Squawking Never Sounded So Sweet

I'm noticing a trend.The civil unrest of Americans seems to be continually labeled as a manufactured product by the squawking Republican party. Article after article is published, downplaying the genuine discontent and concern of Americans over national issues, and painting it as emotionally charged, hate-filled semantics. As quickly as the Press can casually shrug off serious issues like the ACORN scandal, our school children singing Praise and Worship songs about President Obama, and unconstitutional healthcare legislation, controversial issues continue to surface almost daily. Media heavyweights like Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck are continually portrayed as intellectual pygmies, that no one in their right mind would take seriously. The truth of the matter is, the media is in no real hurry to reveal the ratings of Beck and LImbaugh, because they are crushing everyone else in talk radio. Perhaps their ratings are such as they are because Beck and LImbaugh are two very articulate, capable and talented men, but maybe it's also in part because Americans want to hear voices from the other side. Perhaps Americans are catching on to the liberal indoctrination trend of the mainstream media, and know they themselves are experiencing very real concern and anger- so they're not buying that the rest of the country's unrest has been fabricated by the GOP; a notion the mainstream media continually spoon feeds us every day.

Glenn Beck's face graced the cover of Time Magazine this week, with his tongue stuck out like a bratty toddler and the words, 'MAD MAN' beneath him. Very sublte. Fan or not, everyone can agree that Beck is no wall flower. He's intense and driving and does not hesitate to ask questions or report on things no one else in the media dare touch with a ten foot pole. Interestingly enough, both Limbaugh and Beck's ratings prove that more people are listening to them individually, than almost anyone else in talk radio. So the attack that they are ranting lunatics, is not only lobbed at Conservative Talk Radio, but its shrapnel can be felt cutting into the intellectual flesh of every American who takes these commentators seriously. Also, it's interesting to note that 'crazy' Glenn Beck was almost single-handedly responsible for bringing the ACORN tax-fraud/ prostitution scandal to light. The American people learned that one after another ACORN office was guilty of fraudulent behavior and promoting underage prostitution, largely with tax-payer money. The media and Obama downplayed the incident, of course, "Frankly, its not something I've followed closely. I didn't even know that ACORN was getting a whole lot of federal money," our President said. Yea, I'm sure you didn't, Mr. President. Either way, the House voted last week to cut off all federal funding for ACORN, which would probably have slipped under the radar and not been detected had Mad Man Glenn Beck not used his television program to expose the organization for the corrupt thieves they are.

Another note-worthy incident was Joe Wilson's gaff during the President's Health Care address to Congress, and it got more than its fair share of media coverage. Although the general consensus is that Rep. Wilson's outburst was inappropriate and disrespectful, that was the extent of his offense. Not that he accused the President of lying, but how he went about timing the accusation. The media spun the event to portray Wilson as guilty of daring to accuse The Omnipotent President of being untruthful, as if that were a sin in and of itself. No, Wilson violated the rules of democratic etiquette; that people should be allowed to state their case on the floor, even if you believe their words to be dishonest. It was wrong and tactless of him to interrupt the President's address, parties on both sides of the aisle agree there. We can move on. But his accusation was valid. Rep. Joe Wilson was correct; the President was not telling the whole truth in claiming illegal aliens would not be covered in his proposed healthcare legislation. He wasn't lying, per se, but he wasn't telling the truth either: Obama's favorite game. House Democrat's proposed bill does, in fact, offer financial assistance to illegal immigrants, because it does not require them (or any health insurance beneficiary) to verify legal status in this country before beginning to receive subsidies from the government. They can accurately say illegals aren't covered, because technically they aren't, but they most certainly could obtain coverage through the every-popular and ever-present "loophole" in the system. If we're not checking the legal status of those applying for the public option, what is to stop the nearly 12 million illegal immigrants in this country from applying for tax-payer funded public health coverage? Absolutely nothing. Also, Democrats were well aware of this gaping hole, because they TWICE voted down amendments to add a certification of legal status amendment to the healthcare legislation. Interestingly, after taking the bullet for the his own misstep, it appears Joe Wilson's outburst created enough media blitz to shed necessary light on the issue. In the days that followed the Wilson debacle, the White House moved to support adding a verification provision to the bill.

The mainstream liberal media would like to portray the anger and outrage of the American people as loud-mouthed pouting by the Republican party for the loss of the 2008 election. The media portrays the GOP as capitalizing on the opportunity to sensationalize important issues. And that might be true in part, except that serious political opposition figures, like Newt Gingrich and John McCain are not part of the media machine, and they too are very openly critical and equally outraged, not just by the unconstitutional legislation being put forth by the Obama Administration, but by the blind eye The Administration turns to partisan corruption. Perhaps the right wing media is sensationalizing the controversy, but publicity is publicity. In a nation where the media is almost entirely partisan, save one news network, publicity is the only tool that brings the corruption of Washington D.C. into the living rooms of the American people, and forces the government to be held accountable. I've noticed the trend of the mainstream media to laugh off criticism from the right, as though it were the temper tantrum of a 2-year-old that is to be tolerated with a smirk. Besides the American people being smart enough not to fall for that, all of this outspoken accusation from conservatives just may be functioning as a useful tool to expose injustice, grossly misspent American tax dollars, and less than ethical provisions for anyone physically in this country, except (apparently) those of us with social security numbers, who go to work everyday and pay our taxes.

ACORN 101

What's all this buzz about ACORN lately?

For those of you who have heard of ACORN, but are not familiar with the broader social context of the organization, this is for you. ACORN (the Association of Community Organizers for Reform Now) is a "grassroots" non-profit organization, formed to advocate for low and moderate-income families by working on social issues such as neighborhood safety, healthcare, and voter registration among other things. ACORN was heavily involved with Barack Obama's campaign for President in 2008, and was later investigated for voter registration fraud when they were found to be registering individuals multiple times, registering deceased Americans, as well as making up fictitious names completely, to vote Democrat in the '08 election. More recently, ACORN has been investigated for tax fraud, embezzlement, management fights, and fraudulent behavior of its employees in several branch offices across the country. This past week, a new controversy involving the promotion of underage sex trafficking and prostitution, led the United States Census Bureau (which is responsible for keeping count on the US population) to terminate it's partnership with ACORN saying, "Unfortunately, we no longer have confidence that our national partnership agreement is being effectively managed through your many local offices. For the reasons stated, we therefore have decided to terminate the partnership."

ACORN operates under the guise of aiding the needy, but in reality they exploit the very people they pretend to assist. ACORN rallies up the uneducated, poor, and vulnerable Americans, and in the case of the voter fraud specifically, employs these individuals for slightly more than minimum wage. This income is more than these people would be able to earn otherwise, so they have an incentive to stay employed by ACORN and meet the requirement to keep that employment. Herein lies the rub; as an ACORN employee, you are required to register a specific number of voters as well as registering new members to join ACORN, in order to meet the necessary quota to keep your job. In this way, when effectively operating on a massive scale, the organization and those behind it can create a social movement to reflect the political interests of the organization, which are decidedly ultra-left.

Liberals are big fans of saying Republicans only care about the wealthy, and need to create polices that keep the rich wealthy in order to stay in power. Well, if that's true, then conversely, liberals only care about the poor, and need to KEEP THE POOR POOR in order to stay in power. That is why liberal policy seemingly aids the less fortunate, but in reality, those leftist policies never get the needy out of their lower socio-economic strata. ACORN capitalizes on this.

ACORN gets 40% of its revenues from American taxpayers, and has spent nearly four decades funding political campaigns and agendas of those that promote the welfare state, and undermine capitalism and individual responsibility. Our President worked for ACORN as a "leadership trainer," in the early days of his political career in Chicago, but his current affection and support for the organization is no secret. In a speech to ACORN community organizers, before his inauguration, The President promised ACORN they would help shape the agenda of his Administration. Watch his speech to ACORN community organizers here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WMQ20wNhB_M

Scared, yet? You should be.

This week, two ACORN offices, one in D.C. and one in Baltimore were caught with an undercover camera helping a pair of journalists posing as a pimp and prostitute subvert the law. The video from Washington shows an ACORN "tax specialist" offering to help the 'pimp and prostitute' acquire illegal home loans to set up a brothel. The tax specialist tells the 'prostitute,' to lie on her tax form and say she is a 'performing artist,' when she files her taxes so she will qualify for aid. Very ethical. Both of the associates on the video were fired on Thursday, after the video surfaced. But not 24 hours later, two more ACORN employees were fired from a Baltimore office when the undercover journalists videotaped the ACORN workers showing the supposed pimp and prostitute how to falsify tax forms. ACORN workers were also very helpful in aiding the pimp and prostitute to seek illegal benefits for 13 "very young" girls from El Salvador. The pair said they wanted to import them to work as child prostitutes.

Watch the undercover videos here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cWRTYD26Kxc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N9MCk6GvQO4

When stories like this started popping up, I heard the refrain, "It's just a few bad apples, it doesn't reflect the agenda of the entire organization." (Funny, that isn't the mentality when the topic is controversy over 1% of priests being charged with pedifilia in the Catholic Church.) However, as days and weeks pass, the corruption of more and more ACORN offices across the nation is exposed and America is seeing ACORN for what it really is.

We have an organization that is not only encouraging tax fraud, but is perpetuating the sex trade by giving free housing for the purpose of establishing a brothel, with the hard earned dollars of Americans who get up everyday and work hard to make a legitimate living. This is where our tax money is going, to the destruction of young women's lives and the perpetuation of illicit, illegal, and fraudulent behavior. Needless to say, it makes me question the integrity of our President, that he stands behind an organization that is capable of this type of immorality. Although he, of course, does not support the controversial behavior of these specific employees, he's been in bed with ACORN since the beginning of his career as a community organizer. This organization is corrupt from the ground up, and with the staggering amount of tax dollars at their disposal, Americans literally cannot afford to let this organization continue.

Associated Press Exploits Dying Marine

Sensationalism trumps ethics once again in the Associated Press this week, when a graphic photograph of a fatally wounded young marine, in the last few moments of his life, was published on the front page of several American newspapers. The 21-year-old, Lance Corporal Joshua Bernard, died just moments after the picture was snapped, he's shown bleeding from his fatal wounds as he's attended by his fellow Marines in a futile attempt to save his life. The picture is disturbing on many levels, but perhaps the most unsettling is how the death of one of our heroes is being exploited to sensationalize the war.

US. Defense Secretary, Robert Gates, expressed his outrage at the publication of this photo, and rightly so. The Bernard family stated they did not want the photo published, for completely understandable and justified reason, but the AP published anyway. I cannot fathom how devastating it must be for the Bernard family to see pictures of their son curled in the mud, suffering through the final moments of his life, strewn across the front pages of newspapers. Defense Secretary Gates expressed a similar sentiment in addressing the AP, "Your lack of compassion and common sense in choosing to put this image of their maimed and stricken child on the front page of multiple American newspapers is appalling." Thank God the White House didn't let this unacceptable and blatantly disrespectful incident slide. The AP Director of PHotography, Santiago Lyon, responded saying, the Associated Press felt it was their "journalistic duty to show the reality of war there, however unpleasant and brutal that sometimes is." Needless to say, the agenda behind the exploitation of such a sensitive photograph is clear; to use the death of one of our brave Marines to disseminate anti-war propaganda. My heart goes out to the Bernard family, for this additional suffering in a time of inconceivable loss, and in appreciation for their sacrifice and the service of their heroic son.