{"id":7265,"date":"2012-06-08T10:33:11","date_gmt":"2012-06-08T17:33:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?p=7265"},"modified":"2012-06-08T10:33:11","modified_gmt":"2012-06-08T17:33:11","slug":"fox-nation-revives-acorn-phobia-while-mitt-romney-hires-corrupt-consultant","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?p=7265","title":{"rendered":"Fox Nation Revives ACORN Phobia While Mitt Romney Hires Corrupt Consultant"},"content":{"rendered":"

It’s been two years since ACORN closed up shop after being falsely accused of voter fraud. But right-wing obsessives refuse to abandon their neuroses once they latch onto them. Never mind the fact that ACORN was exonerated<\/a> by numerous independent investigations and that the only criminal conviction<\/a> to result from the harassment was that of James O’Keefe, who produced the dishonestly edited videos that slandered ACORN’s reputation.<\/p>\n

Fox Nation, nevertheless, persists in fear mongering about the defunct organization as if it had zombie-like powers of reanimation. Yesterday they featured an article that sought to renew the dread that conservatives still harbor in their hearts for an enterprise that mainly helped people to participate in their democracy and guided them through complex federal mortgage assistance programs.<\/p>\n

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The article relied on a report from the conservative Judicial Watch, who alleged that a former ACORN director was the recipient of federal funds for an Illinois program that helps struggling homeowners make their mortgage payments. It refers to ACORN as “scandal-plagued”<\/em> and a “corrupt leftist community group.”<\/em> Of course, neither of those assertions are true and both Fox Nation and Judicial Watch know it.<\/p>\n

The problem, as explained by Judicial Watch, is that a “sub-component”<\/em> of the Illinois Housing Development Authority received a federal grant, and that a director of the program, Joe McGavin, had performed the same role at ACORN. Which simply means that he has experience with helping people with federal assistance and is, therefore, well qualified for his job. But to the Fox Nationalists it means that he is a “suspect candidate,”<\/em> despite never having been associated with any impropriety.<\/p>\n

Meahwhile, at Mitt Romney’s campaign, someone with an actual record of dirty dealings has been added to the team. According to Lee Fang at the Republic Report<\/a>, Nathan Sproul is “a political consultant with a long history of destroying Democratic voter registration forms and manipulating ballot initiatives.”<\/em> With a new company name, Lincoln Strategies, Sproul is on the Romney payroll presumably to engage in activities similar to these:<\/p>\n