# "ACORN did absolutely nothing wrong" no longer true **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [April 6, 2011, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acorn-did-absolutely-nothing-wrong-no-longer-true/577467 "2011-04-06T23:23:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2011, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acorn-did-absolutely-nothing-wrong-no-longer-true/577467/81 "2011-04-07T01:30:25Z")
> [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > Pot meet kettle. :rolleyes: Can’t point to a single instance of that with me, Chuckles. I have readily admitted both error and ignorance on these boards more times than I care to count. ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2011, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acorn-did-absolutely-nothing-wrong-no-longer-true/577467/82 "2011-04-07T01:31:55Z")
> [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > So yeah, I am back to my bit about it being a plea and a plea is bullshit to determine actual guilt (yes I know legally they are “guilty”). Bingo. Legally, technically they are “guilty”. That is ALL that matters to friend **Bricker**. ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2011, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acorn-did-absolutely-nothing-wrong-no-longer-true/577467/83 "2011-04-07T01:32:46Z")
> [@Isamu](#): > > I’m horrified that people were paid to get others to register as voters. The implications are … something. What, precisely, did ACORN plead guilty to? (Hint) It was not paying people to get others to register as voters. ---
**Author:** ![emacknight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/3ec8ea/32.png) [@emacknight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/emacknight)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2011, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acorn-did-absolutely-nothing-wrong-no-longer-true/577467/84 "2011-04-07T01:35:33Z")
> [@Frank](#): > > What, precisely, did ACORN plead guilty to? > > (Hint) It was not paying people to get others to register as voters. Voter fraud and child prostitution, duh. And once, ACORN walked past me in the mall and didn’t say hi. ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2011, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acorn-did-absolutely-nothing-wrong-no-longer-true/577467/85 "2011-04-07T01:37:41Z")
> [@Euphonious\_Polemic](#): > > Bingo. > > Legally, technically they are “guilty”. That is ALL that matters to friend **Bricker**. Well, for this thread… yes. Don’t expand the purpose of this thread to my view of the larger issue. I think ACORN was unfairly swamped under a rush to judgement, fueled by doctored tapes and innuendo. They got the corporate equivalent of the death penalty for the corporate crime of cheating on a few tax deductions – serious, but not anything warranting the severe sanctions imposed. I’ve said this in many threads, many times. But since everyone agrees that this is the minimum truth, it gets no real attention. But I’ll say it again. And so for you to continue to insist that I’m not saying it, or I don;t mean it, is kind of curious, isn’t it? Now, since I’ve repeatedly said what I think about the larger issue, why don’t YOU weigh in on the thread’s issue: did ACORN actually commit a crime? ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2011, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acorn-did-absolutely-nothing-wrong-no-longer-true/577467/86 "2011-04-07T01:37:47Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > A plea deal resulting in a guilty verdict. Offered up by ACORN. Making ACORN guilty. Of nothing. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2011, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acorn-did-absolutely-nothing-wrong-no-longer-true/577467/87 "2011-04-07T01:40:18Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > Can’t point to a single instance of that with me, Chuckles. I have readily admitted both error and ignorance on these boards more times than I care to count. Challenge accepted: > [@Justices Kagan and Scalia](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/justices-kagan-and-scalia/567368/43): > > Scalia, who based his opinion on textualism, not originalism. (A bit of arguing back and forth on whether Scalia is a textualist or originalist) > [@Justices Kagan and Scalia](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/justices-kagan-and-scalia/567368/60): > > It seems Scalia himself thinks he is an Originalist: > > > [@](#): > > > > _Justice Antonin Scalia delivered the following remarks at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington, D.C., on March 14, 2005._ > > > > \ > > > > I am one of a small number of judges, small number of anybody — judges, professors, lawyers — who are known as originalists. Our manner of interpreting the Constitution is to begin with the text, and to give that text the meaning that it bore when it was adopted by the people. > > > > SOURCE: [http://www.cfif.org/htdocs/freedomline/current/guest\_commentary/scalia-constitutional-speech.htm](http://www.cfif.org/htdocs/freedomline/current/guest_commentary/scalia-constitutional-speech.htm) So, the man himself thinks he is an Originalist. I think we can safely say he knows what he means here. Did you admit your mistake? Nope. This wasn’t even all that long ago and you continued in the thread a fair bit longer too so didn’t miss it (I even pointed it out again to someone else claiming he was a textualist). So spare me your righteousness. Oh, and in the spirit of this thread: “BRICKER is willing to admit he is wrong” no longer true ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2011, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acorn-did-absolutely-nothing-wrong-no-longer-true/577467/88 "2011-04-07T01:45:41Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > I’ve said this in many threads, many times. But since everyone agrees that this is the minimum truth, it gets no real attention. But I’ll say it again. You did, in fact, in your OP, imply that it was O’Keefe who proved ACORN was bad. I’ll take your word that that was not what you meant, and that I misinterpreted, but I do so grudgingly. It would have saved a lot of grief in this thread (well, maybe not a lot, but some) had you left O’Keefe out entirely. He was never relevant to your point. ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2011, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acorn-did-absolutely-nothing-wrong-no-longer-true/577467/89 "2011-04-07T01:46:33Z")
> [@Lightnin](#): > > Honestly, words fail. You must be very proud of your “victory”. :rolleyes: > > I was going to say that you’re better than this, **Bricker** , but I see that \*\*samclem \*\*has beat me to it. No he is obviously not better than that. He has been on this wrong case for so long he has become a right wing joke. Thanks BRICKER for thread 300 on ACORN. ---
**Author:** ![zoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zoid/32/336_2.png) [@zoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoid)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2011, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acorn-did-absolutely-nothing-wrong-no-longer-true/577467/90 "2011-04-07T01:49:11Z")
> [@Frank](#): > > You did, in fact, in your OP, imply that it was O’Keefe who proved ACORN was bad. > > I’ll take your word that that was not what you meant, and that I misinterpreted, but I do so grudgingly. It would have saved a lot of grief in this thread (well, maybe not a lot, but some) had you left O’Keefe out entirely. He was never relevant to your point. So can I assume we’re talking about a single instance as I asked here: > [@zoid](#): > > I still am not clear - sorry. > > We are (1) talking about one single incident, correct? > Or are you in fact implying (2) that every time someone defended ACORN as innocent they clearly meant that ACORN and it’s agents have never ever done anything wrong. > > I believe your OP points out that in one incident persons working for ACORN acted inappropriately and apparently illegally. However it seems you are trying to use this to rebut the strawman argument in the second statement (2) I don’t believe anyone ever made. > > Or are we in fact speaking about one single incident? 'cause I’m feeling a little left out here 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2011, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acorn-did-absolutely-nothing-wrong-no-longer-true/577467/91 "2011-04-07T01:50:06Z")
> [@Frank](#): > > You did, in fact, in your OP, imply that it was O’Keefe who proved ACORN was bad. > > I’ll take your word that that was not what you meant, and that I misinterpreted, but I do so grudgingly. It would have saved a lot of grief in this thread (well, maybe not a lot, but some) had you left O’Keefe out entirely. He was never relevant to your point. True. That was a bad move on my part. I left him in carelessly, but tried to be clear in subsequent comments that O’Keefe was not somehow rehabilitated by this. So let me be very clear: O’Keefe is still a lying scum, and this does nothing to change that; O’Keefe is utterly irrelevant to the point I am making. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2011, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acorn-did-absolutely-nothing-wrong-no-longer-true/577467/92 "2011-04-07T01:51:04Z")
> [@](#): > > Your deluded attempt to brandish this nothing as some kind of trophy was amusing for a few seconds, but I think I’ll move on with my life now. Wisest thing I’ve read in this “discussion”… I think I’ll do the same. ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2011, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acorn-did-absolutely-nothing-wrong-no-longer-true/577467/93 "2011-04-07T01:51:07Z")
> [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > Challenge accepted: > > (A bit of arguing back and forth on whether Scalia is a textualist or originalist) > > So, the man himself thinks he is an Originalist. I think we can safely say he knows what he means here. > > Did you admit your mistake? > > Nope. > > This wasn’t even all that long ago and you continued in the thread a fair bit longer too so didn’t miss it (I even pointed it out again to someone else claiming he was a textualist). > > So spare me your righteousness. > > Oh, and in the spirit of this thread: > > “BRICKER is willing to admit he is wrong” no longer true Did I ever address that post? What makes you think I saw it? ---
**Author:** ![Kevbo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e47774/32.png) [@Kevbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kevbo)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2011, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acorn-did-absolutely-nothing-wrong-no-longer-true/577467/94 "2011-04-07T01:51:45Z")
> [@Frank](#): > > They pled guilty to unlawfully providing compensation for registering voters based on the total number of people registered. > > . Which is quite far from the claims made by the right wing witch hunters. It has not yet been shown that ACORN assisted one ineligible person who became registered to vote and that such person ever cast a vote. Surely, if ACORN malfeasance were as widespread as the Fox News hysteria would indicate, there should be a plethora of such cases to choose from. Contrary to the wet dreams of Bricker and his ilk, it has been some time since “voting while poor” has been a crime. ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2011, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acorn-did-absolutely-nothing-wrong-no-longer-true/577467/95 "2011-04-07T01:59:09Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > Did I ever address that post? What makes you think I saw it? And to the meat of the matter: perhaps you can quote the post in which I said something which you contend is wrong. > [@Bricker](#): > > Scalia, who based his opinion on textualism, not originalism. That’s a far cry from saying Scalia is not an originalist. In the case under discussion, he was using textualism. He is a textualist. He is an originalist. The two are not mutually exclusive. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2011, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acorn-did-absolutely-nothing-wrong-no-longer-true/577467/96 "2011-04-07T01:59:13Z")
> [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > Do you think ACORN can swing conjugal visits? No, it’ll just have to scatter its seed randomly and count on squirrels to disperse it. ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2011, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acorn-did-absolutely-nothing-wrong-no-longer-true/577467/97 "2011-04-07T02:00:10Z")
> [@Kevbo](#): > > Which is quite far from the claims made by the right wing witch hunters. It has not yet been shown that ACORN assisted one ineligible person who became registered to vote and that such person ever cast a vote. Surely, if ACORN malfeasance were as widespread as the Fox News hysteria would indicate, there should be a plethora of such cases to choose from. > Contrary to the wet dreams of Bricker and his ilk, it has been some time since “voting while poor” has been a crime. The claim here is simple, **Kevbo** : In Nevada, ACORN paid people by the registration form, which is a crime in Nevada. True? Or false? ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2011, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acorn-did-absolutely-nothing-wrong-no-longer-true/577467/98 "2011-04-07T02:00:30Z")
> [@zoid](#): > > 'cause I’m feeling a little left out here 😉 I’m going from memory (sorry, it’s getting too late to spend a lot of time looking for the threads) but in general, the liberal response to O’Keefe’s sting (including me) was that ACORN had done nothing wrong. In side-conversations about the voter registration issues, a subset of that liberal response (as also seen here, and not including me) insisted that ACORN had done nothing wrong. It is the latter that **Bricker** refers to. I’m pretty sure. Does that help? ---
**Author:** ![zoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zoid/32/336_2.png) [@zoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoid)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2011, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acorn-did-absolutely-nothing-wrong-no-longer-true/577467/99 "2011-04-07T02:04:11Z")
> [@Frank](#): > > I’m going from memory (sorry, it’s getting too late to spend a lot of time looking for the threads) but in general, the liberal response to O’Keefe’s sting (including me) was that ACORN had done nothing wrong. In side-conversations about the voter registration issues, a subset of that liberal response (as also seen here, and not including me) insisted that ACORN had done nothing wrong. > > It is the latter that **Bricker** refers to. I’m pretty sure. > > Does that help? I was kind of hoping for a response from **Bricker** to clear up what he intended but I think I have a better picture now - thanks **Frank**! ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2011, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acorn-did-absolutely-nothing-wrong-no-longer-true/577467/100 "2011-04-07T02:05:20Z")
> [@zoid](#): > > I still am not clear - sorry. > > We are (1) talking about one single incident, correct? > Or are you in fact implying (2) that every time someone defended ACORN as innocent they clearly meant that ACORN and it’s agents have never ever done anything wrong. > > I believe your OP points out that in one incident persons working for ACORN acted inappropriately and apparently illegally. However it seems you are trying to use this to rebut the strawman argument in the second statement (2) I don’t believe anyone ever made. > > Or are we in fact speaking about one single incident? No, (2) is not a strawman argument. Unless you have **Diogenes** on ignore, you have only to read his contributions to this thread to see he’s making the (2) argument. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acorn-did-absolutely-nothing-wrong-no-longer-true/577467.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acorn-did-absolutely-nothing-wrong-no-longer-true/577467.md?page=6)