Apparently I'm on an ACORN kick...

I just found an actually funny article about this voter registration fraud craze, that, unlike the AP article I just wrote about, manages to be sarcastic and point out truths. This comes from The Nation's Christopher Hayes.


Some gems:

"Keep in mind that ACORN's registered somewhere around 1.3 million people this cycle. Not surprisingly, there are errors. Think of all the times you've eaten at a restaurant in your life. On the rare occasions when the restaurant totaled the tip wrong, were they trying to defraud you? Did you inform the cops of an attempted robbery? Are you suspicious of restaurants generally and view them as an enterprise committed to widespread fraud? No, of course not. You would have to be a paranoid doofus to believe that."

"

The faux-outrage that Republicans have marshalled over alleged voter fraud is so transparently faked, so expertly cynical its almost surreal. When John McCain accused ACORN of being on the "verge of maybe perpetrating one of the greatest frauds in voter history" Obama just broke down laughing. I was too. It was the only reasonable reaction.

But sure enough, they've managed to embed the notion deeply among the right-wing base and its now bled into popular discussion. (Someone on ESPN made an ACORN, vote-fraud joke the other night, which is when I knew this had gotten out of hand).

As nearly everyone on the left has pointed out, this is an old routine. Every two years, Republicans gin up baseless accusations of "voter fraud," often directed at ACORN. The strategic imperative is simple: create a pretense that will allow them to more credibly hassle and hopefully suppress poor and minority voters."

Okay, so it seems like I've quoted most of the article, but it is very funny. Worth a read if you're following this whole ACORN business.