I have no brief with the whole ACORN fiasco. I found the "Obama and ACORN are going to somehow subvert American democracy and MUST BE STOPPED!!" meme infinitely wearying. And I think I speak for many (most?) Americans when I say that it's pretty obvious that the whole pimp-and-ho-try-to-get-help-defrauding-the-government set-up was exactly that. (Er... a set-up, that is.)
However, I feel about this whole story the same way that I felt about the Lewinsky scandal. In short, if you know that the whole "vast Right-wing conspiracy" is totally gunning for your abject failure, don't behave like a complete and utter fool. In the case of the former President, he really, really needed to keep it in his pants. In the case of ACORN, well... the video (which needs no help from me to enjoy viewers, so you can find the link on your own) speaks for itself.
Now, if it were me, and I had been caught on tape and made a national laughingstock through my own incontrovertible ineptitude and moral bankruptcy, I would probably slink off somewhere and hide until the whole thing blew over. What I wouldn't do is double-down and file a lawsuit claiming defamation of character.
Dave at Ordinary Gents has had a lot of fun with this, as has Ken at Popehat. I don't have anything much to add, beyond an utterly jaded fillip -- dudes, I am so not going to go to bat for you. You have embarrassed an organization that was probably still doing some people some good somewhere, and may be responsible for its going belly-up. If you're expecting some kind of progressive rally to your cause, you are SOL.
PS> Gadfly, consider this my gift to you. Feel free to go nuts on ACORN (see what I did there?). I have no time to defend this foolishness.
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Aww, for me? Gee, thanks, srsly. Really, the only way the whole ACORN thing gets better is if ACORN fights this all the way to the White House. And set up? Sure, ACORN was set up. The problem was, they stepped right into the setup with gusto.
ReplyDeleteAnd yes, like Hamas, ACORN does help people, somewhere, somehow. But, like Hamas, it isn't a defense to say an organization helps people when employees are more than willing to give advice for establishing brothels featuring illegal immigrant minors (aka, sex slaves). In the case of Hamas, have that read "blow up women and children for the crime of being Jewish."
good lord gj, only you could screw up something that can be legitimately criticized. No, Hamas and Acorn are not the same, not even close. Hamas whole reason to exist is to wipe out the state of Israel, it is a terrorist organization. Acorn is an activist organization that caters to and hires the poor.
ReplyDeleteFrom wiki: The Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) is a collection of community-based organizations in the United States that advocate for low- and moderate-income families by working on neighborhood safety, voter registration, health care, affordable housing, and other social issues. ACORN has over 400,000 members and more than 1,200 neighborhood chapters[1] in over 100 cities across the U.S.,[2] as well as in Argentina, Canada, Mexico, and Peru. ACORN was founded in 1970 by Wade Rathke and Gary Delgado.[3] Maude Hurd has been National President of ACORN since 1990.
ACORN's priorities have included: better housing and wages for the poor, more community development investment from banks and governments, better public schools, and other social justice issues. ACORN pursues these goals through demonstration, negotiation, lobbying for legislation, and voter participation.
Yeah, sure sounds like Hamas. Look, Acorn has more than its share of radical elements, and since it hires the poor gets more than its fair share of idiots. The problem with any organization on the far right or far left is that they are so sure of their beliefs they feel justified in taking shortcuts. As to those videos, you have more than enough instances of stupidity amongst conservative outfits, need I remind you of Jack Abramoff?
The difference between you and I is that I while I think Abramoff (and those low level idiots at Acorn) is a criminally negligent jackass, it would never occur to me to compare him with Hamas.
Honest to God, you would screw up a wet dream.
charo
Gadfly, Please refer to my previous comments concerning your ability to turn yourself into a roaring, raving etc. Hamas compared to ACORN is like Dick Cheney compared to Gandhi.
ReplyDeleteGuys, get a grip. Hamas is popular among Palestinian Arabs because they run hospitals, clinics, day-care centers, athletic clubs for kids, and so forth. My uncontroversial point, which y'all seem to go to great lenghts to miss, is that even if an organization does good work, bad work, like murdering civilians (Hamas) or abetting sexual slavery of minors (ACORN) renders the organization unfit to exist. Period.
ReplyDeletegj, get a grip? On what? your inanity? No thanks, I have no desire to grip anything of yours. I suppose you will say the Catholic church should cease to exist because a few priests molested some altar boys and the higher ups covered it up.
ReplyDelete(abetting sexual slavery of minors).
Obviously that too is horseshit. Hamas and the Catholic Church are nowhere near the same, but the analogy is closer in that they both espouse religious goals, run hospitals, blah blah blah and both have done bad things, but so freaking what? So now that I have proven your analogy is horseshit might I kindly suggest you shut the hell up about it.
I am starting to think that you are giving Doug Feith a run for his money as being the stupidest fucking guy on the face of the earth.
Congratulations.
charo
Well, now that you bring it up, I do think the Catholic Church ought to defrock any clergy who participated in, knew about and did nothing, or covered up sexual abuse of minors. If that means the Church is no longer a going concern, so be it. I don't think that would be horseshit at all. Why would you think so?
ReplyDeleteOh, and asserting a point is not the same as proving a point.