A recent Public Policy Polling blog reports an alarming poll result. A majority of Republicans believe that the 2008 Presidential elections were rigged by ACORN.
This sentiment echoes Doug Hoffman's insistence that his defeat in New York's 23rd Congressional district was due to interference by ACORN. Despite evidence that he trails significantly enough that even a sizable lead in absentee ballots could not make up the difference, Hoffman seems to be in denial over his loss.
ACORN, for those who don't know, is a citizen's action organization committed to registering under-served, under-represented intercity communities to vote and providing them financial advice. It has been the focal point of a few partisan investigations and has suffered from scandal due to unscrupulous employees. However, ACORN represents the very essence of America's democratic principles: A more perfect union forged through increased and diversified participation. If anything, we should all be standing up for ACORN and helping to correct its problems.
While the focus of commentators like Glenn Beck has been on ACORN's scandals, the organization continues to do volumes of legitimate work helping the unprivileged. In fact, the conservative movement's obsession with ACORN is largely built out of a desire to purge minority, intercity, and lower-to-middle class voters from the rolls in order to guarantee electoral success. Beck in particular seems to take his paranoia over ACORN to unimagined heights by insinuating that me might be a target of assassination for his criticism.
If the outrage over ACORN was genuine we would hear these same individuals devoting as much time to the contractors in Iraq that have bilked the taxpayers out of billions of dollars and committed acts of debauchery and abuse on camera.
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As Ghandi said, "Humanity is an ocean; if a few drops of the ocean are dirty, the ocean does not become dirty." This is the way I feel about ACORN. Sure, they registered their fair share (and then some) of Mickey Mice, Elvi, and other names, it can not be voter fraud unless the cartoons and musicians actually show up to the voting booth with an ID in hand that lists their residence as within that voting district, matching their registered listing in the voter registration book. The whole ACORN thing is nothing more than making mountains out of mole hills.
ReplyDeleteBut, then again, if you are a politically-leaning news organization, and all you have are mole hills, you have to make mountains somewhere or you lose ratings, advertisers, and eventually, your jobs. That someone would assassinate Glenn Beck is absolutely laughable, almost as laughable as his belief in his own self-importance enough to invent himself into a target. Must be awfully boring to be Glenn Beck. I wonder what his therapist thinks of it all.