Barack Obama's Involvement with ACORN

[Psycho4Bud]

While Barack Obama's connection with the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) has not gone entirely unreported, it has not been fully explained. Most media background pieces simply note Obama's involvement in a 1995 lawsuit on behalf of ACORN. Obama's own website, as well as most major media, fail to reveal the full depth and extent of his relationship with the organization.

Attempts to hide evidence of Obama's involvement with ACORN have included wiping the web clean of potentially damaging articles that had appeared, and were previously publicly accessible. Unfortunately, those behind the attempted cover-up failed to realize that in today's day and age, nothing disappears forever. There also exists another layer of the web, the hidden web, which is full of information included in proprietary scholarly databases where these very same "missing" articles can be easily uncovered.

Obama's campaign website states:

Fact: Barack was never an ACORN trainer and never worked for ACORN in any other capacity.

Is that really a FACT, or just another lie? Let's take a look at a quote from a 2004 article - Case Study: Chicago- The Barack Obama Campaign - written Toni Foulkes, a Chicago ACORN Leader, which was published in the journal Social Policy. Did we mention that Social Policy recently pulled this particular article from their website, while leaving links to all articles up?

"Obama took the case, known as ACORN vs. Edgar (the name of the Republican governor at the time) and we won. Obama then went on to run a voter registration project with Project VOTE in 1992 that made it possible for Carol Moseley Braun to win the Senate that year. Project VOTE delivered 50,000 newly registered voters in that campaign (ACORN delivered about 5,000 of them).

Since then, we have invited Obama to our leadership training sessions to run the session on power every year, and, as a result, many of our newly developing leaders got to know him before he ever ran for office. Thus it was natural for many of us to be active volunteers in his first campaign for STate Senate and then his failed bid for U.S. Congress in 1996. By the time he ran for U.S. Senate, we were old friends."

Not only does Foulkes boast of Obama's ACORN leadership training, but also makes it clear that Obama's post-law school organizing of "Project VOTE" in 1992 was undertaken in direct partnership with ACORN. The tie between Project VOTE and ACORN is also something that Obama and others have attempted to disprove in recent weeks as ACORN has come under fire for allegations of voter registration fraud.

As recently as March 2008, the Los Angeles Times also made reference to Barack Obama's involvement with ACORN:

"At the time, Talbot worked at the social action group ACORN and initially considered Obama a competitor. But she became so impressed with his work that she invited him to help train her staff." (LA Times, March 2, 2008)

All this information was easily pulled up with minimal time investment. It took less than thirty minutes to find, despite attempts by some to bury the truth. If I could find this with little effort, imagine what could be dug up with a serious, in-depth investigation. Scary, isn't it?

Nevertheless, Barack Obama's campaign website continues to lie and deny the truth about his involvement and association with ACORN. No matter how many times you say it, it does not make it true. The facts do not lie, Senator Obama. It's time to come clean and tell the truth, and it's time for the American people to demand it.
Barack Obama's Involvement with ACORN Unearthed, Missing Articles Recovered | Cleveland Leader

shhhhhhh....this doesn't matter either. I can't believe people that are so hard core about "change" are picking one of the crookedest people in Washington today. ACORN, William Ayers, Rezko, Rev. Wright and the list goes on.

In the days of Carter we had all three houses in government run by the dems and after that, LOL....look up the history for yourself. Cut defense, feed the poor, tax the rich and businesses.......LMAO!!! There'll be PLENTY of jobs to go around.

Have a good one!:s4:

Psycho4Bud Reviewed by Psycho4Bud on 10-10-2008. Barack Obama's Involvement with ACORN While Barack Obama's connection with the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) has not gone entirely unreported, it has not been fully explained. Most media background pieces simply note Obama's involvement in a 1995 lawsuit on behalf of ACORN. Obama's own website, as well as most major media, fail to reveal the full depth and extent of his relationship with the organization. Attempts to hide evidence of Obama's involvement with ACORN have included wiping the web Rating: 5

[Psycho4Bud]

MOSINEE, Wisc. -- After this afternoonâ??s town hall the McCain campaign might be satisfied that their recent attacks on Obama are starting to seep into the public consciousness, or at least the consciousness of conservative voters in Waukesha.

At the campaignâ??s second joint town hall event featuring both McCain and his running mate, several McCain talking points were echoed back to the candidates by questioners including Obamaâ??s â??shadyâ?� associations, which were brought up twice by members of the audience.

One questioner railed against â??the socialists taking over our countryâ?� who he later identified as â??Obama, Pelosi and the rest of the hooligansâ?� in Congressâ?? Democratic majority, and an Iraq War veteran in the audience even brought up Obamaâ??s comments about troops in Afghanistan â??killing civiliansâ?� that are often used as an attack line by McCain.

â??Weâ??re all wondering why that Obama is where heâ??s at, how he got here,â?� one questioner asked McCain. â??I mean everybody in this room is stunned that weâ??re in this position. We are all a product of our associations, is there not a way to get around this media and line up the people that he has hung with?â?�

This question prompted McCain to address Obamaâ??s relationship with Bill Ayers for the first time on the campaign trail, although he avoided using his name and instead focused his attack on â??whether Sen. Obama is telling the truth to the American people or not.â?�

â??With your help and the people in this room, we will find out just as Sen. Clinton said in the primary that we should find out about this association,â?� McCain said. â??Look, we donâ??t care about an old, washed up terrorist and his wife who still, at least on Sept. 11, 2001 said he still wanted to bomb more, thatâ??s not the point here. The point is Sen. Obama said he was just a guy in the neighborhood. We know thatâ??s not true. We need to know the full extent of the relationship.â?�

A local African-American conservative talk radio host named James T. Harris also brought up what he called Obamaâ??s â??soft spot,â?� which he said included â??ACORN,â?� â??the good Rev.Wright,â?� and other â??shady characters that have surrounded him.â?�

â??I am begging you, sir," Harris said. "I am begging you. Take it to him.â?�

Earlier in the event, several attendees in the balcony of the local sports complex were yelling â??ACORNâ?� so loudly that McCain was compelled to address it.

â??Now, let me just say to you, there are serious allegations of voter fraud in the battleground states across America," McCain said. "They must be investigated and no one should corrupt the most precious right we have, and that is the right to vote.

"My friends, youâ??ve seen, youâ??ve seen the allegations, the multiple registrations under the same name, the more registered voters than the population. Youâ??ve seen these are serious allegations, my friends, and they must be investigated, and they must be investigated immediately, and they must stopped before November, the 4th, so Americans will not, will not be deprived of a fair process in this election. Thank you.â?�
McCain supporters rail against Obama - First Read - msnbc.com

Anybody else see this one on t.v.?

Have a good one!:s4:

[rebgirl420]

While I believe that certain items from his past like Rev. Wright isn't really that big of an issue (I feel this way b/c I feel you could find crazy shit from EVERY politicians background that seems askew) I feel that this story (ACORN) and the Ayers case def show that Obama has had some really bad lapses of intelligence when it comes to who he picks as friends and allies.

ACORN is all over the news right now for cases of voter fraud yet you barely hear the ties between Obama and this organization see to be missing, or at least dismissed as "C" level news. Thats fine, I just don't lke the hypocracy. If McCain had ties to ACORN or Ayers it would be front page news.

[maladroit]

Obama Never Organized with ACORN

Discredited Republican voter-suppression guru Ken Blackwell is attacking Barack Obama with naked lies about his supposed connection to ACORN.

â?¢ Fact: Barack was never an ACORN community organizer.
â?¢ Fact: Barack was never an ACORN trainer and never worked for ACORN in any other capacity.
â?¢ 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 â??Motor Voter,â?� Barack received the IVI-IPO Legal Eagle Award in 1995. (For more about Barackâ??s career, check out our Obama bio.)

Ken Blackwell is best known today for disenfranchising Democratic voters in his dual role as Ohio Secretary of State and chair of George Bushâ??s Ohio campaign in 2004. To see him shed crocodile tears for the integrity of the vote while making accusations about Barack and ACORN with absolutely no basis in fact is disturbing.

Blackwellâ??s attacks against ACORN and community organizers continue a vile Republican pattern of mockery and viciousness against this noble profession. Community organizers are the very individuals Republicans should be celebrating for helping people to help themselves rather than depending on the government.
BARACK WAS PRAISED FOR COMPLETING PROJECT VOTE; ACORN WAS NOT INVOLVED

Obamaâ??s Voter Registration Drive Registered 150,000 New Voters, The Highest Number of a Single Local Effort. In 1993, Crainâ??s Chicago wrote of Obamaâ??s effort to register voters for Bill Clintonâ??s election, â??Last year, Barack Obama galvanized Chicagoâ??s political community, as no seasoned politico had before. The director of Illinois Project Vote orchestrated an unwieldy band of 10 staff members and 700 volunteers to the tune of 150,000 new voters for the general election â?? the highest number registered in a single local effect. â??Under Barackâ??s leadership, we had the most successful, cost-effective and orderly voter registration drive Iâ??ve ever been involved with,â?? says Alderman Sam Burrell of the West Sideâ??s 29th Ward.â?� [Crainâ??s Chicago Business, 9/27/93]

Chicago Magazine: Obama Headed â??Most Effective Minority Voter Registration Drive.â?� Chicago Magazine reported, â??None of this, of course, was accidental. The most effective minority voter registration drive in memory was the result of careful handiwork by Project Vote!, the local chapter of a not-for-profit national organization. "It was the most efficient campaign I have seen in my 20 years in politics," says Sam Burrell, alderman of the West Sideâ??s 29th Ward and a veteran of many registration drives. At the head of this effort was a little-known 31-year-old African-American lawyer, community organizer, and writer: Barack Obama.â?� [Chicago Magazine, 1/93]

National Project Vote Director Sandy Newman: Obama Did â??One Hell of a Job.â?� Chicago Magazine reported, â??â??Project Vote! is nonpartisan, strictly nonpartisan. But we do focus our efforts on minority voters, and on states where we can explain to them why their vote will matter. Braun made that easier in Illinois.â?� So [Sandy] Newman decided to open a Cook County Project Vote! office and went looking for someone to head it. The name Barack Obama surfaced. â??I was asking around among community activists in Chicago and around the country, and they kept mentioning him,â?� Newman says. Obama by then was working with church and community leaders on the West Side, and he was writing a book that the publisher Simon & Schuster had contracted for while he was editor of the law review. He was 30 years old. When Newman called, Obama agreed to put his other work aside. â??Iâ??m still not quite sure why,â?� Newman says. â??This was not glamorous, high-paying work. But I am certainly grateful. He did one hell of a job.â?� [Chicago Magazine, 1/93]

Obama Trained Registrars And Ran Media Saturation Campaign. Chicago Magazine reported, â??Within a few months, Obama, a tall, affable workaholic, had recruited staff and volunteers from black churches, community groups, and politicians. He helped train 700 deputy registrars, out of a total of 11,000 citywide. And he began a saturation media campaign with the help of black-owned Brainstorm Communications.â?� [Chicago Magazine, 1/93]

Close Daley Advisor: â??Barack Ran This Superbly.â?� Chicago Magazine reported, â??Some of Daleyâ??s closest advisers are similarly impressed. â??In its technical demands, a voter-registration drive is not unlike a mini-political campaign,â?� says John Schmidt, chairman of the Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority and a fundraiser for Project Vote! â??Barack ran this superbly. I have no doubt he could run an equally good political campaign if thatâ??s what he decided to do next.â?�â?� [Chicago Magazine, 1/93]

Project Vote Credited With Voter Registration Surge. The Wall Street Journal reported, â??Voting experts at the Democratic National Committee point to surging registration in several big cities, such as Detroit, Chicago and Philadelphia. Most of that work has been done by the nonpartisan Project Vote, a voter participation organization based in Washington, D.C. Its director, Sandy Newman, says his group has helped to register 150,000 new voters, almost all of them black, in Pennsylvania; 110,000 in Chicago; 70,000 in Michigan; 40,000 in Ohio; and 160,000 (with the help of the New York Public Interest Research Group) in New York City. With the exception of New York, where Mr. Clinton holds a big lead, these are all battleground states, and most of these voters will cast their ballots for Mr. Clinton.â?� [Wall Street Journal, 10/30/92]

Chicago Sun Times Headline: â??â??Project Voteâ?? Brings Power to the People.â?� The Chicago Sun-Times reported, â??Project Vote, a collectivity of 10 church-based community organizations dedicated to black voter registration, is off and running. Project Vote is increasing its rolls at a 7,000-per-week clip. Just last Saturday it registered 2,000 during the Chicago Defenderâ??s annual Bud Billiken Parade.â?� [Chicago Sun-Times, 8/11/92]

BARACK REPRESENTED ACORN IN A VOTER RIGHTS CASE AS AN ATTORNEY

Obama And Other Attorneys Represented ACORN In Their Suit Against The State Of Illinois To Force It To Implement The 1993 Motor Voter Law. In 2007, the AP reported, â??Representing the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN), Obama and other attorneys sued the state of Illinois, forcing it to implement federal â??Motor Voterâ?? legislation that makes it easier for the poor and minorities to register to vote.â?� According the U.S. Court Of Appeals, 7th Circuit docket for ACORN v. Edgar, â??Appellees, United States and others, sought to force appellant State of Illinois to comply with the provisions of the National Registration Act of 1993 (motor voter law)â?¦The United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois granted the United States an injunction that compelled the State of Illinois to enforce the motor voter law. The State of Illinois appealedâ?¦On appeal, the State of Illinois argued that Congress could not force state governments to administer a federal program that facilitated the registration of voters in federal elections. The court stated that Congress had the power to regulate federal elections under the powers granted by [the U.S. Constitution] mandated the states to initially set up the system of federal elections within their own jurisdiction, subject to the whims of Congress. The court found that these powers and mandates implicitly extended to voter registration as well. [AP, 2/20/07; ACORN, et al v. Edgar, Nos. 95-1800, 95-1801, 95-1802, 95-1803]

Ã? Obama Was One Of Three Miner Barnhill Attorneys To Represent ACORN When The Illinois State Board Of Elections Attempted To Dismiss The U.S. District Courtâ??s Order In ACORN v. Edgar In Late 1995. Miner Barnhill Attorneys Obama, Judson Miner, and Jeffrey Cummings were listed as Counsel for ACORN when the Illinois State Board Of Elections attempted to dismiss the U.S. District Courtâ??s order in ACORN v. Edgar in November 1995. On January 26, 1996, the U.S. Court Of Appeals denied the Boardâ??s motion. According to the courtâ??s opinion, â??The court dismissed the appeal of defendant governor and other state officials because the district court had not issued a final order from which an appeal could be brought. [ACORN v. Illinois State Board Of Elections, et al. No. 95-3456, U.S. Court Of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit]

Ã? Obama Was Listed As The Lead Attorney For ACORN In Court Proceeding Regarding Illinois Motor Voter Implementation Plans; Deval Patrick Was The Lead Attorney For The U.S. Department Of Justice. â??For United States of America: Deval L. Patrick, Assistant Attorney General, James B. Burns, United States Attorney, Elizabeth Johnson, Barry H. Weinberg, Tricia A. Tingle, Peter A. Hernandez, Attorneys, Voting Section, Civil Rights Division, Department of Justice, Washington, DCâ?¦.For Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, Barack Obama, Esq., Davis, Miner, Barnhill & Galland, Chicago, Illinois, Steve Bachmann, Esq., ACORN, Granger, Indiana.â?� [ACORN v. Edgar, United States District Court, Northern District, Illinois, No. 95 C 174]

1995: Obama Received The IVI-IPO Legal Eagle Award For IVI-IPO For His Work In Bringing Illinois Into Compliance With The Motor Voter Law. â??In 1993, Obama was named by Crainâ??s Chicago Business as one of â??40 under 40â?� outstanding young leaders in the city of Chicago. He is the recipient of the 1995 Legal Eagle Award from IVI-IPO for his work in bringing Illinois into compliance with the National Voter Registration Act (Motor-Voter). His commentaries have been heard on National Public Radio and his memoir Dreams of My Father was published by Random House in August 1995.â?� [IL State Senate Majority Caucus Obama Profile (Archived) available here]

Fight the Smears: Barack Obama Never Organized with ACORN

[Gandalf_The_Grey]

Pardon my exceptionally stoned state of mind right now, but I read about half the article and skimmed the rest, and I don't see what exactly this "ACORN" group is about, or why it's so scandelous to be linked to them.

[Psycho4Bud]

The Associated Press: ACORN office in Vegas raided in voter-fraud probe

The Associated Press: Missouri officials suspect fake voter registration

Felons Paid to Register Wisconsin Voters - MarketWatch

http://boards.cannabis.com/politics/...pposition.html

ACORN is a VERY good group...my mistake. Don't see why Obama wouldn't be proud of having affiliations with this group.

Have a good one!:s4:

[Psycho4Bud]

A federal judge ruled this evening that Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner is breaking federal law by not giving county elections boards the chance to determine whether new voter registrations are fraudulent.

In uploading the Ohio Republican Party's request for a court order, Judge George C. Smith of the U.S. District Court in Columbus said, "It is hard to imagine a public interest more compelling than safeguarding the legitimacy of the election of the president of the United States."

Smith said that the Help America Vote Act requires states to not only verify the identity of newly registered voters with the state Bureau of Motor Vehicles and the federal Social Security Administration, but also to provide counties with the names of new voters whose records did not match.

Jennifer Brunner had been doing verification, but had not made the names available to county elections boards. Judge Smith gave Brunner a week to comply.

Once countries have the list, however, the judge said that he did not have the authority to order them to clean up the voter rolls. He also cited the "millions of qualified electors across the state of Ohio whose confidence in the electoral process will be undermined if new voter registrations are not verified in accordance with HAVA, and if unqualified individuals are permited to cast votes. This would demean the voting process and unlawfully dilute the votes of qualified voters."

Brunner's office said that she is filing an immediate appeal with the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals:

â??My office will do everything within its power to ensure that the stateâ??s 88 county boards of elections can continue to allow early voting to proceed uninterrupted and to assist them with their preparation to ensure a smooth election for the voters of Ohio."

Smith emphasized the urgency of the situation in light of the deadline next Thursday to challenge absentee voters. On October 25 elections workers can remove ballots from envelops that contain the only identifying information about who cast them.

In announcing his decision, Smith cited questionable activity by one group that has registered thousands of new Ohio voters, the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN).

Kevin DeWine, Ohio Republican Party Deputy Chairman, said the ruling said a lot about Brunner:

â??Her refusal to comply with federal law raises serious concerns about her ability to objectively oversee this election. It's especially troubling in light of her connection to ACORN and that group's stunning confession this week of fraudulent registration activity happening right here in Ohio,â?� he said.
Judge Rules Ohio Secretary of State is Breaking Federal Election Law, Must Check for Voter Fraud | Cleveland Leader

I guess Cleveland's politics is just as dirty as Chicago's.

Have a good one!:s4:

[daihashi]

Fight the Smears: Barack Obama Never Organized with ACORN

You missed the fact that there is cached information on the web.. old articles that are undeniable.

And if you watch your web browser status bar when you go to fightthesmears.com you will see it pulls data from barackobama.com, hardly a neutral website.

What I found most amusing was that the Article, much like you, found a way to link Bush into all of this.

But I assume you'll fight this to the end insisting that you're right without any concrete information or evidence to prove otherwise. Unlike fightthesmears.com and you insisting that Acorn is legit and Barack Obama never was a part of them... there is tons of information out there that states otherwise by credible news sources; even many of which that tend to lean to the left like the associated press.

When I need a good laugh I know I can always turn to you. :hippy:

Tip: When googling for information to counter a poster... do more research than posting information from the first link that pops up. You have to click link after link to ensure that the information you're posting doesn't contradict everything else that's out there and that the information you're sourcing is not partisan or reaks of media bias. Otherwise no one will take you seriously and you just look silly.

[JakeMartinez]

In my research on the subject, I've come to understand three points.

1) ACORN, although crooked in the way of registering nonexistant voters (understandably fucked up beyond belief), and supporting the subprime loans that were part of the cause of our current recession, is not that bad of an organization. I'd like to remind everyone that humans are easily corrupted, and that the cases of voter fraud are, for all we know, isolated incidents. Too little to draw a conclusion on the whole organization.

2) Barack Obama worked with, but NOT FOR, the group in Chicago, where they have not been accused of voter fraud.


3) The change in language on Obama's website was trying to clarify point number 2.

My conclusion: Some people within ACORN fucked up big. Obama has a very large chance of having never even spoken with any of the idiots who committed those crimes. Show me proof to the contrary, or evidence that Obama was hired by ACORN for anything except his powers as a lawyer, and I'll believe you.

Also mentioned, the whole Bill Ayers thing...

Ayers was a terrorist of sorts during the 60's and early 70's. Since then he has both been quoted as being repentent and unrepentent, and has disputed how he was quoted when interviewed a few years ago. The article that came out said he didn't regret setting bombs and wished they could have done more, but Ayers has said that his words were distorted. He claims what he really said was that he didn't regret trying to fight against the war and wished they could have done more to stop it.

What I'm getting at here is that the man hasn't committed a remotely terrorist act for 30 years, for fuck's sake. Don't you people believe in reconciliation? Fresh starts? Anything? Not only that, but the only connections between the two are campaign parties Ayers hosted in support of Obama. It's not like they were scheming world domination and terrorist attacks in the back of some dingy Chicago strip club.

[daihashi]

What I'm getting at here is that the man hasn't committed a remotely terrorist act for 30 years, for fuck's sake. Don't you people believe in reconciliation? Fresh starts? Anything? Not only that, but the only connections between the two are campaign parties Ayers hosted in support of Obama. It's not like they were scheming world domination and terrorist attacks in the back of some dingy Chicago strip club.

The man should be in jail. The only reason he is not in jail with his buddies is because he got off on a legal technicality. I'm sorry, but Charles Manson hasn't killed anyone in over 30 years (to my knowledge). Does he deserve a second chance?

I hate the argument that it's ok because he hasn't done it in 30 years. If the man were in jail no one would be saying that. The audacity of what he did would be amplified for the simple fact that he would be in jail. It's gives false perception that "it's ok" that he was a terrorist over 30 years ago.

Guess what, it's really not OK. And the fact that Obama is friends with him is not the root of the problem. It's that what kind of message does it send across when he says he's tough on terrorism but then he's friends with a former terrorist.

Here are full quotes from the pbs website which has the interview in it's entirety

In the film, Mark Rudd talks about his qualms and his very divided feelings about what he did. You donâ??t make any equivalent statement, and I wondered why notâ?¦ How do you feel about what you did? Would you do it again under similar circumstances?

"Bill Ayers: Iâ??ve thought about this a lot. Being almost 60, itâ??s impossible to not have lots and lots of regrets about lots and lots of things, but the question of did we do something that was horrendous, awful?â?¦ I donâ??t think so. I think what we did was to respond to a situation that was unconscionable.

Two thousand people a day were being murdered in Vietnam in a terrorist war, an official terrorist warâ?¦ This was what was going on in our names. So we tried to resist it, tried to fight it. Built a huge mass movement, built a huge organization, and still the war went on and escalated. And every day we didnâ??t stop the war, two thousand people would be killed. I donâ??t think what we did was extremeâ?¦. We didnâ??t cross lines that were completely unacceptable. I donâ??t think so. We destroyed property in a fairly restrained level, given what we were up against. "

Independent Lens . THE WEATHER UNDERGROUND . Exclusive Interview | PBS

I posted that because it's an actual quote from him and not a tidbit like in the times piece, but here's the times piece:

No Regrets for a Love Of Explosives; In a Memoir of Sorts, a War Protester Talks of Life With the Weathermen - New York Times

In addition other radical groups at the time wanted nothing to do with the Weather Underground. The Black Panthers for instance, whom the weatherunderground thought they were friends with have been quoted as saying that they were immature and a dangerous group.

There's an entire news reel clip of this on the documentary "Weather Underground". I suggest anyone who wants to know more about Ayers and the organization he was a part of to go out and watch it. You can view it streaming on Netflix.

Anyway point being this. Ayers was a terrorist, nothing will ever change this fact nor the fact that he should be in jail along with Bernadine Dorn. His other partners in crime are. If he were then no one would be protecting him as they are today. The impact of what he did would ring across America simply because he would be behind bars, but because he's not people feel that he deserves a second chance. What about all of his comrades that are in jail. Do they deserve a second chance?