Grayson is rapidly becoming a favorite of mine. I am not necessarily in line with his politics, but I love his pit bull approach to his role. This clip is a brilliant dressing down of the whole Acorn obsession currently distracting Congress from more pressing business.
My friend, John Jansen (JJ) posted this clip on his Facebook page yesterday. Good thing, too – I had missed it. According to JJ, "a smart ass is better than a dumb ass."
I agree and I sleep a little better at night knowing there are Constitutional wonks like Russ Feingold, Robert Byrd, Paul Ryan and this guy – Rep. Alan Grayson – keeping an eye on things in the House and Senate.
http://www.salon.com/news/opinion/glenn_greenwald/2009/10/22/grayson
Did ACORN make mistakes? Of course. And they should correct them. Play by the rules.
But organizations that facilitate the right to vote to Americans – any American – are not the bad guys. (How much have we spent over the past 10 years democratizing countries around the world by promoting open elections?)
I agree with Rep. Grayson. Republicans -- get over it. Let’s move on.
Andrew Breitbart, 40, the conservative Internet entrepreneur, is responsible for the conservative websites BigGovernment and BigHollywood. His main website is Breitbart.com.
Mr. Breitbart grew up in Hollywood. He worked in film production and music journalism before finding the internet in the mid-1990s. He worked on the Drudge Report. Matt Drudge introduced him to Arianna Huffington, the liberal blogger. Mr. Breitbart designed a website for her back when she was still a Republican.
Mr. Breitbart held liberal views until 1991, when the Clarence Thomas hearings changed his views. He came to hate the left-wing show-biz culture. Mr. Breitbart practices a type of journalism that would constrain a traditional newsperson. He engages in political activity.
James O'Keefe, a 25-year-old aspiring filmmaker, came to Mr. Breitbart in early August 2009, with videos of him playing a pimp in meetings with Acorn along with a partner in crime Hannah Giles, who played a prostitute.
Mr. O'Keefe was asking Acorn counselors for advice on how to evade the authorities while setting up a business offering the sexual services of underage girls smuggled into the U.S. from El Salvador.
Mr. Breitbart chose to release the first Acorn video on Sept. 10, 2009, the day after President Obama's speech to a joint session of Congress.
Mr. Breitbart's work on the story has centered on a sophisticated public relations campaign. He placed exclusives not only with Fox, but with local newspapers in the cities where the videos were made.
On his website, he published the raw videos and complete transcripts. The importance of the strategy was the timing of the video releases. The Baltimore video was the first. The video from Washington followed on Sept. 11.
Acorn claimed that Mr. O'Keefe and Ms. Giles had been rebuffed in four cities, including New York and San Diego, but on Sept. 14, the New York Post reported that in fact the pair had received offers of help from Acorn's Brooklyn office.
The Obama administration was quicker than much of the national media in responding to the scandal. On Sept. 11, the Census Bureau announced that it was dumping Acorn as a partner in promoting next year's enumeration.
The first mention of the sting on a network evening newscast, CBS's, did not come until Sept. 15, the day after the Senate voted 83-7 to deny the group federal housing funds. The New York Times reported it for the first time a day after that.
The Internal Revenue Service joined the Census Bureau in cutting ties with Acorn, and Congress voted several more times to defund the group, including a measure to deny it all federal money, which passed the House 345-75 on Sept. 17.
Mr. Breitbart claims victory. He says:
At every step of the way, we were correct. At every step of the way, the mainstream media took the lies of Acorn. At every step of the way, the mainstream media attempted to cover up for Acorn... If they think that Acorn or the Democratic Party or the NEA or the Office of Public Engagement is the primary target, they couldn't be more wrong.
It is the Democrat-media complex. It is the mainstream media. No jury would need more evidence at this point. The Clark Hoyts of the world should just put their pens down and retire right now and walk away. They lost.
Reporters also were and still are operating on incomplete information by Mr. Breitbart's design. He refuses to say how many videos he has yet to release, or what is on them.
Even if one accepts Mr. Breitbart's critique of the mainstream media, nobody should root for their downfall or destruction. Their role is a vital one, whether or not they perform it well. While Breitbart-style opinionated journalism can provide healthy competition, it cannot substitute for straight news.
Mr. Breitbart was interviewed by James Taranto, a member of The Wall Street Journal's editorial board. The complete article can be viewed here.
In no way am I a fan of ACORN, I am not. I found the tapes of their activities repulsive. Any organization that contemplates setting up teen prostitution rings should be investigated and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law and convicted with extreme prejudice if found guilty.
But in no way should congress single out an individual or group and write laws about them. The Constitution of the United States Of America Article 1, sections 9 and 10 specifically forbid it.
I seriously wonder when the last time congressional member have read the constitution from beginning to end. Seems like the 75 congressional allies of ACORN’s did.
I support the 75 congressional leaders who voted against baring federal funding for ACORN. They were correct and the rest of congress acted illegally.
To quote my main man Cheney: freedom means freedom for everybody.
Now congress please take this advice: Commence a congressional investigation immediately so this cruel and immoral organization can be disbanded legally.
And now for something completely corrupt...
To enjoy the continuing story – including lots of video – of corruption at ACORN offices from coast to coast, see Breitbart's Big Government web pages (represented in the large graphic above by the Monty Python foot). Go there by clicking on the words, OKAY, SURE, WHY NOT?
ACORN has received a grand total of $53 million in federal funds over the last 15 years -- an average of $3.5 million per year. Meanwhile, not millions, not billions, but trillions of dollars of public funds have been, in the last year alone, transferred to or otherwise used for the benefit of Wall Street. Billions of dollars in American taxpayer money vanished into thin air, eaten by private contractors in Iraq and Afghanistan, led by Halliburton subsidiary KBR. All of those corporate interests employ armies of lobbyists and bottomless donor activities that ensure they dominate our legislative and regulatory processes, and to be extra certain, the revolving door between industry and government is more prolific than ever, with key corporate officials constantly ending up occupying the government positions with the most influence over those industries.
aKoЯn has issues.
All those little ACORNs turn out to be .38 rounds.
The San Bernardino ACORN office lends its expertise in areas beyond housing, prostitution, child abuse and tax fraud.
