California Voters Tricked Into Registering As Republicans With Pot Petition

Sound familiar? Of course it does, it's one of the things that the Breitbarts of the right claim ACORN did. They always copy us, badly.

Orange County authorities are launching an investigation into possible voter registration fraud after a local newspaper reported over a hundred cases of voters being tricked into registering as Republicans by petitioners who asked them to sign petitions for, among other causes, legalizing pot.

The Orange County Register reported last week that the Orange County District Attorney's office announced it would team up with the Secretary of State on the case, following a Register report that 99 written complaints were filed since March by voters who said they were registered as Republicans without their consent.

Another 74 voters reached by the Register said they, too, were unwillingly made members of the GOP.

VIDEO- Rachel Maddow Show: ACORN pimp, UNedited

By GottaLaff

This was simply beauteous. Rachel turned the "ACORN pimp" story on its head. If you missed it, now's your chance:

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ACORN: Our national organization is alive and well

By GottaLaff

Earlier I posted a segment from The Rachel Maddow Show in which she blasts the GOP for out and out lying about James O'Keefe's Big Pimpy ACORN Moment. She also slammed the media for perpetuating those and other lies, and went on to report the real news, correcting the misinformation about the organization (and other topics).

Good for her. She deserves a damn medal for that and all the other work she does to expose all the "bull pucky", as she put it.

Here is some more truth for you. It's a rarity, so enjoy it while you can:

After months of budget problems and criticism from the right, the community organizing group Acorn plans to release a letter next week clarifying its path forward and stating that its local chapters may be closed, but the national organization is alive and well.

“You will continue to hear from Acorn — in the mail, on the Web, and in the media,” says the letter, a draft of which was provided to The New York Times. “And we need your continued support to counter the vicious antifamily, antiminority, anti-immigrant attacks of the Republican right.”

Ding!

That's really what this is all about, isn't it? The Rushpublics feel threatened by the possibility of a white minority, and by a diverse electorate that tends to vote Democratic.

Their remedy? Lie, turn voters against an effective group, a grassroots organization, that gives people who might not otherwise have one, a voice... or at least the means to muster one up.

The letter, which will be sent to the 120,000 or so members on Acorn’s e-mail list and to tens of thousands of dues-paying members, says that in many of the states where Acorn’s local chapters closed, 16 new, independent but allied organizations have been formed to continue grass-roots organizing.

Know what else? California Representative Darryl Issa is bellowing and kvetching about how this new team is not severing ties with Old ACORN. Wrong.

They're not using ACORN money, and the lawyers and accountants they are using have not been involved with ACORN previously. Plus, their boards of directors are nearly all non-Acorn members.

And that's the truth:

VIDEO- Maddow calls b.s. on GOP: Attacks on ACORN, "Climate-Gate" were "bull pucky"

By GottaLaff

Once again, Rachel Maddow nails it:

"Let's have the great debate about the role of government... only you can't threaten to shoot people. And you have to stop making stuff up."

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Those are awfully important revelations, aren't they? The ones Rachel covered in the video? They're stories one might expect MSNBC to go out of their way to report hourly, right?

Apparently not.

All morning, MSNBC concentrated on those other "big" stories, the ones about iPad and Tiger Woods.

Meanwhile, ACORN is no more, and voters believe that Climate-Gate was real. They continue to believe lies that the corporate media drive, repeat, perpetuate incessantly, lies that affect our elections and the well-being of the entire planet.

That is not news. That is propaganda. And it is not only unacceptable, it is toxic.

ACORN disbanding

By GottaLaff

We knew this was coming, sadly.

Be proud, right wingers (that includes you, James O'Keefe), your vitriol and lies have succeeded in depriving a whole lot of people of a whole lot of advocacy "for low- and moderate-income families by working on neighborhood safety, voter registration, health care, affordable housing, and other social issues."

But that would never do. Those people vote for Democrats, and besides, they're often not, you know, white:

National ACORN spokesman Kevin Whelan said Monday that the organization's board decided to close remaining state affiliates and field offices by April 1 because of falling revenues. Some other national operations will continue operating for at least several weeks before shutting for good.

Congratulations. You won, and America lost.

Tweet: "We'll use them 4 target practice"

By GottaLaff

My pal Symbolman (he co-authored the Going Rouge coloring book) aka Micheal Stinson, found someone, or two someones, we need to expose. We've managed to get several offenders deleted and/or reported to the authorities.

That won't change them or their desire to spread their toxic spew, but it has made a small impact.

It's the least we can do (click on images to enlarge):



After recent despicable events at the Tea Bagger protest, it's hard to imagine much improvement in the behavior of the worst in this country.

There has to be a way to defuse the hatred and vile threats. I wish someone would invent one already.

VIDEO- Colbert: "It was casual pimp Friday"; Makes Hannity his b*tch

By GottaLaff

The Colbert Report, March 4:

The Colbert Report	Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
Tip/Wag - James O'Keefe & Sean Hannity
www.colbertnation.com
Colbert Report Full Episodes Political Humor Skate Expectations

Slow news days allow us to post the fun stuff. And boyoboy was this fun!

Politico: "ACORN cleared in Brooklyn: 'No criminality' "

By GottaLaff

This would not be the first time that that ACORN has been shown to have done nothing illegal. Now we have more evidence. They get cleared... again:

From a March 1 post by Politico's Ben Smith:

Kings County, New York District Attorney Joe Hynes put out a statement just now:

On September 15, 2009, my office began an investigation into possible criminality on the part of three ACORN employees. The three had been secretly videotaped by two people posing as a pimp and prostitute, who came to ACORN'S Brooklyn office, seeking advice about how to purchase a house with money generated by their 'business.' The 'couple' later made the recording public. That investigation is now concluded and no criminality has been found.

No criminality. None.

Unfortunately, as usual, the media reports have already done so much damage, as has the pampered, well-connected Team O'Keefe, and the Rushpublic smear machine, that the ACORN brand has been irreparably marred.

So who's the real pimp here?

But hey, it's the American way.

ACORN 'dissolved as a national structure'

By GottaLaff

This is utterly wrong. Wrong. Wrong. Thank you Rushpublics, for screwing with the lives of real Americans... You know... the ones who need those evil, helpful reachy-outers:

The embattled liberal group ACORN is in the process of dissolving its national structure, with state and local-chapters splitting off from the underfunded, controversial national group, an official close to the group confirmed.

And thank you Jimmy Olsen O'Keefe, Jr. Felon.

Though the videos did not produce criminal charges, they appear to have been fatal to the national organization.

"Consistent with what the internal recommendations have been, each of the states are developing plans for reconstitution independence and self-sufficiency," said the official, citing ACORN's "diminished resources, damage to the brand, unprecedented attacks."

No criminal charges. That's right. None.

There is some better news, though:

A person familiar with the New York reorganization said the new group has a new board, including some relative outsiders, like an official at the union Workers United, Wilfredo Larancuent, as well as most of the old leadership. [...]

"It’s not like this is some kind of hostile thing," said the New York source. "This is what Fox has produced. National Acorn and Bertha Lewis are continuing doing their thing, but the New York flagship has been forced into this new organization."

[...] It’s people who still believe in their basic mission of fighting for poor people."

Conservatives don't like poor people. They're "different".

National ACORN says it continues to exist, despite the departure of state chapters, including also California's, which departed under similar terms last month.

Small comfort. The smear campaign worked. Congratulations on your successful sliming of a decent, productive American organization.

VIDEOS- CPAC: All the Breitbart lunacy you can stomach

By GottaLaff

Kerfuffles, shouting, sour-faced name calling, rants... Breitbart just can't seem to keep from losing it on a regular basis.

First, this from Dave Weigel (story here):



Next, this from Mike Madden at Salon:

Breitbart yells, defends ACORN investigation: The conservative media honcho says -- loudly -- it doesn't matter whether ACORN aided any real prostitutes.

And what's with the crazed fast-motion head shaking?

You have to admit, he gets all the attention he wants, and, as KagroX puts it, with gusto:



UPDATE: Here's one more, courtesy of my Twitter/Blunt pal, Tommy Christopher and Colby Hall, both of Mediate:



What an ego Breitbart has. If only he earned the right to have one.

ACORN mounts campaign to ’sting the stinger’

By GottaLaff

ACORN Pimp/PhoneGater "Jimmy" Olsen O'Keefe is going to have his hands full. He's got legal issues coming out his fedora. Let's hope every charge sticks.

ACORN CEO Bertha Lewis:

"Now that he's proven that [O'Keefe's] law-breaking isn't a one-shot deal, we are demanding that the attorneys general in California and Maryland conduct formal investigations of O'Keefe's actions from last year," Lewis said in the email. [...]

"Regardless of the impact on ACORN, the fact remains that the attorneys general for California and Maryland should be investigating O'Keefe's actions at our offices in those states, especially in light of what has happened in New Orleans" [...]

"[I]t is ACORN's success that has made the Glenn Beck/Karl Rove/Sarah Palin crowd so determined to destroy us," Lewis wrote. "According to a study by the New Organizing Institute (NOI), an estimated 865,000 people cast ballots in 2008 that had been successfully registered by ACORN since 2004."

Brad over at BradBlog had a few interesting little tidbits. Did you know this?

You folks do realize that James O'Keefe never actually wore his ridiculous pimp costume into those ACORN offices on those doctored and illegally recorded video tapes, right? But, rather, he was filmed outside of the offices wearing his get-up, while appearing as the conservatively dressed boyfriend of a hooker trying to escape an abusive pimp when the cameras were rolling inside the offices. That's just one of many deceptions O'Keefe carried out."

That's right: Little Baby James decked himself out like his role models, but only for the videos outside the offices. Once he was with Hookerette, he wore preppy wear. Maybe he just likes to play dress-up.

Let's hope his next outfit is orange.

Again, for the record, ACORN employees have done nothing illegal... unlike Hannity's little protege, Jimmy the Wonder Pimp.

ACORN Pimp/PhoneGater James O'Keefe's race problem

By GottaLaff

Salon.com has a new post up. Here's a nibble... that you'll want to spit out:

Now an activist organization that monitors hate groups has produced a photo of O'Keefe at a 2006 conference on "Race and Conservatism" that featured leading white nationalists. The photo, first published Jan. 30 on the Web site of the anti-racism group One People's Project, shows O’Keefe at the gathering, which was so controversial even the ultra-right Leadership Institute, which employed O'Keefe at the time, withdrew its backing. But O'Keefe and fellow young conservative provocateur Marcus Epstein soldiered on to give anti-Semites, professional racists and proponents of Aryanism an opportunity to share their grievances and plans to make inroads in the GOP.

According to One People's Project founder Daryle Jenkins, O'Keefe was manning the literature table at the gathering that brought together anti-Semites, professional racists and proponents of Aryanism.

This little twerp never fails to reveal an even dirtier, scuzzier, more repugnant side to him.

In an online diary that has since been scrubbed from the Web (but not before being captured on Daily Kos), he wrote that he was forced to live on an all-black dormitory floor after refusing to live with the gay roommate he was initially assigned. O’Keefe claimed his next roommate was “an Indian midget ... who smelled like shit.” The roommate left, however, and was replaced by “a greek kid.” The new roommate complained to a residential administrator that O’Keefe had called his neighbors “niggers,” prompting the school to expel him from the dorm.

This is the new conservative darling, huh? They can have him. May he bring them exactly what they, and he, deserve.

All you need to know about little Jimmy Olsen can be found in my previous posts here.

ACORN Pimp aka PhoneGater accuses others of " journalistic malpractice"

By GottaLaff

Here's everything you need to know about James O'Keefe and his journalistic standards.

Here's what Pimpy McBreakIn is saying now:

On reflection, I could have used a different approach to this investigation, particularly given the sensitivities that people understandably have about security in a federal building. [...]

It has been amazing to witness the journalistic malpractice committed by many of the organizations covering this story.

He says a whole lot more, too. Please follow the link to read all of it.

Tommy Christopher says:

When O’Keefe says “The government has now confirmed what has always been clear: No one tried to wiretap or bug Senator Landrieu’s office. Nor did we try to cut or shut down her phone lines,” he doesn’t provide any evidence of this confirmation. The original affidavit states that they tried to gain access to the telephone closet, and that it was probable that their intention was to maliciously interfere with the telephone system.

O’Keefe’s revision notwithstanding, reporting the contents of an FBI document can hardly be considered “journalistic malpractice.” Journalists have a duty to report facts from credible sources, not to tailor them to James O’Keefe’s legal defense.

This is the same Tommy Christopher who appeared in my pilot webisode of Blunt.

Any way you look at it, PhoneGate McHatCam is in hot water. And he's no "kid" as he is referred to in so many reports. He's 25, and his father is a federal attorney.

He knew better. He broke the law. He did this under the guise of being a journalist. I'd call that "journalistic malpractice".

VIDEO- Breitbart in tussle with David Shuster: O'Keefe was slandered.

By GottaLaff

David faced off in a huge way with Andrew Breitbart. If only they hadn't overtalked each other, this very heated exchange would have been a little easier to understand:

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Update on ACORN Pimp O'Keefe

By GottaLaff

MSNBC's David Shuster is reporting the latest on ACORN Pimp James O'Keefe and his band of merry felons (earlier post here, original post here):

There was no phone tapping equipment ON the felonious lads.

The so-called "listening device" in the van was actually a walkie talkie.... or cell phone.

Their motive? They were trying to shame Mary Landrieu, but too late... She did that on her own during the health care "debate".

They still face felony charges.

UPDATE: It is not a wiretap case, it is a federal trespass case, per Shuster just now. Additional charges could be brought, and plea deals are possible.

The people upstairs were communicating with the guy in the truck, via walkie talkie or cell phone.

O'Keefe had an exclusive deal with Andrew Breitbart for writing. Breitbart claims he had no idea O'Keefe was up to this, hadn't spoken to him in weeks.

But the question is, did O'Keefe have any financial incentive? They won't just take the word of the 4 guys.

On Keith Olbermann's Countdown, John Dean:

He says it's no prank, pretty serious, more of O'Keefe's entrapment journalism. They went beyond what is legal.

Karl Rove was one of the "early tutors" of this kind of thing, says Dean. Plus, he says, O'Keefe has been enouraged by his elders in the party. "Stupidity.... You'd think we'd evolved in our political intelligence..."

This was a classic criminal conspiracy... but we don't know who all the co-conspirators are. This may be more than 4 people.

This kind of thing has been embraced by the Republican right, although they're distancing themselves now.

VIDEO- Rep. Steve King: The real story is shielding ACORN, not NOLAGate

By GottaLaff

So this is what a conservative journalist looks like:

James O'Keefe's mug shot courtesy of Media Matters

Dave Weigel has more, but watch Rep. King do the "O'Keefe's innocent until proven guilty" dance.

"I don't need a lot more evidence to think there's something wrong with ACORN, I saw it with my own eyes. I didn't see James O'Keefe"

.... regardless of the fact that there's been no trial.

Rushpublic hypocrisy in action.

Video- New Orleans CBS affiliate reports on O'Keefe arrest, attorney has "no idea at this point" who is paying him

A little schadenfreude with your coffee.

"ACORN Pimp" busted

By GottaLaff

I've posted about James O'Keefe's little antics before, and about his background.

Finally, I get to post about his bustification:

The FBI, alleging a plot to wiretap Democratic Sen. Mary Landrieu's office in downtown New Orleans, arrested four people Monday, including James O'Keefe, a conservative filmmaker whose undercover videos at ACORN field offices severely damaged the advocacy group's credibility.

FBI Special Agent Steven Rayes alleges that O'Keefe aided and abetted two others, Joseph Basel and Robert Flanagan, who dressed up as employees of a telephone company and attempted to interfere with the office's telephone system.

A fourth person, Stan Dai, was accused of aiding and abetting Basel and Flanagan. All four were charged with entering fedral property under false pretenses with the intent of committing a felony.

A witness from Landrieu's staff said O'Keefe was present in the office and claimed to be "waiting for someone to arrive."

Gee, hypocritical much? This from the genius who was doing everything in his sleazy little power to bust ACORN.

Bugging a Senator's office, that's using your noodle.

Couldn't happen to a more deserving pimp.

More here and here.

ACORN loses California branch

By GottaLaff

(click on image to enlarge)

Repeat something often enough and it gains traction:

California ACORN has broken away from its embattled parent organization to form a new nonprofit group, a move that observers say might foreshadow other defections that would seriously undermine one of the nation's largest and most politically powerful community organizations.

The new group will have the same mission, will be staffed by many of the same employees who worked for ACORN, and will be funded by most of the same donors, said Amy Schur, the former head organizer for California ACORN. [...]

[T]he new group, the Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment, was incorporated in California on Monday. ACCE is seeking federal nonprofit status. [...]

Congress was under pressure to strip funding from the organization [...]

Although a federal judge ruled in December that the funding cut was unconstitutional, and a Congressional Research Service report found that ACORN had not broken any laws in the last five years, the scandal so tarnished ACORN's reputation that the California branch [...]

[M]embers with similar complaints in other states were considering following California's lead. He and others said donor support has plummeted. [...]

ACORN's chief executive, Bertha Lewis, blamed the woes on "a multiyear political assault stemming variously from the Bush White House, Fox News and other conservative quarters" [...]

Sigh.

ACORN cleared... again

By GottaLaff

Thanks to my pal Brad, we get some good reporting on something that will not be mentioned by the Tee Vee Machine's news dee jays.

ACORN, that evil commie Marxist fascist socialist African American Muslim organization, as it has been before, is cleared yet again:

And today, once again, ACORN is cleared of wrongdoing vis a vis yet another independent investigation, this one by the Congressional Research Service [PDF], as noted in a press release from U.S. House Judiciary Chair John Conyers this afternoon [...]

Of most note to our readers, Conyers' statement points out what we've been pointing out - over and over and over again for years: "There were no instances of individuals who were allegedly registered to vote improperly by ACORN or its employees and who were reported 'attempting to vote at the polls.'" Who knew?! What a surprise! (At least to Fox "News" viewers, who probably won't hear about this report either.)

Also: "No instances were identified in which ACORN 'violated the terms of federal funding in the last five years.'"

Brad has a lot more. Please go read it while I bask in truth and justice winning out for a change.

Oh wait. One more thing! I can't leave you without sharing this little gem:

Finally, according to today's report, Andrew "Drudge's Poodle" Breitbart's phony video-taped "sting operation" against ACORN may, itself, have violated the law in both California and Maryland, about which we might ironically recommend to prosecutors: "Capital punishment" for Andrew Breitbart!

Mmm, wasn't that yummy?

H/t: John Ennis