The New York Times ACORN Cover-Up; or, How the Right-Roots Brings Down the Old Grey Lady

After reading Michelle Malkin's post, it just occurred to me that the utter hugeness of the ACORN scandal - which is turning into nothing less than Obama's Nixonian cover-up extravaganza - may well mean that the rightroots blogosphere will ultimately bring down the New York Times. Michelle's responding to Clark Hoyt's explanatory mea culpa for the Times' utter cluelessness, "Tuning In Too Late." See the responses at Memeorandum as well. The New York Times is still often referred to as America's "unofficial newspaper of record." But for most people, the partisan bias there is just intolerable. I wrote about this last fall during the campaign. We no longer have an independent press. See, "Obama's Media: The Return of the Partisan Press." Michelle also posts her article from last fall, and it's worth citing here just for the power of posterity: "What's Missing From the New York Times Coverage of ACORN."

Also, Anita MonCrief, who is discussed by Michelle above, has a new piece up at Big Government. See, "ACORN and SEIU: Anatomy of a Shakedown." Plus, check Memeorandum for the latest developments.

Police Break Up Protests at University of Pittsburgh

From the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, "About 1,000 Protest Against Police Brutality; 110 Detained."

Police repeatedly ordered a crowd of about 1,000 people to leave Schenley Plaza in Oakland on Friday night before they arrested 110 of them, Pittsburgh police Chief Nate Harper said.

"All the arrests were predicated on the failure to disperse," Harper said during a news conference Saturday.

Some of the people at the plaza on the edge of the University of Pittsburgh's campus characterized the gathering as a peaceful stand against police brutality in the wake of two days of high security assembled for the G-20 summit Downtown ....

Pitt police Chief Tim Delaney said two emergency text notifications were sent to 51,000 e-mail addresses and cell phones at 7:20 p.m. and 10:04 p.m. warning students not to go to Schenley Plaza. The second message advised students to remain at home because safety conditions outside "may be deteriorating."

"The individuals that chose to be there were there. The innocents had the ability (via) communications not to be involved, and I think we really were successful," Delaney said.

Delaney rejected reports that many of those who gathered and were arrested were Pitt students. He could not specify how many of those arrested were students. Students who were involved could face disciplinary action by the university.

I'm going to disagree with Glenn Reynolds on this. And Doug Mataconis is critical too: "Once Again I Ask, Does This Look Like America To You ?" But Doug's commenters capture my sense of what's up:

Large crowds are dangerous and unpredictable. If the point of this video was to show that we live in a police state, it failed miserably. What is clear to anyone who has a passing familiarity with police states is how UNAFRAID the spectators were. They just stood there as a line of riot police slowly marched toward them. They looked more curious than cowed, with cell-phone cameras out. Do you think people in, say, North Korea or China ask the police to explain what they are doing? Do you think people the USSR would stand around as the police tell them to disperse? Do you think that it is the smartest thing to read the cans of tear gas in the middle of the street as the police are approaching? All these indicate a complete lack of fear, or even respect of the authority of police.

**********

Funny!

The left (including NBC, CBS, ABC, NYT, etc.) have been wringing their hands for months, wondering not IF, but when the Tea-partiers/town hall protesters were gonna get violent. And then we get these left wing terrorists who show up to these types of protests like clockwork … and the media gets upset some of these lefties end up getting arrested …. and a littl' roughed up. Screw that … you come to my house and start smashing things, and setting them on fire, I'll snap your neck! About time these left wing terrorists get their assess kicked.

See also, "Protesters, Police Clash After G20 In Pittsburgh."

Glenn Beck Storms Seattle

From Mediaite, "Glenn Beck Storms Seattle: Meets Hundreds of Protesters, But Thousands of Fans":

Glenn Beck went out West this weekend to receive the key to his hometown, Mount Vernon, Washington and speak at an event in Safeco Field.

So how did it go? Pretty much like all things Beck these days – it went really well for the Fox News host.

The Seattle event saw more than 7,000 people come out to hear Beck speak. There’s video up on YouTube (and some embedded below). Here’s a taste:

What is this government trying to do? They’re trying to take your necessity away. They’ve got a whole lot of invention coming our way, I promise you that. Don’t let anyone take our necessity away, or anybody take that failure away from us, because…failure is what builds you.

As for the non-Beck fans – the Seattle Times put the number at “about 30″. Or, put another way, irrelevant.

See also, "Beck Speaks to 7,000 at Seattle: 'The American People Have Not Surrendered'."

The Seattle Post-Intelligencer's straining with its meme, "Protests Turn Ugly Outside Glenn Beck Event in Mount Vernon."

More at Memeorandum.