ACORN CEO, Betha Lewis, freaking OUT!
You know it is big news when the media refuses to cover it.
Last month, in a shocking display of journalistic hubris, nearly every major news outlet in America neglected to report on one of the most groundbreaking stories of the year.
On July 25th, 2009, twenty-five year old documentary filmmaker James O’Keefe walked into an ACORN housing facility trying to get a loan. He was looking to start a brothel with his colleague, Hannah Giles, who posed as a 19-year-old prostitute named Kenya. The couple claimed that they had been turned down by several other agencies and needed a way to launch their business “off the record.”
O’Keefe, acting as a law student from Georgetown University, told the ACORN representatives that the proceeds from his sole proprietorship would go towards launching a political career in the D.C. area.
It gets worse.
The twelve girls O’Keefe intended to employ at his brothel were all under age, recently trafficked in from El Salvador. He needed a way for the girls to “perform tricks” in the house without alerting any authorities. Fortunately, two ACORN employees, Lavernia Boone and Sharona Boone, were sympathetic to his plight and eager to help.
Little did they know the entire transaction was being caught on tape.
Lavernia and Sharona began by advising O’Keefe to file his escort service under another name, something catchy and innocuous. They recommended that he make up operating expenses in order to give his business credibility and only rarely visit the house to collect landlord payments. By doing this he could plead ignorance and save his political career should police ever discover the prostitution ring. In order to further evade law enforcement, the two ACORN organizers even suggested that O’Keefe make up a completely separate business through which he could launder prostitution money into his campaign fund.
After being filmed openly promoting sex slavery and tax evasion, it would seem that the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now is in dire need of reform… now.
Instead, ACORN is getting a free pass from the press. AP, FOX, and The Wall Street Journal were the only outlets that reported on the exposé. Coverage by other networks was done so begrudgingly; most stories were spun to defame O’Keefe and Giles instead of ACORN.
Naturally, many reporters have been critical of this documentary, saying it was overly edited and only exhibited the behavior of a few “bad eggs” within the organization. Such skepticism is fair and completely understandable.
Unfortunately, O’Keefe and Giles recently released more footage from another ACORN office in Baltimore depicting similar conduct; albeit much worse. Even if the community agency is intrinsically good, it is clear at this point that ACORN has been corrupted beyond repair.
Other critics maintain that this is just the culmination of a vendetta Republicans have had against ACORN ever since the GOP lost the presidential election. ACORN even issued a statement blaming FOX News for sending O’Keefe out on a Conservative smear campaign.
I’m sorry, but since when did outrage over sex slavery become a strictly “right-wing” reaction?
An organization that just received 5.2 billion dollars in federal stimulus money uses their taxpayer bailout to promote child rape and human trafficking and the mass-media falls silent. Seriously, where is Nancy Grace on this one?
While I appreciate the editorial prudence exhibited in this situation, I have to wonder where this newfound “journalistic integrity” was when Dan Rather used fake documents to accuse President Bush of dodging military service. Where was the “enlightened” media backlash when the Associated Press insisted on publishing the gruesome photographs of slain Corporal Joshua M. Bernard?
Sadly, this is nothing new. Our “watchdog” media neglected to cover any one of the various lawsuits filed against ACORN’s across the country for election fraud (14 states each reported thousands incidents of falsified voter registration cards and fake signatures). They also failed to report when the brother of ACORN founder Wade Rathke embezzled one million dollars from the public organization.
The silence from the mass-media on this issue is indeed deafening. I just cannot believe that the major networks would go to such great lengths to justify such a morally reprehensible action. In putting politics over principle, CNN, CBS, ABC and NBC have all shown their true colors. They have abandoned the American people in favor of special interest groups, betraying our trust by rationalizing what is truly indefensible. The end.
Re-posted from FSView
Nick Kypriotakis is the founder and president of Informed-Dissent.com. He is currently a Business Management major at Florida State University, working his way towards a J.D.M.B.A.
He is also a political columnist for the FSView & Florida Flambeau, a member of Florida State's Honors Council and an Honors Legal Scholar.
I suppose not broadcasting the video daily non-stop while drug infused pundits rant and rave in the foreground constitutes “abandoning the American people.” Talk about a sensationalist. Their funding was cut upon an agreement reached by both parties, end of story. Let us not start on the various religious right organizations that do far more harm to children than any community based grassroots organization. In truth, the legion of “home-school your child into Jesus and Conservatism” right-wingers are much more dangerous.
It is quite amazing how a candid-cameraesque “look what we can get your ignorant volunteer staffers to say” routine can warp your fragile little head into thinking an organization like ACORN’s goal is to promote the rape of children. Stop overdramatizing these incidences to attempt to prove political points – what ACORN did was wrong – end of story, we can agree. Move on, it is a minute issue. In the mean time, write about things that matter – perhaps tally up the number of children killed in the Iraq war crossfire. Do these children matter to the Republicans? How about the thousands upon thousands of poor children in this country who cannot afford healthcare or a higher education?
I accept you and it certainly gonna guide many people.