Last week, the Obama Administration suddenly terminated AmeriCorps inspector general Gerald Walpin, citing incompetence and bizarre behavior by the IG as the reason for his abrupt dismissal. Curiously, IG Walpin had just finished a lengthy investigation of long-time Obama supporter and friend Kevin Johnson, the current mayor of Sacramento, CA, and the chief executive of the St. HOPE Academy, a major recipient of AmeriCorps dollars. Coincidence? You be the judge.
And today, Michelle Malkin is reporting that Project Vote (a major player in the ACORN/Project Vote/Team Obama political organizing axis) is suing ACORN whistleblower Anita MonCrief. Malkin writes:
Project Vote has filed a federal lawsuit against MonCrief for blogging about her experience and knowledge of the non-profit 501(c)(3) organization’s partisan and political activities, including coordination with the Obama campaign. Project Vote seeks compensatory damages and exemplary damages “of at least $5 million” and all costs and attorney’s fees on trumped-up charges of “trademark infringement” and publication of “trade secrets.”
You don’t have to be a lawyer to see that this is a blatant act of retaliation. MonCrief has always been open and honest about her firing from Project Vote. The ObamACORN mob used the credit card incident as a pretext then [MonCrief confessed to charging personal expenses on an ACORN credit card -ed] and they are using it as a pretext now. The real reason they are going after her is because she poses a fundamental threat to ACORN’s criminal racket.
Ms. MonCrief was responsible for blowing the whistle on both ACORN and the New York Times. MonCrief proved that the New York Times spiked an investigation into shady connections between ACORN and the Obama Campaign, after Obama’s enforcers threatened the Times.
Considering the level of empathy for Barack Obama that is currently present within the mainstream news media, it seems highly unlikely that Anita MonCrief or Gerald Walpin will be making the cover of Time in the near future.
We can only hope that true civil libertarians and free speech advocates (what few of them still remain) will keep a close eye on these cases and eventually convince enough of their liberal friends that tyranny, even in the pursuit of progressivism, is still a bad thing.
ADDED: From Glenn Reynolds, who writes, “Clearly the behavior of an outfit that has nothing to be ashamed of!“:
Association of Community Organizers for Reform Now (ACORN) leaders are using the threat of a law suit to silence and intimidate critics, according to current and former members of the liberal activist group.
In a letter dated June 11 an attorney for ACORN advised top whistleblowers that their unauthorized use of the organization’s name could make them liable for monetary damages and injunctive relief.
ACORN executives have also changed their organization’s name, which was tarnished by investigations in at least 14 states of allegations of voter registration fraud during the 2008 presidential campaign, and charges by current and former members of financial mismanagement and misrepresentation.
… Wade Rathke, who founded the organization, announced on his blog that ACORN International has officially changed its name to “Community Organizations International.”
