Where lies truth?

Greetings Angry Angels and welcome to another Anger Management Session!

I hope our session yesterday regarding child abuse http://angryamericanman.blogspot.com/2012/01/hard-crime-hard-time.html got the anger flowing for the week and gave you some ideas on how to vent.

I mentioned yesterday that I was going to be talking today regarding Sean Hannity and what has been reported as a huge scam perpetrated on us by Freedom Concerts.

A little background first though.

Freedom Concerts are run through the Freedom Alliance http://www.freedomalliance.org/ as a way of promoting our thanks as Americans to the military personnel who freely give their lives in the defense of this country by raising money for the families and children of deceased service members.  Additionally they raise funds for scholarships for the children of service members and run several other programs such as Military Leadership Academy.  The concerts reportedly have raised about 10 million dollars in the last eight or so years to further these goals.  Sean Hannity, a popular conservative commentator, has been involved with the promotion of the concerts on his radio and tv shows for several years.

Now being somewhat conservative in my political leanings I sat back and applauded doing something for these kids rather than HOPING the government would.  We have all seen over the years how unwilling our government is willing to support those who defend it with their lives. Given that Freedom Alliance was founded in 1990 by Lt. Col. (ret) Oliver North, I was really happy to hear that the public was going to do what was sorely needed.  Back in my college days, I had the good fortune to volunteer for the American Defense Institute  which was founded by Eugene "Red" McDaniel.  I strongly suggest you visit their website http://www.ojc.org/adi/ and learn a bit more about their organization and "Red" himself.  What i did take away from that experience is that around the time of the Vietnam War, combat veterans basically became persona non grata in much of American life.  The reasons for such a climate shift from the days of parades through hometowns are well varied and all equally repugnant.

Recently this tide has turned and service men and women are more appreciated than they had been, though still not enough.

Which brings us to March 2010 and some very serious allegations by a Ms. Debbie Schlussel regarding the conduct of Sean Hannity and the promoters of the Freedom Concerts and Duane Ward.  Ironically I came across Ms. Schlussel's blog and articles regarding this while researching another scam by the name of Humane Society of the United States.  (You might remember those rants and there will be more coming!)  Apparently the amount of money that the Freedom Concerts actually disburses to the families of wounded or deceased soldiers and to disabled soldiers themselves is ABYSMALLY low, like on the order of 3% of funds raised.

Now my first reaction was a very loud "WHAT THE FUCK??"

Now I know very little of Ms. Schlussel save for what I have read the last few days, and I similarly know very little about Mr. Hannity save that he is a very successful commentator.  So given that, I am going to hold off on personal judgments for now regarding the case.  With any luck I can get some feedback from Debbie regarding any further investigations she may have done regarding those allegations.

NOW...comes the ANGER.  And it is coming big and loud my Angels.

Last week we got really angry about the blatant hypocrisy regarding animal welfare groups and their less than forthcoming stance regarding their true nature and how we should give money to adorably sad little critters on tv.  Now I'm hearing rumblings about how our nations soldiers are being paraded about as a tragic cause to separate us from our dollars!!  Are you fucking kidding me?  These fighting men and women are being used by charlatans and shit heels to sell their snake oil?  In MY AMERICA??

At the surface it would appear that a good portion of the 97% of proceeds raised by Freedom Concerts goes to perpetuating their own existence!  This is flat insane!!  And I certainly hope that there is an explanation from Freedom Alliance that can invalidate these allegations.

But aside from allegations and counter-allegations which I am still researching and reading, we find a much much LARGER problem here in America.

For much longer than we need, we have been inundated with news reports daily regarding "Occupy" this or that.  These protesters claiming to represent the 99% of Americans rail constantly against "Big Business."  Well I'm here to represent 100% of Angry Americans who are sick to death of these fuckers running non-profits in the most heinous of ways.  I'm going to call it "Big Charity."

"Big Charity" is way more dangerous than "Big Business" will ever be.  It doesn't make goods.  It depends on free labor while massively over-compensating it's executives.  And worst of all...it preys on the best in human nature, our desire to help out.

Have you ever been to Rolling Thunder?  Or visited a VA Hospital?  Do you know someone who has served and come home physically or psychologically wounded? Hell have you ever seen Saving Private Ryan or We Were Soldiers?  Take some time and think about what sacrifices have been made so you can sit there with YOUR family and enjoy the freedoms you have.

Now wouldn't you like to give back just a little bit?

"Big Charity" would LOVE you to give back.  They would love you to give back until you yourself are a charity case!!  Give till it hurts right?  It's amazing how fifty cents a day, and nineteen dollars a month and $65 for a concert ticket all add up.  But it's all tax deductible right?  Well to a certain degree yes, but are you giving money to get a break on taxes?  No!!

You are giving money to help causes YOU believe in and because you want to do something you can feel good about!!!  You are helping the community!!  If it were only that true.

I am certainly not a proponent of more government oversight regarding anything, but non-profits and charities certainly seem to be worthy of oversight given the pandemic of corruption therein.  Especially considering that these organization do not pay taxes!  Now there are plenty of voluntary reporting websites regarding charities such as Charity Navigator, GuideStar, or the Better Business Bureau's Wise Giving Alliance.  These are a good start but they are voluntary...meaning that they don't really hold anyone accountable.  I guess that's where you my Angry Angels are going to come into play.  If these fuckers are going to play fast and loose with our money and our emotions, it's time we take the game up a notch and that means no more money without accountability.

No more sad stories about tragedies that you marginally support. No more preying on our sensibilities.  No more free rides.  I want everyone reading this to do a little research about who you can support, locally.  No more "Big Charity" until we know EXACTLY where every fucking cent we send you is going!!  Support local animal rescues.  Support local human services like http://www.joyjunction.org/ in Albuquerque.  Be an informed consumer and be 100% ANGRY!!

And that draws our session to a close!  I will be looking forward to hearing from Debbie Schlussel and hopefully the Freedom Alliance regarding their differences of opinion so hopefully we can revisit sometime in the next few weeks.

Tomorrow we will get a little bit angry about Rape!

GRRRRR!