Special Report
Bertha’s Bolsheviks
Why is ACORN’s chief organizer friendly with the Marxist anti-American governments of two South American countries?
Why is ACORN’s chief organizer friendly with the Marxist anti-American governments of two South American countries?
Within ACORN CEO Bertha Lewis’s storied rogues gallery of a rolodex may be found contact information for then-Bolivian ambassador Gustavo Guzman and for Sabine Kienzl, a professional propagandist employed by the Venezuelan embassy. The listing for Guzman contains what appears to have been a direct office telephone number.
An ACORN insider I spoke with confirmed the authenticity of the rolodex which I have seen. Erick Erickson of the website RedState recently did an excellent job unveiling the rolodex.
Both Bolivia and Venezuela are now headed by radical, anti-American leftists friendly to Communist Cuba — and officials of those hostile nations somehow ended up as business associates of Bertha Lewis.
Last week Bolivian President Evo Morales denounced economic freedom as a concept. “I would like to say that the origin of this crisis is the unbridled consumption and accumulation of capital in a few hands, the looting of natural resources, the commercialization of Mother Earth, and above all, I believe its origin lies in an economic model — capitalism,” he told the United Nations.
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez’s hatred of America and its freedoms is better publicized. Chavez calls capitalism “savagery” and has allowed Hezbollah and the Palestinian Hamas terrorists to open offices in Venezuela’s capital, Caracas.
In a diplomatic row with Bolivia, the U.S. government expelled Guzman in September of last year. However, Kienzl apparently remains a “political economist” with Venezuela’s embassy. A true-believing chavista, she describes herself as “an Austrian by passport but a Venezuelan in my heart.”
Add to this a listing in the rolodex for CITGO executive Andres Rangel and the whole picture begins to come into clearer focus.
Remember that CITGO is a wholly owned subsidiary of Petroleos de Venezuela SA (PDVSA). PDVSA is owned by the government of Venezuela and has been described as a “black box” because it is believed to also fund Chavez’s overseas political ambitions. Oil export revenues fuel Chavez’s petro-diplomacy.
I don’t have proof that Chavez is funneling money to ACORN but it is not outside the realm of possibility, especially given ACORN’s well-established criminal propensities and convoluted finances.
The despot sends the equivalent of millions of dollars to the U.S. every year as part of his public diplomacy campaign aimed at getting the American public to warm up to his government. Venezuelan oil flows to Citizens Energy Corp., a nonprofit headed by former Rep. Joe Kennedy II (D-Mass.) that gives some of the home heating oil away and sells some at a discount to poor people.
Citizens Energy is a 501(c)(4) nonprofit, which means obtaining information about its donors is virtually impossible.
Chavez used Hurricane Katrina as an opportunity to taunt President Bush for the federal government’s inept response to the disaster. Instead of using the Red Cross, Chavez used radical left-wing charities in the U.S. including the Vanguard Public Foundation and the Peoples Hurricane Relief Fund to distribute humanitarian aid.
Apparently an informal charity, the MySpace page of Peoples Hurricane Relief Fund is filled with rabidly anti-American propaganda. “Katrina put a spotlight on the horrors of racism, sexism, national oppression, poverty and environmental destruction in the U.S.,” the page lectures. It also demands that “the American Government [be put] on trial for its Katrina related crimes against humanity.”
Other radicals with ties to the Chavez regime, particularly the strongman’s Hollywood friends, are listed in the rolodex.
About the Author
Matthew Vadum is an award-winning investigative journalist at a conservative watchdog group in Washington, D.C. Vadum is also author of Subversion Inc: How Obama’s ACORN Red Shirts are Still Terrorizing and Ripping Off American Taxpayers.
Letter to the Editor View all comments (63) | Leave a comment
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Timothy L. Pennell| 9.30.09 @ 7:50AM
Shouldn't the question be......Why was an Outfit with a ROLADEX full of DICTATORS, COMMUNISTS, and DESPOTS, earmarked BILLIONS OF DOLLARS in this MUSLIM Presidents' 'Stimulus' Plan? This guy is the NIGHTMARE that just keeps on giving.
Alan Brooks| 9.30.09 @ 3:39PM
it is good we know now instead of later-- social progress is dead.
Russia is a mob state; Latin America is as bad.
Hush this cry of progress 'til a thousand years have passed.
Jeanne Douglas| 9.30.09 @ 7:57PM
Of course, you don't allow the FACT that there was $0 earmarked for ACORN (or any like organization) in the stimulus bill interfere with your prejudices. Who needs facts?
Pingback| 9.30.09 @ 8:03AM
Twitter Trackbacks for The American Spectator : Bertha's Bolsheviks [spectator.org] links to this page. Here’s an excerpt:
Speedbump| 9.30.09 @ 8:11AM
Well, at least we now have a more comprehensive list of those who will be the first onse up against the wall when the revolution comes...seriously, where is the line delineating free speech from sedition, and at what point is that line crossed?
Jeanne Douglas| 9.30.09 @ 7:58PM
How about the horrors of guilt-by-association. Who's in YOUR address book (or that of anyone you know)?
Alan Brooks| 9.30.09 @ 11:34PM
cuts both ways, Jeanne. Bush was responsible for a fraction of what he was (is) accused of.
Alan Brooks| 9.30.09 @ 11:37PM
or,
Bush is responsible for a fraction of what he is (was) accused of.
Let's not give in to paranoid delusions.
Barbara Espinosa | 9.30.09 @ 8:24AM
Or could it be Acorn was funneling American taxpayer dollars to the dictators, despots, marxist and enemies of the US for them to help elect a crony to become the POTUS who would march America toward socialism?
Jim O'Brien| 9.30.09 @ 8:35AM
ACORN and Marxists are natural allies. ACORN's true leader and ultimate beneficiary, Barack Obama, seeks revolutionary, sudden change. He has even set up a Shadow Czarist Government to hide activities and decisions from review by Congress and the voters. As a Socialist, Obama naturally seeks power through lies, distortions, and suspension of the rule of law. We have already seen several examples of this.
Jeanne Douglas| 9.30.09 @ 7:59PM
Do you actually believe these paranoid delusions?
UpChuck.Liberals| 9.30.09 @ 10:36PM
IF it were paranoid delusions I'd guess yes.
BUT why would a President need/want a 'civilian' force equal to the US Military? Bright spot is the morons he's enlisting are Darwin Award candidates.
Jackie R| 10.3.09 @ 9:41PM
They are not paranoid delusions, the Man thinks he is The One.......I think he is the AntiChrist
Ken (Old Texican)| 9.30.09 @ 8:52AM
One more symptom we need to keep an eye on, but ACORN itself is the entity we must keep on the ropes.
Ladies and gentlemen, it is going to be a rough three years.
It BETTER be a rough three years and not four or seven years, because in those time frames "rough water" will have brewed into a perfect storm against our country.
If any of you here are a tea party organizer, please contact us at kbjudgeroybean06@gmail.com
Pete| 9.30.09 @ 10:46AM
A carbon copy of the Messiah's black book, I'd wager.
Jeanne Douglas| 9.30.09 @ 8:00PM
The Messiah. Hmmm, I don't think Jesus Christ has email.
Oldefarte| 9.30.09 @ 12:03PM
Acorn/Lewis can support whatever/whomever they wish as a PRIVATE entity, NOT AS A PUBLIC/GOVERNMENT[TAXPAYER SUPPORTED] ONE; and that is the issue. Taxpayer/government funding should be eliminated in entirety for, not only Acorn, but for every other WELFARE organization that taxpayers are forced to pay for!!!!!!!!!!!!
Oldefarte| 9.30.09 @ 12:09PM
PS----Also the American public should begin to boycott any/all films, TV programs, MSM publications,etc that are produced by these liberal idiots that are effectively brainwashing Americans [why else do we have the President and liberal Congressional Democrats that we now have?]!!!!!!!!!!
Pingback| 9.30.09 @ 12:39PM
Bertha’s Bolsheviks | The Layman's Corner links to this page. Here’s an excerpt:
Pete| 9.30.09 @ 1:18PM
Answer: Teacher's Union/Public Schools
Nick| 9.30.09 @ 3:12PM
I love that picture of the fat, blow-hard Chavez.
"I ought to slap your fat face!" - Doug Neidermeyer
Marc Jeric| 9.30.09 @ 3:58PM
If I say, "Now I've seen it all," then I will simply have to repeat that phrase in a week or so, when Barack Obama and his marxist followers once again do something that crosses the line between presidential respect and indoctrination. Remember when Obama gave his speech to school children? The speech may have been about doing one's best, but the lesson plan produced by the White House suggested that children come up with ways to support Obama. It clearly went overboard, and because of the backlash, it was revised.
Now, we have an example of a New Jersey elementary school that is injecting politics where it has no place. Rather than studying how government works... how the president is elected... how the Congress is structured... these kids were required to sing a song praising Barack Obama. The lyrics mentioned his policies and children sang about how good those policies are. Is this what you want your children doing in school?
Here's the story. As reported by Fox, children at B. Bernice Young Elementary School were "being led in a song overflowing with campaign slogans and praise for 'Barack Hussein Obama,' repeatedly chanting the president's name and celebrating his accomplishments, including his 'great plans' to 'make this country's economy No. 1 again.'"
And here are the lyrics of the songs:
Song 1
Mm, mmm, mm!
Barack Hussein Obama
He said that all must lend a hand
To make this country strong again
Mmm, mmm, mm!
Barack Hussein Obama
He said we must be fair today
Equal work means equal pay
Mmm, mmm, mm!
Barack Hussein Obama
He said that we must take a stand
To make sure everyone gets a chance
Mmm, mmm, mm!
Barack Hussein Obama
He said red, yellow, black or white
All are equal in his sight
Mmm, mmm, mm!
Barack Hussein Obama
Yes!
Mmm, mmm, mm
Barack Hussein Obama
Song 2
Hello, Mr. President we honor you today!
For all your great accomplishments, we all doth say "hooray!"
Hooray, Mr. President! You're number one!
The first black American to lead this great nation!
Hooray, Mr. President we honor your great plans
To make this country's economy number one again!
Hooray Mr. President, we're really proud of you!
And we stand for all Americans under the great Red, White, and Blue!
So continue ---- Mr. President we know you'll do the trick
So here's a hearty hip-hooray ----
Hip, hip hooray!
Hip, hip hooray!
Hip, hip hooray!
First of all, this is just plain weird. Secondly, this is a clear injection of politics and political favoritism inside a classroom. Equal work means equal pay? Come on. All are equal in his sight? That one really creeps me out. It sounds like they are talking about God.
As FOX reports, the video was posted on YouTube by a pro-Obama activist and author.
"Alteredbeat," the YouTube user who posted the video on the Internet, told FOX that the video was first put online by Charisse Carney-Nunes, an activist and author of the children's book "I Am Barack Obama," which her Web site says "allows children to see themselves through the inspirational story of President Obama." Carney-Nunes has been promoting the book during visits to schools on the east coast.
Carey-Nunes responded to questions by saying, "The kids made up the songs on their own." Equal pay for equal work? That was made up by elementary school children on their own? I don't think so!
Schools are more and more becoming the laboratory for left-wing experimentation rather than a place to teach the basics of reading, writing, and arithmetic. Just check out this story. Seventh grade students in California are getting a healthy dose of biased and revisionist history on Islamic studies while the study of Christianity gets pushed to the side. Is this what our public schools are all about?
Singing praises to Barack Obama in a clearly political way has NO PLACE in a classroom. These children need to go have fun at recess and not be the pawns for someone's left-wing political agenda. Let's get back to the basics for a change.
This also reminds me of my misspent youth in the communist hell of Yugoslavia. In class we were tought to sing:
"Marshall Tito - our little violet blue
You are fighting for people's rights!
Marshall Tito - our little violet white
All the young are for you!"
Of course, in Croatian the song rhymed in rythm.
ACORN, SEIU, teacher unions are now ready for a permanent revolution.
Margie| 9.30.09 @ 6:03PM
Any question that: Liberalism=Socialism=Communism=Satanism? The spirit is the same, and it is here now. A wise man named Richard Wurmbrand who spent 14 yrs. in Communist prisons predicted back in the 40's that Communism would eventually take over the United States. If you think that is extreme speak, you are in denial. Marc jeric knows.
Jeanne Douglas| 9.30.09 @ 8:05PM
Were you as offended by school children singing the praises of FEMA and Bush, in front of Laura Bush, for their (horrifically incompetent) Katrina relief? Or by school children singing a song of praise to Richard Nixon (while he was in the room as opposed to Obama not even knowing about the song)? Or are you horrified that Fox News broadcast the video of the children singing without blotting out their faces, thereby invading their privacy (which has all their parents absolutely furious)?
Why do I think the answer to all of those questions is no? The pathetic attempt to find fault with the most moronically minor things is laughable.
JR| 10.3.09 @ 9:45PM
Hmmmmmmmmmm. You must have drunk the Cool Aide
Richard Baker| 9.30.09 @ 4:44PM
Communist birds of a feather flock together.
Everly Waverly| 9.30.09 @ 4:53PM
Why on earth is Bertha Lewis talking to these people?
You have to ask the question? Could it be she totally supports Marxist philosophy. No doubt about it in my mind and that goes for the "Dear Leader, The One."
Jeanne Douglas| 9.30.09 @ 8:06PM
You do know, don't you, that assuming guilt by association is one of the favorite tactics of Nazis and Communists?
Serge from Wellington| 10.1.09 @ 4:04AM
You forgot about Islamists - the gang is not complete without them. All three mass movements consist of brain washed zombies, and their leadership's methods are very much the same.
Adherents of the three attract each other and easily mix together, sometimes even creating one, if extended, family.
The article mentions one of the rolodex entrees :
A true-believing chavista, she describes herself as "an Austrian by passport but a Venezuelan in my heart."
Well, this reminds me of another Austrian - first wife of the Soviet spy's No 1 Kim Philby, a rabid militant Communist. On the other hand, Kim's father, Harry St John Philby, spent WWII in jail as a feverent supporter of Nazis and admirer of Hitler; after the war he converted to Islam and lived in Saudi Arabia (fathering two Muhammadan have-brothers to the KGB spy).
What a family - rolodex in itself... or birds of feather flock together, eh, Jeanne?
Serge from Wellinton| 10.1.09 @ 4:06AM
...half-brothers, that is
Sorry for the typo!
ron | 9.30.09 @ 5:31PM
this is about lack of honesty and out right racism plain and simple
Susan Madrak| 9.30.09 @ 5:37PM
Not half as weird as the song New Orleans schoolchildren sang to George Bush, thanking him for helping them after Hurricane Katrina. After all, I don't think schools should teach children to lie.
Mac L| 9.30.09 @ 5:52PM
No, the question would be, how did someone other than the owner of the Rolodex (personal and/or business property) happen to acquire it? Theft? Can think of a few relevant charges involved...
Mac L| 9.30.09 @ 6:04PM
proprietary information of the 501(c)(3) ??
Rush Limbaugh| 9.30.09 @ 6:42PM
You people are a bunch of cry-babies!!
Don't trust the president? Vote for someone who can win!
duh
RL
Glen Beck| 9.30.09 @ 7:18PM
The person(s) who stole Bertha's rolodex is a great American! Theft and other crimes committed in order to destroy Acorn are patriotic. I am proud of each and everyone one of you!
Hugs and Kisses,
Glen
Bullwhacker| 10.1.09 @ 12:00PM
You left out the Soros connection (investment) to Petroleos de Venezuela SA (PDVSA), and Obama's funding of their offshore oil resources using our tax dollars.
wrg| 10.1.09 @ 5:13PM
Like most organizations, ACORN is a mixed bag. On one hand, in Chicago, ACORN is a group that attempts to organize some of the most depressed communities in the city. Chicago organizers for ACORN and organizers for SEIU Local 880 have been given modest monthly recruitment quotas for new New Party members. On the other hand, like most groups that depend on canvassing for fundraising, it's easy enough to find burned out and disgruntled former employees. And ACORN has not had the reputation for being interested in coalition politics -- until recently and, happily, not just within the New Party.
Naturally, Barack Obama was an active part of ACORN at the time, helping it legally in court and helping it organize voters. By 1996, ACORN and the New Party were essentially the same body. Along with the Democratic Socialists of America, the New Party endorsed Barack Obama in his State Senate bid.
Obama began seeking the New Party endorsement in 1995.
wrg| 10.1.09 @ 5:17PM
The New Party required candidates who received the endorsement sign a pledge of support for the party. Obama did not need to support a party that was, in effect, a front group for communists; yet he still chose to. The July issue of the New Ground noted that 15% of the New Party consisted of Democratic Socialists of America members and a good number of Committee of Correspondence members.
Barack Obama, not needing to, chose to affiliate himself with this band of quasi-communists. Machiavelli once noted that we can know a leader by the people he surrounds himself with. What does that say about Barack Obama, who chose to surround himself with people committed to overthrowing the United States and capitalism?
Anti-Quasi-Commie| 10.4.09 @ 5:55PM
wrg- No one wants to say what that says about Obama because of the new 'n' word: Communism. But that is what he is at heart. There aren't too many who wish to bring that to the forefront. They want to make all of these 'nicer' names for it, such a 'Progressivism', 'Socialism', 'Liberal Conservativism', or 'Noninterventionalist Conservatism'. Take your pick.
Pingback| 10.6.09 @ 1:57PM
Steynian 387 « Free Canuckistan! links to this page. Here’s an excerpt:
Pingback| 10.7.09 @ 12:56PM
ACORN’s Liar-in-Chief Blames Everyone Except Herself « NewsReal Blog links to this page. Here’s an excerpt:
Pingback| 10.7.09 @ 8:27PM
ACORN’s Liar-in-Chief Blames Everyone Except Herself | Prayer And Action links to this page. Here’s an excerpt:
Pingback| 10.8.09 @ 8:43PM
The American Spectator : Bertha’s Bolsheviks « John's Blog links to this page. Here’s an excerpt:
Pingback| 10.20.09 @ 3:31PM
Big Government » Blog Archive » Is ACORN’s Bertha Lewis Even Capable Of Telling The T links to this page. Here’s an excerpt:
Pingback| 12.1.09 @ 8:31AM
Poor People Will Soon Be Homeless — Thanks to ACORN « NewsReal Blog links to this page. Here’s an excerpt:
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