I don't know why everyone is so SHOCKED that Obama is remaining silent on Acorn. This is typical Obama behavior. His silence has nothing to do with his feelings about Acorn and everything to do with his failure to take a position on the poor and under-served, in general.
Obama's whole schtick is "work hard and you will succeed." He doesn't want to address the prison industry, public housing, inner-city public education and inner-city violence.
Acorn is an organization designed to help the very same people who I mention above. Since they are under attack, and rightfully so, Obama is going to stay away.
If Obama supports an investigation, he fears losing the constiuents Acorn is designed to serve. If he remains silent, the majority, who are not Acorn-needy, will go away. Sure, tax dollars are going to Acorn, but not enough to cause that majority to really make a fuss. They don't care that much.
Mark my words, Obama will continue to remain silent on inner-city issues and the organizations created to address the people who possess those issues. (He may say, "There should be an investigation but he won't take a position on any allegations against Acorn.)
*** I'm not deleting this post even though more videos have been released by O'Keefe and my below opinions now look silly. Acorn is a terrible, terrible group; its SYSTEMIC & disturbing behavior has now been totally exposed, with the latest video of an Acorn guy stating he has connections to human trafficking through Mexico. My point was not that I was defending Acorn but that, personally, I feel the video was somewhat unbelievable because a prostie never files a tax return. But NOW, with the latest videos, these losers should lose all of their funding! Ok here goes my original posting...
Filmmaker James O'Keefe and his friend Hannah Giles went undercover into Acorn, posed as a pimp and prostitute looking to evade the IRS and apply for an illegal housing loan for a brothel. Four ACORN workers in the Baltimore and Washington, D.C., offices appearing to offer their help.
As a criminal defense attorney, I have NEVER met a drug dealer, pimp or prostitute who desires to pay taxes and report to the IRS. The woman on the video who is accused of "helping" the pimp and prostitute is seen laughing at their idea because I'm sure she had never heard of such a thing either.
I couldn't disagree more with those "legal experts" who say Acorn employees committed a serious offense. Everyone's up-in-arms about Acorn's alleged ballot fraud so they are doing stupid things, like this, to set them up. And by the way, prostitution IS a profession! We should be happy the prosties are even filling out tax returns at all! Ha!
I personally am NOT a fan of Acorn but this is just silly.
Fox's Judge Napolitano said charges such as these could occur: • (a) commit prostitution • (b) operate a prostitution ring • (c) file false documents with taxing and other government authorities • (d) file false documents with a bank [also known as bank fraud]
The judge is stretching. The women weren't even prostitutes and the employee didn't do anything to engage in prostitution. She just gave them a damn form and joked with the couple. I really don't think she cared that much to help them evade the law. It's not like she sat with them and told them what to do line by line.
There's no conspiracy here either. If someone tells another how to kill their wife or how to cook meth in the lab, that is NOT enough for a conspiracy! There must be a "secret AGREEMENT" between the parties. It's not like the woman was telling the "couple" how to set up an LLC for a brothel. I mean, give me a break!
I thought the video was hilarious and more of a joke than anything.
JORAN CAUGHT TRYING TO SELL THAI WOMEN INTO PROSTITUTION
Hopefully, you remember the Natalee Holloway story: In May, 2005, a beautiful, young, high school student takes a "senior trip" to Aruba. She leaves her group of friends at the bar to hang out with a young fella (and stranger), Joran van der Sloot. Natalee was never seen again. Joran was named a suspect and taken into custody a few times; however, he has never been charged with her murder. Natalee Holloway's Senior Picture - 2005
Well, Joran is back in the news; this time, for an unrelated reason: Joran was recorded in an undercover, hidden camera, set-up-of-sorts by reporter Peter De Vries. [Mr. De Vries received an Emmy earlier this year for a different hidden-camera conversation with Joran where he admitted to dumping Natalee's body in the ocean after she went unconscious on the beach while they were making out.]
In the most-recent video, Joran is tells a man posing as a sex-industry boss, that he "can get passports for Thai women and girls who think they are going to the Netherlands to work as dancers." There's big money in this for Joran; apparently, he can make $13,000 for every woman he sells into prostitution. Such an honorable guy.
“The pictures show how little respect this 21-year-old has for the lives of others,” De Vries told a Dutch newspaper. “The fact that he goes into the trafficking of women after the disappearance of Natalee is typical of him.”
JORAN & OJ SIMPSON SIMILARITY: "SINCE I GOT AWAY WITH MURDER (ALLEGEDLY) THEN I CAN GET AWAY WITH ANYTHING!"
I see many of my criminal clients develop the mentality that if they "beat" a case, they automatically become invincible and can get away with more crime again and again. After OJ was convicted in Vegas last month, I mentioned this concept in my blog: the overly-confident criminal. (Let me be clear: I don't believe all people who win a case develop this mentality. In fact, there is no better feeling than seeking a Governor's pardon for a client who made a mistake many years ago, learned his/her lesson and positively contributes to society.)
OJ escaped the murder convictions of his ex-wife, Nicole, and her friend, Ronald Goldman. After the not-guilty finding, he was re-arrested in FL for a road-rage case (that he also beat), fined by a federal judge for pirating cable from DirecTV (hilarious!), and then eventually found guilty of kidnapping and armed robbery in Vegas in October.
OJ Simpson is the classic textbook case about the person who beats the system for murder and then continues down a path of criminal behavior until they eventually get caught. I'm not a psychiatrist, but the mentality is quite intriguing. And, Joran may be the next case-study:
Joran was never charged with Natalee's murder although he's the only named suspect. Shortly after Natalee's disappearance, he subjected himself to an interview about the night he was with Natalee. After the show, he threw a glass of wine in the host's face for no reason! Here's just another sign of Joran's total disregard for respect and common decency.
Now, he is on film engaging this new criminal ploy of trafficking Thai prostitutes. (Remember, we aren't talking about a kid who doesn't know any better - he's the son of a high ranking judicial official.)
Because Joran believes he got away with murder, he has become narcissistic, similar to OJ, similar to Drew Peterson, similar to many murderers. He cannot help himself; he has developed a real sociopathic mentality. We haven't seen the last of Joran; he'll eventually be caught engaging in some sort of crime that will bring Joran back to the reality that he is not above the law.
Tuesday, September 15, 2009 at 03:46PM 