ACORN and other nuts

You know the NYT and the rest of the MSM have sunk to new lows when they are all scooped by the NY Post. Here is an article summarizing the history of misdeeds by ACORN:

THE BEGINNING

*ACORN is rooted in extreme far-left activism that wants to shut down the US government by overwhelming it with demands for welfare benefits and other forms of assistance.

"They don't like the American system of government, and would love for it to be overthrown," said ACORN expert Matthew Vadum, a senior editor at the conservative Capital Research Center in D.C.

"The whole goal is to transform America into a socialist country, or some form of socialist democracy. This group is dangerous."

*Founder Wade Rathke was a student at Williams College in 1969 and a member of the leftist Students for a New Democracy group when he dropped out to protest the Vietnam War full-time.

*Rathke began working for fiery activist George Wiley, a black radical who started the National Welfare Reform Organization in 1969. NWRO was created to help poor people sign up for more welfare benefits, with the goal of clogging and eventually grinding down US government systems.

*In 1970 Rathke was charged with inciting violence by Massachussetts police after a welfare rally he was leading turned into a riot. He was then sent to Arkansas to open up a new chapter of NWRO. But he began to hear rumors that Wiley was going to oust him from the organization. So he decided to start his own group — the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, or ACORN.

*In 1972 ACORN launched its first political initiative and backed two of its members who were running for the Little Rock School Board. Its efforts proved so successful that the group expanded beyond Arkansas and opened offices in Texas and South Dakota. Before long, it became a national group and started pushing its progressive political agenda.

*In 1999 Wade Rathke's brother Dale, also a major figure at ACORN, was caught embezzling nearly $1 million from the organization. His plundering was swept under the rug after the Rathke family promised to repay the debt. Both Wade and Dale Rathke remained on the payroll and the group didn't inform any of its board members about the theft, or contact authorities.

Follow the link for the whole piece.