Patterico's Pontifications

9/15/2009

San Bernardino ACORN, Part 1

Filed under: Politics — DRJ @ 2:28 pm



[Guest post by DRJ]

James and Hannah visit ACORN in San Bernardino, California:

Don’t miss this one.

— DRJ

UPDATE: Fox News has the complete video. In response, ACORN claims its employee thought this was a gag and was just playing along.

57 Responses to “San Bernardino ACORN, Part 1”

  1. Now, I do feel sorry for this woman. But she does not belong in that office. ACORN had no business putting her into that job.

    But, ACORN apparently being stupid beyond all estimation, is the one to bear the heat for this.

    It’s ACORNs roasting on an open fire… just rushing the season a bit.

    And as soneone else noted elsewhere, this is the best Fall comedy series out there!

    John Burgess (8f4b1b)

  2. ACORN SAN BERNADINO
    1490 N D St
    San Bernardino, CA 92405

    So nice of her to let us know who the players are:

    State Senate (Dist. 32 – Dem)
    Senator Gloria Negrete McLeod

    State Assembly (Dist. 62 – Dem)
    Assembly Member Wilmer Amina Carter

    Congressional Rep
    Joe Baca (D-43)

    TakeFive (7c6fd5)

  3. You forgot one name on that list – BARBARA BOXER.

    Dmac (a93b13)

  4. Allahpundit: “Lots of long, languid shots of Hannah G. rocking the miniskirt in this new video. Cynical? Or *genius*?”

    Jim Treacher: “Or?”

    Karl (f07e38)

  5. Am enjoying these videos – and the thought of a sea of ACORN employees panicking, scrambling and losing sleep – far, far too much. WTG to these two young journalists. Look at all the chaos they’re causing so far. And O’Keefe keeps quoting Alinsky. LOL The entire left must be grinding their teeth in frustration.

    Just think, if they ended w/ some big revelation outta the Chicago office – PRICELESS.

    no one you know (1ebbb1)

  6. She’s actually an ACORN organizer, and has been acclaimed by Democracy for America as such.
    However, they’re now busy taking down all the Google links to her name . . .

    I think that says it all.

    Ozwitch (e851a8)

  7. From tiny ACORNS do mighty Obamas grow.

    Ropelight (6f0b7c)

  8. It’s not just the immediate impact on ACORN, cuz they can start over under a new name, and probably will. It’s the knowledge that *anyone* who walks in the door in the future, with any request at any time, could be the start of round II.

    ras (20bd5b)

  9. You would think that Acorn would be getting in front of this by now, finding out who they talked with and getting them firmly under the bus before the next video is released.

    Eirik (efdb0c)

  10. From Acorn.org just now:

    It is not coincidence that the most recent attacks have been launched just when health care reform is gaining traction.

    They’re explicitly linking themselves to ObamaCare at this time. If I were an American opposed to that initiative, I’d grab a screenshot this very second, while it’s still there.

    Later, I might be inclined to ask a Dem pol or two whether they agreed with ACORN that ACORN was being persecuted solely supporting Obamacare, or whether child-sex slavery by itself was enough reason to investigate.

    ras (20bd5b)

  11. Yup, the group took down Kaelke’s info and the cached version.

    I’m sure someone in Patrick’s line of business can find out about the alleged murder. Who knows, she is a big BSer.

    Patricia (c95a48)

  12. I am glad that these two are more shrewd than I originally gave them credit for. The ongoing bit-by-bit release does keep the story alive and makes it harder to bury. And the more ACORN wants to put up a fight, the bigger the attraction will be.

    MD in Philly (d4f9fa)

  13. Each of these episodes seems to be more serious and more sensational. I’m sure there are ACORNs all over the country waiting for the next shoe to drop and hoping this isn’t a centipede.

    MIke K (2cf494)

  14. Think of the possiblities here.

    Next week O’Keefe could dress up like a sultan and say he needs housing for his nine wives.

    Then he could put on a sombrero and say he needs a drop house for the illegals he wants to smuggle in.

    This would of course be followed by him blackening some of his teeth and saying he needs to set up a meth lab real quick.

    This would make great counter-programming against Obama’s speeches.

    TakeFive (7c6fd5)

  15. In my local rag, The Arizona Republic, there has not been a single word written of this scandal. In fact, the only mention of the Van Jones deal was Krauthammer’s syndicated column, which surely would have confused the readership, who hitherto had heard nothing of the affair.

    Gazzer (22ecdc)

  16. I don’t understand, these are serious crimes being disucssed with strangers. How normal can it all be among the ACORN crowd that they make no effort to hide their criminal side?

    What speakeasy didn’t have a password?

    tim maguire (4a98f0)

  17. Their blog and tweets are a bit silent:

    http://twitter.com/acornie

    http://acornofinlandempire.wordpress.com/

    However the kids in the front office are hard at work. Willie Horton is even helpin’ out:

    http://www.acorn.org/

    Statement from Bertha Lewis, Chief Organizer, ACORN Regarding Recent News Reports
    September 12, 2009

    The relentless attacks on ACORN’s members, its staff and the policies and positions we promote are unprecedented. An international entertainment conglomerate, disguising itself as a “news” agency (Fox), has expended millions, if not tens of millions of dollars, in their attempt to destroy the largest community organization of Black, Latino, poor and working families in the country. It is not coincidence that the most recent attacks have been launched just when health care reform is gaining traction. It is clear they’ve had these tapes for months.

    We are their Willy Horton for 2009. We are the boogeyman for the right-wing and its echo chambers. If ACORN did not exist, the right-wing would have needed to create us in order to achieve their agenda, their missions, their ideal, retrograde America. This recent scam, which was attempted in San Diego, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, Philadelphia to name a few places, had failed for months before the results we’ve all recently seen. I am appalled and angry; I cannot and I will not defend the actions of the workers depicted in the video, who have since been terminated. But it is clear that the videos are doctored, edited, and in no way the result of the fabricated story being portrayed by conservative activist “filmmaker” O’Keefe and his partner in crime. And, in fact, a crime it was – our lawyers believe a felony – and we will be taking legal action against Fox and their co-conspirators.

    We will not be intimidated by this international conglomerate, which has made as its mission the destruction of our organization. ACORN members are committed to the empowerment of their communities – Black, Latino, poor, and working families – at the deepest level. We are an organization committed to halting the foreclosure crisis and keeping people in their homes. We are an organization committed to ensuring quality, affordable health care for every American. We are an organization that will not be stopped in our commitment to our members and our communities which has included:

    Helping hundreds of thousands of African-American and Latino voters register to vote and get to the polls in recent years;
    Preparing, since 2004, approximately 150,000 free tax returns totaling $190 million in refunds and increased earned income tax credit participation;
    Providing effective foreclosure prevention advocacy saving thousands of American families from losing their homes to foreclosure.

    TakeFive (7c6fd5)

  18. In the non newspaper of record in NorCal, the SF Chronicle the story of ACORN losing funding has come and gone a couple of times. Explore the specific reasons, naaahhh. And not a word about Charlie Rangel (D-Cesspool)

    glenn (757adc)

  19. The woman in the video, Tresa Kaelke, has a restraining order against her by her current husband, Ronald Kaelke:

    http://speakmymindblog.com/2009/09/15/acorn-san-bernardino-experienced-in-prostitution/

    anon (a1325d)

  20. So, they are going with the “RAAAACIST” card?

    It’s like a Bizzaro-world Dr. Pepper ad:

    I’m a Racist
    She’s a Racist.
    He’s a Racist.
    Would you like to be a Racist too?

    Techie (482700)

  21. Breitbart is a genius! And yes, the steady drip, drip, drip of the videos is perfect. Every time ACORN tells a cover story, another expose trips them up. Breitbart has evidently worked on this for many months. This is what true investigative journalism can do.

    Brother Bradley J. Fikes, C.O.R. (7bbc7d)

  22. I agree, Bradley. It reminds me of what Sixty Minutes used to be.

    DRJ (a51a0e)

  23. DRJ,
    I think the MSM is nearing the tipping point, when it will be dragged kicking and screaming into doing some investigating of ACORN on its own. The pressure will be tremendous on AP to do more than the subminimalcoverage it’s doing now. And Charlie Gibson might have to do some remedial reading.

    The San Bernardino revelation is huge. For we in California, it truly makes the story national, not just an East Coast thing. I wonder if LA and San Diego are next in line.

    Brother Bradley J. Fikes, C.O.R. (7bbc7d)

  24. Comment by Brother Bradley J. Fikes, C.O.R. — 9/15/2009 @ 4:38 pm

    The Baltimore Sun at first took a “well, this is just one isolated incident” position on this matter, but when the Washington DC video was released they acknowledged that gee, something may be wrong with ACORN.

    JVW (d1215a)

  25. O’Keefe’s sting calls to different Planned Parenthood offices last year seeking to make donations earmarked specifically to abort black babies were horrific and the PP people behaved just as badly, but the series did not get enough traction. He was also involved in the Lila Rose series exposing Planned Parenthood’s unwillingness to report statutory rape.

    daleyrocks (718861)

  26. Concerning post #18.

    I assume, if Fox thought it strategically helpful, that they could file a suit against the ACORN people for slander, etc., and make them “put up or shut up” with their claims. People have used that strategy to quiet dissenters who lack funds, even if they are correct in their charges. Hopefully in the American legal system there is room for the law to promote truth and hold those who deceive accountable.

    ACORN is making charges of dishonesty that would expect to be damaging to a news organization, and as such are raising the stakes concerning litigation, yes?

    I always like it when news stories are brought before the standard of legal deposition.

    Somebody can get rich if they can figure out how to make a board game of how to “out-Alinsky the Alinskys”.

    MD in Philly (d4f9fa)

  27. We are an organization that will not be stopped in our commitment to our members and our communities…

    …and if it means breaking the law, not a problem.

    It is not a coincidence that the videos of ACORN employees are people who play fast and loose with the law, and are more than willing to steer the young Jame and Hannah into successful law breaking.

    One could even say there is a pattern developing here… and that’s what makes Chief Organizer, Ms. Lewis’s claims all the more ridiculous. The odds of several agencies hiring the same kind of person with the same sort of thug mentality is not coincidental.

    Most likely it comes with the job description.

    My favorite line of Ms. K’s in the SB video, is when she informs our young pimp that he can decide what standard of decency or indecency he wants for his business because apparently there is a level of decency one can maintain when minors are involved in being sexually exploited by adults for money. Who knew.

    Dana (863a65)

  28. The two young reporters should win the Pullet Surprise* for their work.

    *Only those who remember Jack Smith’s column in the LAT will know where I stole the line.

    gnh (710dbc)

  29. Bradley,

    This is a good read from Salon. Every serious person in the in press should be cheering on these two young people for their astounding work. (It’s amusing to see ‘pettiness’ and ‘snobbery’ used in conjunction with news organizations…

    All that’s missing is appropriate recognition by the national press that a worthy, significant scoop has been produced. So far that hasn’t happened, despite the fact that equivalent information garnered by a newspaper and displayed over three days in a multi-part series would contend for a Pulitzer Prize.

    But it would be folly for news organizations to ignore this story out of pettiness or snobbery. Though everyone involved in producing the ACORN expose had ideological ends, they used journalistic means to achieve them—in fact, hyperpartisan impulses that produce muckraking scoops are the rare variety that should be celebrated. Who cares whether a reporter or an activist happened to do the reporting? Everyone benefits when indefensible deeds are accurately exposed and the perpetrators made accountable.

    Dana (863a65)

  30. Is it just me or if you click through to the YouTube page where this video lives, are the “Related Videos” really really really very not related? San Bernadino = Sims Brother? That’s not trying very hard I don’t think. They might could need a more better algorithm thingy cause that’s lame.

    happyfeet (6b707a)

  31. I hope the people at BigGovernment.com are capturing any web pages related to each on-camera ACORN person before they release the relevant tape. ACORN seems to have a habit of trying to whitewash history as quickly as they know about a problem, so being able to show screen captures and links as they existed before the cleansing could be a useful secondary attack.

    GaryC (c1edfb)

  32. Wow! Tresa certainly likes to talk. Couldn’t believe her story about killing her husband. Sounds almost like she planned it.

    Gazzer: Surely you don’t still expect to get real news from the Arizona Republic? Can’t remember the last time I looked at one.

    PatAZ (9d1bb3)

  33. Dana,
    Thank you, that was indeed a good read. And I find it quite believable that news organizations wold engage in “pettiness” and “snobbery,” especially about conservative journalism.

    I’ve looked at the statements of a number of prominent journalists on Twitter; their snide dismissals of conservatives as RWNJs are priceless.

    Brother Bradley J. Fikes, C.O.R. (7bbc7d)

  34. Obama is about to allow the committal of billions more of our tax money to this sleazy, criminal outfit? When will the finger be pointed at him? He was involved with these people and knows how they operate. So we are suppposed to give him the hammer to beat us down with in the form of our tax dollars? I say again, that you democrats out there must realize your party has been hijacked by the radical and now criminal left wing and this President is leading the charge. You must write your congressmen and standup for your country as it is being ripped away from you too.

    mick (7060dd)

  35. They will stop funding ACORN.

    They will just transfer the funding to the renamed organization that replaces it.

    Every time ACORN is mentioned it should be accompanied by the words “community organizers.”

    Amphipolis (8cd9a3)

  36. You know where all of this is leading?

    Investigation of Acorn means investigation of voter registration eventually. Widespread voter fraud means questions about Obama’s election.

    This could lead to real chaos.

    Patricia (c95a48)

  37. Don’t these videos demonstrate a “pattern and practice” that would trigger RICO status for any prosecution – that is, if any USA actually could grow a set of “attachments” (thank you, David Hobbs) that would allow him to file a case against this “criminal enterprise”.

    AD - RtR/OS! (489f10)

  38. I didn’t notice any comments about the date. Mid-August. This wasn’t made as a response to what ACORN or the Dems have recently said. This was made prior. This also wasn’t made to kill ObamaCare. ObamaCare was already tanking when this was made.

    Mid-August was the date of the video. It’s just getting published in Mid-September.

    Yup, I believe there’s a big library of these things.

    John Hitchcock (3fd153)

  39. I cannot believe that have after all of the TV coverage this company has not sent out a blanket MEMO to all so called employees to SHUT UP!!!!!!
    This must be National Stupid Week in America.
    This employee should receive the #1 Prize for being a bigger JACKASS than Kanye West. I would certainly like to speak to the person who hired her to represent such a well known company & to sit in the front office. I know the pimp & the prostitute had an excuse for their attire. What was going on with Theresa’s clothing. Did anyone notice the large tear in her pants & why was standing during the entire discussion? It leads me to believe that this was staged????

    Anna (f0d539)

  40. Any DOJ indictments of ACORN employees yet?

    No?

    Well, perhaps tomorrow.

    Dave Surls (bf4073)

  41. To Bertha Lewis, Get a Grip on life. If you are a superviser, then take control of your staff. Stop making excuses lady. This is not a racist report. Your workers are breaking the law. Do you not understand that you have hired low lifes & uneducated bodies to collect our tax dollars. They apparently have not been trained to do anything except sit at a desk. You don’t care about helping blacks, latinos or whites for that fact because your personel needs help. They are not giving out any valuable info. I have been following this story since before Obama was elected & thought perhaps there were a few bad apples causing problems for the organization. This appears not to be the problem. You need to resign, the company needs to shut down, change the name & hire all new personel under new management

    I am black & I live in San Bernardino County. I would be very upset if I walked into an any public office & the employee was in such disaray as Thersa was greeting customers with a large hole in her pants. Did she really think that her story would not be repeated even if there were no cameras present? Did she not notice that the pimp was wearing a fur jacket in 100 degree weather. Daaaa All of your workers in every city fell for the same story each time. That is not racisum, that my dear is stupidity on the part of the people who hired? them & trained? them. My 5th grader is smarter than you.

    Anna (f0d539)

  42. ACORN is officially COI (how cute, they’re playing coy, or are they being fishy?) so the government money (your hard-earned tax dollars) can be switched from a nut to a fish. Now, that’s a deal that really smells to high heaven.

    John Hitchcock (3fd153)

  43. Hey, can private citizens bring suit against Eric Holder for not bringing a RICO suit against ACORN and COI?

    PCD (02f8c1)

  44. Also, why aren’t these ACORN advisors being audited? They are so experienced at evading taxes, they probably cheated themselves.

    Anyone know if Harlem ACORN prepared Charlie Rangel’s taxes?

    PCD (02f8c1)

  45. What city’s ACORN will be next on the hit parade? Will it be Chicago? Will the Chicago ACORN employees try to get a piece of the action in the Chicago Way or the Mel Reynolds way or will ACORN just call in Chicago’s corrupt men in blue to get their cut?

    PCD (02f8c1)

  46. What city’s ACORN will be next on the hit parade? Will it be Chicago? Will the Chicago ACORN employees try to get a piece of the action in the Chicago Way or the Mel Reynolds way or will ACORN just call in Chicago’s corrupt men in blue to get their cut?

    Oh, speaking of Chicago. I like the new PC quarterback they have. He came to Green Bay bearing gifts, 4 of them to be exact! ROTFLOL!!!!

    PCD (02f8c1)

  47. Anyone curious as to what’s up with attempted voter-fraud stings against ACORN?
    We know that the vast majority of attempted stings on nonsense like the prostitute FAILED before Breitbart’s crew was at last able to entrap a patsy.
    Doesn’t anyone wonder why Breitbart didn’t even try to sting on voter fraud? Is he just too dumb, or too smart to try?

    Unapologetic Mexican (08580c)

  48. #17 I think it says two things.

    1. They are very confident that they are protected from prosecution and bad publicity, i.e., local politicians and the press are accomplices.

    2. This must be very common, which means that they are steeped in the criminal subculture.

    LarryD (feb78b)

  49. 50, why should they waste their time? ACORN is being charged and arrested left and right by local law enforcement. I think as the videos are seen more, that more ACORN offices will be shuttered for multiple crimes they committed.

    PCD (02f8c1)

  50. #49
    We don’t know that the vast majority of attempted stings on nonsense criminal behavior like the prostitute FAILED before Breitbart’s crew was at last able to entrap patsy catch several lawbreaking sleazebags. Doesn’t anyone wonder why if Breitbart didn’t even try tried to sting on voter fraud? Is he Are ACORN’s mindless defenders just too dumb, or too smart to try? to realize more exposes are on the way?

    FIFY

    Brother Bradley J. Fikes, C.O.R. (0ea407)

  51. Brother Bradley – Unapologetic just likes to call people racists. He just uses too many words, he does not err on the side of brevity. Plus, it is an idiot.

    JD (e0ced2)

  52. JD
    Has anyone checked Unintelligent’s IP address? It gives off a Von Braun-ish smell.

    Brother Bradley J. Fikes, C.O.R. (0ea407)

  53. Even the LA Times can’t bring itself to defend APORN

    “We are the boogeyman for the right-wing and its echo chambers,” reads a self-serving statement released Saturday by ACORN’s chief organizer, Bertha Lewis. She claimed the videos were “doctored” and threatened legal action against Fox. What she didn’t do is apologize for the appalling and possibly illegal behavior of ACORN employees, acknowledge that the organization has serious internal problems and vow to correct them, or do what she should have done as soon as the scandal was revealed: resign.

    Brother Bradley J. Fikes, C.O.R. (0ea407)

  54. James and Hanna had best to be careful trying this stunt in the Bay Area
    SF hookers are Unionized. The pimps have a strong lobby.

    papertiger (630deb)

  55. What city’s ACORN will be next on the hit parade? Will it be Chicago?

    Oh, man – please, please. I would love to see the lackeys and bootlickers in the media here get more egg on their faces. That would be hilarious.

    As for Apocalyptic Univision, same old asshattery.

    Dmac (a93b13)


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