE!!!!!
For the 9,254,355th time - THERE WAS NO VOTER FRAUD. Mickey Mouse and Harry Potter did NOT vote. It was voter REGISTRATION fraud perpetrated ON ACORN, not BY ACORN.
Epic trollish fail.
They also don't mention ACORN registers voters and not democrats. They have registered people for all parties and must turn in all registration cards. I will agree they concentrate on the inner city but there is a recent census worker who bears witness to why they don't go door to door in rural areas. Especially wearing an ACORN shirt.
I don't think anybody who read the first line of your post was asking you for information.
Congress is going to have a hard time pulling ACORN's funding without de-funding the entire defense industry. You see, ACORN has committed almost no crimes compared to these organizations have. AND the government cannot simply single out one organization for defunding for purely partisan reasons; read up on this thing called the constitution.
This ACORN hysteria has yet again revealed republicans to be the sanctimonious posers they really are. THEY DON'T CARE if the government funds a corrupt organization, they just don't like THIS organization because it stands up for the wrong people, i.e. the poor. They just enjoy using the phony pretense of being the guardians of morality to cover up their base, partisan, vindictive little motivations in demonizing ACORN.
And above all, they love feigning righteous outrage.
They know they're guilty for the reasons spelled out above and know perfectly well that ACORN called their bluff!
If it is not obvious who is part of the right-wing media by now... this case/story will certainly point them all out once and for all.
ACORN is guilty of being a criminal enterprise and they have been exposed as such.
Nice try lefties. but you lose again.
Go back under that rock you live under and come up with some new material. Your getting quite boring!
??????
Who in the hell are you talking about?
I'm just an average joe schmoe who lives in northern Illinois, who is a full time college student with more than $40k in school loans with 2 1/2 years to go, who wears t-shirts and sweats, father of three, who lost his home last year, who's wife lost her job 16 months ago and still has not been able to find a replacement, who's job he does have is barely 3/4 time at minimum wage, who happens to be a progressive liberal.
Does that make me an elitist? Or just someone who still finds the time to be engaged in the political discourse of our country and calls out people like Glenn Beck or Rush Limbaugh, et al
You either did not READ what I said or you have no idea about what being in college full-time is all about...
It is not a matter of going out and finding a job... it is the time available to actually work a job that is the issue! I had two jobs before and quite one to consider the future after my wife lost hers when JP Morgan and Chase decided to send her job to India!
Which is why I work the job I do until I graduate with a Masters in History and Secondary Education, at which time I will only need to work one job to make all ends meet... as a high school teacher or college professor!
If you think its a great thing working two jobs, bless you heart... George Bush once told a lady that it was 'great' that she was working three jobs... and you claim to be blessed with two jobs?? If not for Reaganomics, you would have one job, instead of two jobs, same with that lady. And if not for Reagan, I wouldn't have all the student loans I have, but that's for another day.
As for you being in Texas... I've been there several times as a truck driver, talked to several people from there, and you are the first one to actually believe his state is economically viable.
Your ignorant assumptions about people not withstanding certainly proves two things:
That the Texas educational system under right-wing ideology since 1996 really does SUCK!
and
Being a right-winger always means to think you are somehow better than someone else!
Ya damn punk!
Captfoster, BRAVO!!!!!!
There's no shame in using all of the food stamps you're getting, either. It's not a big deal. America is rich...we've got plenty of printing presses to keep us afloat for hundreds of years, too!
PS...did you notice how you just blasted "that guy" for thinking he was better than you, but then you called him a punk and previously asserted that he had ignorant assumptions? So...ahhh...which is it? Is he better than you and you hate that or are you better than him and he knows that? I'm just trying to keep score. That's all.
And if you're so damn well off in the red states, how about you quit taking all the federal subsidies that get transferred from the blue states. Look it up. By the way, it's spelled "paid".
You're a real class act.
So now he's a liar too?
It was you who used the reply to project what a progressive is "supposed" to believe. He didn't say he was looking for a bail out, you did.
Anymore talking points you'd like to get out to accompany your next personal smear?
I just finished an essay on the French Revolution for school and thought I'd drop in with the few minutes I have to unwind before I begin my next essay on Special Needs children...
Unless of course justjoe628 thinks that I'm wasting my time because kids with disabilities are faking it for the attention?
I imagine you'll not need to use any peer-reviewed sources for your essay as it will be more of a first-hand accounting? I'm just assuming...and I certainly reserve the right to be wrong.
I'm not making fun of you, captain. I'm a supporter of your Special Olympics. Have been for years. And yes...you guys bowl much better than our current president regardless of what he says about you! Don't let it get you down!
Where in my post did I claim to be waiting for the government to bail me out??
All that happened to me occurred last year... I did not seek out help then or now!
I'm going to school to better myself for the future! So that I don't need to lean on the government. I'm grateful however that it is there if I do need it.
Perhaps if you actually took the time to read a post with a human heart instead of an ideological right-wing bend you might have been able to come up with that concept on your own!
It's jerks like you that make the state of Texas look bad and another glaring example of just how completely out of touch your conservative mindset really is!
I'm just trying to figure out what that point is.
Wow.
1. Labor is cheaper in the 'brown' states above, and so has absorbed the outsourcing of unfavorable jobs from the 'green' states above. Most of these jobs are labor intensive and those jobs are skewed to have lower subjective indicators of quality as included in the above index (field farming is obviously of lower quality than an office tower job)
2. Higher wages, the influx of highly skilled labor from overseas, and the promotion of higher tech industry drive out the jobs that indicate poorly in the 'brown' states, while indicating well in the 'green' states. In other words, the index is systematically skewed
3. The South, while not helping itself over the past hundred years, had to absorb a workforce of slaves and landowners. The landowners never really had to work or learn how to run a competitive business, and the economy of the South never incorporated the cost of non-slave labor. When West Germany and East Germany combined, the potential effect was similar, but West Germany decided to 'buyout' East Germany by subsidizing its inclusion in the greater economy. Its still suffering from that buyout today. I dont think the South wants a buyout, but shouldnt be criticized for providing the 'unsavory' jobs that skew this index
4. Using this graphic under negative pretense is the equivalent of blaming other countries for employing people there who work in the jobs no one wants here.
COMPONENT 1: JOB QUALITY
(1) average hourly wages,
(2) the percent of employed people in jobs with job-related health insurance benefits; and
(3) the percent of employed people in jobs with job-related retirement benefits.
COMPONENT 2: JOB OPPORTUNITIES
(1) the state-level unemployment rate;
(2) the rate of involuntary part-time employees; and (3) the percent of long-term unemployed persons
COMPONENT 3: WORKPLACE FAIRNESS
(1) the percent of very low-wage workers in each state and
(2) the gender wage gap.
Three variables were used to characterize the regulatory environment:
(1) whether the state is a “right-to-work” state,
(2) a measure of the ability of public employees to
collectively bargain; and
(3) the existence of a state-level minimum wage law
Admittedly, all but the right-to-work and collective bargaining indicators are admirable goals, but southern states dont have a chance on most of these for reasons earlier stated.
Guess what rightie, you're out touch with reality, AGAIN!
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.
Gimme something with names, investigations, and escaped ligitimate legal consequences.
If ACORN is guilty of being a criminal enterprise as you say, I would think that it would not be necessary to stoop to such downright dishonest and scummy methods to prove it!
Giles/O'Keefe - Hey were conservatives who want to expose ACORN corruption. Would you mind if we video taped this whole thing so we can edit the good parts and put it on FOX.
ACORN worker - Sure, that's fine with me. Give me a script and I'll even read it word for word if you like.
Give me a break. Criminals like it in the dark and their not gonna come out in the light on their own. I'm sure if I go to my local ACORN and ask for evidence of corruption they'd just hand it over. Yeah, right.
The problem with your whole take on this is the broad-brush on the entire organization, based upon this sting operation, and your previous bias from all the right-wing misinformation campaign.
Funny how it wasn't until THESE videos came to light that president Obama had his minions finally take a stance on the organization. I guess the multiple federal investigations in multiple states wasn't enough.
Wow!
Right is right. Wrong is wrong. It really is as simple as that!
This O'Keefe character has rolled the dice before that an organization would not seek legal action against them, once embarassing information was released. They may have finally pushed the wrong group.
You claim Giles and O'Keefe are guilty of nothing. Once again, you are delusional at best. The law is very clear, it's not legal to film people without their knowledge.
There is no clear-cut winner and loser in this case. Proving ACORN's guilt does not mean O'Keefe and Giles are absolved of wrongdoing.
No, ACORN clearly is the loser in this case. They've been exposed as a corrupt organization, undeserving of taxpayer funding or other government support. A number of its employees and representatives have proven to be scum, and O'keefe and Giles did the public a laudible service in exposing this organization for what it is.
As for Giles and O'keefe, they'll get a nominal fine at worst. They'll see no jail time. As for any civil suit, it will get laughed out of court. Tell me, where are the damages? Nobody forced the Acorn employees to act like scum, and the damage to Acorn's reputation was exceedingly well-earned.
How? Because they attempted to aid and abet an imaginary crime originated from a lie concerning fictitious underage Salvadoran sex slaves?
Do you have any outrage about the ACTUAL importing of underage sex slaves by Blackwater?
Well, that's one reason. That the Acorn employees never actually had the opportunity to commit the crimes discussed in the videos by no means exonerates their conduct. Their intent was clear. It's directly analogous to a sting operation, using marked bills or fake drugs. The videos reveal Acorn's mindset, and their eagerness to engage in deplorable activities.
Except the crime was imaginary and the "authorities" were a couple of college kids who like to play dress up.
Any outrage about the ACTUAL importing of sex slaves by Blackwater so their contractors could get $1 bj's?
Of course, but what's that have to do with Acorn?
Blackwater executives, through sworn affidavits, has been accused of providing ACTUAL underage sex slaves.
That's what it has to do with ACORN.
ACORN has proven to be an unworthy organization with incompetent and corrupt employees. It's a good thing that Giles and O'keefe aired Acorn's nature to the public.
But, you guys forget the part where numerous (as in more than) offices turned them away, called the police, or just kicked them to the curb.
A very bad FAIL!
How can you see a minor manufactured story dominating the media, while a much more serious story is ignored, and say that it's those who want to emphasize the bigger story who are trying to divert attention?
You can't seriously believe yourself. Have you been duped that badly?
Let's estimate that ACORN employs 1,000 people, just for fun. The 13-15 that were going nuts in the video were fired. That makes that group 1.5% of ACORN.
By contrast, Mark Foley and David Vitter were each found doing unscrupulous things. Foley and Vitter make up about 1% of the Republicans in the House and Senate.
By your logic, the actions of Foley reveal the Republican's mindset and their eagerness to engage in deplorable activities.
All Republicans, by your logic are sexual deviants, correct?
Movement Conservatism is a self-serving and socially malevolent cabal of mega-corporations, right-wing think tanks in Washington, their archconservative foundation benefactors, and an intricate nationwide network of linkages in the communications media, religion, higher education, and law. It has been called the conservative labyrinth, and common to all its elements is a theology of free markets, an ideology coming to full bloom in the Administration of George W. Bush. Today, the G.O.P. seeks to impose it at every turn.
I.e. Classic conservatism is dead!
You can read more here:
http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=GOP%2C_Inc.
***********************TIN-FOIL HAT ALERT**********
Is this a wing of the VAST Right Wing Conspiracy or just an offshoot?
This is coming from a person who belongs to a political movement which holds as central to its beliefs the existence of a vast left wing conspiracy consisting of the Democratic Party, the US Government, the Media, the UN, Public Schools, Universities, the Judiciary, ACORN, the Environmentalist Movement, Gay and Lesbian Groups, George Soros, the New York Times, and a host of the other groups you blame for the downfall of this country?
Please.
Your analogy's no good Fried. Having an "R" next to your name is a far cry from being an employee of a particular company or corporation. A republican member of the house of representatives is not beholden to other Republican members of the house. Come up with a better analogy and I'll address your point.
Are you joking? Or are you saying that they are only beholden to Limbaugh?
Who gave Vitter a standing ovation when he returned to the House?
Obviously, by your logic, Denny Hastert doesn't mind pedophilia and every Republican who cheered Vitter endorses cheating on your wife with a hooker.
Both of those two are beholden to their constituents. If Vitter is elected again, Louisiana Republicans are endorsing sex with hookers outside of the marriage, correct?
It's like the Iran-nuke thing. I DO think Israel should be be under the same pressure to release it's nuke information...but that doesn't mean Iran should just be left alone until Israel and every other country with nukes or nuke aspirations does the same thing.
I'm sure the memo to not provide financial counciling to admitted pimps and hookers went out the very next day.
No, you got a group of low level employees responding to a Sacha Baron Cohen effect. These two "film makers" came up with the most bizarre story they could and even dressed in bizzare appearances. This video shows how typically level headed individuals can react to very unusual and peculiar circumstances.
These people only managed to get a few employees terminated for poor judgement. Everything else is the snowball effect of Fox New's promotion of this.
You are probably right. but, if found guilty they could potentially lose the rights to these videos in a Civil trial. They could potentially become the property of ACORN. He could also face damages by the employees who got fired, especially if the unedited tapes prove that some of these employees had advised about the illegality of their actions or were taken out of context t appear that they were saying something else.
pongotwistleton is an idiot.
And you nuked him.
-------------------------------------------------------------
Well done!
No, they have been exposed for having some very poorly trained individuals at the lowest levels of their organization. Individuals who offered counseling well beyond the policies of the organization.
I'm sure the memo to not provide financial counciling to admitted pimps and hookers went out the very next day.
If ACORN employees need to be told that it was wrong to have behaved as they did in the videos, then the organization truly is hopeless. It's not a matter of training. Any decent human being knows that what Giles and O'keefe were proposing was wrong, and any decent human being would have been appalled by the propositions. Needless to say, anybody with an ounce of decency wouldn't offer to aid and abet the proposed enterprises . ..
This video shows how typically level headed individuals can react to very unusual and peculiar circumstances.
That's a terrible apology. They offered to aid and abet sex slavery. Sure it's not an every day occurrence, but again, any person with an ounce of decency would be appalled by what Giles and O'keefe suggested.
As for the remainder, rkallen's correct to the extent that Okeefe and Giles will only be civilly liable for damages if they doctored the tapes in a manner that misrepresented the exchanges . . .
If you want to question the hiring practices of ACORN then be my guest. If you want to attack them for elements that have made it into their ranks, then go ahead. I think it is a good argument to make.
But to make the leap that the entire organization is setup to promote prostitution is just laughable.
The problem is, an ACORN employee did in fact call the police and file a report. She advised the two that ACORN would no be able to help them, escorted them out, and called the police.
And so you are willing to indict an entire organization for a few bad apples then?
If one of your family members were to shoplift from a store and they were video taped doing so...
By your logic... I should assume that you entire immediate and secondary family are a bunch of shoplifting thieves not to be trusted?
Thank you for checking out my blog. At least you're giving me a fair shake. In my defense, at the time I was typing out a more disciplined reply, as I recall, but got called away. Perhaps I should have held off. That being said, I still believe that you could not be more wrong.
How do you square your above statement with THIS or THIS, I wonder?
Other than... you know... voting Democrat, of course! ;)
But I'm glad to see that you whole entire organization responsible for the actions of a few individuals. You must absolutley HATE huge corporations.
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Does anyone ELSE think I was too harsh on him?
Ah...Giles and O'Keefe are guilty of nothing.
another example of how you wingnut zealots pull your own rules and regulations out of your own butts. Reality is the laws apply to everyone and these pathetic "christian conservatives" are guilty of breaking laws.
In MARYLAND.
They aren't being sued elsewhere, just MARYLAND.
Nice try wrongy, but you lose again.
I am really going to enjoy this!
You folks keep lobbing hate at ACORN, and we'll keep calling your hate what it is; hypocritical partisan witch-hunting posing as genuine civic concern.
But then again, all right-wingers seem to know how to do these days is pose as defenders of morality and goodness while plundering all they can and relishing partisan vindictives.
Conservatives are the great American phony's.
With all the screaming and the mass temper tantrum, have you Beckerheads been successful in preventing anything really important from happening? Nope.
ACORN needs to go the way of the dodo bird. O'Keefe and Giles are helping this to happen. Without federal money (additional) then ACORN will go belly-up. After all, their founder embezzled a cool million and ACORN didn't really do anything about it. If they don't go belly-up from a lack of funding then they will go belly-up from a lack of discipline and decency. It's just a matter of time.
I still don't understand why this is such a "right vs left" issue. Why are democrats so ardently supporting this organization? This is a "right vs wrong" issue.
I promise all of you liberals reading this right now that if we were talking about, say, The Heritage Foundation instead of ACORN then I would be the first to dismiss them and support their demise. There's not a doubt in my mind! I guess that's just one of the many differences between liberals and conservatives. I don't understand it, however. I don't want to understand it, either. If it means I have to start viewing everything as a "right vs left" issue rather than a "right vs wrong" issue then I don't want to understand it at all.
Then go to ACORN and offer up a few dollars for their legal fund! or the right-wing will win again via lying, cheating, and deception!! Their game as usual.
Instead, everyone should ignore future coverage of this matter...
"Instead, everyone should ignore future coverage of this matter... "
Not so: "Evil triumphs when good men do nothing."
Watching Fox News is like watching a national game of Telephone... it only gets worse the farther it gets from the source.
And Why doesn't Glenn Beck or Hannity pay for their defense themselves, out of pocket, with their millions? They supposedly love freedom so much. They supposedly believe fully in these videos... Glenn Beck aired them on his show. He is partially responsible. I would like to see him pay for the court costs. But will he? No. He justs throws the stuff out there, but he doesn't want to be held responsible...
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The Midnight Review
Bill and Fox News' co-hosts are all idiots. Most of the time Bill doesn't know what he is talking about and it's obvious he doesn't care about privacy laws because these undercover filmmakers did not have permission to film ACORN employees. Bill overlooks this major detail because he and his lying co-workers will break the law and disregard the law if the end justifies the mean. Those so-called filmmakers should be sued. They are not the law (investigators). They wouldn’t want anyone filming them without their permission.
Fox News and these dirty bastards want to destroy ACORN to punish them for Obama's success and also link Obama to this discredited organization. Fox News is out to attack the President at every turn and they are determined to bring this administration down. Fox News is the devil within, which makes them un-patriotic and un-American.
This is nothing both a diabolical scheme mastermind by evil serpents engineered by Fox News.
ACORN may have been the victim of some scamming film makers out to make a name for themselves, but they have nobody to blame but themselves for fanning the flames of this story. They get what they deserve.
ACORN has a right to defend itself, both legally and in the arena of public relations.
Also, what exactly is it you think they deserve?
Stop living in fantasy land.
If he had apporached it as a film about the poor training and questionable hiring practices of ACORN, then it probably would have gone no where. ACORN would have terminated the employees and reviewed its hiring policies and the training of new hires.
O'Keefe chose however to approach it with the direction, ACORN is a criminal organization with the intent of setting up houses of prostitution and the importation of underage sex slaves. That's why the organization must fight back.
If it makes O'Keefe or any other aspiring right-wing professional liar think twice about about the illegalities of pulling such a stunt again, then I consider it productive.
You also seem to be suggesting that victims should not seek legal recourse or should perform some slight of hand that makes them less of a victim. I am not really understanding that at all.
The reality liberals can't accept is that many poor minorities are not going to get the assistance that ACORN provides because of it. The reality liberals can't accept is that right-wing professional liars have targeted an organization that receives a pittance of money compared to defense contractors that have also filed fraudulent paperwork with federal or state agencies, yet ACORN is the big fish in the eyes of the "liberal" media.
"Go to your fellow Democrats and plead your ACORN case then, see how many of them go forth and champion a lost cause."
Don't have to. Alan Grayson has already stepped up and is making plenty of noise.
Go to your fellow Republicans and plead your case to leave these poor defense contractors alone.
Just like the fake Clinton scandals, it doesn't matter if the conservatives score a lucky hit or not. They just accuse, accuse, accuse, every day of every year, and the media promotes each accusation because it wants to.
Somehow, the real victim is to blame in their eyes. That's their schtick. The guy who got the tip of his little finger bitten off after he escalated a verbal confrontation to a physical one and punched someone twice - he's a victim of the other guy who got pummeled so hard he was knocked to the ground. ACORN employees were illegally taped in Maryland? If they sue O'Keefe and Giles, then O'Keefe and Giles somehow magically become the victims. Joe Wilson was a victim of Dem hatred. Doesn't seem to matter that he made the comment and violated the rules, which makes the decorum of Congress the victim - because we villified him for that comment, he's the victim.
That, of course, is one man's opinion: a man who actually does believe in democracy.
Right-wing professional liars and the Republican Party have disguised their ACORN outrage to be entirely about taxpayer money.
When we start talking about wasting taxpayer money, I don't want to talk about ACORN, I want to talk about the biggest, most egregious offenders.
Otherwise, let's start being honest about our ACORN outrage.
Why haven't either of them mentioned the gangrape trial?
It's "political reality" that democrats suffer 1000 times the damage for doing 1/1000 the harm that conservatives do. That damage starts with the media.
So tawdry and unseemly for ACORN or Dems to fight back.
Wouldn't want to make any big money power brokers feel any discomfort or take one nickel out of their pocket.
And we're damned if we do, damned if we don't.
Well that certainly has not stopped Republicans and right-wing lunatics from showing up on a discredited 'news' (Fox Noise) channel on an hourly basis, now has it?
I wonder how long before there embracing of Fox Noise will lead to their losing power... oh wait... TOO LATE!!
And to comment on right ON accusing ACORN of fanning the flames, do you believe if someone is wronged they don't have the right to stand up for themselves? They are simply going after someone who has legally wronged them. What's the big issue?
The only way ACORN may have a glimmer of getting beyond this is not by lawyering its way out of it. I know liberals always think that is the answer, and it may be in the legal sense, but not politically. And that is what we are talking about here.
Remember, that's what we're talking about here. Or rather, that's the prism through which you always talk about.
And stop with the liberals always "lawyering" their way out crapola.
This is classic textbook liberal emotional argument. Don't look beyond your own anger at somebody you despise politically, and that includes Fox News here of course, and go after them. Don't look at the ramifications of how this will play out on Fox and embolden them even more to spin this story their way, just go after them. If you can't see how this will play out, just stick around and watch.
Wrong again. It's about standing up and defending yourself. And I don't put an iota of weight on your ability to predict the future.
We think it does make political sense to fight back. As I've said severl times on this site, it makes sense to censure Joe Wilson, for example, even if it does allow him to claim that he's the victim here. He's not, of course, a victim, but he tried to claim that he was. So you think that we should not have tried to censure Rep Wilson, or sue O'Keefe and Giles, because it allows them to drag the story out? It does let them drag the story out, and it does let them pretend that they are the victims here. So what? That doesn't mean that there's no value in making people accountable for their behavior. It doesn't mean that they are victims. We'll let reasonable people determine if they are actually victims or not.
It's ridiculous to say that we shouldn't go after offenders like this because the supporters of the offenders will use it against us. That's not a reason to refrain from doing what needs to be done.
And you're wrong when you say that no one has addressed this issue you raise. Several people have.
A)ACORN never objected to anything...so they knew they were wrong.
B)ACORN fought back...so...
The spin isn't nearly as easy in the second case, and the idea that FOX wouldn't be "emboldened" to forward the spin in the first case is laughable. You really think that we're not going to hear about ACORN for the next couple of decades as "evidence" of Obama's "corruption" either way? Highlighting the shady nature of the filmmakers provides a defense to that, now and for the years to come.
A) ACORN accepted responsibility for the employees and dismissed them. They will launch an internal investigation and make their findings public. There have been illegalities in the way they were filmed but the local district attorney will sort that out, and ACORN will focus on doing what they are committed to do. They will have no further comment on the film makers.
B) ACORN is whining because they got caught, so instead of taking responsibility for it they have decided to shift the focus on the film makers and sue them. Take their barrage of lawyers and go after the messenger.
Yep, B it is. Too bad liberals can never just do A. But two reasons why they can't - A) They never can take responsibility for their actions and live to divert attention away from their own misdeeds, and B) They operate on an emotional level, they are mad and the film makers will pay.
As pointed out, it's interesting how taking legal action somehow turned back time and made it so that the employees weren't fired.
"Fought by whom?" By anyone and everyone with a yen for real democracy and social justice.
Yawn, engrave that on a pedestal and stand on it while ACORN's funding gets yanked permanently and Fox and the film makers look like victims. Satisfied?
Satisfied? By what?
You mention "political realities," but your argument is based on the power PR. Of course Fux and the filmmakers will play the victim card (an emotion-manipulating ploy, BTW). That's what the Right does when accountability raises its ugly head. Let them. The issues are too important to let PR rule.
And do try to stay on topic. Blanket "typical lib" jibes don't advance the debate. And given the lack of logic and foam-flecked rage coming from the right these days, calling liberals "emotional," is just silly.
We have to trust that the general public is smart enough to see through that whining to understand that the 'victims' are getting exactly what they had coming to them.
No! What you meant to say was O'Keffe and Giles have been scamming victims to make a name for themselves, but they had no one to blame except themselves for igniting the flames of the lies of their story. They finally are getting what they deserved.
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I love it.
MMFA is just making a big deal out of nothing. The lawsuit will be thrown out along with the Democrat leaders that do not want to investigate them.
OBAMA=ACORN
So unlike the conviction of Young Political Majors for voter registration fraud, which is a matter of public record.
Conservatives choose a target. They gradually unroll 20 accusations against that target. The twentieth accusation has an ounce of truth, the others don't. The conclusions are obvious:
1) Ignoring the accusations doesn't help. Ignoring the 12th accusation didn't prevent the 13th. Ignoring the 13th accusation didn't prevent the 14th.
2) Blaming the accused doesn't help. Once the conservatives picked the target, everything that followed was inevitable. The avalanche of accusations would happen to absolutely anyone. The eventual finding of someone somewhere doing something wrong would happen to absolutely anyone.
3) Showing people the friggin' pattern is what helps. When the 10th accusation comes, start with "there they go again". BRIEFLY defend against the accusation, then spend every remaining second of your time bashing the hell out of the despicable character of the swine who spew garbage into our democracy nonstop. Bring up the 9 previous bogus accusations. Bring up the 9 previous targets that each had 20 bogus accusations lobbed at them. When the 11th accusation comes, start with "there they go again" and bash the hell out of their despicable character. When the 12th accusation comes, start with "there they go again" and bash the hell out of their despicable character. When the 13th accusation comes...
Pretty much all thought is pattern recognition. Voters don't know this pattern because it's not put together for them. If voters knew this pattern, they would quickly fit today's bullsh__ into the framework and tune it out. Tomorrow's bullsh__ would reinforce the pattern for them.
Yeah, you're right. Giles certainly doesn't look like that morbidly obese halfwit, who decries capitalism while reaping a fortune from the capitalist system.
SERWER: I mean, it's amazing to me that as we recover, you know, come out of this financial crisis, you know, you'd expect a company like Goldman Sachs maybe things are improving, make a little money. But they have a record quarter. In other words, they made more money in this three month period than they ever had in any other--
SCARBOROUGH: [archly] But they just made some good guesses, right?
SERWER: Well, I don't know if it's okay or not, but I think what happened is that the government has telegraphed to Wall Street, not only Goldman Sachs but the other firms what it was doing, what was going on, what the program was, and so, essentially, it's like telling a Goldman Sachs, "Hey, put your money on 32 Black" at the casino, at the roulette wheel. And the thing spins and lo and behold, where does it end up, Joe?
SCARBOROUGH: 32 Black?
SERWER: 32 Black.
Read more at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/09/15/andrew-serwer-ifortunei-e_n_287233.html
Casino capitalism,a risk free system of wealth accumulation,the article reports,the thing is their not playing with their money their using our tax dollars in a rigged game that benefits the wealthy stockholders, what you cons would call R-E-D-I-S-T-R-I-B-U-T-I-O-N ! Oh, and this does not include as others have posted, the billions given to KBR,Halliburton,Xe(worked so well they had to change their name from Blackwater). Ummmmmmm...you fall for this and you call Michael Moore the "halfwit?"
I knew, one day that it would blow up in Glena face.
Some of us are so fed up with the lies and corruption and propaganda of the Republicans WAY beyond anything this stupid little community service can do we are grouping to CALL YOU OUT with facts everytime your mouth opens. We are sick to death of the disrespect you are giving our country.
A.C.O.R.N. is a corrupt Community organizer. And Obama must address it.
And since Obama was a community organizer, he knows ACORN's address and should go to his house and tear up his mailing lists.
I guess you're telling us that A=A because there isn't anything that's actually wrong with this article or our reactions to it.
If a conservative site posts an attack on your imaginary left-wing activists, we'd be able to go over there and raise factual objections to it. You can't do that here.
Randy
2. If this were AT&T, Goldman Sachs, IBM, or any company in high public standing, this would be a much larger story. The point is, it wouldnt happen because those companies are in high standing because those companies run business where this couldnt occur
3. The idea that the credibility of the filmmakers in question is legitimate if they only stated what occurred. The film is credible, and the filmmakers irrelevant. Questioning their credibility is the equivalent of attacking the arresting officer who finds evidence of fraud in a traffic stop of a company car but forgets to read the driver his miranda rights. Necessary backlash in the court of law, but not in that of public opinion.
4. Fox News assisting these journalists is no different than media outlets supporting journalists who protect their sources by refusing to obey court orders to disclose them.
5. ACORN admits to (only because its been proven) falsifying voter registrations, and still gets support? Even if it's only a small percentage it should be taken seriously as the foundation of democracy. Imagine if conservative operatives were proven to have been doing the same in Florida in 2000. That proved votes count.
1. There's no "trend" defined by two people. How many people did they talk to who didn't act questionably in response? You could find some people in any organization who would not look good on camera, but that in itself doesn't suggest that there's any concern about the behavior of the entire organization. If we're talking about ACORN policy, then why did so many other offices turn them away and/or call the police?
2. If you know of some way that businesses prevent people from acting on their own free will, I'd like to know how they do that.
3. You always consider the source. Someone who is out to discredit ACORN and releases edited videotapes isn't particularly trustworthy, even in the court of public opinion.
4. We're not talking about protecting sources for the sake of future stories here. We're talking about fundraising. These people do not work for FOX, so what is the motivation to take their side?
5. Nobody actually voted illegally, because the falsified registrations didn't represent anyone who could actually vote. And I don't remember conservatives crying foul when Bush's campaign worker, as Florida's Secretary of State, had the voter rolls scrubbed, reducing the number of people who could vote. I also don't remember them demanding time to finish the vote count after Republican staffers physically disrupted the effort. So "votes count" coming from people complaining about a situation in which the actual number of votes was not affected at all is truly hilarious.