# 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:** 4
**Author:** ![yorick73](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/b5a626/32.png) [@yorick73](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yorick73)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2009, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acorn-workers-caught-on-tape-apparently-advising-on-child-prostitution/509681/61 "2009-09-11T15:57:45Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > Cite? See post 56. ---
**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, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acorn-workers-caught-on-tape-apparently-advising-on-child-prostitution/509681/62 "2009-09-11T15:59:20Z")
> [@yorick73](#): > > [http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/jun/25/conyers-abandons-plan-probe-acorn/](http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/jun/25/conyers-abandons-plan-probe-acorn/) Conyers was non-specific, but one thing’s for sure – it couldn’t have been the White House. It was most likely Pelosi. Fascinating that you see a complete lack of specific allegations, evidence or investigation as proof of guilt, though. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2009, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acorn-workers-caught-on-tape-apparently-advising-on-child-prostitution/509681/63 "2009-09-11T16:00:03Z")
Oh, look! A Moonie Times cite… ---
**Author:** ![yorick73](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/b5a626/32.png) [@yorick73](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yorick73)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2009, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acorn-workers-caught-on-tape-apparently-advising-on-child-prostitution/509681/64 "2009-09-11T16:02:03Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > Conyers was non-specific, but one thing’s for sure – it couldn’t have been the White House. It was most likely Pelosi. Fascinating that you see a complete lack of specific allegations, evidence or investigation as proof of guilt, though. I didn’t say it was the WH. The fact that he was called off any investigation should concern you. ---
**Author:** ![El\_Kabong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_kabong/32/496_2.png) [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2009, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acorn-workers-caught-on-tape-apparently-advising-on-child-prostitution/509681/65 "2009-09-11T16:02:53Z")
> [@yorick73](#): > > [http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/jun/25/conyers-abandons-plan-probe-acorn/](http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/jun/25/conyers-abandons-plan-probe-acorn/) Thanks. Hey, I won’t even do the usual dismissal of the _Washington Times_ as a reliable source. Ok, so the head of the House Judiciary Committee claims that some mysterious “powers that be” somehow forced him to abandon an investigation, but refuses to say who. Geez, maybe someone with a sack should be appointed to the position. ---
**Author:** ![Polerius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/d78d45/32.png) [@Polerius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polerius)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2009, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acorn-workers-caught-on-tape-apparently-advising-on-child-prostitution/509681/66 "2009-09-11T16:03:26Z")
> [@yorick73](#): > > Whoops…looks like some ACORN employees in DC did the same thing. > > [Glenn Beck: Rush Limbaugh should be remembered as 'the Johnny Carson of radio' | Fox News](http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,549241,00.html) When I first heard of the story and how they tried it in several cities and were only successful in one office, I thought “these guys should have kept trying until they had at least two such cases”, just so that they can show a systematic problem and not an aberration. Now that there are in fact two cases, I agree that this shows a systematic problem at ACORN, at least to the degree that they don’t screen and/or train their people well. It doesn’t show that ACORN wants to “spread chaos”, as that idiot Limbaugh and his ilk said. ---
**Author:** ![yorick73](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/b5a626/32.png) [@yorick73](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yorick73)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2009, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acorn-workers-caught-on-tape-apparently-advising-on-child-prostitution/509681/67 "2009-09-11T16:03:28Z")
> [@jayjay](#): > > Oh, look! A Moonie Times cite… That’s clever. Do you have anything of substance to add? Or do you just insult news sites you don’t like? Use google and you’ll find more than one site. [www.google.com](http://www.google.com) ---
**Author:** ![Labrador\_Deceiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7c8e57/32.png) [@Labrador\_Deceiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labrador_Deceiver)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2009, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acorn-workers-caught-on-tape-apparently-advising-on-child-prostitution/509681/68 "2009-09-11T16:03:50Z")
> [@El\_Kabong](#): > > Thanks. Hey, I won’t even do the usual dismissal of the _Washington Times_ as a reliable source. > > Ok, so the head of the House Judiciary Committee claims that some mysterious “powers that be” somehow forced him to abandon an investigation, but refuses to say who. Geez, maybe someone with a sack should be appointed to the position. What does that have to do with anything? Really, what? ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2009, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acorn-workers-caught-on-tape-apparently-advising-on-child-prostitution/509681/69 "2009-09-11T16:05:08Z")
> [@yorick73](#): > > I didn’t say it was the WH. The fact that he was called off any investigation should concern you. If you’re saying that House leadership sucks big rocks, I’m right behind you. If you’re saying that ACORN bullied Pelosi into calling him off, I can’t follow to that one. The article you cited quotes an ACORN executive as being more than happy to cooperate with any investigation, as they had nothing to hide. Besides, Conyers is as much of a wuss as Pelosi and Reid are. He was effectively muzzled throughout 2007 and 2008 in the matter of impeachment proceedings, despite what he once described as his belief that investigations should occur. ---
**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, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acorn-workers-caught-on-tape-apparently-advising-on-child-prostitution/509681/70 "2009-09-11T16:06:07Z")
> [@Labrador\_Deceiver](#): > > I have no idea what in the hell you’re talking about. This is not simply a case of a couple workers trying to help a guy tell a little fib on his tax forms. Yeah, that pretty much is what it was. They were telling them to lie about where their money came from. My point was that it’s not the kind of poetential employee behavior that can be “screened” for, so using that route to try to smear ACORN as an institution is lame and reaching. You can find people in any profession, any public position, any institution who are sleazeballs. It doesn’t prove anything about who they work for. Unless anyone seriously wants to allege that ACORN itself has encouraged employees to behave this way, then there isn’t any revelation here. It’s just a Michael Moore stunt. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2009, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acorn-workers-caught-on-tape-apparently-advising-on-child-prostitution/509681/71 "2009-09-11T16:06:22Z")
> [@yorick73](#): > > That’s clever. Do you have anything of substance to add? Or do you just insult news sites you don’t like? Use google and you’ll find more than one site. [www.google.com](http://www.google.com) I insult news sites that have obvious and long-standing conservative biases, like the Moonie Times and Faux Snooze. ---
**Author:** ![El\_Kabong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_kabong/32/496_2.png) [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2009, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acorn-workers-caught-on-tape-apparently-advising-on-child-prostitution/509681/72 "2009-09-11T16:08:38Z")
> [@Labrador\_Deceiver](#): > > What does that have to do with anything? Really, what? I have no clue. You might ask **yorick73** , he brought it up. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2009, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acorn-workers-caught-on-tape-apparently-advising-on-child-prostitution/509681/73 "2009-09-11T16:09:36Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > Yeah, that pretty much is what it was. They were telling them to lie about where their money came from. > > My point was that it’s not the kind of poetential employee behavior that can be “screened” for, so using that route to try to smear ACORN as an institution is lame and reaching. You can find people in any profession, any public position, any institution who are sleazeballs. It doesn’t prove anything about who they work for. Unless anyone seriously wants to allege that ACORN itself has encouraged employees to behave this way, then there isn’t any revelation here. It’s just a Michael Moore stunt. But, **Dio**! ACORN is eeeeevuuuul! They defraud polls, they cheat at taxes, they encourage child prostitution (I hear they LOVED Taxi Driver!), they espouse the fraudulent takeover of our government by Donald W. Duck III, and they helped elect OBAMA! I bet if you dug deep enough you’d discover that they were founded by Stalin, Hitler, Hirohito and Mussolini acting as a cabal in 1941, just before Pearl Harbor, with the very-long-term mission of undermining American democracy by registering cartoon characters to vote! ---
**Author:** ![Labrador\_Deceiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7c8e57/32.png) [@Labrador\_Deceiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labrador_Deceiver)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2009, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acorn-workers-caught-on-tape-apparently-advising-on-child-prostitution/509681/74 "2009-09-11T16:09:52Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > Yeah, that pretty much is what it was. They were telling them to lie about where their money came from. > > My point was that it’s not the kind of poetential employee behavior that can be “screened” for, so using that route to try to smear ACORN as an institution is lame and reaching. You can find people in any profession, any public position, any institution who are sleazeballs. It doesn’t prove anything about who they work for. Unless anyone seriously wants to allege that ACORN itself has encouraged employees to behave this way, then there isn’t any revelation here. It’s just a Michael Moore stunt. As has been suggested already, it could very well be indicative of an organizational culture that encourages employees to turn a blind eye. I don’t think most employees at ACORN would do so to this degree, but I woudn’t be surprised if it happened to a lesser extent on a more widespread basis. ---
**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, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acorn-workers-caught-on-tape-apparently-advising-on-child-prostitution/509681/75 "2009-09-11T16:10:00Z")
> [@yorick73](#): > > I didn’t say it was the WH. The fact that he was called off any investigation should concern you. Why should it concern me? What is your evidence that anything needed to be investigated? Can you cite any evidence for institutional fraud or corruption from ACORN whatsoever? ---
**Author:** ![Labrador\_Deceiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7c8e57/32.png) [@Labrador\_Deceiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labrador_Deceiver)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2009, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acorn-workers-caught-on-tape-apparently-advising-on-child-prostitution/509681/76 "2009-09-11T16:11:09Z")
> [@jayjay](#): > > But, **Dio**! ACORN is eeeeevuuuul! They defraud polls, they cheat at taxes, they encourage child prostitution (I hear they LOVED Taxi Driver!), they espouse the fraudulent takeover of our government by Donald W. Duck III, and they helped elect OBAMA! I bet if you dug deep enough you’d discover that they were founded by Stalin, Hitler, Hirohito and Mussolini acting as a cabal in 1941, just before Pearl Harbor, with the very-long-term mission of undermining American democracy by registering cartoon characters to vote! If you can’t argue like a grown up, then I won’t waste my time with you in the future. I neither said nor insinuated any such thing. Nowhere near it. ---
**Author:** ![Labrador\_Deceiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7c8e57/32.png) [@Labrador\_Deceiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labrador_Deceiver)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2009, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acorn-workers-caught-on-tape-apparently-advising-on-child-prostitution/509681/77 "2009-09-11T16:12:28Z")
> [@El\_Kabong](#): > > I have no clue. You might ask **yorick73** , he brought it up. Please show me where yorick brought up Conyers’ sack. ---
**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, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acorn-workers-caught-on-tape-apparently-advising-on-child-prostitution/509681/78 "2009-09-11T16:12:40Z")
> [@Lobohan](#): > > Oh, I see the problem here. You don’t understand what election fraud is. Do us a favor and read up on it, kay? > > As Dio mentioned above, Acorn hires people to get registrations. Some people try to crook Acorn out of money, so they fill out fake registrations for the bounty. Acorn can’t throw these sheets away, because that would be disenfranchising people if, against all odds they were real. > > Are you following along? Good. > > Acorn flags the suspicious registrations. In any case it doesn’t matter, because if someone turns in a voter registration form for Batman Von Superman III, he’s not going to show up. > > Now that you’ve had it explained to you that you’re wrong, I trust that you’ll stop posting half-assed opinion pieces as fact, right? > > See, you’ve had your ignorance fought! It’s the silliest thing, but for some reason I thought you were serious. Don’t worry, it won’t happen again. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2009, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acorn-workers-caught-on-tape-apparently-advising-on-child-prostitution/509681/79 "2009-09-11T16:14:55Z")
> [@Labrador\_Deceiver](#): > > If you can’t argue like a grown up, then I won’t waste my time with you in the future. I neither said nor insinuated any such thing. Nowhere near it. Why should I argue like a grownup with the right wing anymore? They don’t have an adult idea in their entire arsenal at this point. It’s all paranoid conspiracy theories and a huge suspicion of anything that tries to raise the democratic power of poor people up to their full potential. ACORN’s major crime, to the right wing, is that they try to get poor people to vote. Everything that’s actually thrown at them is thrown from that perspective, and anyone who actually thinks they’re being “neutral” or who thinks they’re coming at it from a liberal perspective (inside criticism, sort of) needs to examine where the original idea that ACORN is “guilty” of something, as an organization, came from. ---
**Author:** ![Labrador\_Deceiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7c8e57/32.png) [@Labrador\_Deceiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labrador_Deceiver)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2009, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acorn-workers-caught-on-tape-apparently-advising-on-child-prostitution/509681/80 "2009-09-11T16:15:34Z")
> [@jayjay](#): > > Why should I argue like a grownup with the right wing anymore? They don’t have an adult idea in their entire arsenal at this point. It’s all paranoid conspiracy theories and a huge suspicion of anything that tries to raise the democratic power of poor people up to their full potential. ACORN’s major crime, to the right wing, is that they try to get poor people to vote. Everything that’s actually thrown at them is thrown from that perspective, and anyone who actually thinks they’re being “neutral” or who thinks they’re coming at it from a liberal perspective (inside criticism, sort of) needs to examine where the original idea that ACORN is “guilty” of something, as an organization, came from. I’m not the right wing, genius. Kinda screws up your entire point, doesn’t it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acorn-workers-caught-on-tape-apparently-advising-on-child-prostitution/509681.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/acorn-workers-caught-on-tape-apparently-advising-on-child-prostitution/509681.md?page=5)