reply to post by FlyersFan
Here's my understand of the situation, and correct me if I am wrong. It's tough to gather much detail because most sites I pull up are simply
smearing and not stating facts (OMGz Acorn did a bad thing and Obama knows them!!!!!!!), and unfortunately, the news isn't much better.
Obama was not ACORN's lawyer. He wasn't on a permanent payroll. He was a co-litigator for ACORN (this is a one time deal) against the state of
Illinois.
Inside Obama's Acorn
Obama and a team of Chicago attorneys won a 1995 suit forcing the state of Illinois to implement the federal “motor-voter” bill.
So, this is 13 years ago. He's not an employee of ACORN, he is just a co-litigator representing them in court (again,
once). Here's what he
was trying to get Illinois to adhere to:
The NVRA
Section 5 of the Act requires states to provide individuals with the opportunity to register to vote at the same time that they apply for a
driver's license or seek to renew a driver's license, and requires the State to forward the completed application to the appropriate state of
local election official.
Section 7 of the Act requires states to offer voter registration opportunities at all offices that provide public assistance and all offices that
provide state-funded programs primarily engaged in providing services to persons with disabilities. Each applicant for any of these services,
renewal of services, or address changes must be provided with a voter registration form of a declination form as well as assistance in completing the
form and forwarding the completed application to the appropriate state or local election official.
Section 6 of the Act provides that citizens can register to vote by mail using mail-in-forms developed by each state and the Election
Assistance Commission.
This entire piece of legislation is based around helping people, especially lower-income (oh, I know how some of us hate those lower-income folks) and
disabled people to register to vote.
- Can register when getting a license.
- Places that help the disabled provide ability to register.
- Mail-in forms for people who, for whatever reason, are not able to make it out to register.
The next part in the article that "ties" Obama to ACORN is weak, at best.
Part of Obama’s work, it would appear, was to organize demonstrations, much in the mold of radical groups like Acorn.
Hinting that holding rallies makes you like a radical group. This is not a tie, but rather saying that his work was "like" what ACORN does because
it involved holding rallies and demonstrations.
The article then goes on to detail a nice little anecdotal story of no significance:
Acorn demonstrators pushed over the metal detector and table used to screen visitors, backed police against the doors to the council chamber, and
blocked late-arriving aldermen and city staff from entering the session... orchestrated by Acorn’s Madeleine Talbot... This was the woman who first
drew Obama into his alliance with Acorn, and whose staff Obama helped train.
So, Acorn demonstrators went overboard, and the event was orchestrated by a woman who asked Obama to train her staff. How is this story of no
significance?
Well, the story admits it themselves, but then tries to downplay its admittance of irrelevance afterwards:
Does that mean Obama himself schooled Acorn volunteers in disruptive “direct action?” Not necessarily. The City Council storming took place in
1997, years after Obama’s early organizing days.
Though it does say this (with no evidence offered up):
And in general, Obama seems to have been part of Acorn’s “inside baseball” strategy.
Nice little cheap shot with no actual proof. This is drive-by garbage.
So, here are the ties so far:
- He sued Illinois for Acorn to get a piece of Federal legislation enforced that helps people register to vote.
- He trained staff. The only story up until now that anyone cared about with Acorn was the unruly demonstration, that he had no part in. He
trained the staff "years before" the event even happened.
Yes, that's all we have so far folks. Pretty weak "ties". I wouldn't hang my life on the balance of that thin thread.
Somehow it jumps to this:
With Obama having personally helped train a new cadre of Chicago Acorn leaders, by the time of Obama’s 2004 U.S. Senate campaign, Obama and
Acorn were “old friends,” says Foulkes.
So they admit Obama's training likely didn't contribute to the unruly protest, but he's "old friends" with all of them? Again, no evidence is
used to support this claim.
So along with the reservoir of political support that came to Obama through his close ties with Jeremiah Wright, Father Michael Pfleger, and other
Chicago black churches, Chicago Acorn appears to have played a major role in Obama’s political advance.
Does anyone else seem to think that they will smear anyone in Chicago who he participated with to help clean up it's dirty streets? It's a dirty
job, and there are bound to be some jaded people in that line of work. That doesn't take away from the overall purpose or goal.
Sure enough, a bit of digging into Obama’s years in the Illinois State Senate indicates strong concern with Acorn’s signature issues, as well
as meetings with Acorn and the introduction by Obama of Acorn-friendly legislation on the living wage and banking practices. You begin to wonder
whether, in his Springfield days, Obama might have best been characterized as “the Senator from Acorn.”
No evidence to back it up. Again, basically another entire paragraph dedicated to saying Obama is tied to Acorn with no actual facts to back it
up.
Now onto your link (which I had actually read earlier).
Michelle Malkin
This left-wing group takes in 40 percent of its revenues from American taxpayers — you and me — and has leveraged nearly four decades of
government subsidies to fund affiliates that promote the welfare state and undermine capitalism and self-reliance, some of which have been implicated
in perpetuating illegal immigration and encouraging voter fraud.
Besides the end with voter fraud, the rest of the entire introduction requires you to, in essence, be Republican to agree with. Though, I am not sure
I've seen that voter fraud has been shown in Illinois yet?
The article talks mostly about Obama being on boards that funded Acorn. It smears Acorn (agree with it or not, it's a smear) in order to make any
connection with Obama look bad.
My guess with voter fraud:
Acorn committed these acts so that they would continue to receive funding. The better the job they do, the more funding they get.
I can't really
see how Acorn would have planned to get these fake people to vote. Can you?
What I can see is the organization signing all of these people up so that they have good numbers. Good numbers mean more money. More money means...
well I don't need to explain what more money means to a bunch of conservatives.
So I am not all that sure about this group. Obviously the voter registration fraud is ridiculous (but notice it's voter registration fraud not
voting fraud), but I am far less willing to accept that
everything they have done in the past is evil - as much as these writers would love for
us all to believe.
Most importantly, these articles only confirm my suspicion that there is absolutely no firm connection between Obama and Acorn. He is not actively
involved with the group, and has not been for many years - over 13 years ago, briefly.
I need more than this to care. I don't mind investigations. What I mind is people running their mouths (centurion1211) that Obama
is the one
committing these acts, not Acorn. It's unfounded, and not true.
They'll just keep saying it until the steam runs out and then move onto the next piece of mud they can dig their hands into.
kinda makes you sick, doesn't it?