We are witnessing a resurgence in grass-roots conservatism. To go with it, we could use more guerrilla conservatism. At the moment, the most effective such effort is coming from James O’Keefe, 25, and Hannah Giles, 20, who, as everyone knows, are releasing a series of videos in which they go to various ACORN offices looking for help in securing a mortgage.
Not just any mortgage, of course, a fraudulent one, to help O’Keefe and Giles, ostensibly a pimp and prostitute, set up a house of prostitution that will employ illegal 13, 14 and 15 year old girls from El Salvador, while avoiding taxes and committing various other crimes.
Yesterday O’Keefe and Giles released their third such video; they have now gotten “assistance” from ACORN offices in Baltimore, Washington and New York. So far, none of the ACORN employees have been fazed by their request for help in committing mortgage fraud. As one of the ACORN employees says in the latest (New York) video, “Honesty is not going to get you the house.” Here is the New York video, in two sections:
Almost all liberal news outlets have boycotted the ACORN story, but Congress is nevertheless hurrying to distance itself from the group. Today, the Senate voted to bar HUD from giving grants to ACORN. The vote was 83-7. The credit goes to O’Keefe and Giles.
The AP’s linked account of the Senate vote is grudging:
The action came as the group is suffering from bad publicity after a duo of conservative activists posing as a prostitute and her pimp released hidden-camera videos in which ACORN employees in Baltimore gave advice on house-buying and how to account on tax forms for the woman’s income. Two other videos, aired frequently on media outlets such as the Fox News Channel, depict similar situations in ACORN offices in Brooklyn and Washington, D.C.
Note the distinction the AP implicitly draws between “bad publicity” and news. The AP didn’t cover the ACORN scandal; that was done by “media outlets such as the Fox News Channel.” The AP makes no apology for failing to cover a story that resulted in an 83-7 vote in the Senate.
In recent months, Republicans have become increasingly critical of the census’ ties with ACORN. The group, which advocates for poor people, conducted a massive voter registration effort last year and became a target of conservatives when some employees were accused of submitting false registration forms with names such as “Mickey Mouse.”
The AP acknowledges that it’s only Republicans and conservatives who have a problem with voter fraud, but the AP’s attitude is inscrutable: you get the feeling that the AP may think this is an indictment of Republicans and conservatives.
The AP gives the last word to ACORN:
On the hidden camera controversy, ACORN says it has fired the employees involved but has lashed out at Fox for pumping up the scandal. In a statement, Bertha Lewis, ACORN’s chief organizer, said the tapes had been doctored and violated Maryland’s wiretapping laws. She promised to sue Fox.
Somehow, I doubt that such a lawsuit will be forthcoming.
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