Bury the good (?) news

We all know the way to release information that has to come out, but that you'd rather people didn't notice: you release it late on a Friday afternoon, preferably on a holiday weekend.

So what's this terrible news that the New York Times put on page 15 on Christmas Eve?

Remember the faux scandal the Republicans tried to tarnish ACORN with, claiming voter fraud when some low-level employees, who were paid a fee for each voter they registered at shopping malls, tried to boost their pay checks by "registering" fake names, like Mickey Mouse?

Well, today on page 15 we learn: "Report Uncovers No Voting Fraud by Acorn." Yes, the non-partisan Congressional Research Service studied the problem and "found no evidence of fraudulent voting or of violations of federal financing rules by the group in the past five years."

Sure, there were a few instances of fraudulent registration, but that was due to personal greed, not political chicanery. And no serious person thought some unqualified voter named Mickey Mouse was actually going to show up at the polls and try to cast a vote.

Nevertheless, the politics of the situation were such that, rather than wait for such an investigation, Congress stripped ACORN of all its existing government contracts (all of which go to benefit poor people) when a a sting, staged by conservative activists, caught on video some low-level workers giving bad advice to actor-imposters. The same Congress, who ignored the scandalous illegalities (like murder and rape) carried out by Blackwater employees, was horrified, horrified at ACORN's perfidy -- and moved with unheard-of swiftness to nullify ACORN's contracts.

Now a federal judge has issued an order ruling that cutting the group's financing was an "illegal bill of attainder" (i.e. "punishments ordered by Congress against specific individuals or entities.") The CRS report also suggests that the sting secret-video-taping was probably illegal in the two states where it was carried out.

So -- it seems that all this essentially exonerates ACORN. Given the massive, gloating media play the supposed crimes were given, shouldn't the exoneration get more than page 15 on Christmas eve?

Or perhaps the question is: For whom is it bad news?

Ralph