232 Barack H. Obama: The Unauthorized BiographyAccording to its web site ACORN (an acronym for Association of Community Organizations
for Reform Now), is the nation’s largest community organization of low- and moderate-income
families, working together for social justice and stronger communities. At first glance, this
organization seems to be benign. This is not true since it uses very aggressive tactics to get its
work done. ... Some recent reports about their activities include the following things. They
have disrupted and blocked activities within the Chicago City Council during living wage
discussions. In Baltimore, MD, they burst into the scene of a private law dinner. They bussed
four loads of protesters to the site of a mayor’s house, where they spewed profanities at the
mayor and his family. And these are just the ones we know about. ... These are not their only
questionable actions. In the past they have been tied to illegal voter registration in at least three
states. These three states are Washington, Missouri, and North Carolina. ... In Missouri, the
voter fraud case was tied to at least one campaign, the senate campaign of Claire McCaskill....
In 2004, the Washington state Secretary of State described ACORN’s illegal activity as the
“largest case of voter fraud in the state’s history”.... They were fined $25,000 and promised to
instruct their paid canvassers on the state election requirements. In 2005, according to the
complaint filed with Mecklenberg County, North Carolina, the voter fraud involved the
registration of homeless people. ACORN agrees they break the law but said “no one told us”. In
2006, in Kansas City, MO, five low-level operatives were charged with voter fraud. Four
pleaded guilty, with the fifth person released because it came out that an ACORN worker had
stolen her identity. ... Their national goals are municipal “living” wage laws, targeting big
companies like Costco, rolling back welfare reform, and regulating banks.
If ACORN attacks COSTCO, does that mean they are paid by Wal-Mart? But the heart of the
matter is this:
ACORN as well as other groups was the recipients of foundation money from both the Woods
Fund and Joyce Foundation. Why is this important? Obama sat on both boards. Through his
board positions, he was able to assist in the funneling of many millions of dollars in grant
money to various ultra-liberal organizations like Chicago’s ACORN.^92
Despite what right-wingers may think, the real danger posed by ACORN is that of fascism, not
communism. If actual assault sections appear on the streets of America, ACORN may well be
prominently involved. Only broad-based New Deal economic policies can pull the rug out from
under demagogues like these by neutralizing the problems they exploit to recruit useful idiots for
the ruling elite.
THE BLACK AGENDA REPORT EXPOSES OBAMA
One of Obama’s sharpest critics over the past several years has been the distinguished black
journalist Glenn Ford, a writer of real integrity who has earned the high regard of readers of the
Black Commentator, and now of the Black Agenda Report. Ford’s work on Obama allows us to
view the senator through the eyes of a black activist who over the years has fought consistently for
the real interests of the black community in the broadest sense, as distinct from the personal
ambitions of individual members of the black overclass. As a result, Ford has been very tough on
the members of the Congressional Black Caucus in particular. Ford tells the fascinating story of
how he first began to notice Obama’s tendency towards opportunism, specifically on the question of
Obama’s early support from the Democratic Leadership Council, the notorious nest of right-wing
Democrats who were always determined to appease the Republicans in every way possible, no
matter what the cost: