In defense of the Freedom Alliance and Sean Hannity
I had the honor of speaking at one of Oliver North’s Freedom Alliance events in 2002 about immigration and national security. While there, I met Shannon Spann, the widow of American hero Johnny “Mike” Spann — the 32-year-old CIA officer and former Marine Corps artillery specialist who was the first American killed in action during our war on terrorism in Afghanistan. Spann was killed in a prison riot where Jihad Johnny Lindh, the American Taliban, was captured. Spann had interrogated Lindh prior to the revolt; Lindh chose to hide the riot plans from his fellow American. Spann died in the violence. His family recounted his bravery after a visit overseas to the fortress where he died:
Mike Spann’s family visited the fortress after his murder. They talked to Afghan doctors who will never forget his bravery. “They said they thought Mike might run and retreat, but he held his position and fought using his AK rifle until out of ammo, and then draw and begin firing his pistol,” Spann’s father said. “While watching Mike fight they were able to jump up and run to safety.
“They said the only reason that they, and several others, were able to live was because Mike stood his position and fought off the prisoners while enabling them the time to run to safety. The doctors stated that as they fled toward a safe haven they saw Mike run out of ammo and then witnessed him fighting hand to hand until he was overcome by the numerous Al Qada and Taliban prisoners.”
The Freedom Alliance honored Spann with a posthumous award and his wife Shannon received it on his behalf. I’ll never forget her patriotism and grace and courage. Neither has the Freedom Alliance:
2002 Posthumously to: Johnny “Mike” Spann, Captain, United States Marine Corps and Central Intelligence Agency Officer. Presented to his wife, Shannon Spann.
After leaving the Marine Corps in 1999, Mike joined the CIA and went served in the agency’s paramilitary wing, the Special Activities Division , which is equipped to arm and train local forces and to conduct covert assaults. After 9/11,Mike volunteered to go to Afghanistan and search for Osama bin Laden.
In November, 2001, Mike Spann was killed by the Taliban during a prison uprising in Afghanistan, becoming the first American casualty of the War on Terror. One of the prisoners involved in the rebellion was John Walker Lindh, the traitorous American who converted to Islam and took up the Taliban cause.
Mike Spann was 32 years old at the time and left behind, his widow, Shannon Span, and three young children, one infant son and two young daughters. Today, this American hero rests in Arlington National Cemetery.
Over the years, the group has honored scores of such heroes, including 2008 award recipient Lt. Andrew Kinard:
Freedom Alliance Announces 1stLt Andrew Kinard, USMC as Defender of Freedom Award Recipient
By Jared Pierce
Monday, 08 December 2008“Four days after being blasted to pieces by an IED in Iraq, Andrew Kinard was in the intensive care unit at the National Naval Medical Center, Bethesda, Maryland, with his family around his bedside, and still praying. By the time I returned from Iraq, just before Christmas 2006, Drew, as his Marine and Naval Academy friends call him, had already endured more than two dozen surgeries, and was fighting for his life.”
So explained Oliver North as he presented the 2008 Defender of Freedom Award to First Lieutenant Andrew Kinard, a Marine and an American hero, at the annual Freedom Alliance Defender of Freedom Dinner. Radio host and author, Laura Ingraham, joined in the salute to Andrew with her keynote address.
The Edward J. Bronars Defender of Freedom Award is presented each year to an outstanding individual who, in the face of adversity, exemplifies faith, courage and fidelity to the Constitution and the principles of freedom.
Along with First Lieutenant Kinard, the award was presented to the U.S. Marines deployed with First Platoon, Alpha Company, Second Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion to Operation Iraqi Freedom in August 2006. During their deployment, they showed extraordinary heroism, immeasurable courage, and dedicated service.
Andrew Kinard is a native of Spartanburg, South Carolina, and a 2005 graduate of the United States Naval Academy. In August, 2006, he deployed to Iraq with his unit. During his deployment, First Lieutenant Kinard was severely injured resulting in the loss of both legs. He would eventually undergo nearly 60 surgical procedures. Remarkably, Andrew continues to serve his country as an active duty Marine.
My Fox News colleague and friend Sean Hannity has devoted countless hours helping the Freedom Alliance — which has a four-star rating from Charity Navigator – raise money for the dependent children of American soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines who have been killed or permanently disabled in the line of duty. The charity funds scholarships to students who have lost a parent on the battlefield in Persian Gulf War, the 1983 terrorist bombing of the Marine Corps barracks in Beirut, Lebanon, and terrorist attacks on the USS Cole and the Pentagon. Sean has hosted Freedom Concerts across the country and helped raise millions for troops and their families:
Since 2003, over $10 million has been raised for the Freedom Alliance Scholarship Fund through the Freedom Concerts and generous donations from the Sean Hannity Show and its listeners. The Scholarship Fund is designated for the education of children of U.S. service members who have been killed or 100% permanently disabled in an operational mission or training accident. All net proceeds from ticket sales (after musical talent, production, promotion and venue expenses) are donated to the Scholarship Fund, aiding greatly in this effort to assist hundreds of families who have lost their loved ones while they were protecting and defending our nation and our freedoms.
Unhinged smear-mongering spread on the Internet today — and it has been swiftly and definitively debunked and deconstructed.
From the Freedom Alliance:
March 18, 2010
Dear Friends of Freedom Alliance:
This week, false and malicious allegations about Freedom Alliance were posted on the Internet and we want to address them with you. We don’t know the motivation for these vicious smears, but we will not allow them to go unanswered.
First, we want to thank you for your support and assure you that Freedom Alliance’s record of financial stewardship and programmatic achievements not only meets, but exceeds standards of program efficiency set by most charity evaluators. We are extraordinarily proud of our work at Freedom Alliance and stand by our efforts 100 percent.False Accusations
1. The blog posting accuses our friend Sean Hannity of personally benefiting from Freedom Alliance. This is FALSE. Freedom Alliance has never provided planes, hotels, cars, limos, or anything else to Sean. Sean gets nothing from Freedom Alliance except our gratitude for his personal generosity and for all he has done to help the troops and our organization. We have never had to ask Sean for anything, he always generously offers his help before we have a chance to ask him. But to be clear Sean pays for all his own transportation, hotels, and all related expenses for himself and his family and friends and staff, which over the years has added up to tens of thousands of dollars. He does not use any Freedom Alliance Funds or Concert funds in any way, period.
2. Sean Hannity has contributed $100,000 to the Wounded Warriors Foundation, over $200,000 to the Freedom Alliance, and over tens of thousands of dollars to other military charities and individuals. We only make this information public because of the outrageous slander against him. Sean has no management or operational involvement in, or control over, Freedom Alliance. He has been a selfless patriot in his efforts to raise funds for the education of children of armed services personnel.
3. The blog posting accuses Freedom Alliance of spending less than 20% of money raised on program activities. This is FALSE. Listed below are the amounts that Freedom Alliance spent for each of the past three years and the categories on which they were spent. The figures are taken from our Federal Form 990 which is filed with the Internal Revenue Service and posted on our web site and audited by an independent auditor using Generally Accepted Accounting Principles. This financial record not only meets, but exceeds standards of program efficiency set by most charity evaluators.
4. In 2008, Freedom Alliance spent a total of $6,745,717. Of that:
•79 percent ($5,317,970) was spent on Program Activities 14 percent ($945,950) was spent on Fundraising 7 percent ($481,797) was spent on ManagementIn 2007, Freedom Alliance spent a total of $7,461,350. Of that:
• 81.5 percent ($6,084,474) was spent on Program Activities • 13.5 percent ($1,011,501) was spent on Fundraising • 5 percent ($365,375) was spent on ManagementIn 2006, Freedom Alliance spent a total of $7,064,839. Of that:
• 77 percent ($5,434,538) was spent on Program Activities • 18.5 percent ($1,308,414) was spent on Fundraising • 4.5 percent ($321,887) was spent on Management
5. The blog posting accuses Freedom Alliance of spending money intended for student scholarships on other expenses. This is FALSE. Freedom Alliance has distributed $3.4 million in Scholarships and created a Scholarship Trust Fund with the additional money that we have raised for that program. That fund now contains $15 million, over $10 million of which has been raised by Hannity and the concerts. Our scholarship program is managed with the understanding that it will be needed for at least the next 20 years as there are children who will ultimately receive a scholarship who are now only a few years old. As indicated on our Federal Form 990, these funds are restricted and used only for future scholarships.
6. Our Scholarship Fund is one of four programs operated by Freedom Alliance. Supporters may donate to a specific program or for general operating purposes. In 2008, Freedom Alliance received $2.1 million in scholarship donations. The same year, we awarded $802,250 in scholarships and applied $1.3 million to our Scholarship Trust Fund. The funds donated by Sean Hannity directly — or through the proceeds of the Freedom Concerts — and the support of thousands of Americans are used for these purposes:
• Freedom Alliance Scholarship Fund: Providing scholarships to those whose parents have been killed or severely injured in their service to our Country. There is now over $15 million in the scholarship fund for the students as they come of age.
• Support our Troops: Many events each year are planned and executed by our staff to show appreciate and provide special opportunities for those actively serving in the military.
• Leadership Academy: A program for high school students in which they are encouraged and trained to serve their country.These programs would not be possible without the support of Mr. Hannity and many others.
We are proud of our work and numerous accomplishments. We are grateful to our supporters whose voluntary contributions make it possible and we thank you. While it is discouraging to have our record misrepresented in such a malicious way, our work is important and, with your support, it will continue.
Respectfully,
Thomas P. Kilgannon Oliver L. North President Founder & Honorary Chairman
From a thorough investigation by Tim Mak and Noah Kristula-Green:
1. Sean Hannity improperly benefited from Freedom Alliance by charging private jets, hotel stays and luxury cars.
Freedom Alliance’s press release today stated categorically that they have “never provided planes, hotels, cars, limos, or anything else to Sean [Hannity] … to be clear Sean pays for all his own transportation, hotels, and all related expenses for himself and his family and friends and staff.” We are satisfied that this is true.
It is true that Freedom Alliance spent $60,000 on aviation services in 2006, but there is no evidence that this was for Sean Hannity’s benefit, and it seems unlikely that the money was used to lease a Gulfstream 5. Rates for G5 aircraft average around $8,000 an hour. $60,000 would not buy much at that rate.
We have also been able to confirm that Sean Hannity has no operational control over the organization. Nor is he even a member of the group’s board.
If Schlussel stands behind her statement, then she will have to do better than a quote from a blind source, who is, as she admits, a friend of a friend.
2. Too Little of Freedom Alliance’s Spending Has Gone to Program Outcomes.
FrumForum has intensively investigated Freedom Alliance’s 990 Forms, which have been submitted to the IRS and checked by an independent auditor.
Debbie Schlussel alleges that only $1 million of the organization’s $8.8 million in revenue was going to soldiers and scholarships in 2008. This figure is the product of a misleading and selective reading of the organization’s tax forms.
The numbers that Schlussel cite refer to direct financial transfers to individuals – that is, if there is a direct grant that Freedom Alliance gives to a soldier. This does not include all the positive work that doesn’t involve a direct grant.
Freedom Alliance also spends money on non-cash benefits for military families, involving things like taking soldiers to sporting events and sending care packages to troops.
The highest paid employee earned $152,000 in 2006. The second highest paid employee earned $83,000. In 2007, Freedom Alliance spent about $1 in $7 on salary and benefits.
Total staffing costs may seem high, but they are not out of line with what is spent at many other charities. For example, the Armed Services branch of the YMCA spent about $1 in $2 on salaries and benefits in 2008.
Read the whole thing. North, the Freedom Alliance and Hannity won’t get a retraction from the smear-monger, of course.
But they have my gratitude and the gratitude of countless families and troops out there who have been touched in small ways and large by their dedication and hard work.
***
More commentary:
Erick Erickson, RedState: The story that isn’t
Andy McCarthy: “One of the Best Guys I Ever Met.”
Kathyrn Lopez: “This is a real shame.”
The long and short of the debunking: Hannity pays for his own travel and for the travel of his staff and family and is uninvolved with the Alliance’s day to day operations. He has also donated $200,000 of his own cash money to the Freedom Alliance, $100,000 to the Wounded Warrior Foundation, and tens of thousands to other veterans charities. A lot of the money the Freedom Alliance has raised is still in a trust because the kids of soldiers killed in Iraq and Afghanistan aren’t old enough to go to college and don’t need scholarships yet.
Whether or not there are problems with the charity – and at this point it’s pretty clear there are not – Hannity has nothing to do with how the charity is run or what they do with their money. His role seems to be promotion and bringing star power to the concert series, as well as donating an ass load of his personal money, all of which he does in spades.
True to form, Schlussel blames the entire backlash on right-wing anti-Semitism in an update to her original post, which she stands behind. She has also posted a comment on Tabin’s AmSpec apology defending her indefensible smear and at the FrumForum debunking of her smear.
Schlussel has been kind of a joke for years.
Indeed, I’ve known her a long time, linked her work and praised her reporting over the years, and once made the mistake of sympathizing with one of her old gripes about Sean. She has accused me (and everyone else on the planet) of stealing her work, hating Jews, and being less intelligent, less brave, and less successful than she is. Some very vindictive people will never be happy and have made it their life’s mission to drag the world down with them. It is very, very sad.
And one more thing: Does David Frum realize what an ass he made of himself?
***
Update:
Frum pats himself on the back here. Don’t break your arm there, pal. Frum also is irked that the name of his site, FrumForum, wasn’t mentioned — even though I linked to his site and cited by name the authors of the post on his site.
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This is good. Internet stories should be debunked immediately and vetted. Otherwise it amounts to just another Pres Obama fish story.
Facts matter. Substance matters. Research matters.
This is good. Internet stories should be debunked immediately and vetted. Otherwise it amounts to just another Pres Obama fish story.
Facts matter. Substance matters. Research matters.
Thank you again Michelle for bringing home the truth. We will be going to the Freedom concert in San Diego this year. The Phoenix concert last year was awesome.
Not familiar with Freedom Foundation, but the accusations against Hannity sounded fishy from the start.
Also noticed that there were some commenters who were quick to condemn him anyway. Too bad.
I saw it on American Spectator originally. It hit me hard. I’ve been let down a lot lately by our leaders. I am really glad it isn’t true. We need our hero’s more than ever.
I’m sorry I doubted Hannity.
The more desperate the Lefties get, the more vicious they become. These people are totally insane and there is no cure for their insanity. I hate to say it, but I see a revolution coming to America’s near future. It won’t be a “peaceful” revolution either.
Schlussel has always been light on facts and heavy on the drool. Oliver North’s involvement and reputation alone should make anyone dismiss such an outrageous attack. And any real investigation of Hannity would conclude with amazement at the amount of time he donates, let alone his personal financial contributions.
Schlussel needs a flush down the memory hole.
Schlussel went around the bend quite a while ago, and could under normal circumstances be safely ignored. Once upon a time, she was a pretty good source for M.E. intel. Now she’s reduced to unsourced smearmongering. Too bad.
How much return do you think would be prudent on a dollar spent on fund raising? According to the above numbers, they spent $3,265,865. That almost equals what they gave away in scolarships ($3.4 million). I don’t know about you, but I want to work for the fund raising arm of that organization.
To repeat what I wrote right in this space about Schlussel on September 5, 2008:
My problem with Schlussel is that she doesn’t know when to quit. When she hates someone, she really hates them, over and over in her blog. And not just the individual — their spouses, their children, their friends . . . though not their pets you will be happy to know.
Yet.
If a giant meteor were heading towards earth to destroy all life on the planet, Schlussel would at some point write: “The deaths of billions of course is a sad event, but at least we won’t have to endure Sarah Palin anymore!” I am not kidding.
And of course everyone who dares oppose her on anything to any degree is an anti-semite. Do you know someone who knows someone who knows someone . . . who might have said something that is anti-semitic? Then you too are an anti-semite, a nazi, someone who delights in the deaths of her family during world war II. It’s crazy talk.
Like many deranged people she is intelligent and her investigations into the corruption and the emerging sharia state of Michigan I feel are first rate. But she is all but unendurable and works to drive every potential ally and friend away from her — then boasts to the world that she stands alone. She stands alone all right, but not in a good sense.
Well, at least now I know Debbie doesn’t source her stories or allegations and is therefore, completely unreliable.
The nutballs at Kos and DU might be cheering her but she’s killed the last remaining shreds of her credibility with everyone else.
True. I hope I get to shake his hand someday.
* « Older Entries
*
March 19, 2010, – 7:15 pm
The Freedom Alliance’s Weak, Empty “Response”; More to Come on This Fraud
By Debbie Schlussel
As you know, yesterday I posted an extensive expose on the fraud that is the Freedom Alliance and the associated Freedom Concerts pimped by Sean Hannity on hard-working Americans who pay their money, thinking they are helping severely wounded troops and funding college scholarships for the children of wounded soldiers. As I predicted, Freedom Alliance finally “responded” with a non-response that was more lies and obfuscation. You only need to look at their tax forms, which I posted in my expose, to know what’s going on without the filter of their lens.
freedomconcerthannity
The Sham Continues & the Shallow Wagons Circle
The liars and frauds at Freedom Alliance want to keep the gravy train going for them and their cronies. So, instead of actually refuting a single fact, they make claims without any hard evidence . . . because they don’t have any. None of the circle-the-wagons, fraudulent “conservatives” defending this group have dared post the tax forms because they tell the unvarnished truth. One of the “prominent bloggers” who posted the phony response is Erick Erickson, a nut from Kentucky, who supports the equally nutty, pro-Iran, anti-American, anti-Gitmo Rand Paul, and who defended Emily Zanotti, the lunatic who has been stalking me for four years, who praised Muslim death, rape, and torture threats against me and my family, and who recently lost a scurrilous, unhinged attempt to threaten my free speech rights by trying to challenge my law license (which she did with the participation of a number of the bloggers now defending Freedom Alliance).
Here is my initial response to Freedom Alliance’s extremely weak PR attempt at CYA (I will be posting more, next week, as I’ve discovered even more sleaze on the group’s part):
When will conservatives start hitting back at the Left with lawsuits of libel and slander?
So long the “response” stops at calling it “unhinged smear-mongering,” the Left knows it can go on and on, upping their agitation and lies, without consequence.
What a shocka! Smear merchant Debbie Schlussel is behind this attack on Hannity? At the old Hot Air thread I link to, Bryan stepped in to set the record straight on her distortions about Mitt Romney, and Schlussel herself participated in a pathetic attempt to explain away her tactics, which include calling people “whores” because they started dating Jack Kemp’s campaign official (oh the horror!)
Schlussel, German for key, is missing a few. Honestly, what motivates these idiots other than shear envy?
More on Schlussel here.
I read the posts here and then am forced to consider myself either terminally uninformed or blatantly stupid. Please learn me something about the following:
What happened to the “…has distributed $3.4 million in Scholarships and created a Scholarship Trust Fund with the additional money that we have raised for that program. That fund now contains $15 million,…”.
That appears to bring the scholarship total to $18.4 million and the percentage of fund raising versus scholarship money raised to 18%. That appears to be reasonable. If not, please explain.
You sort of trot that dog out and let it lay in the middle of the room like it is an irrefutable truth. What the heck are you and Debbie talking about?
I used to read her site quite a bit but after this attack on a great foundation and a GREAT AMERICAN I have deleted her off my sites of visiting and won’t go back
Thanks, Michelle, for shining the light on the story. I had my doubts due to the source. It is a pity she is so angry and vindictive.
Michelle,
I don’t think that sentence conveys what you meant to say.
Agreed.
Michelle, I’m not a grammar Nazi, but your sentence implies Spann hide the riot plans from his fellow American.
“Michelle, I’m not a grammar Nazi, but your sentence implies Spann hide the riot plans from his fellow American.”
Just fixed. Thanks!
I have felt for a couple of years now that Sean Hannity had better have no skeletons in his closet and be on his best behavior for the left would jump on anything they thought would discredit him.
After what I am sure has been intense and extensive digging into his personal, professional and charitable life, this is what they think they have found, then my trust in Sean is not misplaced.
*Thanks for the info Michelle; An honest, upfront source is hard to come by these days; I believe both Sean Hannity and Debbie Schlussel are patriotic Americans, it’s just that one has a darker heart that clouds the vision.
*The only issue I have with Sean Hannity is his failure to call out the RINO’s(Bush,McCain,Hatch,Gingrich,Romney,Grahamnesty,etc.) and condemn them with the same veracity that he does the Dems; They are part and parcel of the problem, and will never be a part of the solution, and his failure to recognize that will be his undoing!
In this day and age, when liberals accuse conservatives of some wrongdoing, they are automatically guilty. When liberals are accused, they are automatically innocent.
One of the Baldwin brothers “smears” Hannity as “only a carpenter” as if carpenters are not MORE valuable to society than actors. But these leftist jerks attacked Bob Hope and Joey Brown for years for their USO trips claiming they skimmed money. They always knew somebody that knew somebody that knew. Another day,another Liberal lie.
My eyeballs almost popped out when I saw the blog title at AmSpec Blog. When I read the post and saw where the allegations originated, I knew it had to be bravo sierra.
Let’s all admit it; the big dogs in conservative punditry have lots of money, admiration, and power. As a free market kind of gal, I have no problem with the success folks like Rush, Sean, or Glenn have earned for themselves. The most effective messengers are rewarded. But I’ve noticed there are people who believe they work harder, have more talent, and are more principled than the “rock stars” yet due to (fill-in-the-blank) they have nowhere near the popularity or the wealth. The Left has its own ego wars but the Left is a lot better at keeping them hidden than the ego wars among the right.
The accusations come out less than two weeks before the release of Sean Hannity’s “Conservative Victory” book. It’s sure to be a bestseller and Hannity is donating all of the profits to The Freedom Alliance. What better than to not only hurt Hannity’s book sales but also de-legitimize him altogether than by painting the whole thing as a scam? (Ditto for summer concert sales.)
Hannity doesn’t run the Freedom Alliance; he’s not even the founder. He’s just a fundraiser and promoter. I’m not nominating him for sainthood, but I do think he is sincere. I don’t know if Schulssel just made it all up or got bad info from a bitter ex-employee or something. All this attempt at fragging will do is fuel the lies and smears the Left perpetrates against conservatives. You might as well become a diarist on DailyKos.
Debbie Schlussel has some serious personal issues. She can’t handle anyone that disagrees with her so-called “facts” when they are refuted. Case in point: A little while ago, Steve Crowder did a piece on Detroit’s destruction by liberals, high unemployment, blighted neighborhoods. Debbie’s response? It’s all a lie! When in fact, all one had to do was Google the headlines and see they coincided with Crowder’s video.
When people started pointing out these little inconvenient facts in the comment section on Debbie’s blog, what did she do? Did she apologize for her outright blatant lies and personal attacks against Crowder? No, she conveniently deleted them so no one else could see the truth.
You see, in Debbie’s little demented world, she is the only person who’s right and the entire world is wrong!
If you disagree with her, you are an anti-semite, a whore, a liar, anti-American, etc.
It’s no wonder none of the cable news stations want her anymore. She is a woman scorned…and she’s mad at the world. To put it mildly, she’s a completely unhinged nut.
And one more thing Debbie. You may want to tone down the Photoshop work on your home page pic too while you’re at it, because that’s also the biggest fraud.
Oh, and one more thing. She not only deletes comments, she also bans the IP address as well.
Afraid of the truth Debbie? What are you scared of? So much for free speech. I guess that’s only when you agree or suck up to her. She’s the biggest fraud of all.
Sheesh, read her site if you want to know, unless you really can’t stand her. Look, I don’t like lots of people I read: Michael Fumento, most of the NRO, and of course Debbie S. as noted. I also read and respect people with whom I have several strong disagreements, e.g. MM and Ann Coulter.
In brief, I like what the delightful Debbie does right (a little) and really dislike what she does wrong (a lot). But I can learn from anyone and yes, I can decide for myself which is which.
Well, what have we here? American Spectator has backtracked.
Schlussel’s Hannity Smear Debunked
http://bit.ly/bzDVjY
How about an accounting of some of the left’s charity ‘programs’ and organizations? I bet that all of those liberal Hollywood-types always pay for all of their own expenses when they appear. And they would never charge appearance fees. Right?
The fact that Debbie S. has a bit of an inferiority complex doesn’t change the fact the Hannity’s shows and books suck. I’ll never forgive him for the time I wasted reading the dreck that was “Let Freedom Ring.”
Debbie also was the only writer I saw on the Right that called out the brain-dead association of social conservatives with the embarrassment that was Carrie Prejean. What a brilliant coupling that was.
There’s a big difference between opinion and fact.
I want to thank you Michelle for debunking the smear on Hannity. I had been looking everywhere for something about what I read on the web yesterday.
I figured that Obama had put out the smear merchants, as bad as he hates Hannity, I wouldn’t be surprised.
I’m so thankful you covered it!!
Oliver North is one of those people that all you have to do is stand next to him and you will know he’s honest. Just like standing next to a member of Congress, you know you’re standing next to a liar, fool, egomaniac, ivory tower occupant, etc.
I really feel for DS – she has truly gone off the cliff. She finds hate and anti-Semitism in everything…
Oh, how messy this is. I have no stake in any of this, just opinions.
Debbie Schlussel comes across as an unhinged nut. Even if there is some fact in her comments about this charity being bloated. Then again, many charities are bloated like that. I wonder if Hannity had cut her off and hasn’t been letting her on his show, so she has a vendetta against him. Don’t know.
Hannity is a bit of a blow-hard. I’ve been known to listen some, but refuse to give in to any robotic B.S. about “three hours a day”. Nope. Hannity is a bit weak on substance, especially compared to, say, Mark Levin.
I do wonder, in all of this, where all of the money really goes. I guess I’d have to care more to do the research. I see someone said that of a $45-$50 ticket, $4 goes to the charity. So even if they are 80% efficient with that $4, where is the remainder going? I am guessing, like with most fundraisers, the cost of throwing the event takes up most of it. Happens with the leftie charities too. All the more reason, if I give money, I do it direct.
I also understand (read it at one of the links, I think), that this charity would have to put a lot of cash in a trust fund, as the intent is to send kids to college, the kids of deceased (??) vets. I see a lot of talk about wounded vets, and giving them money. Again, I don’t pay much attention to this, but thought I had always heard that the intent was to fund scholarship money for the kids of deceased vets. Far different than money for current, injured vets. A lot of the kids of the deceased vets are likely less than 12 years old, so investing it for the needs 6 years in the future makes sense. Can’t spend it all now.
Oh, one last thing. Whether or not this charity concert series helps, the performers look to be big duds to me. Billy Ray Cyrus? Achy Breaky No Thanks. Lee Greenwood? One-hit wonder, and this isn’t 1985. Micheal W. Smith? Ehhhh. At least I like Charlie Daniels. I’d just give money direct, spending money on that talent list isn’t good use of my $45+
Tax forms don’t lie. I don’t see anyone refuting the tax forms. Michelle, with the vigor you showed for exposing financing of the Air America, you need to show the same vigor.
Personally, I like Sean, but that doesn’t mean, we can excuse this kind of behavior on either side. I don’t care for Debbie’s mud slinging style, but this one on Freedom Alliance seems to be well researched and sourced.
Figures don’t lie. Liers figure.
I like Debbie but she has a hair trigger and is oftentimes very defensive, reactive and vindictive. She resents the success of Hannity, Malkin and most other conservatives and does not understand why she is not included in the same company. She is smart but not wise nor prudent in controlling her own petulent behavior. In a word she is unstable, and very prone to jumping to conclusions. Too bad.