Credit Where It's Due: Andrew Breitbart 1, Acorn 0
I’ve had my disagreements with Andrew Breitbart. I stand by them. But I must commend the gonzo journalism I’ve just seen at his new Web site Big Government, edited by Mike Flynn. Were a major newspaper to publish similar findings, the reporters would be favorites for prestigious awards. I doubt reporter James O’Keefe is going to enjoy those kinds of accolades, but he is certainly due credit for a shocking expose.
I’ll phrase this in what I take to be the way that would maximize Mr. Breitbart’s satisfaction. Imagine if he’d appeared on the Sean Hannity show and said the following:
ACORN isn’t just unfit for taxpayer funds — it is an organization so lax in its oversight that what goes on at some of its field offices would shock the conscience of any moral American. If a pimp and a prostitute walked into the Baltimore ACORN office, the employees wouldn’t just overlook their illegal profession. They’d openly help them to commit tax fraud, to conceal the smuggling of underage illegal immigrants from El Salvador to work as teen prostitutes, and to launder the money from that kiddie brothel into a political campaign.
I’d have mocked Mr. Breitbart if he’d made those claims. Others would’ve too.
In this case, however, we’d have been wrong!
Conor:
Just couldn’t bring yourself to give credit where credit is due when it comes to Glenn Beck. I believe he touted this thing before Breitbart. Though it doesn’t really matter who was first, does it? If it only appeared on Breitbart’s site, no one would know about it. Now we’ll see if anyone outside of that faux news organization Fox News carries it. I’ll bet Mike Wallace is mad as hell right now.
So is mocking an acceptable form of political discourse now?
— jd · Sep 11, 12:04 PM · #
Geez, jd, no need to look a gift horse in the mouth.
I take this as a concession of sorts. Perhaps Conor will be more discriminate with his mockery in the future. He should continue to roast Beck, Breitbart, and the like when they deserve it, but shouldn’t assume the worse just because he doesn’t like their mien. Which I suppose is what he’s doing in this post.
Keep it up, Conor!
— Blar · Sep 11, 12:38 PM · #
I watched part of the video, and I kept thinking there had to be some other explanation… but all I can come up with is that the branch office in question is really messed up. Or maybe the problem’s not ACORN, but rather Baltimore. I don’t know. Anyways, it appears that Beck and Breitbart deserve some credit for this story — though I’m guessing their goal of using it against Obama is going to obscure the extent of the actual problems this video reveals.
I mean, I’m not going to feel like I’ve got the whole story until some other folks look into it. Because it’s such a disturbing video.
— william randolph · Sep 11, 01:28 PM · #
I know, I know, you’re right. I just have a hard time accepting token gift horses.
— jd · Sep 11, 05:14 PM · #
Hmmm… With the Washington DC video out, it looks like Brietbart 2, Acorn 0.
— Andrew Berman · Sep 11, 06:39 PM · #
Can’t speak for this ACORN office, obviously, but I volunteered doing taxes at one of their offices in San Francisco and they were hard-assed, by-the-book people. I do individual taxes through three different programs – KPMG, the IRS Education Division and ACORN – KPMG was by far the most lax and the most willing to defraud the government, while ACORN wouldn’t put a single number on a return unless you had a dated receipt or a canceled check.
— Mark · Sep 11, 08:26 PM · #
The DC office also messed up. ACORN employs people who have no idea what they’re doing, and for many, it’s the first legit job they’ve ever had. If CBS/NBC/ABC had done this kind of investigative work, maybe TV news wouldn’t be dead.
— Bo · Sep 11, 10:37 PM · #
So this means whenever right wing nutjob brings up ACORN, I have to conceed they are part of the socialist pimp and ho takeover? Great.
— Chuck · Sep 11, 10:40 PM · #
Wouldn’t it be great to put aside all the hate that has been spewed by both sides (starting with the recount in Florida) and begin working together on the problems that we ALL face? Thank you for giving credit where credit is due. (I’d really like to hear Keith Olbermann say something positive for a change.)
— dmboucher · Sep 12, 02:33 AM · #
This is shocking and I hope there is an investigation into fraud at these and other ACORN branches. But it’s unfair to say this is 2 to 0. For all I know they went to dozens of ACORN offices which behaved better. Or maybe they had received tips about a couple offices that were especially terrible and just focused on those and ignored good offices. This is certainly a problem and it should be dealt with, going all the way up to the top of ACORN if the evidence suggests this is systemic. But I am unable to make such a judgment based on these samples. If you show me a King and an Ace of Hearts that doesn’t mean you have a royal flush.
— Danny · Sep 12, 08:24 PM · #
I admire your willingness to concede points to the other side. In this case, however, you’re being duped.
Editing can make anything look like whatever you want it to. As an edtior, this looked incredibly fake to me. Admittedly, Michael Moore does this too. But it isn’t right. When this guy shows the unedited footage, then maybe there’s room for discussion.
Also, notice someone in the comments mentions that they called this ACORN branch and found no such people there by those names, and then is immediately shouted down by the others. I have no idea if anyone is this case is telling the truth, but the reaction is quite telling in itself. Don’t believe everything you read (or see) on the internet.
— Tom · Sep 13, 03:28 AM · #