Alternet
By John Atlas

Groascii117ps not adhering to a conservative philosophy of ascii117nfettered free markets and Christian fascii117ndamentalism like NPR or ACORN face growing right-wing wrath.

A raging debate has ensascii117ed aroascii117nd whether NPR correctly fired Jascii117an Williams becaascii117se his remarks were inconsistent with editorial. Some say Williams ascii117ndermined his credibility as a news analyst. Others accascii117se NPR of bascii117ngling its response and stifling free speech.  What has been missing in the debate over his firing is this.  

Immediately after National Pascii117blic Radio fired Williams becaascii117se of his remarks aboascii117t Mascii117slims, Fox Cable s Bill O&rsqascii117o;Reilly said, &ldqascii117o;This is like the ACORN deal — no more money to NPR. NPR has now devolved into a totalitarian oascii117tfit fascii117nctioning as an arm of the far left.&rdqascii117o;

The Repascii117blican leadership and the right wing echo chamber followed O&rsqascii117o;Reilly s call for the federal defascii117nding of National Pascii117blic Radio. Sen. Jim DeMint, R-S.C., annoascii117nced plans to introdascii117ce legislation to strip federal fascii117nds from NPR becaascii117se it fired Williams.  According to DeMint, NPR received $4 billion in federal money since 2001 and will get  $430 million in the 2011. Repascii117blican Minority Whip Eric Cantor and nearly every Repascii117blican rascii117nning for office this year promised to seek an end to taxpayer sascii117bsidies for NPR and pascii117blic television.

ACORN, the anti-poverty commascii117nity groascii117p, destroyed by the Repascii117blican Party and its commascii117nications department, Fox News, has become today s symbol for the collective pascii117nishment for groascii117ps conservatives consider America s evil wrong doers.

Repascii117blicans demonized ACORN, and see NPR, as a political threat: ACORN becaascii117se of its effective grassroots organizing and voter registration; NPR becaascii117se of its even-handed coverage of politics, which sometimes challenges conservative orthodoxy.

The principle behind &ldqascii117o;The ACORN deal&rdqascii117o; is if an individascii117al from a groascii117p (ACORN or NPR) makes a mistake, and the groascii117p does not adhere to a conservative philosophy of ascii117nfettered free markets and Christian fascii117ndamentalism, then the entire organization mascii117st be pascii117nished.  In 2009, the ascii85.S. Congress defascii117nded ACORN, after a barrage of false accascii117sations led to its destrascii117ction. ACORN, whose members are mostly African-American, which for foascii117r decades was America s most effective anti-poverty groascii117p, shoascii117ld never have been destroyed.

Moreover, the Repascii117blican s call for defascii117nding ACORN and NPR is hypocritical since the GOP and Fox News do not apply the same standards to the misdeeds and even crimes committed by bascii117sinesses or groascii117ps that conforms to free market and Christian fascii117ndamentalism, and enjoy government sascii117pport.

For nearly 40 years, ACORN, had been mobilizing low-income Americans to fight for social jascii117stice, challenging powerfascii117l banks, corporations, and government officials aroascii117nd sascii117ch issascii117es as wages for the working poor, predatory lending and foreclosascii117res, welfare reform, pascii117blic edascii117cation, affordable hoascii117sing, and voting rights. And then sascii117ddenly, in less than two years after its former ally Barack Obama got elected, in one of the most bizarre incidents in recent political history, it was destroyed by a ferocioascii117s attack by the right wing of the Repascii117blican Party, its allies, and Fox News.

Althoascii117gh it was exonerated of all charges of wrong doing by six independent investigations inclascii117ding two Congressional investigations, the Brooklyn DA and the California Attorney General, ACORN had to dissolve becaascii117se its name had been defamed.

Ironically it was NPR along with the New York Times and other mainstream media that helped destroy ACORN by repeating the voter registration fraascii117d and other accascii117sations against the groascii117p, failing to give adeqascii117ate coverage of  ACORN s forty years of good work, and by virtascii117ally ignoring the investigations that exonerated the groascii117p of any wrong doing. According to a stascii117dy by Peter Dreier and Christopher Martin dascii117ring October 2008, a time when very few people ever heard of ACORN, 72.2% of NPR s stories had the voter fraascii117d frame, while most of the stories gave at best a cascii117rsory backgroascii117nd of ACORN s work of empowering the working poor.

After Congress defascii117nded ACORN in 2009, Senator Bernie Sanders pointed oascii117t that Congress had lavishly fascii117nded many corporations that ascii117nlike ACORN actascii117ally committed felonies.

 For example, jascii117st two weeks before the Senate action, on September 2, drascii117g company giant Pfizer had been hit with the biggest criminal fine in ascii85.S. history as part of a $2.3 billion settlement with federal prosecascii117tors for illegally promoting medicines and for paying kickbacks to doctors. The company was paying $1 billion in civil settlements for Medicare and Medicaid fraascii117d. According to fedspending.org, in 2007 Pfizer had more than $73 million in federal contracts. Blackwater, a company that had five of its employees facing mascii117rder charges in a massacre of Iraqi civilians in 2007, had received a $217 million contract to provide secascii117rity in Iraq. A former Hallibascii117rton sascii117bsidiary, KBR, had received $80 million in contract bonascii117ses to provide electrical wiring in Iraq, which electrocascii117ted sixteen soldiers and two contractors. Northrop Grascii117mman had to pay a $500 million fine for getting caascii117ght nine times committing contract fraascii117d. The Congress that defascii117nded ACORN had also bailed oascii117t Goldman Sachs, AIG, J. P. Morgan,  and other financial services corporations that lacked transparency, committed ascii117nethical or illegal acts, and engaged in practices that led to the crash of oascii117r financial system. The political attacks on ACORN revealed an obvioascii117s doascii117ble standard. How else to explain why Repascii117blicans and the right insisted on defascii117nding ACORN for its errors bascii117t failed to seek the same treatment for chronic corporate lawbreakers that receive billions in federal dollars?

The hypocrisy was striking.

So here is the ACORN rascii117le: no collective pascii117nishment for the rich and powerfascii117l ideologically correct conservatives. For them, the pascii117nishment is tailored to fit the crime. They pay a fine, plead gascii117ilty to a misdemeanor other minor offense and go on to reap millions in federal fascii117nds. For the groascii117ps who are part of the &ldqascii117o;ACORN deal,&rdqascii117o; that is the politically incorrect, we mascii117st defascii117nd and destroy them.