Things Republicans Think Merit Investigation More than Torture: ACORN
Given how frothy Republicans have gotten about the White House gate-crashers, I thought it’d be worth starting a catalog of things the Republicans think merit investigations more than torture.
Today’s edition: ACORN.
The eight Republican members of Congress who showed up for the hearing didn’t disappoint. With one exception, they labeled ACORN a “criminal enterprise” with close and current ties to the highest levels of the Obama administration and the labor movement.“President Obama previously served as ACORN’s lawyer, participated in ACORN training sessions in Chicago, and presided on the board of two organizations that funded ACORN’s Chicago chapter,” said [Lamar] Smith. An old picture of Obama in an ACORN office was posted near the hearing stand to bolster his point. “The president’s ties with ACORN taint any conclusions the Department of Justice may reach with regard to whether or not to investigate ACORN employees. That’s why I’ve requested that the attorney general appoint a special prosecutor to investigate ACORN.”
To bolster their case, Republicans produced 81 pages of documents about ACORN’s voter registration activities in 2004 and 2006 — a supplement to Issa’s 99-page July 2009 report, “Is ACORN Intentionally Structured As a Criminal Enterprise?”
The 81 new pages, helpfully highlighted by staffers, put ACORN staffers on the record planning voter registration drives and campaigns for “progressive” candidates. They also touched on the organization’s social work — “within the next year Maryland ACORN will conduct 500 new lead tests for low and moderate-income renters and homeowners” — but members and witnesses argued that the organization’s political activity, clearly benefiting Democrats and President Obama, was at least reason to strip it of tax-exempt status.
“The current admin is becoming, in reality, the war room for ACORN’s political machine,” said Issa. “The poor will be better served when ACORN is no longer a go-to place for services.” [my emphasis]
Lamar Smith thinks providing lead tests for low income people is more threatening to this country than torture.
For there to be cognitive dissonance..there must be cognition.
For the target audience ..of the ‘ACORN SCANDAL’..not enough cognition to produce dissonance.
Given the CD’s transgression were so huge and so obvious, do the Republicans have any choice than to try their best to misdirect any investigation and obfuscate any issues.
Party loyalty trumps patriotism.
Well, when you ain’t got nothin’, you gotta make shit up.
I have a suspicion that if Jesus Christ showed up tomorrow in Washington, D.C., he would be investigated by the fright-wing Republicans on suspicion of being a Terrorist Sympathizer.
Bob in AZ
Alright, Marcy…! No ‘blowjobs’…! Yeah…! ;-)
Hope you have enough machine memory. You’re likely to build a long list.
Yep. That’s why I figured I ought to start a real list.
Issa has been touting his health care plan as allowing anyone to buy into the federal plan members of congress enjoy. Dems may now be calling his bluff, just as they did Coburn.
Acorn would be the last on the list for needing a special prosecutor.
Hasn’t Wyden been proposing the same thing all along…?
No. Wyden wants a real public option that any group or individual can join.
I know he wants a strong PO, but, I’ve heard him say that he’d like to open up the Healthcare system along the lines of what the congresscritters have…! I think he mentioned that they have 17 different options to choose from…!
“Acorn would be the last on the list for needing a special prosecutor.”
Correct.. except that that is a rational analysis.
What is being presented as ‘THE ACORN CONSPIRACY’ has nothing to do with the facts about ACORN, or rational analysis of any facts at any level. It is constructed on innuendo, lies and relies on stupid people blindly following various ‘leaders’.
Think like they (republican ACORN shouters) do..the special prosecutor could find and expose all the plots and conspiracies back even beyond Whitewater. Bring down the whole shebang, 40 or so Dem senators,the never elected muslim presiden…(with no birt..). They are claimed to have stolen the 2008 election for the presidency, and the 60 seat Senate majority. “REVEAL THE ‘TRUTH'” is what they are saying with all this noise.
Whether the Republican politicians actually believe what they say does not matter much. Fire up the 25% to donate, teabag in public,buy autographed books…and hopefully vote.
The number of people that believe the ‘ACORN myth’ makes this a self perpetuating fraud that will continue, and continue to be used by Republicans.
The groundwork for this ACORN attack has been carefully laid for a number of years by conservative Republicans.
It is not to be ignored.
It needs to be viewed as a serious issue that must be dealt with by the Democratic party.
Pardon the interruption: Rich on “the surge.”
Yes, and Lamar Smith is also (sigh) my “representative.”
I got his robocall “survey” last week. He’s been touting the “results” as supporting his opposition to everything Democratic/Obama. The questions were so loaded I found myself shouting into the phone.
Tex. reporters actuallly questioned him about it – he doesn’t think the questions were unfair, of course.
It’s completely impossible to reach this guy on any issue I care about. Frustrating as hell.
I’d rather trust ACORN that these GOoPers. At least ACORN is reasonably sane.
Does ACORN have any strong voices in Congress on its side? Honest question — I’m wondering about people like Nadler and Delahunt, eg.
I googled “acorn nadler” and got many entries, including very negative stuff from the right. Here’s one that seems “fair and balanced” (sowwy): http://pubrecord.org/politics/5259/nadler-acorn-amendment-flatly/
Most of the Delahunt results were negative, though.
Thanks, fatster. That’s a good article — I should have remembered some of that from the fall, but it’s a good refresher course.
The comments at the article you link to display most of the range of
‘thought’ on this topic.
“By all means, let the trials begin! It is, indeed, the rule of law, and as such ACORN’s books should be cracked WIDE OPEN! And during the process, be held to answer for only way to be sure how truly deep the corruption goes, or, how truly “HIGH”, as the case may be…”
When the EW “real list” of things which merit investigation appears on the scene just wondering the following:
Will there be any instances of : ” any and all missing records and documents, the likes of which I would wager would number in the hundreds of thousands with regard pages.”
Will the lack of congressional oversight, lack of enforcement of existing laws, and purposeful incompetence and obstruction by agencies such as the Justice Department have prevented anything like this:
“70 ACORN employees have been convicted of crimes committed in the course of their work for ACORN and ”numerous investigations, indictments, and prosecutions currently pending against ACORN and its staff throughout the nation.”” …from happening in the past, or the present, with any entity on the EW list replacing ACORN in the above quote?
Will Newt be seen on the teevees saying something similar to the below quote, with ANY item on the EW “real list” inserted in place of ACORN?
““Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich argues that in light of the new evidence implicating ACORN in criminal activities, Congress should support a thorough, independent investigation of ACORN’s octopus-like structure.”
Will newt be on the “real list”?
I am sure Marcy does not apologize [blow job comment]. That was hysterical.
I think that Tam[sin?] person should apologize for putting words in EW’s mouth. That is just not cricket.
Marcy “it’s called the rule of law..the rule of law”
“don’t look back, move forward, next chapter, don’t be about retribution, revenge, turn the page”
At what point did holding people accountable for very very serious crimes start being defined as “vengeance” I thought accountability had everything to do about Justice and the “rule of law”
messed this up
Bob Schieffer thinks investigating, prosecuting and jailing WH State Dept. “party crashers” is much more important than going after our government sponsored torturers.