Just a smidgen more on ACORN--

The reason I'm concerned about John McCain and the GOP's smear on ACORN is because it hits at a very real and meaningful fear Americans kind of should have: that our vote can be taken away. In the case of worrying about fake registrations, the fear is that some malign force will cancel out you real vote with a falsehood. I can appreciate that fear, because the vote--the ability of American citizens to choose the people who will run our government, is the very foundation of democracy.

It just that ACORN isn't so much of a threat, as the previous post explained. Also--



We libs worry about the possibility of voter fraud, too.

What I worry about regarding the group is that people will lose sight that our elections are about real issues and real votes. That people will assume "voter fraud" is the key to the wining or losing of elections. But it really would make the least bit of impact--compared to, say, a disenfranchisement of thousands of voters through "purging" of voter rolls to eliminate people who were alleged to be felons, or have moved, or died, based on a "faulty" database; there's a thing that really could happen.



I worry, and for that matter, groups like ACORN worry, that people aren't heard, and aren't getting their vote counted. Keep in mind, they look at the registrations, catch and report the fallacious ones where they can--but often by law have to submit the registrations even if they are inaccurate in some regions. And there is still no actual voter fraud until someone tries to register with some fake name. That's not how anyone would go about stealing an election.

But making lists of possible felons in some district, trying to eliminate people based on something simple like name changes (my fellow females--I have had three last names--one maiden name, two through marriage--I know others of you might experience the same issues I do, having more than a few pieces of ID, but some with a different name) is very easy to do on a wide scale, invalidating and denying many people of their votes--now that would be cheating.

Another reason I am concerned is because ACORN is trying to do a good thing in getting people registered and letting them recognize their rights and responsibilities as citizens. It's an empowering thing. But because of the accusations going about--they are being threatened:




And I don't think it's right. The fraud in having people submit bad registrations to them is a fraud against them, not one they are perpetrating. And I think the accusation against them is politically motivated, and since it has been made with, what should I call it, "Hyperbole Aforethought" to try and rile people up, I think the threats and physical harm that might be done over the flap should come back to where they originated--

An irresponsible claim from an irresponsible McCain campaign, who said stuff like this in the first place:




"The precious right to vote"--that much is so, but the allegations alone aren't proof of guilt. And the claim that they should be "stopped" doesn't mean people working for or with them should be accosted. And I think this slur on ACORN is not just about voter fraud, but gets back to the slights we saw from the Republican National Convention belittling "community organizers", and the later rhetoric regarding "anti-Americans". The narrative is that the evil liberal forces in this country, allied with the minorities and with the help of radicals and terrorists, are plotting a revolution.

I know. My fellow libs will cry, "But we're not doing any such thing!"

I'll agree, and add, "We aren't that organized." (See: "Herding cats.") But maybe because Obama seems so with-it, they'll think we're capable of anything.

It's just, "anything" doesn't include what's alleged, is all.