ACORN Squash(ed)

I love fall, and as a temporary resident of Southern California, I miss fall. The cool crisp air, the sweaters, the football, my spiced cider candles, and pumpkin pie. This fall brings another feel good story, the squashing of federal funding to the Association of Community Organizers for Reform Now - ACORN.  It is really disappointing that is has taken this long, really disappointing. Unethical conduct does not sprout up overnight. Years of criminal accusations and political based denials have created an systemic ethics problem at ACORN and the leaders must be willing to accept responsibility for their actions and show their capability to effectively implement solutions to address the underlying issues that have led them to this place. 

First off I must say that I do not think ACORN set out to advocate for such corruption. The hardcore conservative in me cringes at the thought of national level community organizers. This is why I am for a small central government with a focus on local control. But how did ACORN go from misguided socialists to corrupt organization? For the same reason any other big bad corporation does (ACORN=ENRON). Throughout my studies I have read about many organizations who started with legitimate end goals and sound means. The real test comes when the going gets though, whether stressed by outside influences, over-expansion, or a changing landscape, many organizations adopt an "ends justify the means" type approach. "Well maybe we can cut some corners, fudge a few forms - it will work out in the end, we need to satisfy our goals" This too does not last. As soon as an organization projects to their members that ethical compromise is OK in some situations, the organization has lost control over when rules will apply. Soon a philosophy develops that overshadows the "ends." Personal or political power, money, recognition, and general hubris all lead to a "means justify our new goals regardless of our stated ends." This is what happened to ENRON, HP, the mortgage industry, the banking industry, the MSM, governments here and abroad, and the list goes on. This rouse can and will not go on forever. Eventually, through a whistleblower, public or private investigations, or complete organizational meltdown, the truth comes out.

What I find particularly disturbing about ACORN are their deliberate denials in the face of overwhelming evidence. The seemingly automatic response after the latest videos were released is that this obviously a right-wing conspiracy between Fox and the GOP.  Umm, thanks? But, seriously we're not that good. And even if it was - this is somehow a rationalization of multiple employees willingly aiding the child sex trade? Somehow the fact that not every employee eagerly advises manipulation federal law is somehow supposed to make us forget. Well snaps for you ACORN, but that isn't good enough.

No one on the left will ever admit that Michele Bachmann was right about ACORN or that Barack Obama was wrong, but in this age of partisanship an 83-7 vote means something. It means that the right was right, and that patience and persistence will pay off if the truth is on your side. And so, for now, ACORN is squashed.

Recipe for image above: 

http://simplyrecipes.com/recipes/classic_baked_acorn_squash/

Isolated Incident? I think not.:

http://www.rottenacorn.com/activityMap.html

We can never forget.

This morning I watched the original news footage of the 9/11 Today Show coverage. It was very telling to see the original footage, not the politicization that has marred the original events in more recent years. The moments I will always remember are not those in the days, weeks, and months following the attack, but the moments before. Those were my last moments of childhood. I was still in high school at the time, I remember lying in bed (5:45am wake-up) cursing the fact that I had to soon roll out of bed for the hour drive to school. A few short minutes latter, my mom came down the hall to the study where my dad was playing Solitaire (I could hear the clicking) waiting for me to get up. "Hey, you better come watch this - someone just flew a plane into the World Trade Center."

Perhaps in someways this is a selfish perspective, but our perception of the attacks comes from our own experience. I have certainly not forgotten those who lost their lives that day. A while back I had the opportunity to meet a prosecutor who worked on the U.S. v. Moussaoui case (the only defendant to be convicted of the 9/11 conspiracy). This case was about far more than Moussaoui, this was the only chance for the families of the victims to have their day in court. During his presentation the prosecutor showed us several of the exhibits admitted during phase #2 of the trial. These recordings and images were never on television, they were just too tragic and too graphic. For every devastating image shown, there were dozens captured that never made the air. The admitted evidence is available on the Eastern District of Virginia's website. I feel it is important for people to know that this information is out there, but as you may imagine, many of these exhibits are extremely graphic. 

http://www.vaed.uscourts.gov/notablecases/moussaoui/exhibits/prosecution.html

I think in someways we do forget. Not that it is all bad, at some level it is a self protection mechanism. We can't spend our lives reliving the first few hours of chaos. That would be giving those who planned and perpetrated these attacks exactly what they wanted. We soon adjust to the new heightened alert levels and the new airport screenings, but do we really get over it all? The chaos of that day didn't end at my school walls: Were there more planes? Was there going to be an attack on the west coast? Did we know anyone on those planes or in those building? I can't help but think that part of our obsessive dependence on technology these days is somehow connected to those feelings of panic, the fear of the unknown. Blackberries, Twitter, the 24 hour news networks...constant information feed gives us a sense of much desired control.

People handle tragedy in different ways, but when I hear people say that things are going back to normal I can't help but think that they have simply forgotten how things were before. I know I can never forget, and I never will.

8 Billion for this?

Stay tuned on Saturday for a full post on Congresswoman Michele Bachmann & H.R.2715. Until then here is Rep. Bachmann's video on the ACORN petition: http://bit.ly/UtZLH

and BigGovernment.com's link to the latest ACORN jaw-dropper: Part 1: http://bit.ly/PR1c7 and Part 2: http://bit.ly/4vi0Rk (Full transcript available at biggovernment.com)

I am a little surprised that this hasn't gotten better media coverage; encourage you favorite CNN anchor to cover this story tomorrow, especially now that ACORN has fired the 2 Baltimore workers. http://bit.ly/2JSZ9a

See you Saturday (until then try to stay away from the "performing arts")!

Back in Business

Back from vacation, and ready to get down to business! Watch for updated blog posts every Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday (and sometimes in between if my schedule allows). Each week I will be featuring a new Conservative Lady in Politics and posting on other current events. This has been an exciting, but stressful year for conservative ladies and I look forward to more conservative ladies having a voice in the future. Let me know if you have any questions or if you have any interesting topics you would like me to cover. You can reach me at conservativeladiesinpolitics@gmail.com. You can also follow me on twitter @ConLIP. Please feel free to comment, but please be respectful to all, thanks!