Acorn, the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, is a left wing political action group with close ties to the Democrat party. Since 1994 it has received over 53 million dollars in federal funds. It has a long history of involvement in voter registration fraud. Obama has a very long history of involvement with Acorn. Acorn has acknowledged problems in voter registration fraud but has blamed a few “bad apples”.
Thanks to the intrepid James O’Keefe and Hannah Giles, posing as a pimp and prostitute, we now know quite a bit more about advice that Acorn gives to those seeking assistance from them. Hitting Acorn offices in Baltimore, Washington and Brooklyn, Acorn employees were only too happy to assist O’Keefe and Giles in setting up a fictitious house of prostitution involving underage prostitutes. The advice of the Acorn worker in Baltimore that the girl prostitutes could be listed as dependents on the tax returns of O”Keefe and Giles is pure comedy gold!
The Acorn workers showed zero concern as to the morality of the enterprise or the illegality of it. They seemed perfectly at ease in giving advice in furtherance of a criminal undertaking. Go to Big Government. Com, here, here, here and here to read first hand accounts of these brilliant stings and to read the transcripts.
The results are starting to come in from this undercover operation. The census bureau announced that it was severing its relationship with Acorn. (Yep, the Obama administration had planned to use Acorn to “help” with the census.) Yesterday, September 14, the Senate passed 83-7 the Johanns Amendment to block federal housing funding for Acorn. ( Of course Durbin and Burris, the two senators from my corrupt state of Illinois, voted with the seven.) The District Attorney of King’s County is planning to “take a look” at Acorn’s Brooklyn office.
For years it has been an open secret that Acorn was an organization engaged in activities that flouted the law. Until O’Keefe and Giles came along no one did anything about it, and Acorn continued to receive federal and state funds. Now action is being taken but only due to their efforts. As a taxpayer and someone who cares about the law, I salute them! Back in June Representative John Conyers (D.Mi), the House Judiciary Committee Chairman called for an investigation of Acorn. He then backed off from an investigation, stating that “The Powers that Be had decided against it.”. In light of these new scandals, maybe the “Powers that Be” should be ignored and Congress should launch an investigation of the organization that it has been funding.
Update: House GOP introducing a bill to cut off all funding for Acorn.
Looks like Bob Casey is also one of the seven.
Am I remembering correctly that back around the election, conservative Catholics were being scolded for objecting to the bishops funnelling a million or so from the Catholic Campaign For Human Development into these folks?
Accusing left wing Catholics of defending Acorn? For shame Darwin!
http://vox-nova.com/2008/11/24/the-house-that-neuhaus-built/#more-5186
Interesting; all that talk about breaking the cycle of poverty and structures of sin. Of course those are noble goals and I’d say a moral obligation. But as often the case it boils down to what one considers to be the cycle of poverty, the structure of sin, and the means of breaking it – and what one is willing to do, allow, or overlook to enact their cure. Clearly some will excuse any injustice, immorality, or counterproductive acts if it favors their political ideology.
Here’s the prototype of the response:
You so called conservatives, you’re really liberals in the true sense of the word. You’re not against human trafficking, the exploitation of minors and wome. You’re just imperialists who don’t want poor Latin American to have gainful employment!
It is truly amazing with all that smoke and indeed some fire these folks were going to play a role in the Census. And no one in the media seemed to care
funnelling a million or so from the Catholic Campaign For Human Development into these folks?
they got a lot of money from there, which is cut-off now, but the money is going to birds of a feather anyway. Don’t give anything to these socialism pushers.
I agree with Matt. I used to give, but unfortunately no longer trust them to use the money wisely.
MIke I still urge people to give to the collection. THey just did to be asking the Bishops where it is going!!
I think the very Orthodox Diocese of Kanasa City did this right
The filmmakers have been alleged to deceptively edit their videos. They allegedly visited multiple branches of ACORN and found only one that took their bait.
Please read these links and then respond.
http://www.newshounds.us/2009/09/15/acorngotcha_activist_hannah_giles_admits_she_had_an_antiacorn_agenda_before_she_knew_anything_about_them.php
http://www.newshounds.us/2009/09/14/nothing_more_important_to_fox_news_than_its_crusade_against_acorn_an_organization_devoted_to_helping_the_poor_and_oh_yeah_minorities.php
http://www.newshounds.us/2009/09/11/in_their_zeal_to_change_subject_from_health_care_to_acorn_fox_news_overlooks_issues_with_gotcha_video.php
I do not ask you to agree with every single word. I ask that you respect the allegations and respectfully address them.
Oh, I apologize for the links leaking over onto the next column. I really had no idea that would happen.
Sort of off topic: Undercover work requires lying. Can Catholics be undercover officers?
Considering the number of brave priests over the centuries who have adopted false identities in order to spread the message of Christ in areas hostile to the Church, I do not believe there is a blanket condemnation of deceit in all circumstances. Here are some relevant passages from the Catechism:
“2488 The right to the communication of the truth is not unconditional. Everyone must conform his life to the Gospel precept of fraternal love. This requires us in concrete situations to judge whether or not it is appropriate to reveal the truth to someone who asks for it.
2489 Charity and respect for the truth should dictate the response to every request for information or communication. The good and safety of others, respect for privacy, and the common good are sufficient reasons for being silent about what ought not be known or for making use of a discreet language. The duty to avoid scandal often commands strict discretion. No one is bound to reveal the truth to someone who does not have the right to know it.282
2491 Professional secrets – for example, those of political office holders, soldiers, physicians, and lawyers – or confidential information given under the seal of secrecy must be kept, save in exceptional cases where keeping the secret is bound to cause very grave harm to the one who confided it, to the one who received it or to a third party, and where the very grave harm can be avoided only by divulging the truth. Even if not confided under the seal of secrecy, private information prejudicial to another is not to be divulged without a grave and proportionate reason.”
Don,
I’m not so sure you can call it “deceit”; this has too much of a negative connotation attached to it that folks might mistake it as having malicious intent.
Just like those brave priests you mentioned, I would not think theirs could even be considered such a case.
They are not unlike those brave Catholics who essentially did the same when facilitating the escape of those Jews undergoing persecution during WWII.
[…] O’Keefe and Giles take their pimp and prostitute masquerade to an Acorn office in San Bernadino California and are met with open arms! Four Acorn offices across the nation have no problem with helping out a criminal enterprise involving underage prostitutes! This has been a brilliant sting which has brought Acorn to its knees in just a few days. Amazing, simply amazing! Go here to read Hannah Giles’ comments on the science behind the Acorn sting. […]
I agree with you e. There are times when it is very immoral to tell the truth.
“the filmmakers reportedly went to several ACORN offices, where their ploy was unsuccessful, before finding someone to fall for their scheme.”
Sorry, Brian, but that statement does not equal “they found only one office that took their bait.” It merely implies that some ACORN offices of the total that were visited didn’t bite. (Why they didn’t immediately call the police is another question.) Unless you’ve got something more definitive stashed somewhere, I’d say the Newshounds appear to be the kind of hound who’ll yap at anything.
I will grant, however, that there appears to be a time stamp discrepancy on the film (Newshounds missed that, but a commenter remarked on it so it doesn’t alter my opinion of them.) The version Big Government has is edited and has no time stamp, but the camera pans briefly to a dry-erase calendar labeled “July ’09.” I’m looking for it on the vids above, but no dice yet.
They allegedly visited multiple branches of ACORN and found only one that took their bait.
Given that they’ve already released videos from four different offices (each offering to help them with their prostitution ring) this seems unlikely.
There are times when it is very immoral to tell the truth.
But isn’t it always immoral to lie? “I’m a pimp” is a lie, not a withholding of truth.
“But isn’t it always immoral to lie? “I’m a pimp” is a lie, not a withholding of truth.”
Well, there go investigative journalism, detective work, and intel as career options for practicing Catholics.
restrainedradical: It’s 1942 and you’re hiding Anne Frank and her family in Amsterdam. An SS officer asks you if you know where any Jews are hidden. Do you say, “Well, since it’s always immoral to lie, officer, they’re in that building over there, right up those stairs.”
restrainedradical: It’s 1942 and you’re hiding Anne Frank and her family in Amsterdam. An SS officer asks you if you know where any Jews are hidden. Do you say, “Well, since it’s always immoral to lie, officer, they’re in that building over there, right up those stairs.”
I’d hope that God gives me the strength to say to the officer, “none of your business.”
I covered this issue with my criticism of Lila Rose.
What I decided, since there does not seem to be clear Church teaching on this, is that undercover work may be moral, but entrapment is not, because it is an attempt to lead people into sins they would not otherwise commit. As I see it, that is an offense against human dignity. We’re supposed to lead people away from sin in order to save them, not lead them into it in order to condemn them (that would be Satan’s mission).
I’m not sure it is the case here, since the ACORN employees seem to have been ready with the relevant information, as if it were a thing they typically do. They didn’t have to be persuaded. The possibility was brought up and they immediately seized upon it. It suggests that they have done this sort of thing before.
I interpret Aquinas as saying that undercover work is a venial sin and entrapment is a mortal sin. But wouldn’t it be a mortal sin to accepts a job that requires constant venial sinning? Shouldn’t the Church ban Catholics from becoming undercover officers?
I’m not sure it is the case here, since the ACORN employees seem to have been ready with the relevant information, as if it were a thing they typically do. They didn’t have to be persuaded.
Same thing with Rose and Planned Parenthood. That’s the whole point of Rose’s videos.
I wonder if I can respond to this without having every word I type “reinterpreted” to suit the needs of the moment.
I didn’t see the ‘same thing’ in the videos where Lila Rose is trying to expose racism at Planned Parenthood.
People never seem to understand or acknowledge a very simple thing: she did two different things. Exposing Planned Parenthood’s flouting of state laws was, I think, legitimate undercover work.
Trying to make the case that Planned Parenthood is racist because one of its clinics took money that was supposed to be ear-marked for black abortions is entrapment, if not of a legal kind, of a moral kind. The people on the other end of the line had clearly never heard such a request before and were clearly not in the habit of doing that sort of thing.
So, in one case, yes, it was the same. In the other case, no, it wasn’t.
[…] In the wake of the Acorn scandal exposed by the intrepid duo of O’Keefe and Giles, Acorn has announced that it is suspending […]
I’d hope that God gives me the strength to say to the officer, “none of your business.”
Do you think that was an option in Nazi-occupied Europe? So you say that and the SS officer has you arrested and tortured and imprisoned. In the meantime, the Jews you have hidden are starving because you haven’t been able to bring them provisions and they can’t very well go out and get them themselves.
So not only your life, but theirs is endangered. But gee, that’s fine, because you haven’t lied.
Under such circumstances I’d lie a million times if need be to save an innocent life and I do believe my guardian angel would be cheering me on.
[…] volunteers to Acorn. Of course this is over a year after the USCCB froze funding to Acorn, not to mention the recent colorful revelations that have led to investigations of Acorn and the cutting of funding […]
?????????? ??????, ?? ??? ???????