The Priority of Outrage
Steve Newton has rightly criticized us and other liberal bloggers for not providing a strong defense of ACORN, an organization that, even by far right conservative blogger David Anderson’s admission, does good work for the poor and, as recently discovered today, in foreclosure and debt counseling. Steve is right, and you all should read his posts on ACORN, here and here. My only defense for not providing a strong defense is what I call a priority of outrage.
What do I mean by that? Well, Republicans are very good about screaming at the top of their lungs about everything and anything, and they will lie pathologically and brazenly about any issue, so long as it fits their narrative of attack. An example of that is their lies about death panels. And they scream and lie about everything, all at once. So with finite time, I have to prioritize responses to the GOP’s attacks. And admittedly, defending ACORN ranked below responding to or exposing Republican lies about the President and his health care plan and economic policies. It was a failing on my part, and I suppose evidence of the success of the Republican strategy of lying and screaming about everything, for surely we will miss something.
My mother often bemoans why the Republicans are so good in attacking and Democrats are so bad in defending or arguing their own case, and I say it is because Democrats are not pathological liars by nature. They actually like to think about issues and policies and what is good for the American people, and in fact they will actually think about Republican criticism to see if it has any merit. It is just a reality of our politics today that brazen liars are considered strong and principled thinkers are weak.
But on the issue of ACORN, and conservative outrage and demands that all funding by stripped over this one incident in Baltimore where it seems one bad apple has ruined the whole batch, I would ask my Republican friends why then did not demand the immediate revocation of contracts with such military contractors like XE (formerly Blackwater), whose founder and subordinates are charged with the murder of innocents in Iraq. Surely murder is a misuse of taxpayer money. Perhaps they don’t think Iraqis are innocent, or human beings.
The two situations are not completely analogous. Yes, federal taxpayer dollars have been given to two private organizations. Yes, individuals in both organizations have been charged with wrongdoing (although it would be correct to say that Blackwater’s potential wrongdoing severely outweighs any potential wrongdoing on the part of ACORN). And yet, there is no Republican outrage about Blackwater.
Funny that. Republicans will protect murderous mercenaries, but God forbid you give tax advice to prostitutes.
The reason I haven’t said much is because I hate apologists. I think the tapes speak for themselves – even though ACORN does a lot of good things I refuse to use that to explain/apologize for what’s on those tapes.
Oh yes, I am not going to apologize for that incident. It was wrong. But should the whole organization be shut down? And if that is what conservatives are demanding, then please explain to me why XE is still receiving federal dollars, and why the GOP is not in outrage mode over that?
I don’t think that there is any need to apologize for what is on those tapes — it is clearly despicable. But there is no need to try to kill a major organization (they have, what — 1200 employees?) for the behavior of a half a dozen or so. If we did that for every organization with a few bad apples, we would have banned Republicans from Congress after Delay and Abramoff and all of their minions got rounded up by the police, right?
There is also more perspective that is missing from the conversation — these two “film makers” presented themselves in similar get up at many ACORN offices across the US. They were shown the door (or had the cops called) at more offices than those that so clearly fell down on the job.
It is just too hard to keep up with all of the manufactured outrage. No matter what anyone says, the right has way more outlets — outlets that the liberal media seems to think they need to pay attention to — than the left does. You can’t push back on everything and keep your job and your family.
DD
I am sympathetic to your argument. Blogging is not like running a newspaper (used to be), in that you cannot cover everything you’d like to cover. At least five or six times a week, if not more, I think I’d like to write about X or Y, but there is no time, and Z seems (that day at least) more important and more compelling.
What surprised me when I went looking on the search that found my post, however, is that nobody but Nancy (occasionally) is covering anything that ACORN Delaware does. Including me. I don’t necessarily think that there’s a need for those of us in DE to replicate all the arguments and talking points of the national debate over the incident, but I do think we should be looking in our own back yard.
Which, by the way, you guys, Nancy, and even David Anderson do more consistently than I do, because I don’t have or try to have the kinds of sources you do.
I think I got drawn to ACORN over health care because–as important as the health care debate is for our future from anybody’s perspective–there’s not really a damn thing left for me to say about the issue that is either original or likely to sway anybody’s opinion at this point.
Well said, DD. Thanks for this great perspective.
You mean the ACORN Philadelphia office where ACORN kicked O’Keefe out and called the cops? What – that wasn’t on the tape? What about San Diego… Los Angeles… Miami… Roll the tape please…
At any rate, liberals have been schooled. Nobody cares about the white collar crimes of AIG, Goldman Sachs, etc. Sex sells.
So, maybe somebody like Michael Moore can send a plant to a bank trying to deposit $10 million in drug money… that would be a scream. Might have to try a few banks before getting the desired footage, but hey, that is how it is done these days I guess.
heck, maybe nobody would care if there was no sex involved.
Hey Mike M., last night you were saying that there wasn’t much difference between “ACORN and the right-wing military-industrial fascists.” Tonight, it is “Thanks for this great perspective.” So, which is it?
Both.
They offer treatment for schizophrenia, you know. 🙂
When you look at the whole narrative of the attack on ACORN, it smells of racism, and the most toxic kind: ACORN is regularly blamed for forcing banks to make loans to the underserving underclass of overpigmented and causing a world-wide financial melt down. Who it it that most notably comes to mind who made a minority the scapegoat for the opaque shenanigans of the financial community? When they came for ACORN. . .
(the racist)Justice Department Inspector General Launches Internal ACORN Probe
FoxNews Alert ^ | Sept. 22, 2009
The Justice Department’s inspector general has agreed to investigate whether ACORN has applied for or received any DOJ grant money, in the wake of bipartisan criticism of the community activist group’s operation. And seven other inspectors general are being asked by two congressional members to take a look at their funding mechanisms.
More racist thugery!!!
John Conyers Calls for Investigation into ACORN, Whether Congress Cut Funding Early
MLive ^ | 09/22/09 | Jonathan Oosting
U.S. Reps, John Conyers (D-Detroit) and Barney Frank (D-Mass.) on Tuesday wrote a letter to the Congressional Research Service requesting an investigation of ACORN, the anti-poverty group whose employees in Baltimore recently were caught on hidden camera offering questionable advice to conservative activists posing as a prostitute and pimp. In the letter, Conyers and Frank ask the nonpartisan research group to look into ACORN’s alleged misbehavior, including funding violations and alleged voter registration irregularities.
looks like acorn is going under the bus…
Correction: ACORN’s Troubles
Edited because the AP screws bloggers -UI