I warned you, but some of you didn't listen. What did I say? I said "Get there early or you will not get a seat.". And, as usual, I was right. Just ask Joe Dotson with the Houston Young Republicans. I looked to the back of the room and he was jumping up and down about five rows deep in the Standing Room Only crowd in the lobby of the King Street Patriots office trying to get a look at the speaker, ACORN whistleblower Anita MonCrief. To his credit, he did tell me that he'd never doubt me again. It's hard to count crowds like that but I'd guess there were 350 or so inside the building (don't tell the Fire Marshall) and another 50 or so outside or next door in CD-18 candidate John Faulk's office. Huge.

And Ms. MonCrief certainly delivered the goods to a crowd hungry for this type of information. She has a fascinating tale of the crookedness of that group, how she came to be a whistleblower, the attacks on her since that time, and even offered a few suggestions to help combat the offshoots that are now operating in Houston and Texas.

She talked about the Rockefeller and Ford Foundations giving under the table payments to the group. She said that they ran the money through Whitney National Bank because it was controlled by the mafia (note to suit happy lawyers - those were her words, not mine, listen to the podcast). She told about the relationship the Obama campaign had with ACORN and about receiving a copy of the Obama campaign's under $200 donor list, the names that didn't have to be submitted to the FEC. You can read about that relationship here and read about and download the list here. She talked about joining the group because she wanted to make the world a better place, only to find that it was completely corrupt, which led eventually to her role as a whistleblower. She related that she found out about the problems in Houston and Harris County through a small newspaper mention of Leo Vasquez's press release about Houston Votes. About ACORN not really going away, but splitting off into many different groups. And most importantly, she warned about the upcoming election, the potential fraud involving paper ballots, and renewed the call for trained poll watchers.

But don't believe me. Listen for yourself. I thought that King Street's Catherine Engelbrecht did a good job of moderating the discussing, keeping it on point and moving along.

(click here to download the podcast)

Ms. MonCrief blogs at EmergingCorruption.com. You can read even more about ACORN at RottenAcorn.com.

There is also good news for John Faulk fans, even if the Harris County Republican Party and the Republican National Committee are ignoring him. We were chatting after the meeting and John was telling me that fundraising is going very well (he told me the numbers but I'll wait until the report comes out to disclose them) and that he had just purchased four new billboards. Up walked a guy and says, are you John Faulk? I'm from Montgomery County and can't vote for you, but here is a donation for you because I can see by your actions that you are working hard. Now that had to make John feel good. How about you? Why not click here and donate a little something? Because John Faulk IS working hard, for ALL Republicans in Harris County.

I'll have a separate post on a bit of other news that was made at the meeting but never, ever, doubt me if I tell you something or you too will be jumping up and down five rows deep trying to get a glimpse of the action.