Slandering Military Charities a New Low
by John OndrasikI was saddened to see the recent attacks on Sean Hannity and the Freedom Alliance. All chariites should be subject to scrutiny and public information, thus, the Freedom Alliance’s recent disclosure should elicit a challenge or apology/correction.
Whatever one’s politics or agenda, slandering military charities is a new low.
Sean Hannity has always been a champion for the troops, including my CD For the Troops project. Unless concrete evidence is provided that supports the accusation of misused funds, I, for one, look forward to playing next year’s concerts.
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152 Comments
We should not, of course, be surprised. We know how the far left feels about the military and we know there is no limit on the tactics they would use.
You're right, John, it's slander. Watching the American Standard backtrack in record time would have been amusing if the charges hadn't been so disgusting. In the article posted, they didn't even pretend to have contacted the Freedom Alliance or Sean Hannity. What kind of journalism is that?
And now the American Standard is howling with everyone else about Deb Schlussel's allegations when they were the first most recognizable conduit. So, on top of shoddy journalism we also have cowardice.
Debbie "Drama Queen" Schlussel is begging for attention again.
Go adopt a pet, Debbie. Make yourself a useful conservative, not a useful idiot for Soros.
This is beyond disgusting, this is beneath contempt. unless these people have proof, well, lay the cards on the table.
I trust the people of the freedom alliance, more than I trust the resident of 1600 Penn. Ave.
I'd like to see a report of every tax dollar misused.
Interesting brand of libel you're peddling there, considering the woman accusing him of this brands him (and pretty much every white male) and anti-Semite.
Consider the source, who also thinks Hannity and nearly every other white male in the media is an anti-Semite.
The Left has become more unhinged and vile than at any time I can remember.
Alle NAZI Propaganda ist zu überreicht in passendem Deutsch mit refrences.
Over 10 million dollars raised and only 350,000 actually went to the soldiers families? This is truly an outrage by any standard. Another scam, another crook feeding like a vulture on our sorrows. You are not a great american sean hannity you are disgusting.
he's a great man. i couldn't agree with him more despite what he said may needs long long time.
I don't know Debbie Schlussel or Sean Hannity. But I do know how to read numbers. And a charity that only delivers 12% of proceeds to intended recipients concerns me. I know the Freedom Alliance response claims that 70% of proceeds goes to "program activities", but that covers a lot of ground…like hundreds of thousands of dollars for consultants, over a million bucks for "printing", etc.
It's likely that Sean, who is a busy guy and not a financial expert, lends his name and heart to this charity without really scrutinizing what is going on. My suggestion is that he should pay for a thorough audit by a forensic accountant and let the chips fall where they may.
Just screaming at Schlossel is idiotic. The tax documents speak for themselves. Though I will say she is hanging it out there by relying upon an anonymous source and second-hand statements as support for assertions that the charity is paying for Sean's private jets and 'fleet of vehicles".
"Randy" really enjoyed your cool bbc interview, "keep up the good work".
Warning: Not intended for all audiences… http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ne7z-_RXWeA
What are you talking about, Debbie Schlussel broke the story, she is a conservative blogger.
Again, Debbie Schlussel is a conservative. She broke the story, go read her blog.
Debbie is well known for going after Conservative commentators who are more popular than herself.
The only thing I would like to see is a more detailed breakdown of what "program activities" are.
A lot can go under that umbrella.
John – the slandering here is toward the whistleblower. Like O'Keefe/Giles who got attacked for exposing Acorn, you and other posters are attacking those exposing misappropriations of the donations made by regular working folks going toward first class jets and travel and insignificant amounts to the wounded vets. You are blatantly shilling for him because you associate with him. that is how this works particularly with Hannity who is an apologist for Bush or Palin no matter what they do wrong he can never acknowledge it. You are doing the same. that's bizarre and shameful. Why dont 'you follow the facts?
The sad thing is that if the accusations are true some people will still remain Hannitized.
Have you read the Freedom Alliance's rebuttal? Tax documents don't lie, but they don't tell the whole truth either.
Okay, obviously the trolls are out in force. Still so disappointed that James O'Keefe was NOT tapping a senator's phone line, they jump on the next big smear.
Here's the original American Standard article complete with backtracking updates:
http://spectator.org/blog/2010/03/19/hannitys-big...
Here's the next article where they try to make it look like it's all Crazy Schlussel's smear even though this 'journalist' is the one who didn't bother to double check a single thing:
http://spectator.org/blog/2010/03/19/did-schlusse...
And here's the Freedom Alliance's statement:
http://lucianne.com/article/?pageid=Defending_Han...
I hope all those links work. This was a smear plain and simple. Just because Crazy Deb calls herself a conservative doesn't mean she's not above pulling some fast ones. See, we conservatives don't like being lied to whether it's by a conservative or not. Which is why we like to get the whole story. And which is where Fox News and the Bigs come in.
Spoon feeding is for Democrats.
I just wanted to add that I personally know someone who subs for Rush Limbaugh on occasion, and he's run into Hannity a number of times and he couldn't stop talking about what a nice guy Hannity was, which surprised him greatly since so many big names in radio/tv are VERY different when they're off the air.
Why does this come as a surprise to anyone? 187k to a director to do what? A "charity" run by a man who sold arms to Iran? A convicted felon? Helloooo??
Servicemen and veterans don't see it that way.
It's a sad commentary on our country when Sean Hannity, a man who does good work on behalf of our troops and their families, is slandered for his efforts, while Attorney General Holder and other DOJ attorneys who volunteered their services to file lawsuits on behalf of the enemy against their own country during war time are lauded as patriots.
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Randy has never served but wants Americans to die for his antisemitic cult ideas about the military being evil. If you are not offended by Randy's troll don't feign outrage and hide behind something loosely attached to "independent thinking". Randy and his ilk are directly responsible for the deaths of military people.
Then explain how 15 million dollars ends up in a trust fund for scholarships.
Claiming that program activities covers a lot of ground does not mean they are not wisely spent. One has to have evidence before making an accusation of fraud. A good fraud auditor would make a T account and list all evidence that the fraud did occur and the evidence that it did not. One having collected this evidence and deciding that it suggested the fraud had occured the next step would be to contact law enforcement and other authorities and decide how to proceed. Albsolute confidence would be maintained to ensure that any allegations edon't become public and especially the target not be made aware of the investigation.
Let's assume all these things are true with regard to Hannity. Then Schlussel should also be arrested and jailed for obstruction of justice. The very method by which she handled this damns her credibility.
I read her blog and unfortunately what facts there were are debatable and I saw no evidence.
On here part it is all heresay and now any court case that could prove the allegations is damaged beyond repair.
Is there any organization already doing similar work as the Freedom Alliance? Why not just have the concert and hand over all monies after expenses and give it to that charity instead? There'd be a lot more left over I think since there'd be no need for a whole new administrative infrastructure.
I am as right wing conservative as you can get, have never like Hannity, and when he started to associate with Ollie that finished it for me, he is condescending, arrogant, self centered, is unable to take criticism, and generally just a blowhard wanna be famous person.
The concerts have always troubled me, however, if he can prove these accusations wrong then it will be a blow to his left wing critics and may bring others such as myself more on board, but if so much as a cent has gone into his pocket from the fund then throw him to the wolves and give his radio slots to a real broadcaster who knows his stuff ….. MSavage
Over 90% of the money funneled through groups such as LiveAID never reached "the people" – instead, they were funneled, in ful knowledge, directly into the hands of the murderous dictators and warlords of those African nations.
70%+ of the Huricane Katrina celbrity telethon never went to the victims, and they never intended it to.
The simple fact remains that Liberals and Democrats are infinitely less charitable either via their hard work, or economically, than their Conservative counterparts – it is a statistical fact; they are greedy and selfish people by nature.
Trolls still don't get it, If the story isn't true we will never read her blog and never forgive the slander. Never. She will be toast to millions of Americans. And never, ever will she be read or listened to again.
when in war, figure out who the left is, and STOP providing military service to them. LEY THEM DIE. Do us ALL the good.
Thomas, you don't have enough lifetime left to read that report!
Charlie Brown
Since Hannity often disagreed with President Bush and his policies and you have not offered up any instances of Palin wrongdoings, bringing them up is pointless.
"Hannity and his ilk are directly responsible for the deaths of military people."
Ummmm….WHAT??? WTF are you talking about Randy? Seriously. You really should seek help, as you are obviously delusional and quite possibly a danger to yourself and others.
I may be wrong here, but:
A) The United States Military is an all volunteer force
B) I'm pretty sure Sean Hannity has never planted an IED, launched an RPG/missle/mortar at any military installation/airplane or been a suicide bomber.
C) (Pretty certain I'm right on this one) YOU ARE AN IDIOT!!
FInd a new hobby, nobody likes you.
My brother is a limo driver. One of his fellow drivers drove Sean and his wife the weekend they were in our town for a family wedding. This man did not know Sean. Sean never talked about who he was. The guy said he was one of the friendliest guys he has ever driven for. Sean tipped this guy $400.00. He didn't find out who Sean was until another driver told him who he was. Sean Hannity knows what hard work is, he came from humble beginnings. He also knows what sacrifice is and he truly believes in the brave men and women that serve our country. This smear is disgusting and this twit needs to make restitution for any harm she has caused this organization and Sean Hannity.
Tyler you are so right about liberals and demoncrats being less charitable. My brother's company also drives the two twits that own the daily rag in our city. These two never tip and they are downright rude. One also likes to hit his head against the windows and yell out obscentities. If you try and touch his bags, he flips out.
I see nothing for anybody but a attention starved idiot to whine about. Even a casual, cursory glance at the numbers show me reasonable, competent and ethical stewardship of the Freedom Alliance.
The contention that this charity is raising money for future scholarships makes sense.
Liberals are lower than snake bellies. I've never heard of this conservative Debbie Sch…what's her name.
A country in despair, what a surprise! I mean it's being run by a junior senator/community organizer with ties to known hate America, was funded by union thugs and identifies with marxism, why are we surprised??!!
No way would I even THINK of believing anything some shill says over Sean Hannity's character.
"they are greedy and selfish people by nature. "
And yet they are the first ones to decry capitalism at every chance they get. Michael, pigman, moore comes to mind.
Debbie is no conservative, she is a mean spirited, hateful person. She wants attention and credit for everything she does. If she would spend more time exposing the left than than the right she might be useful, but she is a self centered egomanic out of control. I hope she is happy for the firestorm she has started!
LOL going after Conservatives more popular than herself!
Before you spout off, go to Charity Navigator and see what their rating is. They have four projects, not just scholarships. They have a favorable rating, in fact they're listed as high. The Director makes 179,000.00 a year. DO you know what directors do? It's not an easy job.
While you're at Charity Navigator look and see how the charities the Liberal Talk Show hosts are supporting. You won't find one. Try searching Al Franken's charitable causes, that's a good start. Good luck with that one. If all somebody has to do with their time is think of ways to trash people, they need to get a life. How many of you naysayers contribute to charitable causes?
This country is going to hell in a hand basket and all some people can do is whine. Go after the jerks that really need to be exposed like the slime in the Capitol Building. If things keep going the way they are, in the future you won't be allowed to make any comments on the internet anyway.
Where did all the trolls come from?
Who cares if she's a conservative.
All of the expense data Debbie Schlussel wrote about in her March 18th story about the Freedom Alliance scam was quoted from Freedom Alliance's own 2006 and 2007 Form 990 Tax Returns and she included copies of these Tax Returns linked to her story. The 2006 Form 990 Tax Return is 30 pages long http://www.debbieschlussel.com/wp-content/uploads... and the 2007 Form 990 Tax Return is 67 pages long http://www.debbieschlussel.com/wp-content/uploads... .
I am not a tax professional but I have read the above tax returns and note that this group has paid enormous salaries to the top officers and executives and contractors and has paid in one year almost 3-million dollars for postage and shipping and printing expenses alone. While they gave grants to scores of colleges and universities in the $5000-$6000 range they also note much smaller grants in the $100 to $1000 range to wounded soldiers families.
I know. Suddenly the fact Schlossel calls herself a 'conservative' means she's above reproach to these people. Just goes to show who they think is more dangerous to the leftist agenda.
I don't like Hannity, but I like a smear-job even less.
It appears Schussel is the female Charles Johnson.
Thankfully, all the leftist trolls that showed up to support their new hero will be gone just as fast.
I hope this means we won't be seeing any more links to Schlussel's incoherent rant blog on Big Hollywood.
And who's pounding it and giving Schlussel 'absolute moral authority' … based on her being a 'conservative'? Please. She's getting more hits today than she's gotten in a year. The NY Times will no doubt say something nice about her. It's like Queen for a Day.
P.S. Peggy Noonan. Calling Beck "insane" won't make you any more credible.
The Jokers and the Banksters have stolen any credibility that you and your colleagues share. Don't have time to frequent his show but that one illustrating what is going on in US schools everywhere isn't chilling?
Putting down Beck makes you genius HOW? I don't need you to tell me the Baier interview was crap. Brett did what he could. But where in the hell did Beck become a necessary component to your thesis or….whatever?
Peggy is no tea party friend. She may fly straight but her wings have either been clipped or are close to it. Peggy. You have just rendered yourself USELESS.
Sean Hannity has a big problem, that only he is to blame for.
It's called being a good and decent person, even though he knows that Liberals hate, kind behavior,
he just keeps doing it, aggravating Liberals, hurting their feelings and making them even angrier.
As if that were not bad enough, Liberals "feelings" in these matters are of no consequence to him,
it's like he's still living in the 20th century!
Maybe from now on, we can free up some government money for him to give away and use of a new government jumbo jet with a bar stocked with plenty of booze and wine, so that Liberals will be happy and cast their glowing smiles upon him.
The fact that Hannity has the audacity to donate even a $1, rather than distribute government money is politically incorrect and a major error of judgment on his part. It is a well known fact that he doesn't use a teleprompter either.
Not to mention that very Junior Senator unable to understand the constitution (despite being a constitutional lawyer), doesn't understand seperation of powers, doesn't understand Marbury V Madison and we can't see his educational records (not grades, not papers, not ever articles he 'wrote' as editor of the Harvard Law Review).
I'm far more concerned with this man and Sean Hannity.
There was a link to her blog on this site until yesterday, when she broke this story.
What does this have to do with Obama. Oliver North sold arms to Iran, did he not?
sean hannity is a man with a conscience and a moral spirit- stinkweeds to the pinkos trying to discredit him
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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):
Rather be that than Peolosized.
And there's not enough paper to print it!
That you are paying attention to the wrong person.
SFGO i thnk your satire is dead on !!!!
Keep reminding everyone in SF how much we donate to the cause of Princess Pelosi through our tax dollars.
Oh, wait. I thought charity was a choice, not something mandated by Congress. It really is a shame
how many libs want to take other peoples money ( isn't that ,like, stealing) to give to their pet projects, but will not give their own money. Continue the good fight in Sodom on the Paific !!
I would like to see the sources of Schlussel's Income…………………
Thanks, Wonderer. Sean will be ok as long as there are people like you who have his back. Those who have dealt with Sean mano a mano know what a great guy he is. Unfortunately, no one, especially an attention ho like Debbie Drama, will ever stoop to talk to the hoi polloi who know the real story.
Regardless if you agree with Sean or even like him, he is sincere in his compassion for the troops. And that include Ollie North.
Hannity has a book coming out with all his profits being donated. That would be several million dollars given away by a man who has already been generous with his time and money. Oliver North has given more to his country with one drop of sweat in Viet Nam than you and me together will give in our lifetimes, and did it heroically. If you think this distraction from what is happening to our country is nothing more than that, you are either a fool or part of the Marxist-Socialist takeover.
He is not a convicted felon as the felony convictions were overturned
MSavage
A man who knows is stuffand funds democrats for office in California
She has an income????
Perhaps Clinton & Carville in the wood pile?
Shout out to the Sean Hannity people.
The anti-progressive theme rocks. But I just want you guys to re-examine your criticism of federal funding for ant research. Just because ManBearPig was the complete and utter fraud that I've known for a decade doesn't mean that all environmental issues are crap.
Kid you not. REPEAT! I kid you not. Ants are a huge problem. So is soil erosion. Poor quality top soil is a problem.
Cant speak about the government programs that you guys were ripping regarding ant research but at least I know that the purpose of the research is SANE and VALID.
Sean. Don't let the Climate Scientist Scam dilute real environmental problems. Ants are small. Remember the saying. The meek shall inherit that earth. The meek – the ants – are flying under the radar. And you mocking it isn't helping those of us who know how dastardly.
Peace.
When are you going to serve ?
There is nothing at all unusual in "charities" racking up large overheads, usually much greater than monies actually distributed. And since fund-raising is their principal revenue source, advertising/ solicitations in a variety of media take a huge chyunk of the budget. Freedom Alliance is better than most, especially scams like LiveAid and the like, and most especially rackets like Greenpeace and the WWF, which are nothing but lobbyist kennels and cash cows for their leadership. "There's a lot of money in not-for-profit."
Who on earth thinks $179,000 is a disproportionate salary for a CEO?
Beck mentioned that he has a one-hour interview with Noonan that never aired from his CNN days. Boy wouldn't it be neat if a copy of that made its way to the internet.
Peggy Noonan lost me when she went postal over Sarah Palin. Her response did not match the need.
There's no bigger supporter of Israel than me, but I'm sure Debbie Schlussel would find some way of calling me an anti-semite, too.
Obama and Pelosi took a similar oath, and both are violating it today with their tricks.
As opposed to both Bush tax cuts and the out of control costs of two wars, one of which we did not need to start?
With Debbie it is all about her and her so called scoops, on top of that she says she is Conservative, but there isnt one she seems to like!
Ah, so now we see the real trouble you are having – anyone who is smart enough to work hard and succeed should be punished, gotcha – damn liberal share the wealth mental midget -
Democratic presidential candidates' tax returns have proved it election after election – most liberals are only generous with other peoples money.
FA sends care packages to the troops overseas which is very expensive postage wise.
This admin. makes us defend Liberty even though they know that Liberty IS best for US.
They want Socialism because it works for them, it gives them power and wealth with the least amount of effort,
while lying their behinds off, to all of the other folks who want money with the least amount of effort too,
On the left, the top and bottom work in perfect harmony, you are the target because you are "foolish enough to work and make money!"
I found this from an article posted at ncrp.org. This FY2007 compensation for some of the United Way chapter CEOs.
* UWCC raised a record $44 million and Pace King’s salary was $365,000 (excluding benefits).
* In metropolitan Atlanta, the United Way chapter raised nearly $79 million; their outgoing CEO was paid a lump sum of nearly $1.6 million when he retired, on top of a salary of $352,611.[1]
* The United Way of Greater St. Louis raised close to $69 million; the CEO was paid $254,487.
Also it said the UWCC CEO in 2008 was set to be compensated $1.2 million including salary and benefits.
Amen.
As Margaret Thatcher said, "until you run out of other people's money".
idiots on this blog
Sean Hannity is a phony! There are 3 things he will never talk about on his radio show and cuts people off right away (or his staff of pissed off women). These are: The Fed, The New World Order, Michael Savage. Sean is part of the system of the phony Right, Left Paradigm (one and the same). Sean will be proven a closet globalist by history. Everyhting that is happening in our Govt. he is partially responsible for not pointing the real enemy. "Freedom is slavery"……BROUGHT TO YOU BY THE N.W.O. THAT THE MEDIA REFUSES TO COVER.
Please, explain how I'm paying attention to the wrong person here? Cryptic statements about Obama when we're talking about Hannity and Oliver North and how they seem to be running a scam masquerading as a charity? That's an argument?
I work at a hotel where Sean Hannity, his family, and sometimes a few others have stayed while in town for his Freedom Concerts. At various times, I have checked his group in and carried his luggage, and have talked with him at length. In fact, he talks to just about everybody who talks to him. He has treated every member of our staff with courtesy, and he tips generously. If there is any artifice in this man, I haven't seen it. I can't say enough good about him, and I hate to see him maligned by people who don't know him.
I have seen his accounts and guest resumes while "in house," and the Freedom Alliance has never paid his bills. Hannity always pays all expenses for himself and his family (with his own credit card), but if the group is larger (including a few veterans), his agency pays room and tax for everybody, and Hannity will pick up all additional expenses.
I don't know where Ms Schussel is getting her information on Hannity's spending habits, but she sure didn't get it from us.
Boy, people on this site really love the name calling when they have no other argument.
Tell me when and how President Bush didn't uphold the constitution?
You can't! All you've got is what your side always has, hatred for Bush.
Their selective outrage is hilarious, isn't it?
Didn't "need" to start either – he wanted to hence the "need" for 9/11 which was called for in the PNAC document which reads like a play-by-play for what has happened.
Does good works? He supports a policy that gets them KILLED and MAIMED for life (which we in the Middle Class pay for the most.) Hannity is a joke.
Col.North took an oath to defend the Constitution, which he broke. He sold drugs to finance the Contras and sold arms to Iran. A real hero. And of course Hannity donates the money from the book he "wrote", he makes about 20 mil a year from his radio and TV lie-a-thons, so it's a perfect exercise in good publicity. This whole thing ought to expose them for the shameless hucksters they both are.
How have you served your country Randy or, more importantly, how has your country served you? Dollars to doughnuts you are living off our government in one way or another. BTW, do you own a business or pay income tax? Liberals hide behind the skirt tails of progressives and big government and all the while let we the people actually contribute something to our country. We have your number Andy and we have disconnected it. Put up or shut up . You and YOUR ILK have bled us dry.
Mr. Ondrasik, I am a huge fan on yours, partly because of your great music, and largely also due to your vocal support of our troops. I want you to know that while I initially enjoyed your music when I first heard it, I didn't decide to purchase any until I learned of your pro-troop work. Thank you.
I agree with you. Peggy Noonan became another Palin basher, just like this Debbie Schlussel, she is constantly name calling Palin,she spews so much hate!
FA spent as much on POSTAGE in FY 2008 as they did on aid to the families of fallen soldiers. Doesn't that seem a little odd to any of you Hannity drones?
Hey dopey, Hannity's talking points? Really? Are you that God damn stupid! Pay some freakin attention cuz nobody is going to cover for your sorry ass when things get ugly – use your brain and employ some rational thought and stop talking like an idiot -
Your point is that you have no point. Huff and Puff post tells nothing but lies.
Changing the topic? So, you concede the point about Ollie North and the Freedom Alliance?
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