I mention Mitch Berg with some trepidation in my posts. Not because I have a particular problem with the right-leaning blogger. I read him for amusement, insight into the other side of the divide and occasional agreement. However, it is not difficult to attract a pack of steamed comment chihuahuas whenever Mitch or some other local thought leader decides a liberal blogger has committed a faux pas.
(I use the term "comment chihuahuas" with some reluctance, since I do not want it confused with general perjoratives such as "wingnuts," from which I abstain on principle. If you have a beef with someone, you should avoid calling them a name and describe more specifically the offending behavior.
Comment chihuahuas, to distinguish them from trolls, descend in packs stimulated by a common scent. Too puny to sustain their own blogs, they hang around friendly alpha blogger kennels, ready to pounce on unsuspecting commenters. On command, they may be sent afield to chastise offending parties. Each has a speciality. One releases a particularly incessant and piercing yap. One bites ankles, while a pal prefers achilles tendons. Yet another leaps for the groin, over and over, fall just short. If the full complement arrives, there's also the specialist in pissing on your shoes and the one who picks a fight with your dog.
This is relatively harmless, but distracting, of course. You do so want to kick a doggie field goal or two....)
Where was I? Oh, yeah.
Mitch comments on a post by Michelle Malkin about "the worst election fraud in Washington State history." This horrid crime involved paid voter registration solicitors faking voter registration applications. As was appropriate the offenders were charged with a felony. ACORN, the advocacy group that ran the effort and was responsible for supervising the solicitors, signed a settlement agreement that outlined the controls it agreed to put in place to prevent a recurrence. It also paid a judgment to help cover the cost of dealing with the fraudulent forms.
This is where I put on the shin guards and declare: Not cool. ACORN should run a tighter ship, fire anyone who tries to scam the process and turn in to the authorities anyone who submits false applications. Anyone attempting to vote using a fraudulent registration should also be prosecuted.
But thus far, it appears the fraud was directed at increasing the compensation of the solicitors, not getting unqualified voters to the polls or influencing an election. Washington officials even made clear that "ACORN was victimized because it paid for voter-registration work that was never performed." Neverthless, Mitch apparently thinks we should treat this case of the mercenary solicitors as a different sort of crime.
The leftymedia and the Sorosphere gamboled about like poo-flinging monkeys at the news of the two GOP functionaries in New Hampshire who got caught tampering with elections - but will this story get any coverage outside of the blogosphere and talk radio?
Well, Mitch, if there's evidence that Tom Tancredo, Dennis Hastert, Leon Spinks or Fruto Boy Crispila actually voted in the election using fraudulent credentials, it should get more attention.
But the media have enough problems covering real attempts to influence elections and cover up the evidence.
