Voter fraud?

Here is the money quote from the article:

Our nation's economic foundation is crumbling like sand beneath our feet. Middle-class families are losing their jobs, homes, savings accounts and college funds.

Retirement nest eggs are fried to a crisp. Nine million children in America don't have health care coverage. We're fighting wars on more fronts than we can handle.

And John McCain is talking about ACORN?

The charge that ACORN is a front for an organized program of voter fraud is almost as silly as the charge that it's destroying democracy. I saw a TV ad against Obama claiming that his giving driver's licenses to "illegal" immigrants will create voter fraud by more than 3M people. Sounds like flaws in the systems that grant driver's licenses, something correctable, or maybe it's just racist hype.

A personal anecdote

Racism is alive and regrettably well in my own neighborhood. My wife is Hispanic. Puerto Rican, to be exact. All Puerto Ricans are Americans, but since she was born in Manhattan--New York, NY--that point is moot.

A few years ago the homeowner's association in my complex circulated a petition to prohibit owners from a) selling to corporations, and b) renting their units to others (i.e., becoming non-resident landlords). Sounded suspicious to me. The main reason, I was eventually told, was to keep the neighborhood from becoming a jungle of corporate-owned rental units whose tenants had no vested interest in maintaining the property values. The argument was that having slobs living in the neighborhood would drive down property values. And by slobs they meant ...

Well, I objected to that idea mainly because I feel that anyone who can afford the rent on a unit in my complex, should be quite responsible enough. But that's not what turned me off. OK. Wait for it ...

The old woman who came to my door initially knew my cohabitor was Hispanic. Yet she was stupid enough to tell me to my face that their petition was "to keep the Mexicans out." I shit you not.

If you think Mexicans shouldn't be living in your neighborhood because they're dark, short, drive funky cars, have lots of children and eat funny food, then that's your business. Perhaps you can see, though, why I took exception to her statement. Her slam wasn't against Mexicans--it was against all Hispanics. And, oh by the way, against me as well.

So, that's my story of racism in the polite sections of town. I refused to sign the petition, but the bastards passed it anyway. If I cared I'm pretty sure it could be shown to be unenforceable, but I plan to live in my home, so it's not an issue for me.

I won't change racist attitudes single handedly. I simply choose not to add to the problem.

So what does this have to do with ACORN and charges of voter fraud? One word: Disenfranchisement of the poor and minorities. OK, more than one word, but you get the idea. Make them scared to vote as American citizens, claiming they will be arrested when they try. In this day and age I want to see everyone participating. The last 225 years' rule of the white and the rich (and the Christian) hasn't worked out all that well. Let's see what we can do with a slightly different perspective. Bring em on. America was designed to change--to evolve. It doesn't look anything today like what our founding fathers saw; in the future it won't look anything like what's here today, either. Frankly, I'd like to see the first Muslim (or even atheist) candidate for President, because that accomplishment signals something much more important than simply religion or race--it signals a desire to choose the best person for the job.

Remember they said JFK would turn the US into a papal state? How ridiculous does that seem, today? I'll bet you didn't even know he was Catholic, did you?