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ACORN Totally Vindicated of All Wrongdoing - What Was That 'Scandal' All About?
The ACORN story really breaks my heart. ACORN is an organization truly devoted to the poor, not expressing the noblesse oblige favored by some but instead seeking genuine, bottom-up empowerment. Like all large organizations, it applies its values inconsistently, but in my experience far more consistently than most. And certainly more consistently than its critics. Alas, I should be writing this in the past tense. On June 14, the U.S. Government Accountability Office issued its Preliminary Observations on Funding, Oversight, and Investigations and Prosecutions of ACORN or Potentially Related Organizations. John Atlas -- the author of a book about ACORN -- offers a good summary of the report (along with his personal experiences at the organization) at Alternet: ACORN Totally Vindicated of All Wrongdoing -- What Was That 'Scandal' All About? None of us could have escaped the messages about ACORN spread by the right wing smear machine. In the face of accusations, their financial support was destroyed. Shamefully, congress stripped them of federal funding before an independent investigation could confirm the allegations. Even more shamefully, private funders wouldn't touch them either. I'm appalled that we didn't stand by them. The next organization that is the subject of a witch hunt could be yours. Funders can weather such assaults. Most of us can't.