Attention Santas:

This missive is directed at the guardians of, and donors to, tiny humans. If you fall into that category you likely are already familiar with Build-A-Bear, a world-wide corporation that provides the most innocent of services. They sell customizable stuffed animals. Make your own bear, dog…penguin. Cute concept.

So cute, in fact, that the Build-A-Bear empire sweeps across nearly every state and into 17 other countries. You’ll find their outlets in shopping malls everywhere and even some ballparks. The company also has a website called Build-A-Bearville.com where children can play an interactive video game that, on it’s surface, is unlikely to raise suspicion or sound alarms.

But when your unsuspecting tot logs on and hops a virtual train to the North Pole…you should know that he or she will be informed — by Santa Claus — that Christmas may be canceled this year due to Global Warming. Below is part two of the 3-part video.

Earlier this week, ACORN founder Wade Rathke brought his traveling “everyone-is-against-us” road show to DC to promote his new book, Citizen Wealth. The book doesn’t contain surprises; a 200 page polemic laying out a stale progressive agenda for America. What was interesting though, was a rare glimpse from ACORN’s long-time Chief Organizer into the current scandal now overwhelming the organization. Rathke did not disappoint.

I should note that on a personal level Rathke is easy-going and downright charming. And having been around the political/policy block for decades, he’s mastered a tight control of messaging. A control that makes his successor, Bertha Lewis, sound like an amateur college activist by comparison. That said, his Q & A exchange was fascinating. (Video below from Founding Bloggers.)

But Rathke, for all his political prowess, does slip up. While extrapolating about why he and ACORN’s leadership made an executive decision not to disclose his brother’s nearly $1 million embezzlement, Rathke explains that they were afraid their opponents would “weaponize” the crime in order to destroy ACORN. He went on to suggest that the current turmoil engulfing ACORN justifies the decision to cover-up the embezzlement scandal for eight years. He clearly believes that the end (ACORN’s existence) justifies the means (a cover-up). Rathke still doesn’t appear to acknowledge his brother’s crime for what it was. He refers to his brother’s embezzlement as a “misappropriation” of funds. His moral calculus, while seemingly sincere, is disturbing. Other organizations that truly attempt to aid low-income families (without political agendas) should be alarmed.

Another item of interest came at the end of this interview clip. Rathke talked about the “subculture of organizing” and intimated that it was much different than the broader culture we inhabit. Taking a rare jab at ACORN, he noted that “There is a different culture,” a distinction he believes ACORN doesn’t fully appreciate. Different culture, indeed.

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One of my favorite features of the Newseum in Washington, DC is the daily display of newspaper front pages from around the world. Today, Canada’s National Post was a standout with Alex Spillius’ coverage of a clash between Presidents Obama and Sarkozy.

obama sarkozy pdf –

Obama: “We must never stop until we see the day when nuclear arms have been banished from the face of the earth.”

Today NPR took notice of the most recent ACORN scandal. Credit to Frank James for covering this story in a fashion that puts most of the MSM to shame so far.

“Instead of wasting its funds on lawsuits, ACORN might want to consider doing more intensive training of its workers and testing them with its own undercover testers.”

Unfortunately, Mr. James concludes his piece by indulging in what George Bush (or one of his speech writers) so eloquently referred to as “the soft bigotry of low expectations.”

“It’s also important to keep in mind that ACORN’s workers are coming from the same low-income neighborhoods the organization serves, with all that entails — poor schools, high crime and the sorts of social problems that have been documented for decades.”

“So the flaws conservatives are pointing out about ACORN are not so much problems associated with that organization per se but more about the problems of being poor and minority in urban America.”

It’s true that the neglect of school children in the inner cities and elsewhere is morally wrong and possibly criminal. It is arguably the systemic root of much of what ails America. And it’s true that liberal government policies dating back three generations have served to warehouse the poor while creating perverse financial incentives to underachieve, i.e. welfare policies that encouraged the poorest to forgo savings, to ignore career and college ambitions and to have multiple children outside of marriage. Even so, it is sick and condescending to assume that the poor and disenfranchised lack any moral compass. The aforementioned behavior, financially speaking, is perfectly rational — thanks to our government. The implicit suggestion that these people “don’t know better” than to abet child prostitution is the height of racism and arrogance. (more…)