ACORN, the ultra-secret, keep-the-books-from-the-leadership community organizing group, called the New York Times to say it’s preparing to file for bankruptcy? The corrupt outfit is choosing now to be transparent?
Or did it seek that opportunity to call an allied newspaper at precisely the moment conservatives were all in a lather about ObamaCare?
Regardless, ACORN leaders “not authorized to speak to the news media” claimed ACORN will soon be filing for bankruptcy.
The move could be an armadillo action so the group’s critics will move on to other things. ACORN certainly is down. It has reportedly lost significant private funding. It’s been booted out of Ohio for good. From the Times article:
“That 20-minute video ruined 40 years of good work,” said Sonja Merchant-Jones, former co-chairwoman of Acorn’s Maryland chapter. “But if the organization had confronted its own internal problems, it might not have been taken down so easily.”
ACORN’s leaders past and present didn’t help. Wade Rathke and his team admitted to choosing restitution over retribution in his brother’s nearly million-dollar embezzlement. But it wasn’t just the authorities that were kept in the dark for 8 years – the national board was, too.
Oh, and being accused of voter registration fraud in over a dozen states doesn’t help, either. So while ACORN will attempt to blame its woes on James O’Keefe and Hannah Giles, it ultimately has itself to blame for its apparent downfall.
One thing is clear: the brainchild of Wade Rathke – the web of hundreds of organizations all claiming a single address – does appear to be dead. But the dream lives on in smaller breakaway organizations sprinkled throughout the country. What remains to be seen is whether the new organizations will eventually unite to re-form the mighty ACORN, or if they will be small, relatively weak, like-minded allies that are limited to reminiscing about the glory days, when they elected senators and presidents.