The current scandal which has engulfed ACORN (the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now) is bad news for community organizers.

AP says ACORN plans to sue the filmmakers who caught ACORN workers in several states on tapes advising actors (posing as a pimp and prostitute) how to lie to receive housing aid and tax benefits.

The lawsuit from the Baltimore ACORN workers claims the filmmakers damaged ACORN’s reputation and violated Maryland’s wiretap law. The IRS and the U.S. Census bureau have cut ties to ACORN and congressional leaders voted earlier this month to cut off federal funding for the organization.

What ACORN did was wrong, but their acts threaten to harm those still making efforts to help the poor and disadvantaged persons in real need.

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With the same level of perspicacity she demonstrated in the presidential election, Alaska governor Sarah Palin managed to mangle the traditional Thanksgiving turkey pardon. After sparing one lucky bird at a turkey farm in Wasilla, Palin then proceeded to give an interview with local media, oblivious to the slaughterhouse worker beheading and bleeding out the unlucky turkeys fifteen feet behind her.

Though she displays a high-profile haplessness not seen in a politician since Gerald Ford (or maybe Dan Quayle), Palin may be an unwitting a pawn in this latest faux paux. Judging by the camera angle and the timing of the action behind her, I’m convinced she was set up by the news crew from KTUU TV, an NBC affiliate in Alaska. An adept politician with capable handlers would have sniffed this out immediately. It’s safe to say any plans for 2012 are effectively canceled.

Look for political pundits - and Fox News - to discuss this one ad nauseum. Me? I’ll just be nauseous.

This morning as I drove into work I listened to NPR’s Tell Me More on Morgan State’s WEAA. Host Michel Martin interviewed controversial figure Bill Ayers.

You may remember Bill Ayers was the “terrorist” former Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin was referring to when she said that President-elect Barack Obama was “palling around with terrorists.”

 A notable moment during the interview came when Ayers said of his connection to Obama that the two had simply served on a board together and that he’d been intrigued by a then aspiring state senate candidate Obama’s political ambitions. He then went on to say that like lots of other Americans he wishes he knew more about the soon to be President.

Another noteworthy quotable came when Martin asked him about if he felt that the resentment against him came from people wishing he’d just apologize for using violent versus non-violent means to protest during the Vietnam War era. He said, “I’m not sure, I mean I don’t know what motivates people, I barely know what motivates myself.”

So not only does Ayers seem to want to himself know more about Obama, but he’s also trying to learn more about himself

Talk to me comment below.

From today’s b, the paper

‘Soul Men’

“Soul Men” had me at Bernie Mac and Samuel L. Jackson. Isaac Hayes ain’t bad either. Former singing duo (Mac and Jackson) reunite after not speaking for 20 years. Warms my heart. There are bowties, their “MUTHASHIP” car and dance moves you won’t wanna miss. The late Mac’s also the voice of Zuba in the sequel to “Madagascar” which opens Friday, same day as “Soul Men.” {Alisia Chapman, b} Read the rest of this entry »

From today’s b, the paper

Four one-of-a-kind Cabbage Patch Kids dolls with the likeness of presidential candidates Barack Obama and John McCain and vice presidential candidates Joe Biden and Palin will be auctioned on eBay.com.

The dolls sport outfits inspired by their counterparts, the Palin doll wearing her signature rimless eyeglasses, red suit and heels.

Cabbage Patch spokeswoman Margaret McLean said Monday the company made John Kerry and George Bush dolls for the last election. She said she couldn’t find figures for which of the dolls raised more money, but the company plans to keep track this year.
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From today’s b, the paper

It seems as though the presidential race has been going on for about seven years. So for those of you (i.e. most) with ADD, b wants to help. Here’s our look at the A-Z of the 2008 election, from the ACORN controversy to the zzzzz’s most Americans were letting out during the first two presidential debates. Just call us the Webster’s of democracy.

A — ACORN:
Short for Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, the liberal group, founded in 1970, hired more than 13,000 part-time workers to register voters in minority and poor neighborhoods in 21 states. AP reports some of the 1.3 million registration cards submitted to local officials used the names of cartoon characters or pro football players, leading to allegations of widespread misconduct. Must avoid urge to make blind squirrel joke …

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Politics and parody collided on Saturday as Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin made a self-deprecating appearance on “Saturday Night Live” in which she critiqued the performance of her comic doppelganger and swayed to an Amy Poehler rap.

The Republican vice presidential candidate endured a diatribe from actor Alec Baldwin, who pretended to mistake her for comedian Tina Fey, before opening the program. Fey’s lampooning of Palin as a clueless but perky candidate has become a pop culture phenomenon and has helped lift “Saturday Night Live’s” ratings to their highest level in seven years.

On Saturday, the program opened with a skit in which Fey blithely fielded questions in what was billed as the governor’s first news conference. The camera then cut to the real Palin, standing in a hallway with executive producer Lorne Michaels, watching the bit on a television monitor.

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Ever wonder what Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin might look like as president in the Oval Office? Then check this site out.

GOP supporters might not appreciate all the humor, but I think most of you out there will enjoy it. Take your time and click around and explore — it has audio and will be updated daily until Nov. 4.

A story that didn’t make Tuesday’s edition of b, the paper (for limited space reasons) is this Associated Press article on Levi Johnston, who’s having a baby with Bristol Palin, the 17-year-old daughter of Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin.

AP frames the piece as if it has landed an exclusive, “rare” interview, catching up with Johnston in the driveway of his Wasilla, Alaska, home, with various antlers of the elk and caribou he’s bagged “scattered about his yard.” The report leads with Levi’s take on the rumor mill surrounding his relationship with Bristol, including speculation that he was “held against his will” on the campaign trail and is “being forced into a shotgun wedding.”

For the record, those rumors are not true, he told AP, and by the end of the article, you end up realizing how much this kid sounds like what he is — an 18-year-old, small-town hockey jock who was uncomfortably thrust into the spotlight before dropping out of high school and off the national radar just as quickly. Let’s hope he stays there, because, other than having relations with the daughter of a woman who could be a heartbeat away from the presidency, he really doesn’t deserve to be in the paper. Read the rest of this entry »

From today’s, b the paper

Political buttons? The last time we checked, it wasn’t the 19th century. And bumper stickers? So 2004.

Modernize your candidate support with some of these offbeat options. There’s everything from John McCain- and Barack Obama-friendly dog clothes to condoms (Levi Johnston not available for comment). And we somehow found Joe Biden memorabilia, which proved as elusive as the Ark of the Covenant.

There’s just a few weeks to go before Nov. 4, so show your creative political pride while you can.

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