Right-wing bloggers should stop writing about ACORN, for their own sake
Written by Eric Boehlert
Published
The topic, once a shining beacon of inspiration for partisan cons, has, thanks to the pimp hoax and recent revelations from N.Y. prosecutors, become just one giant mess that seems to ensnare everyone who tries to prop up the get-ACORN story. Obviously, Andrew Breitbart has suffered the most pratfalls over the last three weeks, but the embarrassments aren't restricted to him.
Recently, conservative blogger Ed Morrissey at Hot Air had to post not one, but two corrections after he published a bogus ACORN gotcha item. Blogger Brad Friedman did the honors of setting the record straight.
Here's what Morrissey wrote:
Today, [Wisconsin's Attorney General J. B.] Van Hollen announced indictments in five cases — including two felony indictments against ACORN for scheming to have registrants vote multiple times in November 2008.
But that was simply false.
From Brad Blog:
The “two felony indictments”, which Morrissey even links to [PDF] and quotes from in his inaccurate hit piece, are not “against ACORN”, but against two workers who defrauded ACORN, even as the pair defrauded the voter registration process.
...
Charging that the “indictments were against ACORN”, is as inaccurate as it would be to claim that Walmart has been charged with two counts of burglary after the company had found that two employees had stolen merchandise off its own shelves.
Unlike Breitbart who refuses to be held accountable for the ACORN lies he spreads, Morrissey actually posted a correction. But after the correction proved inaccurate, he had to post another.
Like I said, maybe it's time right-wing bloggers stop writing about ACORN, for their own good.