Michael Winship | A Mighty Hoax From ACORN Grows

[babsbunny]

http://www.truthout.org/article/101808A

aturday 18 October 2008

by: Michael Winship, t r u t h o u t | Perspective

Michael Winship sees the ACORN "election fraud" story as one of the urban legends that come up every election cycle.

ACORN and election fraud. Hang on. As soon as I can get the alligator that crawled out of my toilet back into the New York City sewers where it belongs, I can turn my attention to this very important topic.

You see, the ACORN "election fraud" story is one of those urban legends, like fake moon landings and alligators in the sewers, and it appears three or four weeks before every recent national election with the regularity of the swallows returning to Capistrano. First, the basics: ACORN, which stands for the Association of Community

[Native]

1. Great to-date summary!

"All of this distracts from several important points. ACORN has registered 1.3 million voters and maintains that in virtually every instance it is ACORN that has reported the incidents of fraud.

As the organization asserted in a response to Senator McCain, "ACORN hired 13,000 field workers to register people to vote. In any endeavor of this size, some people will engage in inappropriate conduct. ACORN has a zero tolerance policy and terminated any field workers caught engaging in questionable activity. At the end of the day, as ACORN is paying these people to register voters, it is ACORN that is defrauded."

Arrests have been made, as well they should be.

Add to this the simple fact that registration fraud is not election fraud. Seventy-five made-up people who are registered as, say, "Brad Pitt," are not likely going to show up at some polling place on November 4 to vote in the election. Because they don't exist. (Besides, Angelina would never give them time off from babysitting duties.)"