I thought Perkins Coie was shutting its doors.

Third

Personally, I prefer cheese on my ACORNs, you?

*attaches obama sticker to my perkins coie cover letter*

-nervous T-10 1L

Quote from this post: "Fraudulent voter registration really isn't important beyond the point where candidates are trying to get on the ballot." What the f_ck does that mean? That's one of the stupidest things I have ever heard.

Perkins is a delicious restaurant with a top notch pastry department.

E. Mystttal.

Seriously? This is what we were waiting for. This is what Elie was working on??

Is Elie really going to pretend he didn't have his ass handed to him by the commentators in the Dechert thread? Is he going to ignore the Dechert situation and have Kash write all the "good" posts from now on?

I see. Once a candidate gets on the ballot, it shouldn't make any difference to anyone whether the candidate gets elected through votes cast by fraudulently registered voters. Very logical.

So, Elie, how many times are YOU going to vote for Obama?

http://abovethelaw.com/2008/10/dechert_layoff_exaggeration_but_caution.php

Ellie eats a lot.

Nervous T-10 1L beat me to it again...I better have my perkins cole application sent overnight to get there first. Still no word from the lolcat recruiter :(

~ really nervous T-14 1L

9 - Do you understand the ACORN controversy? It is not that ACORN engaged in voter fraud, it is that ACORN engaged in voter REGISTRATION fraud. ACORN paid a bunch of poor people to go out and get voters registered. Low and behold, the people being paid to register voters in some instances registered fake voters. Their reason for doing so seems painfully obvious--to get paid. This was an ill-conceived attempt to increase voter registration, not some diabolical plot to steal the vote.

I hope it's decided in a courthouse 2 weeks later because that means Roberts and Alito will declare capitalism > communism and McCain will be our president.

Why are people messing with ACORN? His last album was great!

Nervous T-10, don't you do something fun during the fall break?

hi really nervous,
how is your mail merge coming along? good luck.

*gives you a nervous high five*

-nervous T-10 1L

What a strange post by Elie. It makes no sense regardless of your politics. Just awful.

Conservatives need to stop whining about ACORN. ACORN employees allegedly filled out multiple registrations for the same people, or registered fictitious names like "Mickey Mouse." So what?

"Mickey Mouse" isn't going to show up to vote, and a person registered 100 times can still only vote once. This is just another effort by the GOP to distract voters from their dismal track record.

The point is that fraudulent registers may not translate into fraudulent votes. A lot of the bad registrations were just the same name/SSN/whatever over and over, which get tossed out pretty easily.

The victim isn't the voting process, but rather the company that's paying these people per vote they register but not actually getting results.

Please Elie,
If I want this kind of stuff I can get it from the diaries at DailyKos.
-A liberal

MysTTTal

Nervous T-10, don't you do something fun during the fall break?

14 - it quickly becomes voter fraud when a fake registration becomes a vote.

6, 10,

Two different issues, voter fraud vs. voter registration fraud. It doesn't matter if someone is fraudulently registered to vote if they don't actually vote. Or to paraphrase Seinfeld, you know how to take a reservation, but you need to hold the reservation. Which is really the most important part.

ACORN's conduct is troubling and undermines our democracy.

24: yeah, i just got back into town. i am wasting my day away today watching movies and posting on atl. it's crazy to think that in a little more than a month my mail merge will go out.

-nervous T-10 1L

It's also stupid because once the applications were filled out, there was basically nothing ACORN could do since they were required BY LAW to turn in the registration--the alternative could have been just as bad: ACORN tosses thousands of GOP registrations even though the registrations were for a trademarked mouse.

Stupid right-wing noise machine doesn't really care about that though. They're just afraid they're about to lose by 200+ EC votes.

Besides, for as much noise is made about voter fraud, how many cases of actual voter fraud is there? Fewer than a couple hundred nationally each election? Couple dozen? And, what percentage of those are felons that didn't know that they can't vote? The amount of voter fraud must be pretty negligible, and can't be that high, can it?

I think disenfranchising mice is a far greater crime than fraudulently registering voters.

Obama in '08

7 and 12 crack me up!

Are you voting for Cheese or Peanuts?

Discuss.

I love Bauer's "outrage." It's super-annoying how every lawyer post-2000 during election season sounds like a campaign spinmaster. Lawyers have spin, but lawyer-campaign spin is 10x worse.

Come on Elie--Let's get back to the basics--
1)Layoff rumors
2) Bonus news--when, if and how much?
3) Merger gossip
4) Partner moves
5) Associate harassment stories.
Bring back ATL-PLEEEEEEEEEEEEZE

4: I love to spread CHEESE on ACORNS! Then I sprinkle some PEANUTS on top!

Foley adds 10 Heller lawyers to San Diego office. Not sure it merits a full post, but some people might be interested.

Guys in my high school used to push important stories about stealth layoffs with close to 170 comments and no updates to the back page of ATL all the time, by posting crap about beards and ACORN. It was a big freakin deal MysTTTal.

Also, Lat didn't go to my high school MysTTTal.
~37

and i forgot please bring back frat stud. Thank you 37.
34

Elie,

Do you like PEANUTS? CHEESE?

Many thanks,

Monsieur Fromage

elie, just because you are ignorant.... acorn's been big news for a long while. edumacate yourself.

The people who are arguing that voter fraud is ok would be SCREAMING if the McCain people were doing the same thing, and have simply decided it's ok to lie, cheat and steal because they're on the right side of the contest.

Guess what kids - if you ever thought you stood on a moral high ground, today, you gave it right up, utterly and irretrievably, when you decided to win at any cost, even democracy itself.

Obama didn't "call in" lawyers from Perkins Coie, Elie. Robert Bauer has been GC to the Obama campaign for a long while now. Get your facts straight.

42 = zealot

25 - you missed my point. There is no real threat here of voter fraud here. ACORN made the mistake of paying people to register voters. Instead of registering real voters, in many instances those being paid used false information or repeated the same information on multiple registration forms. They were motivated not by a desire to engage in voter fraud and sway the election, but instead by a desire to earn an easy buck. Thus, there doesn't seem to be any danger here of voter fraud resulting from the voter-registration fraud. I sincerely doubt they were planning on showing up and voting as Mickey Mouse—apparently one of the false names used on registration forms.

45 -- You missed MY point. What about the PEANUTS? What about the CHEESE? Golly!

45 -- You missed MY point. What about the PEANUTS? What about the CHEESE? Golly!

Seriously? Fraudulent voter registration is no big deal? You've got to be kidding me. Now even ATL's in the tank for Obama?

One question for the people who find a distinction between fradulent registration and fradulent voting: If one does not beget the other, why do it in the first place?

48, fraudulent voter registration is a very big deal and those who commit it should be punished according to the law. However, Barack Obama didn't fraudulently register any voters and neither did his campaign. These trumped up charges by McPalin smack of utter desperation. I used to respect John McCain, but no longer.

Are people on this blog just plain stupid? Are these drones the type of kids going to law school now?

This is no big deal!

Dumbass liberal group pays for people to go out and register voters. In upholding the market principles that have destroyed our economic system, there was no oversight into how people obtained these registrations. More registrations, more money. No oversight = fraudulent voter registrations. Cause of action: civil case by dumbass liberal group v. poor people who forged voter registrations for money.

Conservative trolls, you don't think often, do you?

Just keep saying this to yourself: "You betcha!"

- Former Republican/Current Independent who wants to recapture the party from the Tali-baptists...

49: Simple answer. ACORN paid its workers based on how many registrations they could gather. If anyone was defrauded, it was ACORN.

What is the evidence here that this voter registration fraud actually benefits Obama. There are made up names on voter registration forms. When I go to vote, they ask me for ID, and a proof of my address or I don't get to vote. What are the chances that Mickey Mouse is going to show up and actually vote, or any of the other fictional names for that matter, and if they do, how come people just assume they are voting Obama.

ACORN is to blame for having improper oversight of their employees, but there is no evidence that they are intentionally trying to sway the election. Voter registration is one small aspect of what ACORN does. People are just trying to tarnish the reputation of this organization in hopes that it will tarnish Obama's reputation. Obama was ACORN's attorney on an unrelated matter, and now he is apparently responsible for any action that ACORN takes in the future. I would think the attorneys/law students on this site would argue against an attorney being responsible for all the actions taken by his previous client.

So.... let's add a bunch of fake people to the voter registration records. Hmm... I wonder who these fake voters would then vote for on an absentee ballot?

Treating this like no big deal ignores that it exposes the system to voter fraud.

So.... let's add a bunch of fake people to the voter registration records. Hmm... I wonder who these fake voters would then vote for on an absentee ballot?

Treating this like no big deal ignores that it exposes the system to voter fraud.

nervous t-10:

you're not getting a job from the mailing. try to work some contacts.

also, get a life. it's one thing to be on here while you're bored in class but quite another while you're actually on a two-day break.

55 = brain is dead

Ellie likes to see how many acorns he can fit into his mouf all at once.

# 9 here. Thank you all for the further enlightenment. Fraudulent voter registration is no big deal because we should simply trust that the fraudulently registered voters will not vote (or that no dishonest person will vote on their behalf - because, you see, that never happens).

Liberal groups should be allowed to engage in fraudulent registration of voters because we all know they will make sure the fraud stops there and does not carry over to election day.

Thanks again! I am no longer concerned about fraudulent voter registration.

To #53:

I have been a volunteer poll worker in California and we are expressly forbidden for asking for voter's ID. If they're name is on the rolls, they can vote with nothing more than a signature. But no worries, I'm sure ACORN's fraudulently registered voters would stop short of forging a signature!

Please think about what your responses would have been if some white evangelicals in Virginia were coming up with thousands of fake voter registrations. Would you all be so quick to dismiss it as insignificant?

And you're all forgetting about absentee ballots. There's no checking ID's in that case. You can drop those off at the voting place.

57 = 29+28.

44 = 32+12

55 (and everyone else carping about this) - it isn't like the states automatically issue voter registration cards on account of every single registration submitted. Rather, it's my understanding that whatever state agency is responsible for registrations checks the information for precisely the kinds of things being complained of. As others have pointed out, ACORN and other groups that collect registrations are, in many states, required by law to turn in all the registration forms it receives from its canvassers. It would indeed be a problem if the fraudulent registrations turned into votes, but given the safeguards in place that have identified large numbers of those registrations, the chance of actual voter fraud becomes more and more remote.

> Fraudulent voter registration really isn't important beyond the point where candidates are trying to get on the ballot.

You're really going out of your way to ignore the problem, aren't you? Here's a clue: In some states, you can VOTE at the same time that you REGISTER. So fraudulent registration == fraudulent voting.

But even if that weren't true, fraudulent registration is still a problem. If you are registered in more than one precinct, you can vote in more than one precinct!

WORST ATL POST EVER

> whatever state agency is responsible for registrations checks the information for precisely the kinds of things being complained of.

Except in Ohio, where the Democratic AG refused to do just that. No checking going on there.

I can't believe people are actually dismissing this with a "meh". 59 has it right - fraudulent registration leads directly to fraudulent votes.

The Obama Machine is, once again, demonstrating itself to be a giant idiot. The obvious, decent thing to do in this situation is to decry the fraud as completely hideous, put a lot of distance between Obama and ACORN, and walk away. Trying to pull this "but McCain is being meeeeeean!" crap just looks bad.

Fraudulent voter registration is a problem already because we already have evidence of said fraudulently registered voters casting votes in the November election.

ACORN is not the only organization that pays people to register voters. Yet ACORN's number/percentage of fraudulent registrations dwarfs other organizations.

Fraud at this widespread a level does not occur just so a few people can pocket a little cash. The misconduct is widespread enough that it is not unreasonable to conclude that there is some coordination going on here, and it's not just individual people trying to make a buck.

Did Obama direct the fraudulent registrations? I believe not. Will ACORN change the election? Probably not. But show a little bit of intellectual honesty. It's outright fraud, it undermines the election process.

It may not mean any more than that, but it's sad that the shills on here can't just admit that. Instead, they offer excuses, justifications, mitigating factors and diversions.

nervous T10 1L v. Loyola 2L (who has now graduated, btw).... Fight!

Why all the hate? Obama is going to win (much to my chagrin), but we Reps have to take in on the chin and find the strength to grin.

--Mickey Mouse
(R) Florida-

1) McCain, like so many other of his flip flops, was a supporter of ACORN before he was against. This is because he recognized that ACORN is responsible, overall, for good things, even if individual results are sometimes faulty.
2) Obama has distanced himself from ACORN strongly. From his website: "Discredited Republican voter-suppression guru Ken Blackwell is attacking Barack Obama with naked lies about his supposed connection to ACORN.
• Fact: Barack was never an ACORN community organizer.
• Fact: ACORN never hired Obama as a trainer, organizer, or any type of employee.
• Fact: ACORN was not part of Project Vote, the successful voter registration drive Barack ran in 1992.
In his capacity as an attorney, Barack represented ACORN in a successful lawsuit alongside the U.S. Department of Justice against the state of Illinois to force state compliance with a federal voting access law. For his work helping enforce the law, called “Motor Voter,” Barack received the IVI-IPO Legal Eagle Award in 1995."
3) Where are the Republicans decrying the purging of voter rolls of legally eligible voters in several states, which has happened repeatedly in the last several elections?
4) Ann Coulter, registered and VOTED fraudulently. Show me a republican condemning her for that.

I hereby condemn Ann Coulter for voting fraudulently, if that is true. Don't like her much anyway.

I'm not blaming Barack Obama for ACORN's fraud. I'm simply criticizing anyone who dismisses ACORN's fraud as no big deal. It is a big deal.

A Republican.

This letter will certainly go in the Bob Bauer highlight reel. Along with interrupting a Clinton conference call and tooling on Trevor Potter during the public financing "negotiations" and subsequent conference call.

I'm voting for the campaign with the cooler GC: Bob Bauer > Trevor Potter.

Let freedom ring.

Ditto what 71 said. And 70, you're a mindless shill. Thanks for informing us that Obama has "distanced himself from ACORN strongly." Yes, that is what politicians do when they are confronted with evidence associating them with bad actors. They distance themselves from it. (See, e.g., J. Wright).

Very few of the sober commenters here brought partisanship into the argument. But you hit the spin trifecta in your post: justification, mitigating factors, and diversion. Congrats.

"how does ACORN merit strong-arming the USAG" is ungood grammar ... doesn't you mean "how do ACORN's actions merit strong-arming the USAG"

73,

Try reading other comments. 66 stated "The Obama Machine is, once again, demonstrating itself to be a giant idiot. The obvious, decent thing to do in this situation is to decry the fraud as completely hideous, put a lot of distance between Obama and ACORN, and walk away. Trying to pull this "but McCain is being meeeeeean!" crap just looks bad."

1) Obama has put distance. 2) No one is saying McCain is mean, they are saying he is an opportunistic hypocrite. 3) ACORN is not a bad actor.

Personal opinion: Sure, voter registration fraud is wrong. But I care much more about actual voter fraud. There are numerous safeties in place to prevent ACORN's actions resulting in the former. None when voter rolls are purged. Those people don't get to vote when they show up, period. So on the balance, I consider voter purging worse. And yet no Republican ever denounces and rejects that behavior. And that leads to a larger point: the standard of "association" requiring denunciation and rejection is much lower for Dems than Reps (See, e.g. J. Hagee).

When I interviewed at Perkins Coie, the associates and partners kept going on and on about how they worked for bad corporations, and that at heart they wanted to tax them and disliked enriching them. They oozed on and on about their democrat leanings, even making fun of the only Republican Partner in the entire office. They didn't ask me my political views. They kept bashing conservatives the entire day of the callback. Scalia would be proud of my conservative roots. Luckily, I know how to bite my tongue. It certainly shows a lack of class to openly insult people, without knowing them, based upon their beliefs or due to their belonging to a certain group. I never called them back, never sent a thank you note, and told them I wasn't interested when they called me back. Even if you represent a political party, you have a responsability as a lawyer to be respectful of others, especially those on the other side. Hence, it is no suprise to me that they are attempting to defend voter fraud for the benefit of their own political party. If you are looking for a law firm without honor, you've found it.

6. You make a great point. But for someone who is criticizing the language of the author, your writing is quite sloppy. That is not the stupidest thing you have ever HEARD. To the contrary, it very well may be the stupidest thing you have ever READ.
If you are going to hammer Elie for his typos, then don't make the same types of mistakes you are criticizing!
Go Elie!
ps: Elie, you still need to spend some serious time on editing. Or better yet, find someone else to do it for you since doing it yourself doesn't seem to be working out very well.

By the way, tubby, ACORN is well known for its strong arm extortion tactics. The business that a friend is GC at was targeted by ACORN and their endgame was to smear the business until it paid them hush money.

wow - salacious allegation, 78. too bad you're full of crap and thus posting anonymously on an internet blog.

If ACORN is not a bad actor, then why is Obama distancing himself from the organization? He's gone beyond distancing himself from the conduct; he's been trying to strongly distance himself from a good, bipartisan organization.

Indeed, McCain is being opportunistic, as politicians tend to be during campaigns. I agree wholeheartedly -- he would not be making an issue of this if he were not running for president against Obama and thought this would harm Obama's chances. Obama, being an effective campaigner, also has exploited McCain's weaknesses.

But what about McCain's opportunism on this point merits the involvement of the US Dept of Justice and the judiciary?

Elie finally responded: http://abovethelaw.com/2008/10/dechert_layoff_exaggeration_but_caution.php#comment-793597

likewise, 79

The DNC has just legally ADMITTED that Obama is foreign-born.....

At least according to the guy who filed the lawsuit:

Lafayette Hill, Pennsylvania – 10/21/08) - Philip J. Berg, Esquire, the Attorney who filed suit against Barack H. Obama challenging Senator Obama’s lack of “qualifications” to serve as President of the United States, announced today that Obama and tbe DNC “ADMITTED”, by way of failure to timely respond to Requests for Admissions, all of the numerous specific requests in the Federal lawsuit. Obama is “NOT QUALIFIED” to be President and therefore Obama must immediately withdraw his candidacy for President and the DNC shall substitute a qualified candidate. The case is Berg v. Obama, No. 08-cv-04083.

http://www.obamacrimes.com/index.php/component/content/article/1-main/38-press-release-obama-a-dnc-admit-all-allegations-in-berg-v-obama

76--You have no idea how happy I am to hear your story. Glad to see their "No Jerks" recruitment policy is actually working!