The next installment in the ACORN chronicles:
Police say a worker with the activist group ACORN who was caught on video giving advice about human smuggling to a couple posing as a pimp and a prostitute had reported the incident to authorities.
National City police said Monday that Juan Carlos Vera contacted his cousin, a police detective, to get advice on what to with information on possible human smuggling.
Vera was secretly filmed on Aug. 18 as part of a young couple’s high-profile expose.
Police say he contacted law enforcement two days later. The detective consulted another police official who served on a federal human smuggling task force, who said he needed more details.
The ACORN employee responded several days later and explained that the information he received was not true and he had been duped.
So, he plays along with them, then contacts the police, by the time they get in touch with him he learns it was a hoax, and a month later the wingnuts post the video as if he really was trafficking in humans. Awesome.
It gets better:
Vera was fired on Thursday.
I’m sure we’ll hear all about this at Breitbart and the cable news. USA! USA! USA!
(via)
Evinfuilt
Just like Republicans to help the economy by pushing someone else into unemployment and welfare, sadly he won’t even be able to go to ACORN for help.
The Grand Panjandrum
Rolling up on Memeorandum right now. WHOOPS! Everyone doing business with government is subject to law.
Ash Can
And keep in mind that, by his own admission, the little putz who made the video did it because ACORN helps people who are unlikely to vote Republican register to vote.
Zifnab
Actually, there is a brighter side to all of this.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/09/22/whoops-anti-acorn-bill-ro_n_294949.html
joes527
Ah well. It turns out that the anti-acorn bill that passes both houses was so broadly written that it will require de-funding the entire military industrial complex.
So, I’m calling t his a win.
Scott
But if the fake pimp and prostitute get prosecuted, that’s unconscionable political retribution of American patriots.
Sentient Puddle
@Zifnab: Eh, I’m not getting my hopes up. Once legislators figure this out, I’m guessing there will be some “emergency” legislation written up to keep propping up that military industrial complex.
Warren Terra
The modern “conservative movement” is the old saw about a lie getting halfway around the world while the truth is still getting its boots on, implemented as a governing philosophy.
The mendacity of all this, of course, makes the victims of the movement – such as Mr. Vera – especially tragic.
The Grand Panjandrum
@Zifnab: This is my fave:
Man I love it. This does point out the obvious hypocisy of our Congressional masters. How do they pass legislation without offending and cutting off one of the most powerful lobby sectors.
licensed to kill time
@Ash Can:
The other little filmmaker/ho doesn’t fall far from the tree :
linky
SpotWeld
Is the jerk who made the ACORN video, anyway related to the jerk from the MSU chapter of YAF?
licensed to kill time
@Ash Can:
The other little filmmaker/ho doesn’t fall far from the tree :
linky
(Acorn, tree….)
Zifnab
@Sentient Puddle:
No doubt. But in the mean time, we get a whip count of all the military gombas willing to run back out and fix it. And we give Obama and the Dems a bit of leverage on discussing things like the F-22 cancellation. And we really get to watch the military industry complex squirm while they silently strangle their GOP contemporaries so busy burning witches that they caught fire to the church.
Scott
SpotWeld, I believe it’s the very same guy.
licensed to kill time
oops, double post.
Morbo
Knew this piece of news was coming in one form or another. Hopefully John Stewart (not counting on it) or other news sources (HAHAHA, yeah, right) will acknowledge it and apologize at least to this guy.
SpotWeld
My bad, Kyle Bristow was the MSU jerk. The video maker, James E. O’Keefe III, was a Rutgers jerk.
Mouse Tolliver
Apparently, the fake pimp is getting bankrolled by the Leadership Institute. Ironically, real life Republican prostitutes Jeff Gannon and Matt Sanchez also have ties to the Leadership Institute.
J
A test of our press. Will this receive the same kind of attention as the original story, which has to be viewed in a very different light now? I’m not holding my breath, since unlike the first story, this one doesn’t have that special feature to recommend it, namely advancing the right-wing agenda and proving that one is free of the dread left-wing bias which we all know holds the media in its grip.
kay
I didn’t know this piece of news was coming. I believed the young conservative filmmakers, sadly, because now this thing they cooked up looks like it’s unraveling rather quickly, and it probably only gets worse.
Incredibly stupid of me, I know.
I’m really sorry he was fired, and I’m afraid he won’t be able to get another job, because he’s been nationally smeared.
Dreggas
Looks like congress’ normal knee-jerk overreaction bit them this time. Of course they won’t learn a damn thing from it.
Comrade Darkness
That video, out of all of them, most had the feel of get this loser the f*ck out of my office any way possible.
And, any day now, on the heels of attacking corruption everywhere, the DoJ will start seriously investigating Blackwater/Xe. Bah ha ha ha ha.
joes527
@Mouse Tolliver: I believe that the law of unintended consequences tell us that the Leadership Institute receives Federal Funding which will be cut due to provisions of the Anti-Acorn bill.
C’mon universe — you OWE ME this laugh.
General Winfield Stuck
From the time I was a wee lad, momma always said don’t talk to no pimps and ho’s lookin’ for advice. This tip has served well but I don’t know why. Specially when the pimp looks like Jim Carrey dude in The Mask.
kay
@Mouse Tolliver:
I read that yesterday. I had been avoiding the ACORN hysteria, because it’s so insanely over the top, and the workers are such easy and powerless targets. It reeks of one of those crazy witch hunts we indulge in every six months in this country, but only launch against people who make 9 dollars an hour.
Now it turns out to be complete bullshit. Shocking!
Forget the media correcting anything they “reported”. They’re terrified that conservatives will feel victimizing.
It is amazing media didn’t do any independent verification. Amazing. Is this a new low? I lost count.
Paul L.
@Ash Can:
Looks like the reporters from the Washington Post invented the quote to slime them.
pablo
That’s how the headline should read. I can just see a Fox bimbette reading it and never realizing it slams them!
Rosali
Hannah Giles wrote for her college paper.
An excerpt:
” … All of this implies the Democrats are using Obama as a flashy puppet to distract from the corruption of their show. Obama: Hawaiian-born, Harvard graduate, has a cool cat reputation. His mother was white, his father black. It is safe to assume there are no prejudices there, and this should make it easy for him to relate to all people…. Problem: Obama is a new man every day. He speaks of change. And that he does daily, right in front of America’s eyes.”
R-Jud
@Zifnab: The “longer list” mentioned in your link there really is delicious. I recommend everyone go check it out to warm the cockles of their hearts.
kay
OT, but this is happy news. Our county unemployment rate fell two points. It was at 17+, and is now 15. We manufacture here.
I knew this is my “gut”, and posted it here, with zero data, just talking to people, so I’m all excited, now that I have the number.
Not to whine, but this was the worst year here in my lifetime, and if it’s ending, I’m celebrating.
Keep you fingers crossed.
General Winfield Stuck
@Paul L.:
Well gosh PaulL, that’s a keeper. Group mostly registers mostly peeps from those groups which is widely known btw. O’Keefe wingnut says they register voters is why he did it, but since he didn’t mention specifically Latino’s and Blacks, WAPO clarifies.
Brilliant Sherlock!
El Cid
Thank God the Democrats finally had the guts to respond to instantaneous, unsubstatiated hyperbolic charges by screaming right wingers by doing 100% of what they wanted, because, you know, fuck a bunch of black community organizers who assist the homeless and the about-to-be-homeless.
I mean, who gives a shit about who they are and what they do and who’s attacking them and what’s the context of the story, because only a buncha damn stinky fring hippie ultra leftists would care about that stuff when good, moderate Democrats instead know that the proper course of action is to shit your pants whenever Glenn Beck looks at you funny, and then Obama can play his ‘Oh I don’t know these people, I’m just Mr Cool inthe sensible middle’ bullshit song again.
Fuck these worthless asses. I hope they did just defund all the mil-theft hacks.
Gwangung
that says more about her than Obama. To anyone who’s been paying attention, he’s been who he says he’s been.
Zifnab
@Paul L.: I like how Paul L is the only schmoe here who decided to read this piece and continue the anti-ACORN crusade.
You’ve got guys like KBR with 18 documented instances of misconduct since 1995, wracking up $103 million in fines, and poor Paul is still sitting there whining, “But ACORN! But ACORN!”
Talk about missing the boat. Paul L truly is the modern model glibertarian.
kay
@Zifnab:
Forget contractors. You have the Interior Department itself. Sex, drugs scandal and now corruption charges against the Secretary.
But ACORN is the real problem here.
JenJen
@Ash Can:
This. It has always been this.
kay
@General Winfield Stuck:
I’ll donate to ACORN, for “lesson learned”.
I should know better than to believe a single word that comes out of a young conservative activist’s mouth.
Ash Can
@Paul L.: Unless you can supply a link (the original WaPo article is registration-only), all I can say is, that’s right, he didn’t mention them specifically. He didn’t have to. If he’s got a chip on his shoulder about ACORN because, like I said and like he was paraphrased, they help people register to vote who aren’t likely to vote for the candidates he supports, then he needs to grow the hell up and review what his junior high social studies books said (assuming he went to a legitimate school in the first place).
Zifnab
@kay: To be fair, we wouldn’t have this level of scandal if it was just the Interior Department.
Selling out to a couple of your friends in northern Alabama on an Interior Department land deal is small potatoes compared to selling out to a Fortune 500 company.
When Exxon screws you over it does it to the tune of $2.3 billion dollars, after all.
kay
@Zifnab:
I keep hoping someone will investigate the 2.2 billion in federally-funded faith-based grants that are out there, but no one does.
Go in to one of those quasi-state-religion shops with a hidden camera.
See what’s going on with “MY TAX DOLLARS!”
If there’s one thing I would think liberals would be good at, it would be film-making. You-all are letting me down.
KevinNYC
The other issue about this this whole setup is, if a pimp and human trafficker came to your place of work, you might not want to make trouble for them WHILE THEY ARE RIGHT THERE WITH YOU. Because they are criminals and possibly violent. So the hidden cameras wouldn’t capture your actual response to the situation JUST AS in this case.
Since ACORN workers tend to be from the poor communities they serve, they probably have a lot more experience with dealing with street criminals that the jackass young republicans running the sting.
R-Jud
@kay:
Exhibit A: Cole’s issues with Final Cut.
jl
Sounds like the Congressional anti-ACORN law is so broadly written, a noticeable fraction of Congress will lose any federal funding they receive, and both major parties will be out of business.
The Grand Panjandrum
@R-Jud: IOW he couldn’t possibly be a liberal.
kay
@R-Jud:
I don’t even have a camera, so I’m not going to make fun of him for that. I don’t want a camera, either, so don’t make any suggestions as to brand.
I’m not creative. I do expect a lot from the Creative Lefty Class, however. I support creative people, in theory.
I’ll expect an expose on Faith Based Grant recipients, Leftists. With good music. And believable costumes. And attractive people. And compelling dialogue.
Nothing shoddy like this ACORN crap.
Ash Can
@El Cid:
Hear, hear.
ACORN has been around for 40 years, has advocated for the poor, homeless, and literally disenfrachised in inner cities nationwide, and only now is being accused of being crooked?
Bullshit, bullshit, and bullshit.
It’s about race, it’s about class, and it’s about power — specifically, the other guys beating your guys at the polls this time around. Above all else, though, it’s about delegitimizing the presidency of Barack Obama, in any way possible.
Anyone who claims it’s about accountability or the rule of law is either completely unaware of what’s actually happening or is a damned liar.
Montysano
@J:
Of course. A full and heartfelt apology from Fox News, Beck, Hannity, et al is forthcoming, who will retract their original story and make sure their viewers are given the facts.
And tomorrow I’ll wake up young and slender and with a full head of hair…..
NutellaonToast
So what’s the tally now on people who’ve “helped” and then been shown to have either “not helped” or “called the police.”
Have any of them actually really ended up being totally helping pimps and hos? the coffee can lady? anyone?
Xenos
Any news about an ACORN suit against Fox News and the various GOP groups that supported this? It looks like a pretty straightforward case of defamation, illegal recording, fraud, conspiracy to defraud, and so on. There are some deep pockets to go after, and discovery could be all sorts of fun and games. We just need a couple million dollars to get a good firm lined up… anybody got some scratch?
freelancer
Why do you love this place so much lately, Cole?
It seems like kind of a fucked up, unjust place to live, no?
jefft452
Hannah Giles wrote for her college paper.
Does Broward collage get any State or Fed money?
Why are they using my hard earned tax dollars to pay admitted prostitutes?
I demand an investigation
Richard Bottoms
So why in the FUCK the head of ACORN blasting this on their blog moments after the video became public? Why wasn’t he on Good Morning America the very next day???!!!
Jesus Christ, sometime I think I am on the wrong team.
Shitheads. They deserve to be defunded for reacting to this in such a stupid, inept fashion. They have had conservatives screaming for their heads for more than a year and this their lightning fast response to this now apparently baseless charge??
Fucking idiots.
MelodyMaker
@Ash Can:
snipping your comment; shit I laughed here. You make him sound like a jealous wannabe community organizer:
J
@ Montysano
My bald spot’s already gone!
I mean seriously there is an obvious response to this sort of thing: the govt or the grant-bestowing agency investigates the individual incident and looks into the possibility that it is part of a wider pattern. That would involve, inter alia, interviewing the people involved. In a different way, the press should do the same thing, among other things by talking to the parties involved, seeing what the Acorn people had to say for themselves, for instance, perhaps visiting a few other Acorn offices to see what goes on in them. The whole thing was a product of the right-wingers low cunning, crafted to appeal to what Digby calls the lizard brain, with its stereotyped picture of inner city black people. Everything about this incident, the original provocation, the spinelessness of the democrats, the enthusiasm with which the press lent itself, once again, to the purposes of right wing propaganda fill me with feelings of disgust and loathing.
ominira
This bill could also end up defunding many universities whose researchers rely on federal grants: Johns Hopkins, University of California, and MIT are on the contractors misconduct list. Heck, even the “Government of the United States” (whatever that means) is number 18 on the list. This will be walked back so fast.
Jachovia
Kyle Bristow, the Michigan State University rightist, is friends with James O’Keefe on Facebook. Also, doing some preliminary research shows that both of them worked at the Leadership Institute during the summer of 2007. They are related in that way, but I can find nothin else.
Ginger Yellow
It’s good that he went to the cops, of course, but two days is a strangely long period of time to wait. His ability to identify them would be a lot worse, for a start. I suppose he may have thought it was bullshit from the start, but had a change of heart later.