That's the most basic rule of anything in the political world and, arguably, life. Follow the money, which is what I did. What ACORN is alleged to have done has been blown out of proportion by the same people who stand to gain the most from a McCain presidency. I find that curious because I don't believe in coincidence. Whatever ACORN did or did not do will be investigated in due course, which is being aided by ACORN itself, as I've said repeatedly. If "innocent until proven guilty" is still the standard of American justice, then everything that has been said about them in the conservative blogosphere and mainstream media (but, I repeat myself) should be taken only with the proverbial grain of salt. DO YOU HAVE THE WRITE STUFF?

The ACORN Wiki article is currently protected from updates because of "disputes" as to the information. Because Wikipedia is open-source and because of the disputes, I question the article's veracity for now. As for ACORN's history from the discoverthenetworks.org page, I discovered that that website is affiliated with FrontPageMag and David Horowitz. They are affiliated with the conservative Scaife Foundation (SOURCE), which also funds and uses as political fronts: Quote: American Enterprise Institute Atlas Economic Research Foundation David Horowitz Freedom Center Federalist Society Foundation for Economic Education Free Congress Foundation (headed by Paul Weyrich) Freedom House GOPAC (headed by Newt Gingrich) Independent Women's Forum Intercollegiate Studies Institute (which operates the Collegiate Network) Judicial Watch Landmark Legal Foundation Media Research Center (headed by Brent Bozell) Pacific Legal Foundation Pittsburgh World Affairs Council Reason Foundation Given what I understand about the Scaife Foundation and these other organizations, none of which has anything to do with Democratic or Liberal causes, I question whether "discoverthenetworks.org" is in a position to neutrally describe the history of anything. As for EPI, the "Employment Policies Institute", there is another troubling connection. According to Sourcewatch: Quote:The Employment Policies Institute (EPI) is one of several front groups created by Berman & Co., a Washington, DC public affairs firm owned by Rick Berman, who lobbies for the restaurant, hotel, alcoholic beverage and tobacco industries. EPI has has been widely quoted in news stories regarding minimum wage issues, and although a few of those stories have correctly described it as a "think tank financed by business," most stories fail to provide any identification that would enable readers to identify the vested interests behind its pronouncements. Instead, it is usually described exactly the way it describes itself, as a "non-profit research organization dedicated to studying public policy issues surrounding employment growth" that "focuses on issues that affect entry-level employment." In reality, EPI's mission is to keep the minimum wage low so Berman's clients can continue to pay their workers as little as possible. Since ACORN supports the very people who are working for those companies paying EPI's bills, there is at least a conflict-of-interest between Rick Berman and what he purports as factual in the report. Look, I'm not defending their business model, which certainly appears to need an upgrade or two, but much of the conservative mainstream media bias toward the group seems to be a preemptive strike in case Obama walks away with this election next month, which the Right can use to delegitimize his presidency. I will also reiterate that having someone fill out a voter registration form with Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck is not the same as Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck showing up on election day and voting. Yes, there are some ACORN workers who listed false names on the cards, even ACORN has admitted this and has turned over the evidence to police without question, but that doesn't mean that everything that is being said about ACORN's community programs in the MSM is true or even accurate. Blaming this group for the housing and economic crisis facing everybody in our country is just disingenuous on the part of the conservative blogging and talking head community. Here is another article that counters what was written in the Las Vegas article you linked: ACORN Calls Police Raid of Las Vegas Office a Political "Stunt" As the article alleges, ACORN officials had been working with the Nevada government for months to clear up known and suspected fraudulent registrations. ACORN cooperated with election officials and even voluntarily gave them evidence that could be used to prosecute those who fraudulently submitted the forms. That doesn't sound like a group that is trying to defraud the process by covering up wrongdoing by any of its members. DO YOU HAVE THE WRITE STUFF?

I'm not defending the organization per se, but I am defending the right of everybody to have a vote in this country and for those votes to be counted. DO YOU HAVE THE WRITE STUFF?