I'll take a primer from Bill Maher.

New rules: No more dressing up a nonstory as the next scandal that will take down America.

Since last fall, we've been hearing right-wing fruitcakes talk about how the nonprofit, community-based group ACORN (Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now) has seamlessly plotted to erode America from within, blaming it for the housing crisis, while ignoring the unscrupulous business practices at the highest levels of the mortgage finance industry.

And, of course, since President Obama represented ACORN while practicing law in Chicago years ago, he's the evil Svengali behind the organization's plot to tank the entire U.S. economy.

To be honest, I really don't think it's worth your time or mine to dwell upon this whole thing, but at Black Voices, we do believe in separating truth from bull crap. And there's a lot of bull crap going around these days.

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The latest ACORN news du jour comes twofold: First, the U.S. Census Bureau has cut ties with the organization, because it really wants to avoid the bad PR from conservatives who hate any group that helps poor people achieve equal footing with the rest of America, such as owning a home or voting.

As far as the right is concerned, poor folks' role in society is to stay poor, so they can remain perpetual scapegoats. The only way they are supposed to see success is by breaking out of poverty through artistic or athletic talents; otherwise, America needs its impoverished to stay broke.

But ACORN, has long committed the sin of grassroots organizing. This group has made it a point to help people avoid foreclosures, counsel home owners on mortgages and create awareness of ballot initiatives. So why is ACORN the focus of such bad publicity these days? Well, the truth is there is no such thing as an angel, and at least some of the bad press was brought on by shoddy checks and balances in the organization, which has led to allegations of fraud.

Over the past few years, ACORN has hired thousands of people to help get first-time voters registered. Most did what they were supposed to do, but there were some who cooked their books to make it seem like they registered more than they did, thus getting more pay. That's dishonest, even criminal. But not any more than a Wall Street banker who fudged his figures to get a higher bonus. Can anyone say Merrill Lynch?

Because ACORN actually reported workers who tried to defraud the organization, convictions actually resulted and no extra votes were taken in any election. So when people accused the group of linking with terrorist organizations during the 2004 presidential campaign, this logic escaped me.

The latest news is that ACORN workers were recently caught on a video apparently encouraging tax fraud and prostitution. Now, you've got to take that with a grain of salt, because the people who took the video are admittedly conservative activists and probably went in with a chip on their shoulder, looking to catch two wayward workers engaged in questionable activity so they could smear the whole organization.

As I've said before, the Sith deal only in absolutes.

But that doesn't let ACORN off the hook either. Just what were the two alleged ACORN workers doing offering advice on how to develop a brothel and not get caught? That's a question they will have to answer publicly for their own sake. The whole incident took place in San Bernardino, Calif., and Gov. Schwarzenegger is calling for their heads. It's probably not that he gives a rat's you-know-what, but he is a Republican, so...you know, you know.

It should be said that this whole thing prompted the Senate to vote 83-7 to stop giving HUD funds to ACORN. To me, that's pretty dumb. That's like a pet owner refusing to buy any more dog food because he saw someone else's Pekingese pooping on the sidewalk.

Even if it were ACORN workers, it still has yet to be proven that this is an organization of corrupt people hell-bent on destroying America. When former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales resigned under the weight of dismissing several U.S. attorneys, an illegal wiretapping operation and other damning controversies, the U.S. government didn't shut down. So why is the right determined to kill ACORN because of isolated incidents?

Probably because it wants to cover up its own dubious behavior, as is evident in this video, which comes courtesy of TalkingPointsMemo.com.

I've got an idea. Why don't we take a queue from George Orwell and have a two-minutes hate several times a day. This way we can figure out who we're supposed to loathe at the right time.