'Lying' About Being Liberal?

Member Comments

• Posted By: Nins @ 10/15/2008 5:02:42 PM

  Comment: It is normal for campaigns to pay organizations to register and mobilize voters. Both Republicans and Democrats have done this for years. In a campaign that is costing hundreds of millions of dollars, spending $800,000 on a voter registration drive is not in the least bit shocking.
  
  Obama was affiliated with Acorn about 15 years ago in Chicago. Acorn has done excellent work in America, helping to bring disenfranchised poor voters into their legal rights as citizens. We all have the right to vote. Some of us (historically blacks, women and ethnic minorities) have been barred from voting by prejudice. Acorn exists to recitfy these wrongs, and to help people claim their rights as citizens.
  
  It happens to be true that most poor and disadvantaged voters tend to vote Democrat. The Democrats have reached out to this voting block with great success. It's kind of hard for Republicans to say to poor blacks "Vote for us!" when the GOP has so consistently fostered racism in American politics, in ways ranging from blocking civil rights legislation to Rush Limbaugh, et al.
  
  As for allegations of registration fraud at Acorn, it may be true that there are a few specific cases where over-zealous individuals abused the integrity of the Acorn mission. But one bad apple doesn't spoil the whole bunch, and a few inaccurate registrations can not cancel out the altruistic work that Acorn has done for decades. Even more important, Acorn is required by law to submit ALL voter registrations it receives. This law exists to prevent voter registrations groups from dumping registrations of people they object to -- for instance, a GOP registration drive is required to turn in the registrations of everyone, including Democrats who sign up at their table. Sometimes people fill out fake registrations, using names like Donald Duck or giving the planet Mars as their address. For this reason, every registration drive will end up turning in forms that are counted as fraudulent by the elections board. Acorn, like every other voter registration organization, has a percentage of forms that are invalid and labeled "fraudulent". This does not mean that Acorn is committing fraud. But the smear mongers and conspiracy theorists go crazy.
  
  Furthermore, you need to think your way through some of these reports. For instance, the report that the same name and address was registered 72 times. What would this mean for the election? Absolutely nothing, because when you go to vote you show up with your ID, and they mark you off as having already voted. You can not then vote again. And have you considered the fact that Karl Rove operative might have purposely turned in these false registrations, knowing that Acorn was bound by law to give all of them to the Elections Board? Oh, yeah, it might have been a set up. Kind of like the John Kerry Swift Boating.

• Posted By: Nins @ 10/15/2008 5:01:55 PM

  Comment: You're right, Nowforthetruth usually fills his blogs with lies. However, he is right about Jesse Jackson making anti-Semitic remarks. But he is wrong in assuming that Jesse Jackson somehow represents Obama.

• Posted By: Nins @ 10/15/2008 5:00:27 PM

  Comment: Gosh, Nowforthetruth, I actually agree with you about something! Maybe we should open a bottle of champagne.
  
  It is true that Jesse Jackson has uttered anti-Semitic remarks in his career. Jackson is the kind of guy who pees on his own shoes. He likes to fight with fire but forgets he might get burned. Although I appreciate his role in the civil rights movement I can't say that I respect or admire him in the past couple of decades, when he has looked increasingly out of date and ineffectual.
  
  But the thing you fail to point out is that Jesse Jackson hates Barack Obama. In fact, he was recorded saying he wanted to "Cut Obama's nuts off." Obama is not a Black Power radical or even a liberal, and Jackson hates him for it. Also, there may be a tinge of envy in there. Jackson wanted to be the first black president.
  
  Furthermore, AIPAC has given Obama an A+ rating. This pro-Israel organization would not have done so if they thought Obama was anti-Semitic.
  
  Since I know that you think Obama is a flaming radical, I would like to remind you of what he did when he was elected President of the Harvard Law Review. The Law Review President gets to name 10 individuals to write articles for the review, and these 10 people also get to control the content of the publication. All of the minorities and the liberals thought they finally had it made, that Obama would appoint 10 left wing editors. Instead, Obama appointed three conservatives, three liberals and four moderates. That year the Law Review was critically acclaimed as the best run and best written Harvard publication in decades.
  
  So when he wins in November, don't freak out. Obama is a centrist and will appoint a balanced cabinet full of active people who will really get things done. Kind of like the way our multi-cultural society is supposed to be.