Tryin' to Get a Nut....

Debunking the ACORN myth.

Voter suppression, NOT voter fraud.

Eschaton:

"Sometimes the press covers stories in such a way that it's impossible to believe they're really this stupid. The evil ACORN is the latest example. Voter registration fraud is not voter fraud. In many states people who do voter registration are obligated to turn in forms even they're filled out by 'Mickey Mouse.' They're a conduit for the forms and don't have the right to determine which ones they turn in."

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Talking Points Memo | The Gist of the ACORN Story:

"The Republican party is grasping on to the ACORN story as a way to delegitimize what now looks like the probable outcome of the November election. It is also a way to stoke the paranoia of their base, lays the groundwork for legal challenges of close outcomes in various states and new legal restrictions on voting by lower income voters and minorities. The big picture is that these claims of 'voter fraud' are themselves a fraud, a tool to aid in suppressing Democratic voter turnout. But I want give readers a bit more detail to understand what is going because the right-wing freak out about ACORN happens pretty much on schedule every two years. The whole scam is premised on having enough people who don't remember when they tried it before who they can confuse and lie to. And this is clearly important because I'm hearing from a lot of people whose heart is in the right place thinking some real voter fraud conspiracy has been uncovered and that Obama has to distance himself from it post-haste."

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Daily Kos: Shocker! CNN finally gets it right on ACORN (UPDATED x3):

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Editorial - The Acorn Story - NYTimes.com:

"Based on the information that has come to light so far, the charges appear to be wildly overblown — and intended to hobble Acorn’s efforts.
.......

"The answer is for government to do a better job of registering people to vote. That way there would be less need to rely on private registration drives, largely being conducted by well-meaning private organizations that use low-paid workers. Federal and state governments should do their own large-scale registration drives staffed by experienced election officials. Even better, Congress and the states should adopt election-day registration, which would make such drives unnecessary.

The real threats to the fabric of democracy are the unreasonable barriers that stand in the way of eligible voters casting ballots."

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Talking Points Memo | Ex DOJ Voting Rights Chief: "It's Going to Take a Long Time to Cleanse" Department:

"A former top Department of Justice voting rights official -- who once worked with John McCain in defense of the senator's campaign-finance reform bill -- has added his name to the growing chorus that is denouncing the department's investigation of ACORN as a shameful and inappropriate politicization of Justice along the lines of the US attorney firings."

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Greg Palast � ROLLING STONE: It’s Already Stolen:

"Don’t worry about Mickey Mouse or ACORN stealing the election. According to an investigative report out today in Rolling Stone magazine, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Greg Palast, after a year-long investigation, reveal a systematic program of 'GOP vote tampering' on a massive scale.

- Republican Secretaries of State of swing-state Colorado have quietly purged one in six names from their voter rolls.

Over several months, the GOP politicos in Colorado stonewalled every attempt by Rolling Stone to get an answer to the massive purge - ten times the average state's rate of removal."

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Daily Kos: PLEASE, Get Your Facts Straight On ACORN:

"Fact: ACORN has implemented the most sophisticated quality-control system in the voter engagement field, but in almost every state we are required to turn in ALL completed applications, even the ones we know to be problematic."

Fact: ACORN flags incomplete, problem, or suspicious cards when we turn them in, but these warnings are often ignored by election officials. Often these same officials then come back weeks or months later and accuse us of deliberately turning in phony cards.

Fact: Voter fraud by individuals is extremely rare, and incredibly difficult. There has never been a single proven case of anyone, anywhere, casting an illegal vote as a result of a phony voter registration. Even if someone wanted to influence the election this way, it would not work.

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They were for ACORN before they were against it.

ACORN: McCain And GOP Used To Be Supporters:

"It was a reminder that, for all their electoral histrionics, Republicans have aligned themselves with ACORN in the past.

Indeed, in addition to the McCain photo, there is a host of examples of prominent McCain surrogates attending ACORN events, signing ACORN legislation, or complimenting the group's efforts.

Florida Gov. Charlie Crist, for example, partnered with ACORN in March 2008 for a 'Homeownership Promotes The Economy' taskforce. More recently, Crist declared that -- contrary to GOP outrage -- he was not upset with the group's voter registration efforts in his state. The New York Times reported that ACORN supported a law signed by Governor Crist, which 'changed the rules last year to restore the voting rights of about 112,000 former convicts.'

In July 2005, meanwhile, another Republican governor, Rick Perry of Texas, signed ACORN's Lending Law Reform Bill that changed the state's homelending practices."

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The Raw Story | Judge: GOP's voter purge a 'violation of federal law':

"The American Civil Liberties Union is trumpeting a judge's decision in Michigan which brings to a halt the practice of eliminating voters from rolls if their mailing address is found to be invalid.

Recently, the GOP chairman in Macomb County, Michigan, detailed a plan to use a list of foreclosed homes to challenge voters. His pronouncement drew an immediate backlash, with predictions that the plan would 'backfire.'

It has.

The suit, filed by ACLU national and ACLU of Michigan, along with the Advancement Project, aimed to protect voters whose registration cards were returned to government offices by post as 'undeliverable.' Judge Stephen J. Murphy of the U.S. District Court of Michigan's Eastern District concluded that the program of eliminating these voters from rolls is in violation of federal law.

The voter purge program, better known to elections integrity experts as 'voter caging,' is a long-storied GOP tactic employed against minority, student and low-income voters. In September, the Obama campaign filed a lawsuit in Michigan challenging the illegal tactic."

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Turley: 'GOP challenges look like suppression':

"The McCain campaign's allegations of voter fraud 'look like' an attempt to suppress voting in battleground states, said a professor of George Washington University.

Professor Jonathan Turley said there is an 'uncanny similarity in term of timing,' drawing a comparison with voting scandals shortly before the previous two presidential elections.

'I think it is fair to say that some of these challenges do look like suppression efforts,' Turley said in an interview on MSNBC. 'So I think there is really grounds to be concerned here.'"

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The Charleston Gazette - West Virginia News and Sports - News - More W.Va. voters say machines are switching votes�:

"WINFIELD, W.Va. -- Three Putnam County voters say electronic voting machines changed their votes from Democrats to Republicans when they cast early ballots last week.

This is the second West Virginia county where voters have reported this problem. Last week, three voters in Jackson County told The Charleston Gazette their electronic vote for 'Barack Obama' kept flipping to 'John McCain'.

In both counties, Republicans are responsible for overseeing elections. Both county clerks said the problem is isolated.

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Voters say they were duped into registering as Republicans - Los Angeles Times:

"SACRAMENTO -- Dozens of newly minted Republican voters say they were duped into joining the party by a GOP contractor with a trail of fraud complaints stretching across the country.

Voters contacted by The Times said they were tricked into switching parties while signing what they believed were petitions for tougher penalties against child molesters. Some said they were told that they had to become Republicans to sign the petition, contrary to California initiative law. Others had no idea their registration was being changed."

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This could come in mightly handy.

Official Gmail Blog: New in Labs: Stop sending mail you later regret:

"Sometimes I send messages I shouldn't send. Like the time I told that girl I had a crush on her over text message. Or the time I sent that late night email to my ex-girlfriend that we should get back together. Gmail can't always prevent you from sending messages you might later regret, but today we're launching a new Labs feature I wrote called Mail Goggles which may help.

When you enable Mail Goggles, it will check that you're really sure you want to send that late night Friday email. And what better way to check than by making you solve a few simple math problems after you click send to verify you're in the right state of mind?"

By default, Mail Goggles is only active late night on the weekend as that is the time you're most likely to need it. Once enabled, you can adjust when it's active in the General settings.

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