Mighty oaks from little acorns grow, but on the other hand, you shall know the tree by it’s fruit, and some acorns are fakes able to grow only brambles and thorns.
It’s always disappointing when the good and much needed work of community organizing is sullied by inept and corrupt practices. Recent news does not reflect well on ACORN, which is among the more visibly active community organizing groups. Their blatant disregard for voter registration laws has reflected poorly on everyone else. To be sure, the history of voter registration fraud is a long one with special mention going to most counties in Texas, Cook County Illinois and all the right wing tricks to keep minorities out of the polls in too many places to recall. But ACORN is supposed to be among those working hard and honestly for the most disadvantaged so that they can cease to be disadvantaged. Sadly, I ran into them many years ago, sometime back in the 1970s, when they were active in Sioux Falls, SD and generally managing to muck up everything because they were unwilling to believe that the local business community knew something about poverty and was both willing and had the talent to do something about it. All they have succeeded in doing in the last few weeks is to jeopardize the diligent work of many others who have given their best efforts to bring new voters on line, and to bring disrepute to community organizing as a whole. Shame.
Shame indeed that folks are often misled by groups that are \”organized\” and that sound \”good\” in their mission. A mission can be misleading and under the veil of a strong one, good ideas/people can go oh so wrong, undiscovered until their antics have been exposed and their rotten work has been completed.