Michael Gaynor
Obama, ACORN, Fox News, and the truth: "curiouser and curiouser"
By Michael Gaynor
Note to Fox News: Having ACORN dissolve (really camouflage itself) is unimportant if the radical ACORN/Obama agenda — Obamacare, Cap & Tax, Obamnesty, automatic voter registration, activist judges — is put in place and America is fundamentally changed. Preventing that catastrophe requires showing America the real truth about Obama and ACORN.
Joyce Carol Oates on the perennial appeal of "Alice in Wonderland" (www.salon.com/weekly/carroll960930.html): "...imagine the excitement of...being taken along with Alice,...whose signature phrase is 'Curiouser and curiouser,' on her fantastic yet somehow plausible adventure down the rabbit hole, and into the Wonderland world.... I must have been the ideal reader: credulous, unjudging, eager, thrilled. I knew only that I believed in Alice, absolutely."
As 8-year old Ms. Oates absolutely believed in Alic, so did millions of enthralled, excited voters earnestly hoping for change for the better gullibly put their faith in Obama on Election Day 2008. Obama had been politically marketed brilliantly and became the 44th President of the United States, thanks to Far Left organizations like ACORN, the shamelessly biased liberal media establishment and millions of "credulous, unjudging, eager, thrilled" who "believed in [Obama], absolutely."
Fortunately, many of those people turned out to be educable. The proof of that is that Obama's approval rating has plummeted as he has pushed a radical wealth redistribution agenda that most Americans do not want. America remains a center-right country proud of its traditional values and beliefs proclaimed in its Declaration of Independence. It was NOT hoping for what is now clear that Obama meant by "fundamental change."
Fox News has strongly challenged Obama's radical agenda, but generally avoided questioning of Obama's personal integrity.
That's VERY curious. Character counts...or is supposed to count. As Professor Broadus Mitchell, a socialist, wrote in the foreword to his book, Great Economists in Their Times: "Ideas are inseparable from lives; principles and policies belong, after all, to persons." To appreciate principles and policies, it helps to know who advocates them...and why.
In "The Real Problem with Fox News" (October 16, 2009) (www.webcommentary.com/php/ShowArticle.php?id=gaynorm&date=091016), I commented:
"With the Obama Administration having publicly designated Fox News as an 'opponent,' it might seem to many that Fox News must have targeted President Obama himself and tried to bring him down.
"Not so.
"Fox News has targeted ACORN and select members of the Obama Administration, but it has not targeted President Obama personally.
"'King of Cable' Bill O'Reilly has been careful NOT to question President Obama's integrity, to disassociate himself from the views of Fox News's star conservative commentator, Sean Hannity, and conservative Fox News contributors (for example, Michelle Malkin), and to defend President Obama against 'personal attack.' For example, O'Reilly dissed 'the birthers' as people who believe that 'Obama was born on Saturn' because they criticize President Obama's refusal to do what Senator McCain did — produce his birth certificate."
Why not scrutinize Obama himself, as the media is supposed to do? Michael Moore, radical populist movie maker: "One of the most ironic things about capitalism is that the capitalist will sell you the rope to hang himself with. Actually they will give you the money to make a movie that makes them look bad, if they believe they can make money off it." Karl Marx, "father of communism": "The last capitalist we hang shall be the one who sold us the rope." Is Fox News focused on profit instead of principle and looking to be hung last?
I warned:
"To stop the implementation of Obama's radical agenda, including Obamacare and Cap and Tax, it has to be demonstrated to the American people that Obama is the tool being used to implement the radical ACORN/SEIU/LaRaza agenda.
"That's not something the ACORN 8 want to help Fox News do.
"That takes an EX-radical who was on the inside, NOT radicals who support President Obama [the ACORN 8] and are engaged in a power struggle with other radical Obama supporters [the ACORN control group].
"The key is ACORN whistleblower Anita MonCrief, who learned [in October 2008] that doing an Obama/ACORN expose was NOT what The New York Times, or ABC, or CNN, wanted to do.
"[Before Election Day 2008] Fox News seemed ready to do it, but Ms. MonCrief, then radical and black, did not trust Fox News."
Ms. MonCrief's still black, but she overcame her distrust of Fox News as the Age of Obama unfolded.
"Last May, Fox News presented Ms. MonCrief on Mother's Day and the following Monday and then Bill O'Reilly declared 'war' on The New York Times and recruited Ms. MonCrief and Heather Heidelbaugh, Esq., first vice president of the Republican National Lawyers Association, to report on ACORN corruption and ties to President Obama and the Obama presidential campaign.
"They did.
"Ms. MonCrief even explained that ACORN had functioned as 'an unofficial arm of the Democratic Party for years.'
"But that news seems to have been 'too hot' for O'Reilly. The 'war' he declared against The New York Times has been uneventful since he interviewed Ms. MonCrief and Ms. Heidelbaugh. He was so busy explaining that he was not complicit in the death of abortionist George Tiller that he let New York Times public editor Clark Hoyt have the last word.
"THAT was absurd.
"O'Reilly mostly left the war against ACORN to Beck.
"That's a war that could destroy Obama politically and frustrate the implementation of his radical political agenda, so Fox News [became] officially an Obama Administration 'opponent.'
"Beck proved bolder and more effective, but in his clownish way that detracts from the seriousness of the matter, and he handicapped himself greatly by allying with the pro-Obama ACORN 8.
"ACORN 8 head Marcel Reid and Beck are an odd couple: a radical who claims that ACORN is a wonderful organization that recently was hijacked and is selective about what corruption and/or criminality to expose and determined to lead ACORN herself and a self-described libertarian who professes fidelity to the Constitution and seems to appreciate that ACORN was created to be subversive, but ridiculously blames Democrats and Republicans equally and foolishly treats the current ACORN control group as 'black hats' and the ACORN 8 as 'white hats.'
"Fox News has the means to win its war with the Obama Administration, but does it have the will?"
Apparently not.
Fox News's involvement with the partly legal and partly illegal "Pimp and Pro" ACORN sting not only deflected attention from what is critically important — the Obama/ACORN relationship — to the willingness of some ACORN personnel to tolerate or even facilitate such crimes as prostitution, child prostitution, bank fraud, tax fraud and illegal immigration. That provided a sensational debut for Andrew Breitbart's Big Government, higher ratings for Fox and attention for James O'Keefe and Hannah Giles, but it let Obama distance himself from ACORN by having ACORN's involvement with the census ended, signing the law de-funding ACORN and having the United States Justice Department defend (so far unsuccessfully) against the constitutional challenge to the de-funding bill as a bill of attainder (while NOT investigating ACORN properly).
Note to Fox News: Having ACORN dissolve (really camouflage itself) is unimportant if the radical ACORN/Obama agenda — Obamacare, Cap & Tax, Obamnesty, automatic voter registration, activist judges — is put in place and America is fundamentally changed. Preventing that catastrophe requires showing America the real truth about Obama and ACORN.
ACORN founder and former chief organizer (for 38 years) Wade Rathke just celebrated the issuance of a permanent injunction against the de-funding of ACORN.
Rathke, "Judge Orders Permanent Injunction to Block ACORN Defunding" (chieforganizer.org/2010/03/11/judge-orders-permanent-injunction-to-block-acorn-defunding/#more-2875):
"You can't find this piece in the Journal, Times, or Post. Soon it will show up in more conservative blogs with appropriate conspiratorial references and asides.... U.S. Federal Judge Nina Gershon....permanently enjoined the federal government from banning ACORN from funding and expressly directed a list of officials...to stop blocking the path and in [one] case to step up and make this injustice right. Well, I guess 'righter' since this is a textbook case of the damage to ACORN being irreparable as the organization seems on its last legs and fighting to survive in any form or fashion.
"I would think our conservative friends who often try to claim they are big defenders of the U.S. Constitution, would be twisting in front of their computer screens a bit on this situation. The bar on 'bills of attainder' in the Constitution is clear that any single entity or organization could not be politically singled out and punished without rhyme or reason without investigation or trial or particulars, but just in the herd reaction of a crowd in a theater hearing the shout, 'fire!'... to their shame we saw scores of Democrats and Republicans lined up to tar and feather ACORN without trial or charge or usually a clue. It is hard to forget that in pure political expediency the President, a former constitutional law teacher for crying out loud, joined the lynching mob in giving cover to these scurrilous attacks, which continue even as the Justice Department tries — unsuccessfully — to overturn Judge Gerson's ruling."
Four points:
1. Obama actually helped ACORN by going along with a constitutionally defective de-funding instead of having the de-funding done properly.
2. Obama greatly helped HIMSELF, by appearing NOT to be ACORN's man in the White House.
3. This conservative is not "twisting," having warned against de-funding ACORN improperly. See "Is De-funding ACORN Constitutional?" (September 21, 2009) (www.webcommentary.com/php/ShowArticle.php?id=gaynorm&date=090921), "ACORN Defunding Suit Is NOT Bogus or Frivolous" (November 13, 2009) (www.webcommentary.com/php/ShowArticle.php?id=gaynorm&date=091113) and "De-fund ACORN Properly, PLEASE" (December 16, 2009) (www.webcommentary.com/php/ShowArticle.php?id=gaynorm&date=091216).
4. The law is not a respecter of persons and we need to know all the facts AND to respect the law.
Rathke presented pertinent quotes from the AP report on the decision:
"The judge...wrote that it was 'unmistakable that Congress determined ACORN's guilt before defunding it."'She said Congress is entitled to investigate ACORN but cannot 'rely on the negative results of a congressional or executive report as a rationale to impose a broad, punitive funding ban on a specific, named organization.'
"She said the Code of Federal Regulations establishes a formal process for deciding when federal contractors can be suspended or debarred. She added that 'the existence of these regulations militates against the need for draconian, emergency action by Congress.'"
Rathke lamented the de-funding of ACORN as "a tragedy" over which "members of Congress [and] the Administration will [not] lose too much sleep" because they don't "really care[] about the fate of an organization of lower income people and the impact of its eradication on the ongoing struggle for equity and justice."
What is tragic about the de-funding is that it was done improperly.
What is much more tragic is that the whole story of Obama's adventure in the Wonderland that is the United States of America was not generally known before Election Day 2008 and is still not generally known.
It is generally believed (and probably true) that Obama was born in Hawaii in 1961, but, unlike John McCain, Obama refused to produce his birth certificate...and got away with it. That doesn't mean that he was born in Kenya, but it does suggest that he's hiding something and a president should not do that.
Curiously, Bill O'Reilly and Glenn Beck took a page from the Saul Alinsky playbook (Rules for Radicals) and ridiculed the so-called "birthers" instead of called upon Obama to produce his birth certificate. (The certificate of live birth Obama did produce is not his original birth certificate and does not include all the information that is supposed to be on his original certificate.)
Obama's first claim to fame was his election as the president of the Harvard Law Review. Curiously, that law review did not publish anything by him that explains his election.
At Harvard Law School, Obama was selected as a research assistant to Professor Lawrence Tribe, the lead Gore attorney in the battle at the United States Supreme Court in 2000, while another of his other professors found him unremarkable.
From the first, Professor Tribe found Obama a soulmate and groomed him for "big things.."
Excerpt from "Barack Obama's intellectual influences" (From PRI's BBC World Service. February 13, 2009) (www.pri.org/politics-society/government/barack-obama-professor-president.html):
"Lawrence Tribe, Professor of Constitutional Law at Harvard explains: 'When we talked about his reasons for coming to law school and for learning the operations of the law, it had very much to do with empowering the worst-off. The rule of law is, I think in his mind, opposed to the law of the powerful.'
"Professor Tribe describes his early impression of Obama: 'His mind was extraordinary, and its character was somewhat apparent to me from the very first meeting. I met him for the first time when he was a first-year law student, before he had begun to study constitutional law. He came to my office and expressed interest in some of my ideas, some of my writings, and at the end of that meeting I was so impressed by his inquisitiveness, his curiosity, how well-read he was, how thoughtful he was, that I asked him then and there to be my research assistant. And we worked together on two very challenging projects, and on each of them he made a very distinctive imprint, much more than a research assistant would normally do.'
"'Among my students was the man who's going to swear Obama in as the 44th President of the United States — John Roberts, the Chief Justice — very, very smart; but I think that Barack Obama is on the whole at least as impressive, probably more so because of the breadth of qualities that his mind displays, and I suppose it's also a kind of emotional intelligence as well as analytical intelligence.'"
Obama first received general national attention in 2004, because he was selected by Senator John Kerry, the unsuccessful 2004 Democrat presidential candidate, to deliver the keynote address at the Democrats' national convention. Obama then was in his second term as an Illinois state senator and hoping to be elected the junior United States Senator from Illinois.
Early in 2007, as a rookie United States Senator, Obama declared himself a presidential candidate. Curiously, he revoked the invitation to deliver the benediction that he had made to the man whom he had reported in his autobiography, Dreams from My Father, had brought him to Christ and who had delivered the sermon from which the title to Obama's presidential campaign book, The Audacity of Hope, was taken, Reverend Jeremiah A. Wright, Jr. The New York Times reported that the revocation was the result of a recognition that Rev. Wright's sermons could be rough! Sean Hannity promptly interviewed Rev. Wright on "Hannity & Colmes," but the Obama campaign was not damaged, much less derailed, apparently because the video of Rev. Wright's "greatest" hits available at the Trinity United Church did not come to Hannity's attention. About a year later, when Hannity played some memorable excerpts, it was too late.
The Obama campaign benefited hugely from the financial crisis in 2008. That was very curious, since the crisis was traceable to ACORN and Obama had a long relationship with ACORN even before he become "the Senator from ACORN. See "Blame Obama's ACORN for the Financial Crisis" (September 29, 2008) (www.webcommentary.com/php/ShowArticle.php?id=gaynorm&date=080929), "Beware Obama, 'The Senator from ACORN'" (October 1, 2008) (www.webcommentary.com/php/ShowArticle.php?id=gaynorm&date=081001), "ACORN Should Be Obama's Undoing" (October 2, 2008) (www.webcommentary.com/php/ShowArticle.php?id=gaynorm&date=081002), "Michelle Malkin Was Right about ACORN, Of Course" (October 4, 2008) (www.webcommentary.com/php/ShowArticle.php?id=gaynorm&date=0810040), "McCain Still Can Win, By Exposing Obama and ACORN" (October 9, 2008) (www.webcommentary.com/php/ShowArticle.php?id=gaynorm&date=081009), "Obama's ACORN: A Corrupt Organization of Revolutionary Nuts" (October 10, 2008) (www.webcommentary.com/php/ShowArticle.php?id=gaynorm&date=081010), "Time for October Surprise To Expose Obama Lies" (October 18, 2008) (www.webcommentary.com/php/ShowArticle.php?id=gaynorm&date=081018), "Voters: Scrutinize Instead of Swallow Obama Lies." (October 19, 2008) (www.webcommentary.com/php/ShowArticle.php?id=gaynorm&date=081019) and "Does NYT Know MORE About Obama/ACORN?" (October 20, 2008) (www.webcommentary.com/php/ShowArticle.php?id=gaynorm&date=081020).
ACORN had made Obama what he was and the truth about the Obama/ACORN relationship could have undone his campaign.
It should have, because ACORN whistleblower Anita MonCrief had been working with New York Times national correspondent Stephanie Strom on an ACORN expose that would have exposed Obama too and, as Ms. Strom's articles were "watered down" in the editing process, Ms. MonCrief was following Michelle Malkin and me and decided to contact us, using an alias, as Plan B, in case The New York Times declined to report facts that Ms. MonCrief believed should be reported. I explained what transpired in detail in an article posted the day after Ms. Strom left Ms. MonCrief a voicemail reporting that "higher up" had ordered Ms. Strom to "stand down": "ACORN WHISTLEBLOWER: OBAMA'S THIRD STRIKE?" (October 22, 2008) (www.webcommentary.com/php/ShowArticle.php?id=gaynorm&date=081022).
Damning evidence was available — "Why Obama and ACORN Fear Anita MonCrief" (October 29, 2008) (www.webcommentary.com/php/ShowArticle.php?id=gaynorm&date=081029) — but the bulk of the voters never knew that Obama had blatantly lied about his relationship with ACORN and that his campaign had illicitly coordinated with ACORN/Project Vote.
After Ms. MonCrief testified in the Pennsylvania ACORN case soon before Election Day 2008, the McCain campaign accused Obama of lying to voters about the extent of his ties to ACORN. "Today's testimony by a former employee of an ACORN affiliate proves Barack Obama is guilty of lying to the American people about his relationship with ACORN," McCain campaign manager Rick Davis said in a written statement, accusing Obama of working "hand-in-glove" with the group, which is under investigation for voter registration fraud in several states. That was only a part. I wrote about it — "Anita MonCrief: Obama Supporter and Exposer, ACORN Whistleblower and Blogger" (November 2, 2008) (www.webcommentary.com/php/ShowArticle.php?id=gaynorm&date=081102) — but the liberal media establishment, led by The New York Times was not interesting in scrutinizing Obama.
By March of 2009, Ms. MonCrief's illusions about Obama were dispelled and she accompanied Heather Heidelbaugh, Esq., the lawyer for who she had been a key witness in the Pennsylvania ACORN case, to testify before a House Judiciary subcommittee about Ms. MonCrief and Ms. MonCrief's testimony in the Pennsylvania ACORN case (see "What New York Times Did NOT Report About ACORN, Obama and Itself" (March 19, 2009) (www.webcommentary.com/php/ShowArticle.php?id=gaynorm&date=090319)).
In "The Education of ACORN Whistleblower Anita MonCrief" (March 3, 2009) (www.webcommentary.com/php/ShowArticle.php?id=gaynorm&date=090303), I explained:
"ACORN whistleblower Anita MonCrief has learned that conservatives are not the 'crazies' she had been told they are (which is not to say that there are NO crazies on the Right). If Ms. MonCrief had learned that before Election Day 2008, the result might have been different.
"Last year, before Election Day 2008, Ms. MonCrief testified in a Pennsylvania state court about the Associated of Community Organizations for Reform Now, better known as ACORN.
"Ms. MonCrief wanted both ACORN corruption to be exposed and then Democrat presidential candidate Obama to win.
"Ms. MonCrief got both, but the powers that be at ACORN that Ms. MonCrief wants removed are still in control and set to benefit hugely from the legislation backed by the Obama Administration.
"That, Ms. MonCrief did NOT want."
On March 31, 2009, Bill O'Reilly reported on "The O'Reilly Factor" what the mainstream media did not report during the 2008 presidential election campaign and had not reported since: that The New York Times chose NOT to report what it had learned about ACORN, Obama and the Obama presidential campaign (see "Bill O'Reilly Exposes New York Times ACORN News Management during 2008 Presidential Campaign" (March 31, 2009) (www.webcommentary.com/php/ShowArticle.php?id=gaynorm&date=090331).
On May 18, 2009, O'Reilly had Ms. MonCrief on his show to back him up. See "The War between The New York Times and Bill O'Reilly and the Truth" (May 19, 2009) (www.webcommentary.com/php/ShowArticle.php?id=gaynorm&date=090519). Ms. MonCrief proved bolder and brasher than O'Reilly, stating, twice, that ACORN had served as "an unofficial arm of the Democrats." With Democrats controlling the White House and both houses of Congress, O'Reilly did not pursue that. See "Anita MonCrief Reported It Long Ago, Bill O'Reilly" (October 8, 2009) (www.webcommentary.com/php/ShowArticle.php?id=gaynorm&date=091008).
Similarly, Glenn Beck stayed away from the story only Ms. MonCrief was ready, willing and able to tell. See "Glenn Beck's Ignoring The Elephant in the Room: ACORN/Obama/NYT Coordination and Cover Up" (June 5, 2009) (www.webcommentary.com/php/ShowArticle.php?id=gaynorm&date=090605), "Glenn Beck, You're Still Not Reporting the Whole ACORN Story" (June 17, 2009) (www.webcommentary.com/php/ShowArticle.php?id=gaynorm&date=090617), "Glenn Beck Not Telling All or Crediting ACORN Whistleblower Anita MonCrief" (June 18, 2009) (www.webcommentary.com/php/ShowArticle.php?id=gaynorm&date=090618), "ACORN 8 Played Glenn Beck Very Deftly" (June 23, 2009) (www.webcommentary.com/php/ShowArticle.php?id=gaynorm&date=090623).
Sean Hannity did not step up before a lawsuit was brought against Ms. MonCrief by Project Vote. See "Sean Hannity: Heed Hannity Forum Posters at Last, Interview ACORN Whistleblower Anita MonCrief Fast" (June 15, 2009) (www.webcommentary.com/php/ShowArticle.php?id=gaynorm&date=090615) and "How Sean Hannity Has Been Unwittingly Helping Obama" (June 24, 2009) (www.webcommentary.com/php/ShowArticle.php?id=gaynorm&date=090624). Unfortunately, Hannity has not stepped up since Ms. MonCrief retained a law firm to defend her and returned to the public arena to give witness.
Fortunately, Michelle Malkin and Ms. MonCrief connected and Ms. Malkin reported on Ms. MonCrief's information. See "Michelle Malkin Exposes Obama's Culture of Corruption, Extols ACORN Whistleblower Anita MonCrief" (July 29, 2009) (www.webcommentary.com/php/ShowArticle.php?id=gaynorm&date=090729).
Judicial Watch just announced that Obama's Justice Department, headed by Attorney General Eric Holder, had closed an ACORN investigation.
Judicial Watch president Tom Fitton, in "Obama Spiked ACORN Investigation: Judicial Watch Releases FBI Documents" (http://biggovernment.com/publius/2010/03/11/judicial-watch-releases-fbi-documents-on-acorn-investigations/):
"Documents released today by Judicial Watch reference serious allegations of corruption and voter registration fraud by the Association of Community Organizations for Reform (ACORN), as well as the Obama administration's decision to shut down a criminal investigation into these matters."
"The FBI and Department of Justice opened an investigation. However, the Obama Justice Department, while noting that ACORN had engaged in 'questionable hiring and training practices,' closed down the investigation in March 2009, claiming ACORN broke no laws."
"These documents reflect seemingly systematic voter registration fraud by ACORN. It is unconscionable that the Justice Department has not conducted a fully comprehensive criminal investigation into — and prosecution of — this matter. Given President Obama's close connections to ACORN, including his campaign's hiring of the ACORN's Project Vote organization, it seems questionable at best that Attorney General Holder has failed to seriously investigate these and other alleged ACORN criminal activities."
QUESTIONABLE?
In October 2008 The New York Times killed an Obama/ACORN expose Obama because the expose could have been a "game changer" and The Timeswanted Obama to be elected.
So Obama was elected and then he appointed Holder to pursue his radical agenda and to protect him, not to investigate ACORN.
"Pimp and Pro" ACORN sting principal James O'Keefe followed up with an unlawful sting on Senator Mary Landrieu's office, and his lawyer is registered Republican Michael Madigan, who not only supported and contributed to the Obama presidential campaign, but backed Holder's nomination (see www.law.com/jsp/article.jsp?id=1202426553350; www.politicsdaily.com/2010/02/02/between-the-lines-the-james-okeefe-criminal-complaint/2).
Curiouser and curiouser!
What Americans need most is to know the truth about Obama and ACORN, not to see "Pimp and Pro" B-roll or to have everyone play by radical community organizer Saul Alinsky's rules.
On the plus side, Obama's inability to date to deliver on Obamacare and Obamnesty has Rathke publicly scolding him AND stressing that Obamnasty is vital "to a core part of the progressive — and Democratic — constituency among Latino voters in this country."
Rathke, in "Obama Feeling Heat on Immigration Reform" (chieforganizer.org/2010/03/12/obama-feeling-heat-on-immigration-reform/):
"There is finally hope for comprehensive immigration reform.... Many activists and advocates have been pleading for a rally...since exactly such an event was squelched for Inauguration Day 2009....
"Not surprisingly on the eve of the March 21st Rally and March, the President and his people summoned a dozen advocates for a meeting Thursday at the White House.... An hour from the President is frankly no big deal when dealing with the problems of 12 million plus undocumented immigrants and what this means to a core part of the progressive — and Democratic — constituency among Latino voters in this country.
"There seemed to be little in the way of concrete progress from the meeting though. The President asking advocates to deliver Republican votes for the bill is a wild piece of 'blaming the victim.' We can't get there from here. From all reports of people in the meeting the President was testy and sparky in the meeting. He reportedly is chafing at being the target of the Rally and March. He was supposedly uncomfortable hearing about how bad a problem DHS is under Secretary Napolitano who has cranked up the enforcement without any relief and justice for immigrants. One participant claimed that Obama said he would meet with her.
"From what I heard the biggest crack opening for relief on the way to reform was a tense exchange around the issue of whether or not the Administration is deporting immigrants without criminal records. The advocates placed the issue squarely on the table demanding that this be stopped. Reportedly the President claimed that they were not engaging in such deportations. This is not opinion but fact. These deportations are happening. If the President says they are not, this is something he can fix today by stopping such deportations and family breakups.
"Realistically a bill seems unlikely for 2010 and pretty sketchy for next year as well, especially if it depends on reformers mustering bipartisan support...."
Hopefully, Rathke's right about that (although, curiously, quirky Senator Lindsay Graham is trying to prove him wrong).
© Michael Gaynor
March 15, 2010
Note to Fox News: Having ACORN dissolve (really camouflage itself) is unimportant if the radical ACORN/Obama agenda — Obamacare, Cap & Tax, Obamnesty, automatic voter registration, activist judges — is put in place and America is fundamentally changed. Preventing that catastrophe requires showing America the real truth about Obama and ACORN.
Joyce Carol Oates on the perennial appeal of "Alice in Wonderland" (www.salon.com/weekly/carroll960930.html): "...imagine the excitement of...being taken along with Alice,...whose signature phrase is 'Curiouser and curiouser,' on her fantastic yet somehow plausible adventure down the rabbit hole, and into the Wonderland world.... I must have been the ideal reader: credulous, unjudging, eager, thrilled. I knew only that I believed in Alice, absolutely."
As 8-year old Ms. Oates absolutely believed in Alic, so did millions of enthralled, excited voters earnestly hoping for change for the better gullibly put their faith in Obama on Election Day 2008. Obama had been politically marketed brilliantly and became the 44th President of the United States, thanks to Far Left organizations like ACORN, the shamelessly biased liberal media establishment and millions of "credulous, unjudging, eager, thrilled" who "believed in [Obama], absolutely."
Fortunately, many of those people turned out to be educable. The proof of that is that Obama's approval rating has plummeted as he has pushed a radical wealth redistribution agenda that most Americans do not want. America remains a center-right country proud of its traditional values and beliefs proclaimed in its Declaration of Independence. It was NOT hoping for what is now clear that Obama meant by "fundamental change."
Fox News has strongly challenged Obama's radical agenda, but generally avoided questioning of Obama's personal integrity.
That's VERY curious. Character counts...or is supposed to count. As Professor Broadus Mitchell, a socialist, wrote in the foreword to his book, Great Economists in Their Times: "Ideas are inseparable from lives; principles and policies belong, after all, to persons." To appreciate principles and policies, it helps to know who advocates them...and why.
In "The Real Problem with Fox News" (October 16, 2009) (www.webcommentary.com/php/ShowArticle.php?id=gaynorm&date=091016), I commented:
"With the Obama Administration having publicly designated Fox News as an 'opponent,' it might seem to many that Fox News must have targeted President Obama himself and tried to bring him down.
"Not so.
"Fox News has targeted ACORN and select members of the Obama Administration, but it has not targeted President Obama personally.
"'King of Cable' Bill O'Reilly has been careful NOT to question President Obama's integrity, to disassociate himself from the views of Fox News's star conservative commentator, Sean Hannity, and conservative Fox News contributors (for example, Michelle Malkin), and to defend President Obama against 'personal attack.' For example, O'Reilly dissed 'the birthers' as people who believe that 'Obama was born on Saturn' because they criticize President Obama's refusal to do what Senator McCain did — produce his birth certificate."
Why not scrutinize Obama himself, as the media is supposed to do? Michael Moore, radical populist movie maker: "One of the most ironic things about capitalism is that the capitalist will sell you the rope to hang himself with. Actually they will give you the money to make a movie that makes them look bad, if they believe they can make money off it." Karl Marx, "father of communism": "The last capitalist we hang shall be the one who sold us the rope." Is Fox News focused on profit instead of principle and looking to be hung last?
I warned:
"To stop the implementation of Obama's radical agenda, including Obamacare and Cap and Tax, it has to be demonstrated to the American people that Obama is the tool being used to implement the radical ACORN/SEIU/LaRaza agenda.
"That's not something the ACORN 8 want to help Fox News do.
"That takes an EX-radical who was on the inside, NOT radicals who support President Obama [the ACORN 8] and are engaged in a power struggle with other radical Obama supporters [the ACORN control group].
"The key is ACORN whistleblower Anita MonCrief, who learned [in October 2008] that doing an Obama/ACORN expose was NOT what The New York Times, or ABC, or CNN, wanted to do.
"[Before Election Day 2008] Fox News seemed ready to do it, but Ms. MonCrief, then radical and black, did not trust Fox News."
Ms. MonCrief's still black, but she overcame her distrust of Fox News as the Age of Obama unfolded.
"Last May, Fox News presented Ms. MonCrief on Mother's Day and the following Monday and then Bill O'Reilly declared 'war' on The New York Times and recruited Ms. MonCrief and Heather Heidelbaugh, Esq., first vice president of the Republican National Lawyers Association, to report on ACORN corruption and ties to President Obama and the Obama presidential campaign.
"They did.
"Ms. MonCrief even explained that ACORN had functioned as 'an unofficial arm of the Democratic Party for years.'
"But that news seems to have been 'too hot' for O'Reilly. The 'war' he declared against The New York Times has been uneventful since he interviewed Ms. MonCrief and Ms. Heidelbaugh. He was so busy explaining that he was not complicit in the death of abortionist George Tiller that he let New York Times public editor Clark Hoyt have the last word.
"THAT was absurd.
"O'Reilly mostly left the war against ACORN to Beck.
"That's a war that could destroy Obama politically and frustrate the implementation of his radical political agenda, so Fox News [became] officially an Obama Administration 'opponent.'
"Beck proved bolder and more effective, but in his clownish way that detracts from the seriousness of the matter, and he handicapped himself greatly by allying with the pro-Obama ACORN 8.
"ACORN 8 head Marcel Reid and Beck are an odd couple: a radical who claims that ACORN is a wonderful organization that recently was hijacked and is selective about what corruption and/or criminality to expose and determined to lead ACORN herself and a self-described libertarian who professes fidelity to the Constitution and seems to appreciate that ACORN was created to be subversive, but ridiculously blames Democrats and Republicans equally and foolishly treats the current ACORN control group as 'black hats' and the ACORN 8 as 'white hats.'
"Fox News has the means to win its war with the Obama Administration, but does it have the will?"
Apparently not.
Fox News's involvement with the partly legal and partly illegal "Pimp and Pro" ACORN sting not only deflected attention from what is critically important — the Obama/ACORN relationship — to the willingness of some ACORN personnel to tolerate or even facilitate such crimes as prostitution, child prostitution, bank fraud, tax fraud and illegal immigration. That provided a sensational debut for Andrew Breitbart's Big Government, higher ratings for Fox and attention for James O'Keefe and Hannah Giles, but it let Obama distance himself from ACORN by having ACORN's involvement with the census ended, signing the law de-funding ACORN and having the United States Justice Department defend (so far unsuccessfully) against the constitutional challenge to the de-funding bill as a bill of attainder (while NOT investigating ACORN properly).
Note to Fox News: Having ACORN dissolve (really camouflage itself) is unimportant if the radical ACORN/Obama agenda — Obamacare, Cap & Tax, Obamnesty, automatic voter registration, activist judges — is put in place and America is fundamentally changed. Preventing that catastrophe requires showing America the real truth about Obama and ACORN.
ACORN founder and former chief organizer (for 38 years) Wade Rathke just celebrated the issuance of a permanent injunction against the de-funding of ACORN.
Rathke, "Judge Orders Permanent Injunction to Block ACORN Defunding" (chieforganizer.org/2010/03/11/judge-orders-permanent-injunction-to-block-acorn-defunding/#more-2875):
"You can't find this piece in the Journal, Times, or Post. Soon it will show up in more conservative blogs with appropriate conspiratorial references and asides.... U.S. Federal Judge Nina Gershon....permanently enjoined the federal government from banning ACORN from funding and expressly directed a list of officials...to stop blocking the path and in [one] case to step up and make this injustice right. Well, I guess 'righter' since this is a textbook case of the damage to ACORN being irreparable as the organization seems on its last legs and fighting to survive in any form or fashion.
"I would think our conservative friends who often try to claim they are big defenders of the U.S. Constitution, would be twisting in front of their computer screens a bit on this situation. The bar on 'bills of attainder' in the Constitution is clear that any single entity or organization could not be politically singled out and punished without rhyme or reason without investigation or trial or particulars, but just in the herd reaction of a crowd in a theater hearing the shout, 'fire!'... to their shame we saw scores of Democrats and Republicans lined up to tar and feather ACORN without trial or charge or usually a clue. It is hard to forget that in pure political expediency the President, a former constitutional law teacher for crying out loud, joined the lynching mob in giving cover to these scurrilous attacks, which continue even as the Justice Department tries — unsuccessfully — to overturn Judge Gerson's ruling."
Four points:
1. Obama actually helped ACORN by going along with a constitutionally defective de-funding instead of having the de-funding done properly.
2. Obama greatly helped HIMSELF, by appearing NOT to be ACORN's man in the White House.
3. This conservative is not "twisting," having warned against de-funding ACORN improperly. See "Is De-funding ACORN Constitutional?" (September 21, 2009) (www.webcommentary.com/php/ShowArticle.php?id=gaynorm&date=090921), "ACORN Defunding Suit Is NOT Bogus or Frivolous" (November 13, 2009) (www.webcommentary.com/php/ShowArticle.php?id=gaynorm&date=091113) and "De-fund ACORN Properly, PLEASE" (December 16, 2009) (www.webcommentary.com/php/ShowArticle.php?id=gaynorm&date=091216).
4. The law is not a respecter of persons and we need to know all the facts AND to respect the law.
Rathke presented pertinent quotes from the AP report on the decision:
"The judge...wrote that it was 'unmistakable that Congress determined ACORN's guilt before defunding it."'She said Congress is entitled to investigate ACORN but cannot 'rely on the negative results of a congressional or executive report as a rationale to impose a broad, punitive funding ban on a specific, named organization.'
"She said the Code of Federal Regulations establishes a formal process for deciding when federal contractors can be suspended or debarred. She added that 'the existence of these regulations militates against the need for draconian, emergency action by Congress.'"
Rathke lamented the de-funding of ACORN as "a tragedy" over which "members of Congress [and] the Administration will [not] lose too much sleep" because they don't "really care[] about the fate of an organization of lower income people and the impact of its eradication on the ongoing struggle for equity and justice."
What is tragic about the de-funding is that it was done improperly.
What is much more tragic is that the whole story of Obama's adventure in the Wonderland that is the United States of America was not generally known before Election Day 2008 and is still not generally known.
It is generally believed (and probably true) that Obama was born in Hawaii in 1961, but, unlike John McCain, Obama refused to produce his birth certificate...and got away with it. That doesn't mean that he was born in Kenya, but it does suggest that he's hiding something and a president should not do that.
Curiously, Bill O'Reilly and Glenn Beck took a page from the Saul Alinsky playbook (Rules for Radicals) and ridiculed the so-called "birthers" instead of called upon Obama to produce his birth certificate. (The certificate of live birth Obama did produce is not his original birth certificate and does not include all the information that is supposed to be on his original certificate.)
Obama's first claim to fame was his election as the president of the Harvard Law Review. Curiously, that law review did not publish anything by him that explains his election.
At Harvard Law School, Obama was selected as a research assistant to Professor Lawrence Tribe, the lead Gore attorney in the battle at the United States Supreme Court in 2000, while another of his other professors found him unremarkable.
From the first, Professor Tribe found Obama a soulmate and groomed him for "big things.."
Excerpt from "Barack Obama's intellectual influences" (From PRI's BBC World Service. February 13, 2009) (www.pri.org/politics-society/government/barack-obama-professor-president.html):
"Lawrence Tribe, Professor of Constitutional Law at Harvard explains: 'When we talked about his reasons for coming to law school and for learning the operations of the law, it had very much to do with empowering the worst-off. The rule of law is, I think in his mind, opposed to the law of the powerful.'
"Professor Tribe describes his early impression of Obama: 'His mind was extraordinary, and its character was somewhat apparent to me from the very first meeting. I met him for the first time when he was a first-year law student, before he had begun to study constitutional law. He came to my office and expressed interest in some of my ideas, some of my writings, and at the end of that meeting I was so impressed by his inquisitiveness, his curiosity, how well-read he was, how thoughtful he was, that I asked him then and there to be my research assistant. And we worked together on two very challenging projects, and on each of them he made a very distinctive imprint, much more than a research assistant would normally do.'
"'Among my students was the man who's going to swear Obama in as the 44th President of the United States — John Roberts, the Chief Justice — very, very smart; but I think that Barack Obama is on the whole at least as impressive, probably more so because of the breadth of qualities that his mind displays, and I suppose it's also a kind of emotional intelligence as well as analytical intelligence.'"
Obama first received general national attention in 2004, because he was selected by Senator John Kerry, the unsuccessful 2004 Democrat presidential candidate, to deliver the keynote address at the Democrats' national convention. Obama then was in his second term as an Illinois state senator and hoping to be elected the junior United States Senator from Illinois.
Early in 2007, as a rookie United States Senator, Obama declared himself a presidential candidate. Curiously, he revoked the invitation to deliver the benediction that he had made to the man whom he had reported in his autobiography, Dreams from My Father, had brought him to Christ and who had delivered the sermon from which the title to Obama's presidential campaign book, The Audacity of Hope, was taken, Reverend Jeremiah A. Wright, Jr. The New York Times reported that the revocation was the result of a recognition that Rev. Wright's sermons could be rough! Sean Hannity promptly interviewed Rev. Wright on "Hannity & Colmes," but the Obama campaign was not damaged, much less derailed, apparently because the video of Rev. Wright's "greatest" hits available at the Trinity United Church did not come to Hannity's attention. About a year later, when Hannity played some memorable excerpts, it was too late.
The Obama campaign benefited hugely from the financial crisis in 2008. That was very curious, since the crisis was traceable to ACORN and Obama had a long relationship with ACORN even before he become "the Senator from ACORN. See "Blame Obama's ACORN for the Financial Crisis" (September 29, 2008) (www.webcommentary.com/php/ShowArticle.php?id=gaynorm&date=080929), "Beware Obama, 'The Senator from ACORN'" (October 1, 2008) (www.webcommentary.com/php/ShowArticle.php?id=gaynorm&date=081001), "ACORN Should Be Obama's Undoing" (October 2, 2008) (www.webcommentary.com/php/ShowArticle.php?id=gaynorm&date=081002), "Michelle Malkin Was Right about ACORN, Of Course" (October 4, 2008) (www.webcommentary.com/php/ShowArticle.php?id=gaynorm&date=0810040), "McCain Still Can Win, By Exposing Obama and ACORN" (October 9, 2008) (www.webcommentary.com/php/ShowArticle.php?id=gaynorm&date=081009), "Obama's ACORN: A Corrupt Organization of Revolutionary Nuts" (October 10, 2008) (www.webcommentary.com/php/ShowArticle.php?id=gaynorm&date=081010), "Time for October Surprise To Expose Obama Lies" (October 18, 2008) (www.webcommentary.com/php/ShowArticle.php?id=gaynorm&date=081018), "Voters: Scrutinize Instead of Swallow Obama Lies." (October 19, 2008) (www.webcommentary.com/php/ShowArticle.php?id=gaynorm&date=081019) and "Does NYT Know MORE About Obama/ACORN?" (October 20, 2008) (www.webcommentary.com/php/ShowArticle.php?id=gaynorm&date=081020).
ACORN had made Obama what he was and the truth about the Obama/ACORN relationship could have undone his campaign.
It should have, because ACORN whistleblower Anita MonCrief had been working with New York Times national correspondent Stephanie Strom on an ACORN expose that would have exposed Obama too and, as Ms. Strom's articles were "watered down" in the editing process, Ms. MonCrief was following Michelle Malkin and me and decided to contact us, using an alias, as Plan B, in case The New York Times declined to report facts that Ms. MonCrief believed should be reported. I explained what transpired in detail in an article posted the day after Ms. Strom left Ms. MonCrief a voicemail reporting that "higher up" had ordered Ms. Strom to "stand down": "ACORN WHISTLEBLOWER: OBAMA'S THIRD STRIKE?" (October 22, 2008) (www.webcommentary.com/php/ShowArticle.php?id=gaynorm&date=081022).
Damning evidence was available — "Why Obama and ACORN Fear Anita MonCrief" (October 29, 2008) (www.webcommentary.com/php/ShowArticle.php?id=gaynorm&date=081029) — but the bulk of the voters never knew that Obama had blatantly lied about his relationship with ACORN and that his campaign had illicitly coordinated with ACORN/Project Vote.
After Ms. MonCrief testified in the Pennsylvania ACORN case soon before Election Day 2008, the McCain campaign accused Obama of lying to voters about the extent of his ties to ACORN. "Today's testimony by a former employee of an ACORN affiliate proves Barack Obama is guilty of lying to the American people about his relationship with ACORN," McCain campaign manager Rick Davis said in a written statement, accusing Obama of working "hand-in-glove" with the group, which is under investigation for voter registration fraud in several states. That was only a part. I wrote about it — "Anita MonCrief: Obama Supporter and Exposer, ACORN Whistleblower and Blogger" (November 2, 2008) (www.webcommentary.com/php/ShowArticle.php?id=gaynorm&date=081102) — but the liberal media establishment, led by The New York Times was not interesting in scrutinizing Obama.
By March of 2009, Ms. MonCrief's illusions about Obama were dispelled and she accompanied Heather Heidelbaugh, Esq., the lawyer for who she had been a key witness in the Pennsylvania ACORN case, to testify before a House Judiciary subcommittee about Ms. MonCrief and Ms. MonCrief's testimony in the Pennsylvania ACORN case (see "What New York Times Did NOT Report About ACORN, Obama and Itself" (March 19, 2009) (www.webcommentary.com/php/ShowArticle.php?id=gaynorm&date=090319)).
In "The Education of ACORN Whistleblower Anita MonCrief" (March 3, 2009) (www.webcommentary.com/php/ShowArticle.php?id=gaynorm&date=090303), I explained:
"ACORN whistleblower Anita MonCrief has learned that conservatives are not the 'crazies' she had been told they are (which is not to say that there are NO crazies on the Right). If Ms. MonCrief had learned that before Election Day 2008, the result might have been different.
"Last year, before Election Day 2008, Ms. MonCrief testified in a Pennsylvania state court about the Associated of Community Organizations for Reform Now, better known as ACORN.
"Ms. MonCrief wanted both ACORN corruption to be exposed and then Democrat presidential candidate Obama to win.
"Ms. MonCrief got both, but the powers that be at ACORN that Ms. MonCrief wants removed are still in control and set to benefit hugely from the legislation backed by the Obama Administration.
"That, Ms. MonCrief did NOT want."
On March 31, 2009, Bill O'Reilly reported on "The O'Reilly Factor" what the mainstream media did not report during the 2008 presidential election campaign and had not reported since: that The New York Times chose NOT to report what it had learned about ACORN, Obama and the Obama presidential campaign (see "Bill O'Reilly Exposes New York Times ACORN News Management during 2008 Presidential Campaign" (March 31, 2009) (www.webcommentary.com/php/ShowArticle.php?id=gaynorm&date=090331).
On May 18, 2009, O'Reilly had Ms. MonCrief on his show to back him up. See "The War between The New York Times and Bill O'Reilly and the Truth" (May 19, 2009) (www.webcommentary.com/php/ShowArticle.php?id=gaynorm&date=090519). Ms. MonCrief proved bolder and brasher than O'Reilly, stating, twice, that ACORN had served as "an unofficial arm of the Democrats." With Democrats controlling the White House and both houses of Congress, O'Reilly did not pursue that. See "Anita MonCrief Reported It Long Ago, Bill O'Reilly" (October 8, 2009) (www.webcommentary.com/php/ShowArticle.php?id=gaynorm&date=091008).
Similarly, Glenn Beck stayed away from the story only Ms. MonCrief was ready, willing and able to tell. See "Glenn Beck's Ignoring The Elephant in the Room: ACORN/Obama/NYT Coordination and Cover Up" (June 5, 2009) (www.webcommentary.com/php/ShowArticle.php?id=gaynorm&date=090605), "Glenn Beck, You're Still Not Reporting the Whole ACORN Story" (June 17, 2009) (www.webcommentary.com/php/ShowArticle.php?id=gaynorm&date=090617), "Glenn Beck Not Telling All or Crediting ACORN Whistleblower Anita MonCrief" (June 18, 2009) (www.webcommentary.com/php/ShowArticle.php?id=gaynorm&date=090618), "ACORN 8 Played Glenn Beck Very Deftly" (June 23, 2009) (www.webcommentary.com/php/ShowArticle.php?id=gaynorm&date=090623).
Sean Hannity did not step up before a lawsuit was brought against Ms. MonCrief by Project Vote. See "Sean Hannity: Heed Hannity Forum Posters at Last, Interview ACORN Whistleblower Anita MonCrief Fast" (June 15, 2009) (www.webcommentary.com/php/ShowArticle.php?id=gaynorm&date=090615) and "How Sean Hannity Has Been Unwittingly Helping Obama" (June 24, 2009) (www.webcommentary.com/php/ShowArticle.php?id=gaynorm&date=090624). Unfortunately, Hannity has not stepped up since Ms. MonCrief retained a law firm to defend her and returned to the public arena to give witness.
Fortunately, Michelle Malkin and Ms. MonCrief connected and Ms. Malkin reported on Ms. MonCrief's information. See "Michelle Malkin Exposes Obama's Culture of Corruption, Extols ACORN Whistleblower Anita MonCrief" (July 29, 2009) (www.webcommentary.com/php/ShowArticle.php?id=gaynorm&date=090729).
Judicial Watch just announced that Obama's Justice Department, headed by Attorney General Eric Holder, had closed an ACORN investigation.
Judicial Watch president Tom Fitton, in "Obama Spiked ACORN Investigation: Judicial Watch Releases FBI Documents" (http://biggovernment.com/publius/2010/03/11/judicial-watch-releases-fbi-documents-on-acorn-investigations/):
"Documents released today by Judicial Watch reference serious allegations of corruption and voter registration fraud by the Association of Community Organizations for Reform (ACORN), as well as the Obama administration's decision to shut down a criminal investigation into these matters."
"The FBI and Department of Justice opened an investigation. However, the Obama Justice Department, while noting that ACORN had engaged in 'questionable hiring and training practices,' closed down the investigation in March 2009, claiming ACORN broke no laws."
"These documents reflect seemingly systematic voter registration fraud by ACORN. It is unconscionable that the Justice Department has not conducted a fully comprehensive criminal investigation into — and prosecution of — this matter. Given President Obama's close connections to ACORN, including his campaign's hiring of the ACORN's Project Vote organization, it seems questionable at best that Attorney General Holder has failed to seriously investigate these and other alleged ACORN criminal activities."
QUESTIONABLE?
In October 2008 The New York Times killed an Obama/ACORN expose Obama because the expose could have been a "game changer" and The Timeswanted Obama to be elected.
So Obama was elected and then he appointed Holder to pursue his radical agenda and to protect him, not to investigate ACORN.
"Pimp and Pro" ACORN sting principal James O'Keefe followed up with an unlawful sting on Senator Mary Landrieu's office, and his lawyer is registered Republican Michael Madigan, who not only supported and contributed to the Obama presidential campaign, but backed Holder's nomination (see www.law.com/jsp/article.jsp?id=1202426553350; www.politicsdaily.com/2010/02/02/between-the-lines-the-james-okeefe-criminal-complaint/2).
Curiouser and curiouser!
What Americans need most is to know the truth about Obama and ACORN, not to see "Pimp and Pro" B-roll or to have everyone play by radical community organizer Saul Alinsky's rules.
On the plus side, Obama's inability to date to deliver on Obamacare and Obamnesty has Rathke publicly scolding him AND stressing that Obamnasty is vital "to a core part of the progressive — and Democratic — constituency among Latino voters in this country."
Rathke, in "Obama Feeling Heat on Immigration Reform" (chieforganizer.org/2010/03/12/obama-feeling-heat-on-immigration-reform/):
"There is finally hope for comprehensive immigration reform.... Many activists and advocates have been pleading for a rally...since exactly such an event was squelched for Inauguration Day 2009....
"Not surprisingly on the eve of the March 21st Rally and March, the President and his people summoned a dozen advocates for a meeting Thursday at the White House.... An hour from the President is frankly no big deal when dealing with the problems of 12 million plus undocumented immigrants and what this means to a core part of the progressive — and Democratic — constituency among Latino voters in this country.
"There seemed to be little in the way of concrete progress from the meeting though. The President asking advocates to deliver Republican votes for the bill is a wild piece of 'blaming the victim.' We can't get there from here. From all reports of people in the meeting the President was testy and sparky in the meeting. He reportedly is chafing at being the target of the Rally and March. He was supposedly uncomfortable hearing about how bad a problem DHS is under Secretary Napolitano who has cranked up the enforcement without any relief and justice for immigrants. One participant claimed that Obama said he would meet with her.
"From what I heard the biggest crack opening for relief on the way to reform was a tense exchange around the issue of whether or not the Administration is deporting immigrants without criminal records. The advocates placed the issue squarely on the table demanding that this be stopped. Reportedly the President claimed that they were not engaging in such deportations. This is not opinion but fact. These deportations are happening. If the President says they are not, this is something he can fix today by stopping such deportations and family breakups.
"Realistically a bill seems unlikely for 2010 and pretty sketchy for next year as well, especially if it depends on reformers mustering bipartisan support...."
Hopefully, Rathke's right about that (although, curiously, quirky Senator Lindsay Graham is trying to prove him wrong).
© Michael Gaynor
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