# ACORN workers caught on tape apparently advising on child prostitution **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [September 11, 2009, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acorn-workers-caught-on-tape-apparently-advising-on-child-prostitution/509681 "2009-09-11T13:19:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2009, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acorn-workers-caught-on-tape-apparently-advising-on-child-prostitution/509681/1 "2009-09-11T13:19:32Z")
[Here’s the CNN](http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/09/10/acorn.prostitution/index.html?iref=mpstoryview) report. Scott Levenson, a spokesman at ACORN’s national offices, says “The portrayal is false and defamatory and an attempt at 'gotcha journalism.” But > [@](#): > > A local spokeswoman told The Associated Press that both employees seen in the video were fired. Not sure how both can be true. Having watched the tape, I don’t see much defensible about the conduct of the ACORN advisors shown. Is there? ---
**Author:** ![E-Sabbath](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e19adc/32.png) [@E-Sabbath](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-Sabbath)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2009, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acorn-workers-caught-on-tape-apparently-advising-on-child-prostitution/509681/2 "2009-09-11T13:36:51Z")
… Can’t watch the tape right now, but fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck, the article looks bad. Woah. Well, morons are morons. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2009, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acorn-workers-caught-on-tape-apparently-advising-on-child-prostitution/509681/3 "2009-09-11T13:39:44Z")
Shouldn’t the title of this post have a (RO) in it, and be in another forum? ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Moto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de0a6/32.png) [@Mr.Moto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Moto)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2009, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acorn-workers-caught-on-tape-apparently-advising-on-child-prostitution/509681/4 "2009-09-11T13:43:07Z")
If you’re outraged, start one right up. Me, I’m just a bit bemused. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2009, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acorn-workers-caught-on-tape-apparently-advising-on-child-prostitution/509681/5 "2009-09-11T13:44:35Z")
> [@Mr.Moto](#): > > If you’re outraged, start one right up. Me, I’m just a bit bemused. Child prostitution amuses you? ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2009, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acorn-workers-caught-on-tape-apparently-advising-on-child-prostitution/509681/6 "2009-09-11T13:46:55Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > Having watched the tape, I don’t see much defensible about the conduct of the ACORN advisors shown. Neither do I. > [@](#): > > The conservative filmmakers unsuccessfully attempted similar ruses at the group’s offices in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Los Angeles, California, and New York, Levenson said. Sounds like O’Keefe was trolling for idiots, and managed to find a couple. ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2009, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acorn-workers-caught-on-tape-apparently-advising-on-child-prostitution/509681/7 "2009-09-11T13:48:57Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Child prostitution amuses you? If you read the story linked by the OP, you’ll find that no children actually worked as prostitutes in the making of the story. ---
**Author:** ![C3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/c3/32/3108_2.png) [@C3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C3)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2009, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acorn-workers-caught-on-tape-apparently-advising-on-child-prostitution/509681/8 "2009-09-11T13:52:18Z")
I don’t think there’s anything defensible about what the workers did and they were rightfully fired, if what happened in the article is true (I haven’t watched the video). I can see how the ACORN spokesperson’s statement can also be true, though, if conclusions were made by the filmmakers that this is somehow and endemic problem within ACORN or if the film was manipulated to draw larger conclusions about ACORN’s involvement in this (in contrast to the story being about two stupid people who happen to work for ACORN). They apparently tried this stunt in a bunch of different locations and the Baltimore people were the only ones to take the bait. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2009, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acorn-workers-caught-on-tape-apparently-advising-on-child-prostitution/509681/9 "2009-09-11T13:56:17Z")
I have to admit to bristling at the return of the phrase “gotcha journalism”, even if this usage is somewhat more appropriate than its earlier appearance. > [@Frank](#): > > Sounds like O’Keefe was trolling for idiots, and managed to find a couple. Yep. In fact, it’s remarkable that it took six cities before they found some - usually idiots are thick on the ground in all environments. I’d love to see the tapes from the other five cities though, to see whether the previous refusals to help were polite or, erm, “emphatic”. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2009, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acorn-workers-caught-on-tape-apparently-advising-on-child-prostitution/509681/10 "2009-09-11T13:58:24Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Child prostitution amuses you? Was this a whoosh? If so, you caught me; if not, “bemused” and “amused” mean different things. > [@Bricker](#): > > Not sure how both can be true. Having watched the tape, I don’t see much defensible about the conduct of the ACORN advisors shown. > > Is there? If they were seriously offering advice to clients (or muckrakers posing as clients) trying to set up an illegal prostitution ring, then no, it’s completely indefensible. However, I’d like to see fuller information before I definitively pronounce sentence: > [@](#): > > The video footage – which has been edited and goes to black in some areas – was recorded and posted online Thursday by James O’Keefe, a conservative activist. He was joined on the video by another conservative, Hannah Giles, who posed as the prostitute in the filmmakers’ undercover sting. […] > > "The portrayal is false and defamatory and an attempt at ‘gotcha journalism,’ " said Scott Levenson, a spokesman at ACORN’s national offices. “This film crew tried to pull this sham at other offices and failed. ACORN wants to see the full video before commenting further.” > > The conservative filmmakers unsuccessfully attempted similar ruses at the group’s offices in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Los Angeles, California, and New York, Levenson said. On the one hand, I don’t see how anyone at ACORN **national** offices can say for certain what happened at the **Baltimore** office if he hasn’t yet seen the full video. On the other hand, the muckrakers in this case are apparently motivated by a strong desire to cause trouble for ACORN. In any case, though, it was at the very least pretty stupid and irresponsible for the Baltimore ACORN workers to do or say anything that even **appeared** to indicate tolerance or support for activities involving illegal prostitution. ---
**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:** [September 11, 2009, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acorn-workers-caught-on-tape-apparently-advising-on-child-prostitution/509681/11 "2009-09-11T14:12:46Z")
This was a couple of politically motivated slimeballs out to smear ACORN. I wonder how many ACORN people they had to go to before they could find a couple who played along. Congratulation. If you search hard enough you can find people in any profession who will behave inappropriately. What is that supposed to prove about the profession? This says nothing about ACORN, so I don’t see why it’s newsworthy. All of the right wing smear attempts against ACORN have been disgusting, baseless and transparently racist, in my opinion. ---
**Author:** ![Hamlet](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hamlet/32/2818_2.png) [@Hamlet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hamlet)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2009, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acorn-workers-caught-on-tape-apparently-advising-on-child-prostitution/509681/12 "2009-09-11T14:23:24Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > This was a couple of politically motivated slimeballs out to smear ACORN. I wonder how many ACORN people they had to go to before they could find a couple who played along. At least 6 other cities. Funny thing I didn’t see a single “ACORN workers don’t help child prostitutes!” announced anywhere or even mentioned and brought up for “debate”. Amazing how that works out. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2009, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acorn-workers-caught-on-tape-apparently-advising-on-child-prostitution/509681/13 "2009-09-11T14:25:32Z")
> [@](#): > > A local spokeswoman told The Associated Press that both employees seen in the video were fired. > > "The portrayal is false and defamatory and an attempt at ‘gotcha journalism,’ " said Scott Levenson, a spokesman at ACORN’s national offices. “This film crew tried to pull this sham at other offices and failed. ACORN wants to see the full video before commenting further.” So they fired the workers before they had even seen the whole video. I thought ACORN was all about worker’s rights and all that. I wonder how they would have reacted if some big company had fired an employee before finding out all the facts. Isn’t ACORN the one who wants minimum wage to apply to everyone [except them](http://www.rottenacorn.com/)? And there is the election fraud [thing](http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2009/may/04/criminal-charges-filed-against-acorn-two-employees/). I wonder if ACORN employees are considered “community organizers”? 😃 Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2009, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acorn-workers-caught-on-tape-apparently-advising-on-child-prostitution/509681/14 "2009-09-11T14:33:01Z")
> [@Diogenes the Cynic](#): > > This was a couple of politically motivated slimeballs out to smear ACORN. I wonder how many ACORN people they had to go to before they could find a couple who played along. > [@Hamlet](#): > > At least 6 other cities. Funny thing I didn’t see a single “ACORN workers don’t help child prostitutes!” announced anywhere or even mentioned and brought up for “debate”. Amazing how that works out. “And in other news, all commercial airline flights but one reached their destinations safely today.” ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2009, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acorn-workers-caught-on-tape-apparently-advising-on-child-prostitution/509681/15 "2009-09-11T14:36:53Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > And there is the election fraud [thing](http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2009/may/04/criminal-charges-filed-against-acorn-two-employees/). Whoop-dee-doo. They paid some people $5 for getting 21 registrations. OK, if it’s against the law, they shouldn’t do it. But jeez, is this worth getting excited about? And they turned in some fraudulent registrations. In many cases, local law requires them to do so. And they flag any suspicious registrations for the local officials. And none of the fraudulent registrations resulted in any illegal votes. A pretty wise man once said remove the plank from your own eye before looking at the speck in your brother’s. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Torque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Max\_Torque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Torque)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2009, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acorn-workers-caught-on-tape-apparently-advising-on-child-prostitution/509681/16 "2009-09-11T14:38:02Z")
Withholding judgment until I see the whole thing. There’s nothing in the story or the video that clearly shows anything along the lines of, “Hey, I want to start a child prostitution ring, can you help me with that?” “Sure, let me tell you how to sneak unregistered teen hookers past customs!” Funny that the film’s creators pulled a ding-dong-ditch on being interviewed. Frankly, from what the video showed, it sounded like the two “undercover journalists” went into the office asking for tax advice, then started tossing out lines about the alleged prostitution stuff. The little clips shown don’t give us much to tell whether the employees were even taking them seriously or not; they may have been blowing them off as cranks and just giving enough advice to satisfy them and get them out of the office. For all I can tell from the video, the “journalist” may have portrayed himself as a foreign bumpkin who didn’t understand the difference between a “performing artist” and a “prostitute”. Doesn’t Jeff Dunham do a bit about how he performs for people and makes them happy to make money, with his pimp-daddy ventriloquist dummy answering, “Then you da ho!”? ---
**Author:** ![C3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/c3/32/3108_2.png) [@C3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C3)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2009, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acorn-workers-caught-on-tape-apparently-advising-on-child-prostitution/509681/17 "2009-09-11T14:39:17Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > So they fired the workers before they had even seen the whole video. I thought ACORN was all about worker’s rights and all that. > > I wonder how they would have reacted if some big company had fired an employee before finding out all the facts. They could have ascertained the facts by other means, like, perhaps, interviewing the employees involved? Asking witnesses? Considering it sounds like the film was heavily edited, it seems like that would be a more accurate way of figuring out what happened, anyway. ---
**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:** [September 11, 2009, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acorn-workers-caught-on-tape-apparently-advising-on-child-prostitution/509681/18 "2009-09-11T14:43:58Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > Whoop-dee-doo. They paid some people $5 for getting 21 registrations. OK, if it’s against the law, they shouldn’t do it. But jeez, is this worth getting excited about? And they turned in some fraudulent registrations. In many cases, local law requires them to do so. And they flag any suspicious registrations for the local officials. And none of the fraudulent registrations resulted in any illegal votes. A pretty wise man once said remove the plank from your own eye before looking at the speck in your brother’s. It should be added that ACORN is not permitted to disallow registration forms on its own, no matter how obviously fraudulent they may be. All they can do is flag them and send them on. The only reason anyone knew about the bogus registration forms is because ACORN itself flagged them as suspicious. The smearing of ACORN has been one of the saddest jokes of the last year. ---
**Author:** ![aldiboronti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc348/32.png) [@aldiboronti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aldiboronti)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2009, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acorn-workers-caught-on-tape-apparently-advising-on-child-prostitution/509681/19 "2009-09-11T14:45:04Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > This was a couple of politically motivated slimeballs out to smear ACORN. I wonder how many ACORN people they had to go to before they could find a couple who played along. Congratulation. If you search hard enough you can find people in any profession who will behave inappropriately. What is that supposed to prove about the profession? > > This says nothing about ACORN, so I don’t see why it’s newsworthy. All of the right wing smear attempts against ACORN have been disgusting, baseless and transparently racist, in my opinion. And if this was a left-wing sting of a right-wing organization which turned up abetting of child prostitution I’m sure you would feel exactly the same, **Diogenes** , wouldn’t you? Of course you would. ---
**Author:** ![C3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/c3/32/3108_2.png) [@C3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C3)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2009, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acorn-workers-caught-on-tape-apparently-advising-on-child-prostitution/509681/20 "2009-09-11T14:49:38Z")
> [@aldiboronti](#): > > And if this was a left-wing sting of a right-wing organization which turned up abetting of child prostitution I’m sure you would feel exactly the same, **Diogenes** , wouldn’t you? > > Of course you would. What does that have to do with anything? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acorn-workers-caught-on-tape-apparently-advising-on-child-prostitution/509681.md?page=2)