Cub journalist Hannah Giles and her young documentry film making friend, James O’Keefe could have come direct from Central Casting as the perfect sleazy pimp and hooker. They posed as child sex traffickers and tax cheats. They found themselves welcomed with open arms and big smiles at various ACORN offices. ACORN is also known as the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now.
At these offices the ACORN officials there were only too eager to help the actors to get tax money for their despicable criminal organization. The ACORN creeps also gave them advice on tax cheating and avoiding detection by law enforcement authorities. Their conspiracy was soon exposed by a hidden camera and broadcast internationally.
As a result of the successful sting, Giles and O’Keefe have apparently saved taxpayers millions of dollars. Not only has the US Census Bureau severed ties with ACORN today the Senate overwhelmingly voted to cut off funding to that criminal organization. The 83-7 vote will deny housing and community grant funding to ACORN
The amount of money involved is staggering and any crime syndicate would kill anyone in order to change things or extract revenge. ACORN is just that a crime syndicate. They have been using taxpayers like a giant ATM machine for over three decades.
There may be some controversy about little known laws designed to protect crooked politicians and officials being taped without their knowledge. Any officials that try to prosecute Giles and O’Keefe for their important public service should be taken on by thousands of furious taxpayers.
Giles and O’Keefe now need round the clock protection and government is not trustworthy to provide what’s needed. Private funding for armed bodyguards should be provided along with safe housing and living arrangements.
I hope that happens quickly as I don’t want these fine kids martyred for their patriotism and heroics. These kids are true heroes and deserve to be treated as such. I hope to see many American corporations and civic organizations give them awards, scholarships and serious cash for their honorable and courageous service.
What they did was courageous. But they should have known the consequences. .
ReplyDeleteThis is what happens when kids arm. Themselves with covert audio and video, talk in PRIVATE settings, and then make it PUBLIC.
They should have sought legal counsel beforehand.
Because of them, there may be new legislation making it even more difficult for our profession.
To my esteemed colleague at Hi-Caliber:
ReplyDeleteConsidering the extortionist anti-voice recording protection laws are in fact boguss and that there was no other way to expose government corruption there is no question that breaking the law served the public’s interest.
Since ACORN is government funded it is government.
Bill sometimes in life we must have the courage to run a red light or even exceed the speed limit. Here a law that serves nobody but criminals was violated for a far greater good.
There was no privacy invasion of any kind in the ACORN government funded crime wave. This may have been knowingly, an act of necessary civil disobedience .
The heroes are still heroes and deserve full public support for all they have done.
Paul you said “Bill sometimes in life we must have the courage to run a red light or even exceed the speed limit. Here a law that serves nobody but criminals was violated for a far greater good.”
ReplyDeletePaul I assure you I have courage, and I do violate traffic laws. However as a State licensed professional, as a businessman; there’s not a client in the world worth losing my license and/or freedom over... Period.
BTW I may get to meet you for the 1st time this Friday.
Bill I may be senile and old fashioned but when it is necessary for the good of my country, I may well take the risks to my license, limbs or very life.
ReplyDeleteI hope to see you Friday!
"there’s not a client in the world worth losing my license and/or freedom over... Period. "
ReplyDeleteFreedom isnt free.
I agree with high caliber.
ReplyDeleteA PIs primary role is to search for the truth. And to get results legally.
Sometimes the results are good, sometimes bad.
To get personally or emotionally involved in their investigations is unwise.
- from a P.I. Who's smart enough to keep his name off blogs.
These two kids are not PI's. They are not bound to do anything but tell the truth. They can do all the blogging, interviews and any other way to express themselves that they wish.
ReplyDeleteIf they knowingly took the risk to violate laws designed for and by crooked politicians to facilitate extortion I say that makes them more courageous.
Being a patriot requires emotion, these kids are patriots!
These kids took a huge risk. They really are patriots.
ReplyDeleteI hope that ACORN does not get the funding (ie our money). Of course Durbin and Burris already want to give them the money. Burris is a non entity and Durbin should have been voted out ages ago. He needs to get a real job.
I'm sick to death of it all here in Chgo and in Illinois and now Washington.
"Being a patriot requires emotion, these kids are patriots!"
ReplyDeleteSeptember 15, 2009 9:04 PM
Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!
In every war,people loose individual battles,people die,get maimed,loose liberty,all in order to win the WAR.
It doesn't matter if these two violated some law designed to protect wrong doing by the very people who created the laws in the first place. They had the guts to expose these Acorn representatives for what they are: criminals. I was shocked to see the CEO of Acorn on TV yesterday threatening to file lawsuits against these two kids. Instead of being outraged that many people from her own organization were involved in criminal activity, she was not at all concerned about that. What she was mad about was the fact that someone exposed it for all the world to see. That says a lot about the makeup of the entire organization. Time for Acorn to stop feeding at the public trough.
ReplyDeleteThese two deserve all the help they can get to continue on with their lives and careers. Granted, they did violate the letter of a statute, but certainly not the spirit of the law. That's why prosecutors have the discretion to go forward with charges or not, depending on the circumstances of the case. Certainly, persons have done far worse and have been given immunity from prosecution. Sonny "The Bull" Gravonno, a Mafia killer, for example, released to the witness program, in the interest of justice, for testifying. The list goes on and on. There's no reason, other than political revenge, to go forward in this case. If I remember correctly, the last line of charging documents in Maryland read "against the peace government, and dignity of the State. Surely, the ACORN activities fit that bill rather than the actions of the people who caught them in the act.
ReplyDeleteThe ACORN trash needs to be prosecuted under RICO laws. The prosecutors need to call the two journalists before a Grand Jury and obtain their testimony against the ACORN trash.
ReplyDeleteThe journalists simply need to assert their rights against self-incrimination. In order for the prosecutors to proceed they will have to give the journalists immunity from prosecution on the audio recording violations.
Once immunity is granted they can then get cooperation from the journalists and their testimony.
The audio portion of the video recordings will be barred from the courtroom but the video portion and testimony of the journalists will be admissible evidence.
That would be the proper and honorable way to handle the journalists.
Just heard one of these two film makers were allegedly arrested? What a shame that they didn’t seek and/or hire an attorney beforehand. Or just hire a PI that knows what is legal and what is not.
ReplyDelete