Small potatoes
Why the ACORN story is overblown
Small potatoes
Dick Polman, Inquirer National Political Columnist
Time is tight today - which is fine, because not much time is needed to dispense with the conservatives' pet notion that the latest ACORN story is some kind of monumental news development.
It has been fascinating in recent days to watch our right-leaning fellow citizens behave as if they had exposed an imminent al Qaeda plot to render unto dust all of midtown Manhattan. The current party line is that "the media" (defined in their circles as everyone except for Fox News and the conservative talk jocks) has been refusing to cover the earth-shaking scandal (prompted by conservative filmmakers in a sting operation) in which a handful of ACORN employes made the egregiously stupid and potentially criminal mistake of giving tax-evasion advice (to those selfsame filmmakers, who had shown up at ACORN disguised as a pimp and a prostitute in search of advice).
First of all, the appalling behavior at ACORN - the anti-poverty group officially known as the Association of Community Organizers for Reform Now - has in fact received mainstream media coverage, notwithstanding the insistence of conservatives convincing themselves otherwise. There were reports last week in at least nine newspapers ranging from The Washington Post to the Baltimore Sun, plus at least 11 separate reports on CNN in the four-day period starting last Friday and ending this past Monday.
But the ACORN story has not been given the same attention as, say, the health care debate or Afghanistan, for a very basic reason: It doesn't deserve that level of attention.
The Republican right, of course, wants major treatment because it has been targeting ACORN for decades; after all, ACORN signs up poor people to vote, and the Republicans are well aware - given their own predilictions to help the rich get richer - that the GOP's electoral prospects are potentially diminished when the poor turn out to vote. The Republican right also has a special interest in seeing the ACORN scandal trumpeted from every hilltop because they see it as another way to bang on Barack Obama - because, after all, ACORN does community organizing, Obama once did community organizing, and as a lawyer 14 years ago he represented ACORN in an Illinois court case (along with his other plaintiffs in that case, such as the League of Women Voters).
Did the ACORN employes who fell for the entrapment operation behave wrongly - and, perhaps, illegally? Absolutely. Does ACORN have a larger quality-control problem, as evidenced by the voter registration fraud probes launched by a number of states? Absolutely. Is ACORN's top official making too many excuses, wrongfully attempting to blame this whole scandal on what she calls "the right wing and its echo chambers?" Absolutely. But is this story truly worthy of front-page treatment, breathless wall-to-wall broadcast coverage, and daily blog attention? Absolutely not.
Why not? Because in the scheme of things, ACORN is small potatoes.
Amidst congressional moves to cut off ACORN's federal outlay, one Republican lawmaker announced the other day that ACORN has received roughly $53 million in taxpayer bucks over the past 15 years. John Boehner, the House GOP leader is outraged; he declares, "ACORN should not receive another penny of American taxpayers’ money." Well, bestir my heart. On an average basis, that $53 mil works out to a bit less than $3.6 million a year since 1994. That's pocket money for Uncle Sam. To put the ACORN tab into necessary perspective, consider this: the American mercenary/security firm once known as Blackwater received more than $1 billion in taxpayer money between 2004 and 2008 - the period in which some Blackwater employes shot and killed 14 Iraqi civilians and found themselves on the receiving end of a voluntary manslaughter probe. I don't recall any Republicans raising any concerns about the efficacy of that taxpayer billion.
If ACORN can't reform itself, then it deserves to be toast. More importantly, if Congress yanks all its money from ACORN (the House voted today to defund), other organizations will fill the breach and perform the necessary work in impoverished communites - doing all the things, such as helping people avoid foreclosures, that Republicans couldn't care less about. Which is another reason why the plight of ACORN is basically small potatoes.
If conservatives want to judge the news through their ideological filter, fine; after all, there are plenty of outlets ready and willing to erroneously depict ACORN as a clear and present danger to the public. Of course, those are the same outlets who repeatedly reported that last weekend's anti-Obama Washington march was attended by two million people, whereas the actual total was around 70,000. On the ACORN story, and so much else, I find myself less than willing to accept the news judgment of fact-free partisans who would inflate the size of a crowd by 1,930,000.
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Meanwhile, with respect to my speculative remark yesterday about potential comeback kid Michael Dukakis:
Comments (96)
The Angry Left on full display.— CD75- Small potatoes? Obama provides ACORN (a group that promotes tax evasion, child prostitution and illegal immigration) $800,000 last fall. Says alot about the honesty of our President. Obama cannot be trusted.— CD75
Comment removed.
The road to mainstream media irrelevance is paved with columns just like this one.— jmc- Comment removed.
- Dick, I have a rag for you to wipe that egg of your face from your blogs last fall about ACORN. Acorn, Ayers, Van Jones, palestinian professor guy, Rev. Wright. Gotta love Obama's pals. Birds of a feather stick together.— CD75
- But, but, but, an Oak tree grows from a single ACORN. Don't try to minimize this issue, Polman. We know the MSM is trying to hide the fact that O'Bambi is an underqualified, terrorist sympathising, Kenyan-born muslim with the most liberal voting record in the Senate. He also only got into school from affirmative action, hates white people and his wife isn't proud of this great nation. Where did O'Bambi cut his political teeth? In the corrupt, mean streets of Chicago as a - gasp - community organizer. Just like those folks at ACORN. Shout it from the rooftops with me. ACORN is corrupt! ACORN is what's really wrong with the US, not corporate greed or individual selfishness or political hypocrisy or religious zealotry. It's all ACORN all the time and you, sir, are part of the vast left-wing conspiracy to minimize the issue and shift blame on the R's!!! (WOOOO - HOOOO!!! Shady Acres, here I come!!!)— Phrossty
- From a little Acorn did the mighty marxist Obama grow from.— CD75
- Finally! When 4 Acorn offices across the country get in trouble for almost the same thing, it is systemic! I guess if you only get a little money from the govt. and break the law it is no big deal. Is that the logic? The MSM made it a bigger story by ignoring it so blatantly (as with Van Jones)! What does it matter how many people showed up for a march on Wash, DC in reference to this story? All associations pump up their protester numbers (the Million Man March comes to mind)! But I can play the, 'lets tie two subjects together that have no relevance' game too'! The Congress was worried about AIG employees receiving contractual bonus' of $160 Mil, when they/our govt. had lent AIG $180 Bil, so 'small potoates' is what this congress does best! Anything larger than that our congress usually messes it up on a scale just as large, IMHO!— NEPhilly
- It's pretty clear that the Conservative media, and Glenn Beck especially, can bring down this leftist government at the time and place of his choosing.— jmc
- On the here we go again front! ***Only one lender of consequence remains: the federal government, which undertook one of its earliest and most dramatic rescues of the financial crisis by seizing control a year ago of the two largest mortgage finance companies in the world, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. While this made it possible for many borrowers to keep getting loans and helped protect the housing market from further damage, the government's newly dominant role -- nearly 90 percent of all new home loans are funded or guaranteed by taxpayers -- has far-reaching consequences for prospective home buyers and taxpayers.*** http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/09/06/AR2009090602033.html— NEPhilly
- ***At the same time, taxpayers are on the hook for most of the loans that are still being made if they go bad. And they are also on the line for any losses in the massive portfolios of old loans at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which own or back more than $5 trillion in mortgages. There is growing evidence that many loans being guaranteed by the government have a significant risk of defaulting. Delinquencies are spiking. And the Federal Housing Administration, another source of government support for home loans, is quickly eating through its financial cushion as losses mount.***— NEPhilly
- ***Taxpayers could be hit with a staggering tab even if a small proportion of loans go bad. Fannie and Freddie now own or guarantee more than $5 trillion in home loans. (That equals two-thirds of the debt the U.S. government owes.)...Similar risks threaten to engulf FHA. Nearly 8 percent of FHA loans at the end of June were either 30 days late or in the process of foreclosure, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. That compares with 5.4 percent of such loans a year ago. As a result, FHA has been exhausting much of its loss reserves, which are funded by premiums paid by borrowers. The reserves currently stand at an estimated 3 percent of all outstanding loans, half of what they were just a year ago. If the reserves fall below the 2 percent threshold set by Congress, they could require a taxpayer bailout.***— NEPhilly
- Yeah, just 70,000 people. From the NYT: “Many came on their own and were not part of an organization or group. But the magnitude of the rally took the authorities by surprise, with throngs of people streaming from the White House to Capitol Hill for more than three hours.” The UK Daily Mail has the crowd pegged at 1 million. Check out the picture they printed at http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1213056/Up-million-march-US-Capitol-protest-Obamas-spending-tea-party-demonstration.html. The 70,000 comes from the DC fire department.— tom - wilmington, de
- As of now, both the House and Senate have voted to defund ACORN by overwhelming majorities, and the Census Bureau have cut all ties to the group. ACORN is finished. Your late to the party DP, just like the rest of your media buddies. Current events passed you by, and your column amounts to nothing.— jmc
- @NEPhilly - It sounds like you're suggesting it's a bad idea for the US taxpayer to invest in the US citizen to fund their quest for the American Dream of owning their own home. Hmmm... Be careful. The Conse'Pubs could brand you as unpatriotic.— Phrossty
- Tom - are you referring to the picture that was proven fake and was actually from 2003 during the Iraq war protests? Funny, how no one thought others would notice that the National Musuem of the American Indian was not in the National Mall shot.— chris_mcc
- ACORN is small potatoes, the group that Obama told would have a seat within his administration, that he would be meeting with prior to his even being inaugurated, so they could help shape the agenda for his presidency. And I guess Polman forgot that ACORN received money from states through Community Development Block Grants program and the Self Help and Assisted Home Ownership program, not to mention the Neighborhood Stabilization Program funded by the federal government (mainly, I believe, through HUD). How about the ACORN subsidiary organizations that receive federal dollars...like Project Vote. Yeah, small potatoes. Compared to Blackwater, who were protecting American diplomats, personnel, and other persons/projects/locations, and who had war casualties, ACORN is of course on a par.— tom - wilmington, de
- tom: UK Daily Mail did not "peg" the crowd at 1M. They said "As many as one million people" which is journalist speak for we have no idea how many. The 1 million number came from Michelle Malkin, who incorrectly attributed it to ABC news. Bottom line? No one has any clue how many people. Why wouldn't the DC fire department be just as accurate?— still_independent
- chris...why not just go to the link and see to what picture I refer.— tom - wilmington, de
- Headline from the UK Daily Mail article..."A million march to US Capitol to protest against 'Obama the socialist'" First line..As many as one million people flooded into Washington for a massive rally organised by conservatives claiming that President Obama is driving America towards socialism." That number did not come from Michelle Malkin, who debunked the ABC news report of $1.2 million people as not coming from ABC. She actually refused to report that number until ABC confirmed it came from them, then she reported that it did not. Actually, her blog (from what I read) does not even mention the UK Daily Mail story.— tom - wilmington, de
- phrossty, we were already down that road before, remember! Private banks should make loans for houses and the govt. should regulate them. That is how it always worked, until Fannie/Freddie/CRA/congress got involved in the housing market. It's like deja vu all over again, to quote Yogi Berra!— NEPhilly
- tom: from the last blog. Don't try to weasel out. You made a very specific statement ".."However, under current legislation, this cannot be classified as a hate crime, since only minorities can be subjected to a hate crime." referring to a group of African Americans beating a white kid. I then showed you FBI statistics that of the victims of a racial bias based hate crime, 18.3 percent were victims of an anti-white bias, and that ff the 7,330 offenders identified by police, 20.6 percent were black. These statistics show that minorities ARE charged with hate crimes, pretty much in proportion to their percentage of the population. Now instead of being a grownup and saying "I'm wrong", you are, as expected, attempting to weasel out saying that you were actually commenting on what Holder said etc. No, you weren't. You made a very specific statement. That statement was grossly incorrect. Grow up. I readily (and sadly, frequently) own up when someone points out a FACTUAL incorrectness.— still_independent
- Our own Bob Casey was one of the only 7 liberal extremists in the Senate who voted to keep child prositution enabling Acorn's taxpayer subsidy. Such left-wing radicalism has no place in Pa.— CD75
- tom: as far as the number of protestors, there are no reliable estimates for how many people were there. You look at the picture and say 1,000,000, I look at the picture and say 100,000. I'll trust the fire dept over the organizers, thank you very much. As for the Malkin thing, I'll also trust politifact over Malkin's CYA.— still_independent
- CD75 : candidate Obama provided $800,000 to ACORN last fall ?— still_independent
- still_independent, I responded to your post on the FBI statistics. What you fail to grasp is that I did and continue to base my statement on testimony before Congress of our US Attorney General, the highest law enforcement officer in the country who recommends prosecutors, decides on trying cases or allowing them to be dropped (see New Black Panther voter intimidation case), and, at least at the federal level, would probably have input as to what constitutes a hate crime. I am shocked that you would not take the thoughts of a key member of this administration as being how things should be handled. I even offered up his testimony to support my thoughts. I NEVER stated it was in the legislation. Are you saying you believe the current US Attorney General either does not know the law or does not know the statistics you referenced?— tom - wilmington, de
- still...politifact is correct...that is what Malkin stated in her blog. Her next line was "tweets Tabith Hale from D.C. Right below that is this line "Tabitha Hale says Parks & Rec estimated 1.2 million. An ABC News correspondent says it wasn’t national ABC News network that reported 2 million figure. I take them at their word — and am checking to find out more info." Seems even politifact can have an agenda in their reporting.— tom - wilmington, de
- We'll have to remember this one folks. 53 million dollars is " small potatoes " and the activities of the ACORN is no big deal. priceless commentary ! I cannot help but wonder if Polman would think this way if this was a right wing " get out the vote " organization. File this one away.
- Lets celebrate bipartisanship. The House voted 345-75 to cut funding for ACORN! Will our liberal posters be celebrating bipartisanship on here tonight?
- "The group’s vandalism on electoral integrity is systemic. ACORN has been implicated in similar voter fraud schemes in Missouri, Ohio and at least 12 other states. The Wall Street Journal noted: “In Ohio in 2004, a worker for one affiliate was given crack cocaine in exchange for fraudulent registrations that included underage voters, dead voters and pillars of the community named Mary Poppins, Dick Tracy and Jive Turkey. During a congressional hearing in Ohio in the aftermath of the 2004 election, officials from several counties in the state explained ACORN’s practice of dumping thousands of registration forms in their lap on the submission deadline, even though the forms had been collected months earlier.” In March, Philadelphia elections officials accused the nonprofit advocacy group of filing fraudulent voter registrations in advance of the April 22nd Pennsylvania primary. The charges have been forwarded to the city district attorney’s office.".................. Totally astonishing that Polman would characterize ACORN as "small potatoes". This will be my new catch phrase that I will be using on all liberals who cast dispersion upon Republicans. It's just small potatoes. Small potatoes, small potatoes.
- I was laughing when I read about ACORN myself. I am as leftist as anyone I know, and I don't know a single person in ACORN. I also happened to be down in D.C. and see the rally, and I'm not even sure there were 70,000 people there. It is good to see how the fascists celebrate the destruction of an organization dedicated to helping the poor. Shows their true feelings. They don't love America nearly as much as they love being a playground bully. I only wish the left-wing would be as deceptive as the righties in this respect: If it were them instead of us, they would've crafted a bunch of legislation to push through while the other team was worried about ACORN.— HandNik
- tom: again with the obfuscations. Regardless of what Holder thinks, or what you think he thinks, or what you think he thinks he thinks, minorities ARE prosecuted under hate crime bills. Thousands of them. Your statement "..However, under current legislation, this cannot be classified as a hate crime, since only minorities can be subjected to a hate crime." is incorrect. I do not care what mental mast**bation you went through to come up with it, or to continue to defend it. Your statement was wrong. If you preferenced it with "If Holder was in charge of the world" or anything like that, you may have a point. But you didn't. Again, just be a grownup and admit your incorrectness.— still_independent
- swedesboromike : I do have a major issue with many things ACORN does. I think they need to replace their entire management team, implement real oversight, etc. or they should lose their non profit status and be ineligible to ever receive government funds. That being said, can we please distinguish between voter fraud and voter registration fraud? I have yet to see any evidence of any voter fraud. I can't stand it when those terms are used interchangeably.— still_independent
- Phrossty- You said "It sounds like you're suggesting it's a bad idea for the US taxpayer to invest in the US citizen to fund their quest for the American Dream of owning their own home."...... Well Phrossy actually that is a bad idea. If the person can't afford the loan then it ends up in forclosure. Groups like ACORN threatened lawsuits if unqualified people didn't get a loan. Then in October of 2008 we saw the uninteded consequences of liberal lunacy with a mortgate meltdown. Yes, we know the Obama donors on Wall Street found crazy ways to make investment portfolios out of bad mortages but the zeal to lend to the unqualified was a huge contributing factor. So, yes , it is a bad idea for government to get involved in who gets a loan. You are seeing it now.
- and yes, I meant "prefaced"— still_independent
- swedesboromike : and to which party did the donations go when the donors donors on Wall Street were finding crazy ways to make investment portfolios out of bad mortages? Give up that one part and I can agree with you. Wall Street donates to the party in power. Period.— still_independent
- Handnik- ACORN is dedicated to lining their pockets at taxpayer expense and for fraudulant voter registrations. You would be having a coniption if a right wing group was doing the same activities.
- Still Independent- Are you really this naive? There are dead people who vote in the elections in Philly. Are really going to put this past a group like ACORN? Are they submitting fraudulant registrations cause it's fun to fill out paperwork? Of course not.
- Tom--I hate to beat this to death, but you keep on misinterpreting the statement by holder regarding hate crime legislation. The discussion involved prospective legislation penalizing hate crimes against homosexuals. A republican legislator asked a typical gotcha question as to whether the legislation would protect ministers beaten by gays for preaching against homosexuality. Holder avoided the question by simply stating the ancient rationale for new legislation. Legislatures are not supposed to pass new laws unless there is a demonstrated harm occurring in the country. Since there is no record of pastors being beaten by mobs of gays, there is no demonstrated need for the legislation. This has absolutely nothing to do with prosecutions under existing hate crime legislation. If the legislation on its face protects white victims--which it does--there's no inquiry into the original rationale of the legislation. I don't understand what your agenda is here. Are you so suspicious of Obama appointees--a black appointee in this case--that you automatically assume that the Obama administration will not protect white people under the law? In the absence of any track record or even remote reason to suspect that this will be the case, this seems paranoid or worse.— liberal
- @swedesboromike - At the risk of putting words in your mouth, are you suggesting ACORN is more powerful than bankers? Are you laying the economic collapse of 2008 at the feet of "liberal lunacy?" Would that "liberal lunacy" be the repeal of the Glass-Steagall Act of 1933, which allowed bankers and investment brokers to blur the lines, become TBTF (too big to fail) and commit the fraud. How come neocons seem to be OK with billions of dollars of fraud as long as it's perpetrated by wealthy, white landowners but get incensed if someone tries to inspire the "great unwashed" to claim a piece of the American Dream? The heart of Gladwyne is only 5-6 miles away from the heart of North Philly, but the hearts of those two regions are a universe apart. Why? Who benefits? I suppose the Eloi like you and I do until a Morlock from Camden breaks into our home and commits some ghastly atrocity. Pass the bread, I'm off to the circus.— Phrossty
- swedesboromike: I'll interpret your whole response as "no, I can't offer up any evidence". Want to know the main reason for voter registration fraud w/ ACORN? Because they stupidly pay people by the registration. Anyone ever deliver "shoppers' guides" or "circulars" as a kid? You got paid per paper delivered. How many houses got 12? How many storm drains got a little fuller? The individuals doing it aren't trying to influence anything. They're taking the lazy way out.— still_independent
- Tom--the statutory provision under HR3200 that provides for catastrophic coverage is Sec. 122(c)(2)(B). It has approximately the same definition--$5000 individual/$10,000 family as the current HSA provisions adopted by a republican congress a few years ago. I don't have the Senate bill yet. Can we please accept this at face value and not automatically argue that the Obama administration is sure to find a loophole that will allow them to kill catastrophic coverage?— liberal
- swede and others--I'm willing to allow your righties your outrage about Acorn, if you will allow my outrage at Halliburton, Blackwater, and other Cheney-connected military contractors who took us taxpayers for a fleecing that was orders of magnitude greater than anything Acorn did.— liberal
- Still Independent- Thanks for clearing that up for me. Every wonder how bags of uncounted ballots show up in democratic districts when there is a re-count? mmmm? That's just a mystery.
- Phrossty- you're demogoging. Bill Clinton signed the repeal of Glass Steagal. and for the recored Democrats get the majority of campaign donations from Wall Street Bankers. Bernie Madoff was a big contributor to the DNC and the Democrats.
- Liberal- Here we go again. comments not based in fact. The Acorn issues are well documented. Please explain Halliburton? Perhaps before you do you might want to check www.factcheck.org. The facts don't jive with the liberal dogma
- I know that we liberals are supposed to get over this, but since you guys brought up election irregularities, I'm having flashbacks of the 2000 election. Did Acorn ever do anything nearly as extra-legal as what the Supreme Court did back then? OK, forget it. My wife says to avoid getting excited about this stuff, it's cocktail time.— liberal
- Liberal- Might I remind you that Haliburton got contracts in Bosnia under Clinton. They are actually in some cases the only company that does what it does in war zones.
- liberal- most dogma from you. Better make it a double scotch. Please explain what was illegal?
- Swede--all right, since I'm still here, Dick Cheyney continued to receive payments from Halliburton throughout his vice presidency. No other federal official has ever been allowed to do this, as far as I know; the general rule is that the federal official must cash out anything that a former employer owes him for services. The tax law even has a special rule to allow this cashout, but apparently Cheney did't think he had to follow the law. Any contract with halliburton is suspect as a result. Under the circumstances, it's really up to them to prove that their contracts weren't corrupt.— liberal
- Hey, I can hear the ice cubes clinking but to be brief, the Supreme Court ignored established election law which gives election contest jurisdiction to the states, and then gave a 14th Amendment rationale for their decision which even they admitted was completely bogus. Even right-wing lawyers agree with this, even though they were glad the decision went their way.— liberal
- swedesboromike : quit adding one and one and coming up with eleven. People working for Acorn have committed registration fraud. Voter fraud has occurred in Philadelphia. Acorn commits voter fraud. You do understand that there's a big difference between filling out the name "Mickey Mouse" on a registration that will be rejected and actually showing up at a polling place, signing in as "Mickey Mouse" and actually being allowed to vote, right? .. Want an example of voter fraud? Florida "accidentally" purging legitimate voters from their voter rolls just prior to the 2000 election.— still_independent
- liberal : I'll land on swede's side for a second. Cheney was getting deferred compensation, it was for a fixed number of years and for fixed amount. He would have received it whether Haliburton lost money or made a mint. Maybe for appearances sake he should hav taken a lump payment, but that's neither here nor there.— still_independent
- liberal- In case facts matter on Cheyney and Halliburton. The following is from Fact Check.org.................That still would leave the possibility that Cheney could profit from his Halliburton stock options if the company's stock rises in value. However, Cheney and his wife Lynne have assigned any future profits from their stock options in Halliburton and several other companies to charity. And we're not just taking the Cheney's word for this -- we asked for a copy of the legal agreement they signed, which we post here publicly for the first time.
- More from fact check.org- This is really small potatoes. ...........A Kerry ad implies Cheney has a financial interest in Halliburton and is profiting from the company's contracts in Iraq. The fact is, Cheney doesn't gain a penny from Halliburton's contracts, and almost certainly won't lose even if Halliburton goes bankrupt. The ad claims Cheney got $2 million from Halliburton "as vice president," which is false. Actually, nearly $1.6 million of that was paid before Cheney took office. More importantly, all of it was earned before he was a candidate, when he was the company's chief executive.
- While we are talking small potatoes. Here is more from Factcheck.org. These pesky facts sure get in the way of liberal dogma............The Kerry ad isn't the only place the false $2 million figure appears. The Democratic National Committee also gets it wrong on their Web site. The dates of the Halliburton payments don't appear on Cheney's personal financial disclosure form from 2001, and the DNC assumed -- incorrectly as we have shown -- that all the 2001 payment were made after he took office.
- Still Independent- Yes I know there is a difference between phony registrations and phony votes. To think that they ACORN stops at phony registrations is laughable.
- ACORN!!! ACORN!!! The Sky is Falling!!! LOLOLZZzzzzzzzz .....— BarneyMiller
- Liberal- The Supreme court is the arbitrar of what is constitutional. It would not had mattered either way. Two news consortioums bought the rights to the recount and both found that under the current manner of recount Al Gore still lost. Albeit by very few votes. But while we re-hash Florida recount 2000 keep in mind that the derelict media declared the state for Gore hours before the polls closed in the panhandle of Florida- A Republican stronghold. The fact that you are trying to deflect the ACORN debacle by rehashing the recount and your Halliburton nonsense is amusing. It is the classic" liberal two step budwhatabout. " Now how was the double scotch you had at happy hour?
- "Limbaugh will enjoy the scorn. But he's a disgusting opportunist and racist. And his acceptability - indeed total dominance - on the right is one reason decent people will steer clear of the GOP for the foreseeable future. There is no nuance or doubt here. This is a man who wants a race war. Until the GOP throws him out, they deserve oblivion. He's a racist through and through, and if no one on the right stands up to this, they are complicit" ~ Andrew Sullivan, today, being the most correct he's been in a while. Wise Up Racist Righties - or face the consequences.— In on IT
- Score one for the Russian's today. Only in the liberal lexicon could a missile defense system be seen as provacative. Twas a step back for freedom and liberty and one big step forward for tyranny. Nice job Barack!
- The Eagles have taken a cue from Obama and have agreed to play the Saints this weekend without their helmets. All in the spirit of Barack's decision to not pursue a defensive missile shield in eastern Europe.— mgm65
- Politically, this has been a disaster for the President. His approval ratings have tanked in a very short period of time. The trillions in spending he has proposed, and his plans for a government takeover of health care have backfired and the administration is clearly shell shocked. Their recourse has been to attack protesters, launch verbal attacks on those that disagree with them and ignore the hundreds of thousands, many new to politics, who marched on Washington this past Saturday. This has also led to a growing number of Independents who supported or "leaned-Obama Democrat" to move away from support and questioning what is happening -- this was not what they had in mind when they voted for change.— mgm65
- Comment removed.
- D. POLMAN: That 2 million protesters was 200 thousand more than Obama got on Jan. 20. And that 200 million was only a conservative estimate, many believe the number was dramatically higher. A major university--I cannot remember which one--said it was easily triple that. I mean almost all of the country is unhappy that Bush is not still in office.— Talvenada
- I think Olbermann hits it right on the head about Glenn Beck --- he's today's version of "Lonesome Rhodes". A fascinating character played by Andy Griffith in the classic "Face In The Crowd". I start out getting a few yucks listening to his radio show, but can't seem to last past the first half hour. Too many people seem to inexplicably believe this guy & that's pretty scary.— yobill626
- Maybe ACORN can get the Cons to lessen their ire by following the lead of "Blackwater" & change its name. Pistachio, anyone?— yobill626
- Didn't vote for Dukakis in '88, but its a pretty shrewd political move for the Dems if they can pull it off. I don't think its going to matter, because I don't see the Dems getting close enough for him to be a "scale tipper" in an eventual Health Care vote.— yobill626
- The left is so desperate that they have resorted to the race card. In July they called the crtics an organized faux crowd. That did not work. In August the crtics were called "mobsters". That smear did not work. Now, they are racists. Does the left really think they can smear and shame America into socialist health care? Are they that crazy? Why is Dick so angry?— Comrade Noodlehead
- The mainstream media is so angry over the Acorn story because all it took to show the fraud of Acorn were 2 college kids dressed up in clothes from their grandmom's attic. The National Enquirer showed up the mainstream media on the John Edward's story. Now this. Once again, the mainstream media has been too busy being Obama's cheerleader to do anything else.— Comrade Noodlehead
- As to Dukakis, note that his "comback" is being fueled by democratic insiders who are manipulating the law and not the voting public.— Comrade Noodlehead
- Comment removed.
- swedesboromike/mgm : there is still going to be a "missile shield" there. It's goign to be geared towards short and intermediate range missiles, which Iran has (they are mainly going to use Patriots and SM-3s). The older proposed missiles, which were ostensibly to guard against Iran, were only useful against long range missiles, which Iran doesn't have, but Russia does.— still_independent
- yobill...Olberman should know. After all, Beck's ratings are three times Olberman's, and Beck is on TV at 5:00 while Olberman is on in prime time. Yep, Olberman surely should know.— tom - wilmington, de
- In order to prevent still_independent from having a coronary, I will state that my comment from FOUR days ago about minorities not being prosecuted for hate crimes (not limited to black people as asserted by Liberal, who still has also not admitted he misquoted me), I should have prefaced it with "According to the sitting US Attorney General". However, what both of these fine gentlemen miss is that no specific crime is codified as being a hate crime. Whether a crime is registered as a hate crime or not is at the sole discretion of the District Attorney, State Attorney General, and US Attorney General..depending on whose jurisdiction the crime falls. Therefore, I take very serious the opinion of the US Attorney General that hate crime legislation, whether proposed, pending, or enacted, is not intended or designed to cover those who do not have a history of being persecuted based on their race, religion, skin color, etc. To pass that off as just talk is, imho, grossly naive. As for ACORN, if such small potatoes, why did both the House and Senate vote to defund them, why is the CEO of ACORN now promising an investigation, and why is it now also on the network news and in the NYT.— tom - wilmington, de
- still...re the missile shield. It is great that Obama will station on an aircraft carrier in the Persian Gulf a short range missile shield. However, given that Iran is working to develop long range missile (they even recently launched a satellite to test their long range technology), this seems shortsighted at best and totally naive at worst. Obama caved in to the Russians at a time they are not supporting us on sanctions for Iran, they are also not helping with North Korea, they are getting cozier with Chavez and agreed to provide him with nuclear technology, and they are even selling anti-aircraft missiles to Iran. So exactly what, with this proposed smart power and reset of relations, is Obama gaining by pulling the rug out from two NATO allies who have troops in Iraq and Afghanistan? What does he suspect the Russians to do now...suddenly back more sanctions with Iran?— tom - wilmington, de
- I am constantly amazed at how righites don't care about money wasted on fantasy stuff like SDI, especially in Europe, but object to any money being invested in the American population. If Europe truly wants the Bush version of SDI (which is NOT being completely dismantled), why can't they pay themselves? Is this not the self reliance that you constantly preach?— Tony_From_PA
- Tom--where do you get the idea that the attorney general has discretion over any hate crime prosecution anywhere in the USA? And I'll say it again, and hope you get it this time, the Holder statement you quoted had nothing to do with prosecutorial discretion, it referred to justification for new legislation. This was crystal clear from the context and it mystifies me why you still keep insisting it means something else. And as far as the minority/black distinction, what is the significance of that? Isn't the issue whether white people (the majority) are protected by hate crime laws?re protected by hate— liberal
- It is never a good move unilateraly take a defensive weapon off the table without getting a concession in return! Is that 'smart power'? The Russian's haven't helped us with an international crisis since World War II and even then only when Hitler broke their non-aggression pact and attacked them! Why should we care what the Russian's oppose or think about any of our defensive weapons? It seems we have left the Poles and Czecks to fend for themselves again (like WWII & after), after they both have been loyal allies! It is not smart to throw your friends under the bus to make nice with your enemies, IMHO:)— NEPhilly
- swede--sorry i reopened old wounds. But what I said about the Supreme Court's decision in Bush v Gore is pretty much the consensus in legal circles, regardless of left or right orientation. Our opinions don't really matter. As for Cheyney's deferred compensation, most commentators in the press, including factcheck, don't understand deferred compensation. It happens to one of my areas of primary expertise and I can assure you that Cheyney continued to have a financial interest in the well-being of Halliburton during his vice-presidency. That's the way deferred compensation works--it's an ongoing contractual relationship, not a closed secured benefit. Whether he assigned the item to charity is irrelevant; he chose the charitable beneficiary. Also, a lot of people don't realize that when there is a conflict of interest, it poisons the public's faith in government, even if there is no actual benefit. Well, it's coffee break time, and I'm leaving the Bush administration to history, which i trust to do its job.— liberal
- Tom, the most depressing thing I read on here today is Beck's incredible ratings. Certainly a sign the new cultural war is in full tilt, at the expense of progress and community. Some notes. Both sides should be very careful to throw out the race card. There's no proof Wilson is a racist. Carter was wrong to suggest it. If Carter wanted to say some who oppose Obama are racially motivated, I can't imagine too many, if anyone, disagreeing with that. Throwing out the race card when no warranted is akin to cursing and shouting in lieu of honest discussion. On Acorn, I think they should be investigated. I think those less off should be encouraged to vote. There's a lot of hypocrisy here, though. Some call for an investigation of Acorn, a group that gets federal funding. I agree. Yet there are those that argue against investigating our elected officials when they blatantly defy the law, going beyond their own stretched guidelines for torture and eavesdropping without warrants, among other things. Why do we want it both ways? We all can see some wiggle room that our politicians dance and feint in the arena, in public and behind the scenes? Yet when they traipse, we should care regardless of the party. Before I'm accused of not wanting to protect our people, I do, and I want to do it strongly, militarily and politically. Seeing another video by bin Laden boils my blood.— RunWrite
- liberal...I, at one time, received "deferred compensation". The money was put in an account on which I received 6% interest. The amount I received had absolutely nothing to do with the performance of the company since it referred to compensation I earned on a tax deferred basis in prior years. Under what scenario, since this is one are of your expertise, would it be tied to future company performance?— tom - wilmington, de
- Liberal....hate crimes are "tried" under prosecutorial discretion. Are you saying that the United States Attorney General has no discretion in how federal crimes are prosecuted? Are you saying that federal prosecutors have no oversight done of them by the US Attorney General's office? Are you saying that the testimony of the US Attorney as to the impact of either proposed, pending or enacted legislation has no consequence on how laws are enforced and cases prosecuted? Since the only change to the law being proposed when Holder testified was to include sexual orientation in the language, does that mean Holder's opinion related ONLY to that one piece of legislation? If a white preacher who gives a sermon against homosexuality is attacked by a group of gay men for his preachings, and Holder does not believe that would be covered by the statute since the preacher was not part of a group historically persecuted for their beliefs, skin color, or whatever...are you saying that his opinion does not matter? His statements that only groups who have a history of being persecuted are coverd by the statute does not mean what it says? If that is what you believe, then we need to agree to disagree. I happen to believe is words mean something, and no spin can make it otherwise whether he was referring to pending legislation or not. Show me where a crime is specifically codified as a hate crime. It is always at the discretion of the prosecuting entity as to whether it falls into the hate crime category.— tom - wilmington, de
- From AP - August 17, 2009.."When Christopher Newsom’s bound, shot and burned body was identified, authorities warned his mother the sight would be too gruesome for her, but she insisted she had to go. More than two years later, the first of four people who could face a death sentence in the carjacking, rape and murder of her 23-year-old son and his 21-year-old girlfriend, Channon Christian, goes to trial on Monday....The case is racially charged - the defendants are poor and black, the victims, middle class and white...They were bound, blindfolded and brought to Davidson’s rundown rental home in an industrial inner-city neighborhood about six miles away....Newsom wasn’t there long before he was taken away, sexually assaulted, shot in the back of the head, set on fire and left beside some railroad tracks a few blocks away...Over the next day, Christian was repeatedly raped, bleach was sprayed in her mouth to destroy evidence and, Coleman told investigators, Davidson broke her neck. A medical examiner has testified that she suffocated after she was wrapped in plastic bags and dumped in a closed trash can...Police, prosecutors and the families say Newsom and Christian were not victims of a hate crime." Like I said, prosecutorial discretion.— tom - wilmington, de
- tom--how is deferred compensation tied to the performance of the company? Well, first of all not all deferred compensation contracts have a fixed rate of return not related to company profits. But even if they do, it's very simple. The contract is not a secured obligation (it violates tax law if it is). So if the company gets in financial trouble, the compensation may not actually be paid. Thus, if the employee is in a position to help the company avoid financial trouble or bankruptcy, he would be tempted to send some business their way if he was in a position to do so, or to cash out the contract to the detriment of other creditors. That's why the IRS views deferred compensation recipients to be similar to actual equity owners in certain respects.— liberal
- tom: I believe that the vast majority of prosecuted hate crimes are at the state level, not the federal. Holder has no juristiction over them whatsoever. In any case, you continue to speak in hypotheticals. In the real world, minorities are prosecuted for hate crimes. Blacks in particular are procescuted at a rate roughly equal to their percentage of the population. I'll drop it after this post. But as you continue to ty this to Holder in a lame attempt to mask your inability to simply say "I was wrong", below is your ENTIRE original post. Please tell me where Holder entered into it (until you were challenged on a factual basis)........ "You know what's messed up? In St Louis yesterday, a white student was beaten on a school bus by black students. According to police, the white student did nothing but sit in a seat and was beaten not once but twice while other black students cheered. The two assailants were taken into custody, and police believe it was racially motivated. However, under current legislation, this cannot be classified as a hate crime, since only minorities can be subjected to a hate crime. That is messed up."— still_independent
- Tom--you are right about prosecutors having the discretion to classify crimes under the applicable statutes. The attorney general has no authority in state criminal prosecutions and as the Bush dustup on this issue showed, he is well advised not to micromanage the US attorneys offices. But frankly, I don't much like the idea of hate crime laws since the concept is too vague and easily abused by prosecutors. So we probably agree on this point. The thing that bothers me is your willingness to assume that Holder, on the basis of nothing but a statement that is clearly out of context, can't be trusted to provide justice to white people. I think there is just too much of this kind of nonsense out there. Maybe Obama is as bad as you people think, but at least wait until there is some kind of evidence other than your gut-feeling dislike of the guy,.— liberal
- tom : OK, I guess I lied. I didn't intend to, but I didn't wee your last post until after I said I'd drop it. Why would this be a hate crime? Did they target the victims only because they are white? That's not mentioned anywhere. Listen, I'm not a fan of hate crime legislation except in very narrow circumstances, and murder should just be murder, but you offered nothing to show that this would be a hate crime under any sense of the law. Now if they set out to kidnap, rape, and kill the first white person they saw, then fine, it's a hate crime. Just because the perps were black and the victims were white doesn't make it a hate crime.— still_independent
- A Public Policy Polling Survey of New Jersey Republicans found that 33% think that Obama is not a citizen. 18% of conservative voters think that Obama is the anti-christ and 17% are not sure. I wonder how many of the right wing trolls here voted?— mxlplk
- @still_independent: Dude, the next time Tom or swedesboromike (or just about any Conse'Pub) utters the phrase "I was wrong" will be the first. It's like watching the scene in Happy Days where Fonzie is recovering from his motorcycle accident and tells Richie C, "I was wrruhhh. I was wrrRRRrr. I was WROaaaah. I was... not exactly right."— Phrossty
- Oh how delicious, and predictable!!! 'You lie' Wilson kept illegal immigrant in the US; Spokesman mum Wilson may have a conflict of interest, however. Two months before he heckled Obama, he introduced legislation to keep Sainey Fatty, an illegal immigrant from Gambia, in the country. Fatty came to the U.S. for school in the early ’90s and lived here for seven years while under a deportation order, according to his friend Bill Cook’s blog. In his bill, Wilson asks Congress to forgive Fatty’s immigration woes, drop the deportation order against Fatty and allow him to remain in the country legally. Wilson’s communications director Ryan Murphy told Raw Story in an e-mail that “Congressman Wilson does not support illegal immigrants getting access to a government taxpayer funded health insurance program.” He did not respond to questions about what motivated Wilson to keep Fatty in the country or whether Wilson supports Fatty’s ability to receive medical care in the U.S.— PicassoArt
- Obama kept saying in his speech before Congress what his plan covered nd what his plan did not cover. He is also touring the country touting what is in his plan. Has anybody seen his plan? If so, where is it?— tom - wilmington, de
- Phrossty, I have admitted before when I was wrong. You are wrong about that.— tom - wilmington, de
- I don't mind if somebody fails to own up to a mistake and say "I was wrong." Nobody likes to eat crow. But it does bug me if a guy continues to make the same false statements even after being corrected.— liberal
- @tom - I've been wrong before and I'll be wrong again. I'm looking forward to your next admission of error. I hope it arrives before Godot.— Phrossty
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Cited by the Columbia Journalism Review as one of the nation's top political reporters, and lauded by the ABC News political website as "one of the finest political journalists of his generation," Dick Polman is a national political columnist at the Philadelphia Inquirer. He is on the full-time faculty at the University of Pennsylvania, as "writer in residence." Dick has been a frequent guest on C-Span, MSNBC, CNN, NPR and the BBC. He covered the 1992, 1996, 2000, and 2004 presidential campaigns.
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