New York Times metro-beat reporter Fernanda Santos seems to truly believe that the left-wing housing activist group ACORN is some bottom-up citizens organization conducting a new civil rights "resistance movement" against unfair foreclosures. That's judging by her credulous story, "A Bid to Link Arms Against Eviction -- Grass-Roots Effort Takes Shape To Support Families Facing Foreclosure."
There's nothing in Santos's story Wednesday about the fact that the leader of this alleged "grass-roots effort," ACORN, receives funding from the federal government through various federal programs and third-party groups, or that it registered thousands and thousands of ineligible voters during the last presidential campaign. Instead, readers were treated to 1,260 words of "power to the people" sloganeering straight from ACORN without a single dissenting voice.
As resistance to foreclosure evictions grows among homeowners, community leaders and some law enforcement officials, a broad civil disobedience campaign is starting in New York and other cities to support families who refuse orders to vacate their homes.
The community organizing group Acorn unveiled the campaign with a spirited rally on Friday at a Brooklyn church and will roll it out in at least 22 other cities in the coming weeks. Through phone trees, Web pages and text-messaging networks, the effort will connect families facing eviction with volunteers who will stand at their side as officers arrive, even if it means risking arrest.
"You want to haul us out to jail? Fine. Let the world see how government has been ineffective," Bertha Lewis, Acorn's chief organizer, said in an interview. "Politicians have helped banks, but they haven't helped families in the way that it's needed, and these families are now saying, enough is enough."
At the onset of the foreclosure crisis, the problem was regarded by some as one of a homeowner's own making, the result of irresponsible decisions made by families who chose to live beyond their means. But as foreclosures spread across the country, devastating even solidly middle-class communities, the blame has slowly shifted to the financial companies that made questionable loans and have received billions of dollars in federal aid to stave off collapse.
In recent months, a budding resistance movement has grown among Americans who believe they have been left to face their predicament on their own -- and the Acorn campaign is an organized expression of that frustration, Ms. Lewis said. Instead of quietly packing up and turning their homes over to banks, homeowners are now fighting back.
When not talking transcription from left-wing ACORN leader Bertha Lewis, reporter Santos fleshed out the bit players with heroic details:
Sheriffs in some places have also taken a stand. In Wayne County in Michigan, Sheriff Warren C. Evans, suspended all evictions starting Feb. 2 until the federal government implements a plan to help homeowners facing foreclosures.
Resistance actions are scheduled for Thursday in cities including New York, Oakland and Houston. Organizers will try to recruit enough volunteers to form a human wall on the sidewalk to avoid being arrested for trespassing. But occupying a house or having people attach themselves to a home could also be a tactic.
Only a single brief paragraph penetrated the ‘60s "power to the people" haze:
The campaign has earned praise and raised concern. Sheriff Dart, in Illinois, said it was a "slippery slope when you have individuals deciding whether they can lawfully remain in their homes."
You can read a less sunny view of the "civil disobedience" group (never labeled liberal in Santos's story) in Michelle Malkin's latest column:
ACORN's foot soldiers, funded with your tax dollars, will scream, pound their fists, chain themselves to buildings, padlock the doors, and engage in illegal behavior until they get what they want. It's a recipe for anarchy....ACORN offices, funded with your tax dollars, are training teams of these "Home Savers" -- described as "people ready and willing to mobilize on short notice to defend the homesteaders against attempts to evict them." Ready, willing, and able to mobilize on short notice because they are either unemployed or employed full-time as ACORN shakedown artists.
—Clay Waters is the director of Times Watch, an MRC project tracking the New York Times.



















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PRAVDA wants their
February 18, 2009 - 14:24 ET by 10ksnookerPRAVDA wants their bailout.
And now we are on to porkulus II.
When is enough going to be
February 18, 2009 - 14:27 ET by bigtimerWhen is enough going to be enough?!
When are the tax-payers going to rise up...these cities that are targeted are all basically liberal bastions.
I just shake my head.
I cannot believe we are continuing to be forced to pay for ACORN.
O/Soros is proud.
I am fuming with what they are and have gotten away with, with little or no consequences.
Only then
February 18, 2009 - 14:34 ET by JimboEnough will be enough when the average person realizes that the liberal actions being taken today will have a real and tangible negative impact on them personally. Today, for most people all these actions are like a television show happening on another planet. There is no real connection between the negative impact of these actions and them personally. Until they feel the negative sting of liberal ideals personally, nothing will change. Unfortunately, of course, it will be too late by then.
Stupid Dims
February 18, 2009 - 14:40 ET by general company"You want to haul us out to jail? Fine. Let the world see how
government has been ineffective," Bertha Lewis, Acorn's chief
organizer, said in an interview. "Politicians have helped banks, but
they haven't helped families in the way that it's needed, and these
families are now saying, enough is enough."
Ha, I think this is funny, the Dims via Acorn created this problem, now they get to confront it. Stupid morons will make it 10x worst just wait. They will probably build them all brand new homes for nothing, and then force them to relocate. Or,,,,maybe they could build those detention camps and give them the option of finding a place for themselves or placing them in the detention camps,,,well maybe not, I have a feeling the detention camps are for us?
BTW Ms Lewis, just how did the politicians help the Banks? I am pretty sure the Banks dont see it that way!!
But I do agree BT, being forced to pay for this partisan group is ridiculous.
"Television is a freak show" Bernie Goldberg
Politicians have helped
February 18, 2009 - 17:26 ET by Dan The Man 2Politicians have helped banks, but they haven't helped families in the way that it's needed, and these families are now saying, enough is enough
Is there a failure to engage the brain at this point? The Democrats are in charge and they did nothing. They act like the government is all Republicans. They have their people in there now and still are not satisfied.
Nuke em til they glow then shoot em in the dark.
CALL ME CRAZY...
February 18, 2009 - 16:49 ET by danybhoyI can honestly see ACORN offering financial assistance to the NYSlimes to help them out...at a price. I can see ACORN people writing for the paper, not just demanding favorable coverage, but writing it themselves. Cut out the middle man. The Slimes has already been given a lifeline by some dude from Mexico named Carlos Slim, so why no ACORN?
"...it's still We The People, Right?" Megadeth
I love to walk on the
February 18, 2009 - 14:29 ET by JimboI love to walk on the streets of NY watching the NY Times being handed out on street corners for free. Even more, I like to watch the people walk by and not even consider taking a free copy.
civil rights resistance vs guerrilla warfare in urban areas
February 18, 2009 - 14:30 ET by Gary HallI might suggest that history runs deep here.
William Ayers? I a call for "guerrilla warfare in the urban areas.." akin to civil rights resistance to our MSM?
A little history and a few questions can be found within these pages:
Principles Schminiciples – New Left Notes, Nov. 21, 1969
Enter the Rev. Wright principles:
So much information - so few investigative journalists. (;~/ gary
O didn't stay in Wright's
February 18, 2009 - 15:07 ET by bigtimerO didn't stay in Wright's Church for 20 years for nothing did he Gary...or be buddies with the likes of Ayres for just no reason.
All of their agenda is coming to pass via O and crew.
As to investigative journalists...long gone for the most part, unless of course someone has an 'R' after their name.
Here is a pretty neat link with all kinds of info. about him and his associates past and present for those who may be interested...I know you probably know about all of this already.
black liberation theology
February 18, 2009 - 16:56 ET by m1xramAs I understand black liberation theology calls for the destruction of "the white man's religion". This is extremely racist and does not reconcile with Christianity which is raceless.
mixram..
February 18, 2009 - 17:19 ET by Gary HallOne would have to acknowledge that the much of the history of "white man's Christianity" here, and elsewhere, was anything but raceless. gary
Bible
February 18, 2009 - 17:35 ET by m1xramWhat does that have to do with the Bible which Christianity is based on? Are you trying to say that the non-Christian behavior demonstrates Christianity? It does not.
mixram
February 18, 2009 - 17:52 ET by Gary HallI'm not too sure how you got to that place - but no.. I was not saying that. gary
just clarifying
February 18, 2009 - 19:24 ET by m1xramI should not have assumed that you would know: The concept of the "white man's religion", or any color you choose to name, is completely bogus in the context of Christianity. We are all sinners, we all can be saved.
I don't know your frame of reference so I can't tell if that helped or not. If not, try looking up Black Liberation Theology and/or Cohn, or see Cohn's description. His description does not agree with Biblical teachings.
ACORN will run Obammy's programs
February 18, 2009 - 14:41 ET by slickwillie2001We'd better get familiar with ACORN folks. I believe ACORN will end up managing the 2010 census, running the 'community' review boards that the FCC will set up designed to kill national talk radio, and managing the distribution of subprime mortgage relief funds. Read Alinsky's 'Rules for Radicals'. We might as well put a red cover on that POS book and call it 'The Thoughts of The One'.
First off, I'm not working
February 18, 2009 - 14:42 ET by TexasteacherFirst off, I'm not working my a** off AND PAYING MY DAMN MORTGAGE ON TIME so some dips*** can get a house they coudn't possibly afford AND get to keep it when they decide to stop paying. When are law-abiding CITIZENS of this country going to be treated fairly?
One more thing:
"ACORN offices, funded with your tax dollars, are training teams of these "Home Savers" "
Wait a minute, who was revered as an ACORN "community-organizer trainer"??????
Oh, that's right, that spineless piece of trash sitting in the white hosue.
obama's notion of bi-partisanship is telling conservatives to shut up and do what he wants.
OK, this is really funny.
February 18, 2009 - 14:44 ET by mizflame98As I read about how the NY Times stock is worth less than their Sunday edition, you post this story. We must have a psychic link.
"Not to be a republican at twenty is proof of want of heart; to be one at thirty is proof of want of head." - Francois Guisot
good news
February 18, 2009 - 17:10 ET by m1xramWith all the horrible news we're hearing these days it's nice to see an upbeat piece like this. Good link. We need less N*zi style propaganda in our lives.
Acorn needs to be
February 18, 2009 - 14:53 ET by jgarciaAcorn needs to be roasted! Aren’t they due in court soon? Also, on their website, they are calling for the fairness doc. to be reinstated! So, this is what they are doing with the payback money that was put back in the "stimulus" bill behind closed doors! Read of Fox few minutes ago, that President Obama is against the Fairness Doc, however (in my opinion) his underground groupies will make sure it happens, while he smiles with them behind those closed doors! Oh, I am so not happy with this administration. YUUUUUGGGGGGGG
"Failure is only a temporary change in direction to set you straight for your next success." I hope so......
The magic negro and his
February 18, 2009 - 15:53 ET by SlicksterThe magic negro and his tax cheating minions don't realize that ACORN will turn on them, The barackster's house of cards will fall from within. The right only needs to be ready to act when it does.
JGARCIA...
February 18, 2009 - 16:44 ET by danybhoyYes they are due in court in several states, & everything you say is correct. They will be getting money from the PORKULUS package, they will end up as a power broker in the "Fairness Doctrine"/"Localism" process that will be used to shut down free speech.
What should happen, is that they should be prosicuted under the RICO laws. RACKETEER INFLUENCED & CORRUPT ORGANIZATIONS act. ACORN did what they in a systematic way across the nation. They are an organized crime operation, plus these were some of the loudest at pushing congress to mandate banks into making bad loans to people who could never pay them back. Thus being a major part of the sub-prime crisis that has helped tank the world economy, & who was a major player in training ACORN people to pressure congress & the banks??? President Obama...yeah, let that sink in. It is a part of the sub-prime story not often told, but ACORN & Obama are just as guilty as Barney Fwank, Chris Dudd, & Chris Cox were. Just amazing.
"...it's still We The People, Right?" Megadeth