Nothing to see here, folks. Move along…

ACORN has been cleared of wrongdoing in Brooklyn, New York.

Brooklyn prosecutors on Monday cleared ACORN of criminal wrongdoing after a four-month probe that began when undercover conservative activists filmed workers giving what appeared to be illegal advice on how to hide money.

While the video by James O’Keefe and Hannah Giles seemed to show three ACORN workers advising a prostitute how to hide ill-gotten gains, the unedited version was not as clear, according to a law enforcement source.

“They edited the tape to meet their agenda,” said the source.

O’Keefe and Giles – who visited ACORN offices in several cities, including its Brooklyn headquarters – stirred controversy when they posted the videos on their Web site.

I’m sure you’ll be just shocked, SHOCKED to find out that the special prosecutor in the case, Charles J. Hynes, received the endorsement of the “Working Families Party of New York,” one of the zillion heads of the hydra known as ACORN.

So far the worst of the Working Families Party/ACORN’s atrocities have been in New York City counties where the Democratic District Attorney’s have all enjoyed the support and endorsement of WFP. That Brooklyn DA Charles J. Hynes says he will look into the Brooklyn-based ACORN gives one little comfort. Hynes has enjoyed WFP/ACORN endorsement. Ironically this is the same Charles J. Hynes who put away the Brooklyn Democratic Party Chairman for trading the party nomination  for a judgeship for a political consulting contract from the judicial candidate to a favored vendor–precisely what the WFP has done in the City Comptroller and Public Advocate races.

Here’s a link to the Working Families Party website where they announce their endorsement of Charles J. Hynes: Scroll down to Brooklyn, Hynes is the second person listed.

Unbelievable Typical, isn’t it?

Obama said he worked with ACORN only once. His “Fight The Smears” website even had a special page about ACORN.

Politifact even went after Karl Rove last fall for suggesting that Obama’s ties to ACORN were more extensive than he admitted.

As for Rove’s claim that Obama used to be a lawyer for ACORN, yes, Obama once took on a case for ACORN. But Obama was never a staff attorney for ACORN. He did not do ongoing work for the organization. He handled one case along with two other attorneys. ACORN was one of several plaintiffs. And the U.S. Department of Justice sided with ACORN in the case. We think Rove’s comment suggests a deeper legal relationship between Obama and ACORN than actually existed. And so we rule Rove’s statement Half True.

And yet now, we have this…

Climategate, the scandal that showed global warming advocates were intentionally manipulating scientific data to advance an agenda, is continuing to unravel.

Christopher Booker at The Telegraph calls it “The Worst Scientific Scandal of Our Generation.”

“A week after my colleague James Delingpole, on his Telegraph blog, coined the term “Climategate” to describe the scandal revealed by the leaked emails from the University of East Anglia’s Climatic Research Unit, Google was showing that the word now appears across the internet more than nine million times. But in all these acres of electronic coverage, one hugely relevant point about these thousands of documents has largely been missed.”

“The reason why even the Guardian’s George Monbiot has expressed total shock and dismay at the picture revealed by the documents is that their authors are not just any old bunch of academics. Their importance cannot be overestimated, What we are looking at here is the small group of scientists who have for years been more influential in driving the worldwide alarm over global warming than any others, not least through the role they play at the heart of the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).”

Andrea Peyser at the New York Post reveals that her daughter was recruited by the cult of Gore at school…

“When did global warming turn into a forced religion?”

“My daughter came home from school recently with a spring in her step and a song on her lips. With no foreshadowing — or time to call an exorcist — out came this chilling refrain:”

” . . . You can hear the warning — GLOBAL WARMING . . . “

“By the time her father and I removed our jaws from the floor, we had learned that:”

“A) All the kids had been coerced into singing this catchy ditty, which we called “The Warming Song,” at a concert for parents.”

“B) Further song lyrics scolded selfish adults (that would be us) for polluting our planet and causing a warming scourge that would, in no short order, kill all the polar bears and threaten the birds and bees.”

“C) There was no deprogramming session on the menu. And no arguing allowed.”

“The international “Climategate” scandal is now moving into its third week. And reaction from folks on the scientific and political left — or is that redundant? — who treat global warming as a cult in which naysayers must be crushed has been depressing:”

“Total denial.”

You’ve got that right, Andrea. Why else would Obama still be going to Copenhagen to talk climate change? And why won’t he or the media even utter the word Climategate?

BigGovernment.com has been airing a hefty portion of ACORN’s dirty laundry this week, thanks to the efforts of a private investigator who recovered thousands of documents hastily dumped in the trash by San Diego’s ACORN office days before they were to be investigated.

ACORN is now reacting by claiming that the documents were stolen. From their trash.

“A tempest in a trash can is brewing in San Diego County, where ACORN is trying to recover tens of thousands of documents taken from its garbage by a Republican activist.”

“It’s the latest skirmish in a war between ACORN, which stands for Community Organizations for Reform Now, and conservative critics who accuse it of corruption.”

“Derrick Roach, a private investigator who unsuccessfully ran for a state Assembly seat last year, said he took more than 20,000 documents from a caged trash area behind ACORN’s office in National City on Oct. 9.”

“Some of the documents later posted on a Web site and displayed at a news conference Monday appeared to show driver’s license and Social Security numbers of ACORN members or job applicants.”

“There also were immigration records, credit reports, tax returns, credit card statements and bank account numbers, Roach said Tuesday.”

“ACORN California Head Organizer Amy Schur said the confidential papers were carelessly included in the trash, and there was no intent to dump rather than shred them.”

“We want to get our property back so that we can properly secure it,” she said.”

Perhaps you should have thought of that before, Amy. One man’s trash is another man’s treasure.

BigGovernment.com broke the latest chapter in the ongoing ACORN scandal today. According to a private investigator who has joined the effort, ACORN dumped thousands of sensitive documents just before CA Attorney General Jerry Brown was due to begin an investigation.

“Shockingly, we now learn that the ACORN office in National City (San Diego County) engaged in a massive document dump on the evening of October 9th, containing thousands upon thousands of sensitive documents, just days prior to the Attorney General’s visit.”

“BigGovernment.com has learned that not only did this document dump occur, but the documents in question were irresponsibly and brazenly dumped in a public dumpster, without considering laws and regulations as to how sensitive information should be treated.”

‘I am a local licensed private investigator. I took it upon myself to keep an eye on what the local ACORN office was up to, in light of the release of the undercover videos. I retrieved these documents from the public dumpster.”

“ACORN’s political agenda is also exposed, with thousands upon thousands of documents revealing the depth of the political machine that is ACORN, and its disturbing ties to not only public employee labor unions but some of the most radical leftist organizations.”

“The laws governing how sensitive, personal information such as social security numbers, driver’s license numbers, immigration records, tax returns, etc. must be treated are very stringent, and thus it seems as if ACORN may have committed serious violations in that department alone, with thousands upon thousands of potential plaintiffs.”

Visit BigGovernment.com to see photos, video and scanned documents.

In related news, an ACORN employee in Nevada who was found guilty of participating in voter fraud last year was sentenced today. The penalty? Three years of probation.

“LAS VEGAS — A former Las Vegas supervisor for the political advocacy group ACORN was sentenced Monday to up to three years’ probation for his role in a plan to pay canvassers to register Nevada voters during last year’s presidential campaign.”

“I just want to say I take responsibility for what I did,” Christopher Edwards told a judge who responded that he was “not pleased to say the least” by allegations that Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now paid bonuses to canvassers who collected 21 or more voter registration cards in August and September 2008.”

“I’m sorry. I truly am,” Edwards said, “and it will never happen again.”

We know it won’t happen again, Mr. Edwards. We’re watching you scumbags now.

SEIU thugs – like the ones who violently attacked Kenneth Gladney back in August – attacked another man this week, this time a California state worker who was trying to expose their corruption.

CBS in Sacramento reports:

“A state worker is recovering after a bloody brawl at a union hall. He says members of the local SEIU 1000 beat him up and sent him to the hospital all because he wanted to expose alleged corruption within the union.”

“Ken Hamidi is a state worker at the California Franchise Tax Board. Last night he walked into a union hall in Sacramento for an SEIU local 1000 meeting.”

“We had every right to be here, very simple; it wasn’t anything private or anything exclusive,” said Hamidi.”

“But Hamidi says the union members did not want him there.”

“Three, four people jumped at me, wrestled with me, then did all that,” said Hamidi. “I was covered in blood and then over to the emergency room.”

“Photos of Hamidi in the hospital show him bloodied from the brawl. So why did this happen? Besides being a state worker, Hamidi says he’s an unpaid reporter for a cable access show and a vocal critic of the SEIU. He calls the state workers’ union corrupt.”

The head of the SEIU is Andy Stern. Stern tops the list of influential visitors at the White House.

“The most frequent visitor included in the narrow sample was Andy Stern, president of the Service Employees International Union and Mr. Obama’s top ally in the labor movement. Mr. Stern visited the White House 22 times, sometimes for health care or other public events in the East Room, other times for meetings with the president or aides like Rahm Emanuel, Peter R. Orszag or Ronald A. Klain.”

“The visit tally underscores the clout that S.E.I.U. and Mr. Stern enjoy in this White House, something that has generated consternation at times among business groups and envy among rival unions.”

We now have two documented cases of SEIU violence. They seem to lash out when people are doing something they don’t like or if they perceive someone as a threat. Yet they have direct access to our White House and our president.

Why?

Furthermore, why do Obama’s supporters try to create a false image of conservative Tea Party activists as potentially violent when it is the president’s cohorts in the SEIU who have now twice committed acts of violence?

The president himself speaking to Democrats just yesterday referred to anti-ObamaCare protesters in Washington DC as “the Tea Bag people.”

“According to Representative Earl Blumenauer of Oregon, who supports the health care bill, the president asked, “Does anybody think that the teabag, anti-government people are going to support them if they bring down health care?”

Violent and corrupt thugs have access to the White House. Pro-American patriots are ridiculed by their president.

Now we know what Obama meant by “change.”

James O’Keefe, Hannah Giles and Andrew Breitbart have released the latest ACORN sting video, this time from Philadelphia.

The story has been picked up by the AP.

I wonder if this will be the subject of a Top Ten List any time soon?

Hat tip to Freedom’s Lighthouse.

Roman Polanski should go to jail.

Thirty-two years ago when he was 43 years old, he drugged and raped a 13 year old girl in the State of California. He broke the law and he acknowledged his guilt but fled the country before he could be sentenced.

In spite of what is being said by his defenders, it doesn’t matter at all that the rape occured 32 years ago.

No one in America would object the prosecution of a Catholic Priest who molested a 13 year old in 1977, even if the crime was discovered as late as 2009. Polanski’s crime has been known for the last 32 years.

No one would protest the prosecution of such a priest even if the abuse survivor said he or she said they didn’t want their attacker to be held accountable, as Polanski’s victim has stated.

We are a nation of laws and everyone is supposed to be equal under the law. Our laws apply to movie directors as well as priests.

Still, there are people who have rushed to defend Polanski’s heinous actions.

The Washington Post’s Anne Applebaum delivered a passionate defense of Polanski without disclosing the fact that her husband is a Polish Official who is actively fighting for Polanski’s defense, a fact uncovered by internet press watchdogs at Patterico.

There’s Harvey Weinstein, the co-founder of Miramax films:

“Weinstein entered the fray at the personal behest of Cannes film festival director Thierry Fremaux and will now use his considerable influence and campaigning heft to enlist the support of Hollywood.”

“We’re calling on every film-maker we can to help fix this terrible situation,” Weinstein said, reviving a theme he adopted earlier in the year after he bought international distribution rights at Sundance to the HBO documentary Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired.”

There’s Joan Z. Shore of The Huffington Post who blames the rape victim for seducing her attacker:

“The 13-year old model “seduced” by Polanski had been thrust onto him by her mother, who wanted her in the movies. The girl was just a few weeks short of her 14th birthday, which was the age of consent in California. (It’s probably 13 by now!) Polanski was demonized by the press, convicted, and managed to flee, fearing a heavy sentence.”

(One has to wonder if Joan Z. Shore has daughters and also if she would be OK with them being raped at age 13 by a 43 year old man if they had “seduced” him.)

Then there’s Whoopi Goldberg, who played a rape victim in “The Color Purple” and says of Polanski’s crime, “It wasn’t rape-rape.”

“I know it wasn’t rape-rape. It was something else but I don’t believe it was rape-rape. He went to jail and and when they let him out he was like ‘You know what, this guy’s going to give me a hundred years in jail I’m not staying,’ so that’s why he left.”

One is left to wonder why Roman Polanski is so special among Hollywood types who are convicted of rape.

In 2004 Scott Bairstow, a star of the TV show “Party of Five” then 33 years old, was convicted of raping a 12 year old girl. He served a prison sentence of just four months.

“EVERETT — Hollywood star Scott Bairstow and his attorney told a sentencing judge yesterday that the actor’s time behind bars is threatening to cut into his time before the camera.”

“Out of sight, out of mind has never been more true than in the entertainment industry,” said Mitchell Egers, the Los Angeles attorney representing 33-year-old Bairstow.”

“The California actor, whose big-screen credits include “Tuck Everlasting” and “The Bone Snatcher,” pleaded guilty in December to second-degree assault of a young girl, a plea acknowledging he assaulted the victim with intent of second-degree molestation.”

“Yesterday Snohomish County Superior Court Judge Linda Krese sentenced the actor to four months behind bars.”

The damning evidence against Bairstow came in the form of a phone call between him and his accuser, which was recorded by police:

The following conversation was recorded by police last month after the girl told her family about the alleged sexual abuse, according to charging documents filed by prosecutors:

Bairstow: OK. Um, I mean, ho, how are you feeling, are ya, are, are you mad?

Girl: Um. I don’t know. I think it’s affected me in a lot of ways, but …

Bairstow: It has?

Girl: Yeah. I don’t know. I don’t really know what to feel, ya know?

Bairstow: Have you told anyone?

Girl: No, but I’m thinking maybe I should.

Bairstow: K, um, why are you thinking that?

Girl: I don’t know. I just, I don’t know. You don’t think I should tell anyone?

Bairstow: Well … I’m like a dad, and I’ve got a job, and if you were to tell anyone, I would be thrown in jail for 10 years.

Girl: Are you serious?

Bairstow: Yeah, yeah, I’m not kidding around … it would destroy my life.

Another case of a Hollywood film director who served jail time for a similar crime is Victor Salva, who made the popular horror films Jeepers Creepers and Jeepers Creepers II. Prior to making those movies, in 1998 at the age of thirty, Salva was convicted of molesting a 12 year old boy, a crime for which he was sentenced to 10 years in prison.

“He’d just made “Clownhouse,” a low budget horror film about three boys terrorized by circus clowns, that screened at Sundance and was bankrolled by Francis Ford Coppola, then one of the most influential filmmakers in Hollywood. To shoot the movie, Coppola even gave Salva the cameras George Lucas had used to make “American Graffiti.”

“But in 1988, as he was fielding offers to make high-profile studio films, Salva was charged with having oral sex with 12-year-old Nathan Forrest Winters, while directing the boy in the movie.”

“After confessing to the crime, Salva was sentenced to three years in state prison, serving 15 months before his release in 1989.”

These men were found guilty of rape and served surprisingly short prison sentences for their crimes. Roman Polanski admitted to his crime and his lived a charmed life of privelege for thirty-two years.

No Hollywood or politically connected advocacy can change the bottom line.

Roman Polanski raped a 13 year old girl.

Roman Polanski should have gone to jail 32 years ago.

Even the LA Times is now conceding that the Los Angeles District Attorney’s office made multiple attempts to arrest Polanski over the years.

“A spokeswoman for the district attorney’s office declined to comment on what role if any the court filings by Polanski’s attorneys played in the arrest. But the office produced a list of eight instances since 1978 in which prosecutors took steps to apprehend Polanski.”

“Those attempts were not successful. This attempt was,” spokeswoman Sandi Gibbons said.”

The question of the man’s guilt was settled over 30 years ago.

It’s time for Roman Polanski to go to jail.

Follow up reading:

Kate Harding at Salon.com “Reminder: Roman Polanski Raped a Child”

More at Memeorandum.

Yosi Sergant, the former Communications Director at the National Endowment for the Arts has resigned.

More at

Jake Tapper

Big Government

National Review

Politico