ACORN Sting Videos Were Heavily Edited

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Earlier I linked to a report at Politico that an outside review found no illegal conduct at ACORN. But TPM points out another very interesting finding of the review: Those ACORN sting videos were heavily edited.

The videos that have been released appear to have been edited, in some cases substantially, including the insertion of a substitute voiceover for significant portions of Mr. O’Keefe’s and Ms. Giles’s comments, which makes it difficult to determine the questions to which ACORN employees are responding. A comparison of the publicly available transcripts to the released videos confirms that large portions of the original video have been omitted from the released versions.

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77 comments
1 Bagua  Mon, Dec 7, 2009 9:55:24pm

Typical search for a scapegoat and boogieman.

ACORN is the new Haliburton.

2 Dancing along the light of day  Mon, Dec 7, 2009 9:56:16pm

Edited?
*Gasp*
*swoon*

3 webevintage  Mon, Dec 7, 2009 9:57:06pm

I'm shocked, shocked I say...

4 HC4BO  Mon, Dec 7, 2009 9:57:34pm

Knew this from the beginning ...

Believing edited tapes is like the Birth Certificate drama ...


Only Fox News will take it seriously ... !

5 Sharmuta  Mon, Dec 7, 2009 9:58:05pm

Do fake videos count as fauxtography?

6 bosforus  Mon, Dec 7, 2009 9:58:12pm
The videos that have been released appear to have been edited, in some cases substantially, including the insertion of a substitute voiceover for significant portions of Mr. O’Keefe’s and Ms. Giles’s comments, which makes it difficult to determine the questions to which ACORN employees are responding. A comparison of the publicly available transcripts to the released videos confirms that large portions of the original video have been omitted from the released versions.

Here's a link to a pdf published by ACORN about that fact.
[Link: www.acorn.org...]

7 avanti  Mon, Dec 7, 2009 10:00:48pm

So it was a short of Onion satire with answers inserted to questions that may not have been asked ?

8 Bloodnok  Mon, Dec 7, 2009 10:01:48pm

re: #5 Sharmuta

Do fake videos count as fauxtography?

Spinematography

9 Killgore Trout  Mon, Dec 7, 2009 10:02:00pm

Aaaacooorrrn!
/Glen Beck as Capt. Kirkyelling at Kahn.

10 Obdicut  Mon, Dec 7, 2009 10:02:12pm

Good lord. I mean-- people have lost their jobs over this, right?

To say nothing of bills of attainder being passed.

11 ignoranceisfatal  Mon, Dec 7, 2009 10:02:39pm

Cue the spluttering:

But... but... we know ACORN's evil, and we don't need no stinkin' video to prove it!

12 Sharmuta  Mon, Dec 7, 2009 10:02:57pm

re: #8 Bloodnok

Spinematography

Fake-umentary.

13 stayfrosty  Mon, Dec 7, 2009 10:03:41pm

And all those pictures of ACORN offices across the country having dumped thousands of documents in the trash were heavily Photoshopped.
/

14 Killgore Trout  Mon, Dec 7, 2009 10:03:49pm

I'm sure Breitbart will release the unedited videos and clear this up.
/

15 Dark_Falcon  Mon, Dec 7, 2009 10:06:37pm

re: #14 Killgore Trout

I'm sure Breitbart will release the unedited videos and clear this up.
/

Sure right after he apologizes for all those racist things he's said. Here's a song for Hannah Giles and James O'Keefe:

16 ghazidor  Mon, Dec 7, 2009 10:08:48pm

I'm shocked beyond words...

Ok, maybe not that shocked, I'm am however being consistently embarrassed by how easily everyone in the political arena finds it to justify outright lies to sell their version of every story now.

The media is ultimately complicit in their wishy-washy "we must present both sides of every topic no matter how loony the opposition is and then imply that the real truth must lie somewhere between reality and the fantasy land lunacy."

The MSM is biased alright, biased against reality. I want Edward R. Murrow back, at least he had a pair.

17 Killgore Trout  Mon, Dec 7, 2009 10:09:47pm

re: #6 bosforus

Thanks for posting that.

18 swamprat  Mon, Dec 7, 2009 10:10:59pm

Fact check? Apparently a thing of the past.

19 Obdicut  Mon, Dec 7, 2009 10:11:33pm

re: #16 ausador

I want Murray Kempton back.

And Studs Terkel.

20 Walter L. Newton  Mon, Dec 7, 2009 10:12:24pm

Did anyone on the left in Congress vote to cut off federal funds from ACORN?

21 Gus  Mon, Dec 7, 2009 10:12:29pm

The whole thing reeks of low class celebrity journalism with a National Enquirer edge to it. Here you have the mumbling Andrew Breitbart who in fact worked behind the scenes for E! Entertainment Television at one point early in his career. His whole career was based around celebrity culture of which he could not be a part of due to his poor speaking skills.

Then you have the two trashy actors that played a role in these ACORN videos. I don't know if that was casting but they sure fit into the roles rather naturally. Rupert Murdoch, the trashy CEO of the Fox dynasty who also owns several tabloids and made his way up with junk gossip. Also included is the ever trashy Glenn Beck.

This doesn't include all of the alcohol and drugs that have been consumed by the players. It seems as though we have come to a point were trash journalism is accepted as mainstream thanks to Fox News.

22 SanFranciscoZionist  Mon, Dec 7, 2009 10:15:26pm

re: #11 ignoranceisfatal

Cue the spluttering:

But... but... we know ACORN's evil, and we don't need no stinkin' video to prove it!

Groooaaan.

Is there any way at this point to figure out what originally happened, or at least to charge the people involved with being really, really, annoying?

23 ignoranceisfatal  Mon, Dec 7, 2009 10:20:14pm

re: #22 SanFranciscoZionist


Is there any way at this point to figure out what originally happened, or at least to charge the people involved with being really, really, annoying?

According to the explanatory PDF on ACORN's site, the filmmakers won't release the original tapes. If they did engage in major editing, this is hardly a surprise.

What is surprising to me is that more people didn't raise questions about the legitimacy of these videos. Heck, I feel violated, since I've been involved in several discussions with rabid righties where I had to say "yes, their behavior was despicable, but..."

24 Obdicut  Mon, Dec 7, 2009 10:22:27pm

re: #23 ignoranceisfatal

Seriously. Now that I think of it, why didn't I expect the man dressed like a pimp to be lying? Has there ever been a man dressed like a pimp who wasn't?

25 William Barnett-Lewis  Mon, Dec 7, 2009 10:22:46pm

Why is this supposed to be a surprise? I've no love for acorn but even less for the scum squealing against them...

William

26 avanti  Mon, Dec 7, 2009 10:22:49pm

re: #20 Walter L. Newton

Did anyone on the left in Congress vote to cut off federal funds from ACORN?

Of course, they caved to the political reality and tossed ACORN under the bus as fast as they could. Since the bill is likely unconstiturional, it was a no brainer.

27 ignoranceisfatal  Mon, Dec 7, 2009 10:23:04pm

re: #24 Obdicut

Seriously. Now that I think of it, why didn't I expect the man dressed like a pimp to be lying? Has there ever been a man dressed like a pimp who wasn't?

Somewhere, Snoop Dogg is shedding a tear...

28 Obdicut  Mon, Dec 7, 2009 10:24:05pm

re: #27 ignoranceisfatal

Somewhere, Snoop Dogg is shedding a tear...

Aw, hell no, Dogg, not you.

Though I do feel he exaggerates some things.

29 SanFranciscoZionist  Mon, Dec 7, 2009 10:26:43pm

re: #23 ignoranceisfatal

According to the explanatory PDF on ACORN's site, the filmmakers won't release the original tapes. If they did engage in major editing, this is hardly a surprise.

What is surprising to me is that more people didn't raise questions about the legitimacy of these videos. Heck, I feel violated, since I've been involved in several discussions with rabid righties where I had to say "yes, their behavior was despicable, but..."

Me too, to that last.

I'm definitely interested to see if we can figure out what they may have altered. If individual people have been slandered by the editing, they deserve to have it known.

I'm also curious about whether this sheds any new light on the tapes Pimp Boy did earlier, as part of his hit job on Planned Parenthood.

30 ignoranceisfatal  Mon, Dec 7, 2009 10:27:18pm

Will be interesting to see how this plays out. Could be that the filmmakersmanipulators did themselves a disservice with their heavy handedness. It gives ACORN a way out, to say "See? We're on the up and up!", even if there was some shady (though perhaps not egregious) behavior going on that deserved to be exposed.

31 SanFranciscoZionist  Mon, Dec 7, 2009 10:28:17pm

re: #27 ignoranceisfatal

Somewhere, Snoop Dogg is shedding a tear...

A few years ago I was at the Fruitvale BART station, and there was this man, dressed as a pimp, I mean a pimp like in a movie, waiting for the train. I was fascinated. I didn't think anyone really dressed like that, at least not since 1979.

It was no time near Halloween.

32 avanti  Mon, Dec 7, 2009 10:30:02pm

re: #24 Obdicut

Seriously. Now that I think of it, why didn't I expect the man dressed like a pimp to be lying? Has there ever been a man dressed like a pimp who wasn't?

Funny pimp story. I was at the casino with my gal friend and she was all decked out for the night club, boots, short skirt and the rest. I would leave her at the bar, and make trips back and forth to the nearby slots. A drunk guy walks up to me and asks if my friend is "working" I was thinking of taking offers but thought better of it. My friend was not amused when I told her the story. :)

33 bosforus  Mon, Dec 7, 2009 10:30:55pm

re: #31 SanFranciscoZionist

I turned down an offer for "discounted" tickets for the Sacramento light rail while waiting at a stop. He was annoyed with me because, in his words, "Come on, man. I'm just trying to get my hustle on." My internal response was something like, "Well, I'm so sorry to disappoint you."

34 ignoranceisfatal  Mon, Dec 7, 2009 10:39:54pm

re: #32 avanti

Funny pimp story. I was at the casino with my gal friend and she was all decked out for the night club, boots, short skirt and the rest. I would leave her at the bar, and make trips back and forth to the nearby slots. A drunk guy walks up to me and asks if my friend is "working" I was thinking of taking offers but thought better of it. My friend was not amused when I told her the story. :)

Surprised she didn't kick you in the... acorns.

35 Dark_Falcon  Mon, Dec 7, 2009 10:42:38pm

re: #34 ignoranceisfatal

Surprised she didn't kick you in the... acorns.

That would fit with Christmas season, though, given the Nutcracker theme.

36 steelerjoe  Mon, Dec 7, 2009 10:47:03pm
ACORN employees caught in those undercover videos advising a couple posing as a pimp and a prostitute on how to break the law acted unprofessionally and inappropriately, but did nothing illegal, an independent report has found.

How is this any more "unprofessional and inappropriate" than the Dateline NBC-Chris Hanson sting shows?

37 Obdicut  Mon, Dec 7, 2009 10:48:36pm

re: #36 steelerjoe

How is this any more "unprofessional and inappropriate" than the Dateline NBC-Chris Hanson sting shows?

Does he edit the videos and insert voiceovers that didn't happen?

38 steelerjoe  Mon, Dec 7, 2009 10:58:41pm

re: #37 Obdicut

Does he edit the videos and insert voiceovers that didn't happen?

I guess we will see how much was edited. I would like to have more sources than talkingpointsmemo and Scott Harshbarger, a democrat and the former head of common cause.

39 Mark Pennington  Mon, Dec 7, 2009 10:59:55pm

re: #14 Killgore Trout

I'm sure Breitbart will release the unedited videos and clear this up.
/

ba-dum-bum-CHING!

40 tommysilver  Mon, Dec 7, 2009 11:35:17pm

On the one hand ACORN clearly needed a shakeup for its own good and the "sting videos" accomplished that. On the other hand, Giles and O'Keefe appear to be lying arseholes who fabricated a tempest in a teapot. I'm just waiting for it to get really entertaining when the lunatic left fringe finally gets a clue and starts using similar tactics to discredit the lunatic right fringe.

41 SixDegrees  Mon, Dec 7, 2009 11:49:47pm

I think the obvious editing, at least of the first videos that were released, was pointed out here as soon as they became available, and was accompanied by calls for release of the entire, unedited versions.

Like I said yesterday and elsewhere, though, ACORN drips slime. It's easy to see why the tapes were accepted at face value, since they provided confirmation of what was already widely known.

42 SixDegrees  Mon, Dec 7, 2009 11:54:01pm

re: #36 steelerjoe

How is this any more "unprofessional and inappropriate" than the Dateline NBC-Chris Hanson sting shows?

Depends. If the voiceovers were added because the audio was poor, but otherwise reflect what was actually said, there's not much to write home about. If they are fictitious additions, added later to cast what others said in a bad light, then they cross the line that separates sting from fraud.

The report also found gross mismanagement was rampant at ACORN, a finding long overdue and one that will be an impediment to further taxpayer funding.

43 SixDegrees  Mon, Dec 7, 2009 11:58:25pm

re: #23 ignoranceisfatal

According to the explanatory PDF on ACORN's site, the filmmakers won't release the original tapes. If they did engage in major editing, this is hardly a surprise.

What is surprising to me is that more people didn't raise questions about the legitimacy of these videos. Heck, I feel violated, since I've been involved in several discussions with rabid righties where I had to say "yes, their behavior was despicable, but..."

Uh - there were several discussions questioning the editing of the tapes that took place right here immediately following their release. The questions were raised by the very people you're calling names - the 'rabid righties'.

In these same discussions, you'll find several calls for the full, unedited tapes to be released, by those same diseased mouth-foamers.

Before you accuse some nefarious group of broad-brushed bad behavior, I'd suggest an attempt to ground your remarks in reality.

44 moski3  Tue, Dec 8, 2009 12:06:37am

Of course they would say that.
Briettbart has released the un edited and they still lie about what is out. That is what ACORN does. No one likes to get caught helping out under age prostitution rings to get housing while hiding money in jars in the garden under a tree.

45 BunnyThief  Tue, Dec 8, 2009 12:25:25am

Let's keep in mind what's happened so far in this mess.

At every step, ACORN has issued statement after statement about what happened after each and every video.

And at every step, Breitbart et al have then released more video that not only corroborates the first video, but puts the lie to ACORN's previous statements.

They were turned away from every other office after Baltimore? Nope.

They never visited New York or Philadelphia? Nope.

And so on, and so on, and so on.

Say what you want about Breitbart. The man is playing this like a fiddle. He's covered his bases six ways to Sunday.

And ACORN is on -- at rough count -- on its sixth iteration of its story, and has had to get rid of quite a few employees who were foolish enough to lie about what they did on video.

ACORN is rotten to the core. Hell, their founder's brother embezzled $1 million (or possibly $5 million -- they're continuing the coverup) and they covered it up until his family could pay it back over years.

Hell, as wretched as Breitbart and the kids are, that just makes it worse. How inherent is the corruption that they fell for for such a transparent sting?

46 tommysilver  Tue, Dec 8, 2009 12:55:46am

re: #44 moski3

Of course they would say that.
Briettbart has released the un edited and they still lie about what is out. That is what ACORN does. No one likes to get caught helping out under age prostitution rings to get housing while hiding money in jars in the garden under a tree.

I haven't been able to find unedited video other than the San Bernardino "visit" which was basically a reverse prank and had very little to do with ACORN itself. All other videos appear to be partial and it is not possible to determine from them who is lying, ACORN or the "videographers". It is political and prejudicial to take sides without seeing what actually happened in its entirety.

47 andres  Tue, Dec 8, 2009 3:21:26am

re: #45 BunnyThief

Gee, I suppose ACORN faked those police reports where they report O'Keefee supposed actions.

48 BunnyThief  Tue, Dec 8, 2009 3:52:38am

andes, I got questions about them. Mainly, why does O'Keefe's real name appear on that report? They used aliases when they went in.

49 BunnyThief  Tue, Dec 8, 2009 3:54:04am

Sorry, andres. I didn't mean to botch your name. Here, let me make up for it and cover a few more such mistakes:

r r r r

Apologies...

50 Wozza Matter?  Tue, Dec 8, 2009 4:33:00am

*grabs popcorn*

51 Walk Not So Softly  Tue, Dec 8, 2009 5:53:40am

Outside review? Hardly.


ACORN selected this guy to do the investigation. No doubt they paid his fee as well.
52 Locker  Tue, Dec 8, 2009 6:35:42am

re: #51 Walk Not So Softly

Outside review? Hardly.
[Link: www.msnbc.msn.com...]
ACORN selected this guy to do the investigation. No doubt they paid his fee as well.

How do you think polls are done? Can we not trust all of our national polls because they were commissioned by the RNC or the DNC or PETA or whatever? Oh and yes, you have to pay for those.

53 andres  Tue, Dec 8, 2009 6:39:50am

re: #49 BunnyThief

Don't worry about it, mate.

re: #48 BunnyThief

Good question, and I'd like ACORN to give an answer to it.

54 drcordell  Tue, Dec 8, 2009 7:10:03am

You mean the pimp and ho deceitfully edited their video to create the appearance of ACORN malfeasance?!?! My entire world is shattered. If I can't trust yuppies dressed up like prostitutes or Fox News, who can I trust?

55 Wozza Matter?  Tue, Dec 8, 2009 7:34:44am

re: #5 Sharmuta

not on the Faux News Channel...

56 BARACK THE VOTE  Tue, Dec 8, 2009 7:37:07am

re: #54 drcordell

You mean the pimp and ho deceitfully edited their video to create the appearance of ACORN malfeasance?!?! My entire world is shattered. If I can't trust yuppies dressed up like prostitutes or Fox News, who can I trust?

I read that as "if I can't trust yuppies dressed as prostitutes ON fox news", and thought you were talking about the female 'news' anchors on Faux News.

Works on either reading, actually.

57 Wozza Matter?  Tue, Dec 8, 2009 7:45:16am

re: #56 iceweasel

How do they stay perched on those stools in *those* skirts without a wardrobe malfunction???

It's gravity defying.

58 DaddyG  Tue, Dec 8, 2009 7:48:07am

I still think ACORN should shut down the "stung" offices if for no other reason that the employee there were stupid enough to believe the preppie kid dressed like Huggy Bear accompanied by a Paris Hilton knock off was a real Pimp 'n Ho team. /

59 BunnyThief  Tue, Dec 8, 2009 8:27:31am

re: #53 andres

Good question, and I'd like ACORN to give an answer to it.

Not to worry, new chum. ACORN has an answer. In fact, ACORN has several answers. Just pick the one that you find the most appealing.

Oh, you want an HONEST answer? That's a whole 'nother story...

I figured out a while ago why ACORN was involved in so many bogus voter registrations. It wasn't to directly steal any elections. There were two other motives behind it.

First, the more registrations they submitted, the bigger the bragging rights -- "in his county, we registered 50,000 voters! That's how hard we work for democracy! Give us more money!" All they need are raw numbers, not actual valid registrations.

Second, in cases where their preferred candidate loses, all those bogus registrations that get through are considered evidence of voter suppression. "Look at how low the turnout was, as a percentage of registered voters! Something must have kept them from the polls -- we demand an investigation into the winner, who must have done SOMETHING to intimidate people from exercising their rights!"

They don't have to have people vote illegally. All they have to do is clog up the system enough with bad data.

Never forget Lake County, Indiana. ACORN submitted 5,000 voter registrations. Officials quit verifying them after checking 2,100 and not finding A SINGLE VALID ONE.

That's a sampling of 42%, and a fraud rate of 100%. Any statistically-minded people want to use those numbers to extrapolate on the remaining 2,900 forms' validity?

ACORN, in a very Darwinian sense, has shown that it simply is too stupid to continue to exist. The fact that its front line representatives fell for these punks, time and time again, and the central office has had to constantly rewrite its statements, time and time again, is proof that it's a dinosaur in an Ice Age.

The years of covering up for the founder's brother's seven-figure embezzlement until the family could pay it back is another nail in the coffin. They spent years filing false financial reports covering up very real evidence of a crime.

60 Obdicut  Tue, Dec 8, 2009 8:32:27am

re: #59 BunnyThief

You know that they're required by law to turn in all voter registration forms that they have filled out, right? And that those 2,100 were flagged by ACORN as questionable?

Also, they did not 'quit verifying them', because that would have been wildly illegal.

61 Cineaste  Tue, Dec 8, 2009 8:48:14am

re: #41 SixDegrees

I think the obvious editing, at least of the first videos that were released, was pointed out here as soon as they became available, and was accompanied by calls for release of the entire, unedited versions.

Like I said yesterday and elsewhere, though, ACORN drips slime. It's easy to see why the tapes were accepted at face value, since they provided confirmation of what was already widely knownsuspected.

FTFY

Did you 'know' they were advising pimps how to avoid paying taxes on illegal immigrant prostitutes being kept as slave labor?

62 BunnyThief  Tue, Dec 8, 2009 8:49:25am

Obdicut, that doesn't excuse even minimal quality control. Such as, "sign this agreement that if you are caught faking forms, we will fire your ass and collect damages" or "here are the laws that cover forging voter registration forms, and we will cooperate fully with any and all investigations." Instead, ACORN just gives their "volunteers" quotas and send them out.

Their representative have every incentive to fake the forms, and none whatsoever to keep it honest. And ACORN did not come up with that formulation by accident.

63 Obdicut  Tue, Dec 8, 2009 8:52:25am

re: #62 BunnyThief

Their incentive to keep them honest was keeping their jobs, the same as it would be for any voter registration organization.

You're just going to ignore that you misrepresented what occurred-- that you skipped over the fact that ACORN has to turn in every registration form handed to them, AND that they specially marked the ones they felt were questionable?

64 BunnyThief  Tue, Dec 8, 2009 8:59:39am

Obdicut, how thoughtful of them to set aside the most egregious ones. That would have made it very convenient to put the better forgeries in the pile of valid ones. After all, we can trust them -- didn't they already do a great job of flagging the bad ones?

"These are the ones you should pay the most attention to. Don't worry so much about that stack over there."

NO private organization should be in the business of registering voters. They wanna organize people to go to their city clerk's office, fine. They wanna hold an event where public employees will be available to process forms, fine. But NO organization with a determined interest in the outcome of the election should be allowed to distribute, collect, and turn in voter registration forms.

And ACORN shows precisely why.

65 Walk Not So Softly  Tue, Dec 8, 2009 9:07:00am

re: #52 Locker

How do you think polls are done? Can we not trust all of our national polls because they were commissioned by the RNC or the DNC or PETA or whatever? Oh and yes, you have to pay for those.

We are not talking about a poll. However, since you mentioned it, would you believe a poll taken by Exxon finding AGW to be a Hoax?

66 Obdicut  Tue, Dec 8, 2009 9:09:15am

re: #64 BunnyThief

Obdicut, how thoughtful of them to set aside the most egregious ones. That would have made it very convenient to put the better forgeries in the pile of valid ones. After all, we can trust them -- didn't they already do a great job of flagging the bad ones?

Wow, when presented with truth, you retreat into a further conspiracy theory.

Have a good one. Not going to bother talking to someone who just picks up the goalposts and runs.

67 BunnyThief  Tue, Dec 8, 2009 9:27:06am

Obdicut, I'm not the one you should be worried about if you're so concerned about ACORN. You ought to worry about the AGs of 14 (at last count) states where ACORN is under criminal investigation.

Don't worry about California, though. ACORN officials are on record as saying they've got AG Moonbeam in their pocket. And even if he goes rogue on them, they just finished sanitizing their offices by throwing out TONS of sensitive material before Jerry Brown could get around to visiting them.

I'm sure lots of innocent people dump reams and reams of records just before they're visited by law enforcement, and that means nothing, right?

ACORN is rotten to the core, from the top down and the bottom up. They should -- at the very least -- be banned from any participation in the electoral process.

Once that's done, we'll talk jail terms. Starting off with Dale Rathke and the board members who conspired to keep his embezzlement a secret from the rest of the board and everyone else.

68 Blueheron  Tue, Dec 8, 2009 9:44:03am

re: #22 SanFranciscoZionist

Groooaaan.

Is there any way at this point to figure out what originally happened, or at least to charge the people involved with being really, really, annoying?

Acorn has sued them right? Hopefully the truth will all come out in a court of law.

69 Blueheron  Tue, Dec 8, 2009 9:49:16am

re: #43 SixDegrees

Uh - there were several discussions questioning the editing of the tapes that took place right here immediately following their release. The questions were raised by the very people you're calling names - the 'rabid righties'.

In these same discussions, you'll find several calls for the full, unedited tapes to be released, by those same diseased mouth-foamers.

Before you accuse some nefarious group of broad-brushed bad behavior, I'd suggest an attempt to ground your remarks in reality.

Thank you Six for putting a word in for rabid righties. We are feeling awfully unloved nowadays :)

70 BunnyThief  Tue, Dec 8, 2009 9:50:11am

Blueheron, that might come out in a civil court. Don't pin any hopes on the criminal justice system -- ACORN is on tape bragging that they've got Jerry Brown in their pocket, and the us Justice Department is still trying to figure out how on earth armed Black Panthers uttering threats in front of a polling station might result in voter intimidation. In fact, they're being sued by a Civil Rights agency over that one.

And let's not forget that our current Attorney General is the guy who wrangled the pardon for Marc Rich...

71 Blueheron  Tue, Dec 8, 2009 9:58:33am

re: #70 BunnyThief

Blueheron, that might come out in a civil court. Don't pin any hopes on the criminal justice system -- ACORN is on tape bragging that they've got Jerry Brown in their pocket, and the us Justice Department is still trying to figure out how on earth armed Black Panthers uttering threats in front of a polling station might result in voter intimidation. In fact, they're being sued by a Civil Rights agency over that one.

And let's not forget that our current Attorney General is the guy who wrangled the pardon for Marc Rich...

Acorn has filed suit in civil court against the two kids in the videos. I don't know where it is right now but...

72 BunnyThief  Tue, Dec 8, 2009 10:09:42am

re: #71 Blueheron

Acorn has filed suit in civil court against the two kids in the videos. I don't know where it is right now but...

Just follow the smell of popcorn, Blueheron. That's gonna be one of the most entertaining cases in years. The discovery process against ACORN alone will be more fun to watch than the last six Adam Sandler movies.

73 lightspeed  Tue, Dec 8, 2009 10:58:10am

This investigation was bought and paid for by ACORN. Until this story is backed up by another source, I'll take it with a grain of salt.

74 Jaerik  Tue, Dec 8, 2009 1:52:24pm

ACORN shot my dog, stole my girlfriend, and then dinged my car in the parking lot of the grocery store and didn't even leave a note.

1 out of 1 Me's say it's true. That's 100%. It's anecdotally delicious.

75 celticdragon  Tue, Dec 8, 2009 2:39:03pm

re: #64 BunnyThief

Obdicut, how thoughtful of them to set aside the most egregious ones. That would have made it very convenient to put the better forgeries in the pile of valid ones. After all, we can trust them -- didn't they already do a great job of flagging the bad ones?

"These are the ones you should pay the most attention to. Don't worry so much about that stack over there."

NO private organization should be in the business of registering voters. They wanna organize people to go to their city clerk's office, fine. They wanna hold an event where public employees will be available to process forms, fine. But NO organization with a determined interest in the outcome of the election should be allowed to distribute, collect, and turn in voter registration forms.

And ACORN shows precisely why.

Private organizations have been registering African American voters since the days of Jim Crow, since the government in many Southern states made it virtually impossible for minorities to vote. Senator Theodore Bilbo actually suggested "visiting" potential black voters the night before an election, inferring that they should be lynched and hanged from a tree to dissuade other blacks from voting.

Senator Bilbo revealed his membership in the Ku Klux Klan on the radio program Meet the Press. During the interview he stated, "No man can leave the Klan. He takes an oath not to do that. Once a Ku Klux, always a Ku Klux."[20]

Bilbo was also outspoken in his belief that blacks should not be allowed to vote anywhere, the Fourteenth and Fifteenth amendments to the Constitution to the contrary. There were many allegations of disenfranchisement by black veterans, along with allegations that his campaign tactics provoked violence. Bilbo was also accused of giving war contracts out to his friends.

Bilbo was a prominent participant in the lengthy filibuster of the anti-lynching bill before the Senate in 1938. His language was even more passionate than that of his colleagues:


If you succeed in the passage of this bill, you will open the floodgates of hell in the South. Raping, mobbing, lynching, race riots, and crime will be increased a thousandfold; and upon your garments and the garments of those who are responsible for the passage of the measure will be the blood of the raped and outraged daughters of Dixie, as well as the blood of the perpetrators of these crimes that the red-blooded Anglo-Saxon White Southern men will not tolerate.[20]

Bilbo was re-elected to a third Senate term in November 1946, but the newly-elected Republican majority in the United States Senate refused to seat Bilbo for the term because he was suspected of openly inciting violence against blacks who wanted to vote and a committee found that he had taken bribes. A filibuster by his supporters delayed the seating of the Senate for days. It was resolved when a supporter proposed that Bilbo's credentials remain on the table while he returned home to Mississippi to seek medical treatment for his oral cancer.[22]

[Link: en.wikipedia.org...]


African Americans are still generally under-represented in voting totals, and community organizers and volunteers still try to make sure that minorities get the chance to exercise their Constitutional right.

76 BunnyThief  Tue, Dec 8, 2009 6:06:03pm

celtic, I feel pretty safe in saying we're past the lynching stage in voting rights. Now, it's gone to the other extreme -- the private vote registers are the ones who are posing the threat to the integrity of the system.

My suggestion? Have them pay for public officials to show up to their events and conduct the actual registrations. ACORN and the rest can organize them, promote them, publicize them, even transport new voters to and from the event -- but they don't EVER touch the forms.

Because ACORN has proven that they can't be trusted to be honest brokers.

77 cosmo  Wed, Dec 9, 2009 2:57:30pm

This should come as a surprise to absolutely no one. It's a non-story.

In this age of instant-gratification media, everyone edits. Left. Right. Up. Down. CIA. Al-qaeda.

Do you really think those ridiculous jihadi martyr videos are done in one take?


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