The concept behind Troopathon is not a new idea, put on a Jerry Lewis style telethon to benefit a worthy cause, but a Troopathon is groundbreaking and innovative in that we bring together famous celebrities from radio, television, movie stars, musicians, journalists, and more to create a one-of-a-kind event with one purpose – to support our troops on the front lines in the war on terror and honor their service and sacrifice for our nation.

The goal of Troopathon is simple, send care packages to our troops, as many as we can get sponsored in a single 8-hour show. In our first year (2008) our inaugural program brought in over $1.5 million for care packages for our troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. It was the single largest shipment of care packages ever recorded. Over the two years we have done it, our innovative webcasts have brought over $2 Million for our troops. Since our organization began sending care packages in 2006, we’ve sent over 168 TONS of high quality beef jerky, Gatorade, Oreo cookies and gourmet coffee to our troops, and that’s just the beginning!

What makes troopathon such a success, and an exciting event for our troops and our supporters, is the star power we bring out! In our Troopathons we’ve been proud to have such participants as Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Ann Coulter, Mark Levin, Dr. Laura Schlessinger, Laura Ingraham, Gary Sinise, Jon Voight, Kevin Farley, John Ondrasik of the band Five for Fighting, Oliver North, President George W. Bush, Dick Cheney, Dr. David Horowitz, Carrie Prejean and many many more!

In order to bring all these celebrities and VIPs together on the same program in one 8 hour show we utilize the latest cutting edge web-technology. We have partnered with the breakout success startup company Usteam.TV for two years in a row, who provide the technical wizardry that makes the Troopathon a success. Thanks to the technical expertise of our staff and Ustream.TV, we’re able to bring all our guests together on the same broadcast, despite their busy schedules, and broadcast the troopathon to hundreds of thousands of viewers worldwide. Even our troops in Iraq and Afghanistan who are lucky enough to have internet access love to log on and see the outpouring of support for themselves! Each troopathon we make contact with our troops in Iraq and this year we will do the same!

Our third annual Troopathon, titled “Standing for Our Soldiers” promises to be the best yet! Keep coming back and checking troopathon.org as further details will be forthcoming!

I was inspired to write the lyrics for “Hope of November” using Henley’s “The Boys of Summer” as a starting point after I saw a fading Obama bumper sticker while campaigning in the Bakersfield area.  

Liberal warriors are notorious for their thin skins and Don Henley is no exception. 

Perhaps I should mine some of Henley’s other songs for satirical gold.  “The End of the Innocence” comes to mind.  That 1989 song slammed Ronald Reagan, a man I worked for in the Defense Department, in the form of the line, “they’re beating plowshares into swords, for the tired old man that we elected king.”  At this line in the song the music video shows several Reagan posters while at the line “armchair warriors lead us into war” a television displays scenes of LtCol Oliver North’s congressional testimony.  Or perhaps the overbearing lyrics of “Little Tin God” will do.  The line referring to Reagan, “The cowboy’s name was Jingo,” cries out for parodic reengineering. 

YouTube rather blandly announced that my First Amendment right to parody was being infringed “…as a result of a third-party notification by Don Henley…”  But I wonder if the behind the scenes muzzler was David Geffen.  Geffen, who’s so far to the left that Hillary Clinton was too conservative for him, owns the label for the “The Boys of Summer.”  Geffen has lawyers, lots of lawyers. 

Perhaps Geffen’s lawyers are familiar with Campbell v. Acuff-Rose Music, Inc. a 1994 U.S. Supreme Court case that dealt with “fair use” in parody.  In this case, the Supreme Court ruled that 2 Live Crew’s parody remake of the late Roy Orbison’s “Pretty Woman” constituted fair use in spite of the fact that the rap group had taken much of Orbison’s material whole cloth and used it for commercial purposes.  My own parody using “The Boys of Summer” to lampoon President Obama uses original lyrics and clearly meets the Court’s four factor fair use test: “1) purpose and character of the use, including whether the use is commercially motivated or instead is for nonprofit educational purposes; 2) nature of the copyrighted work; 3) amount and substantiality of the portion used in the newly created work in relation to the copyrighted work; and 4) effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work.” 

Bottom line, we’ll be filing a counter notice today with YouTube today to reinstate our “Hope of November” music video rough cut, then work to make a better cut of the parody song available.  If YouTube again bows to Geffen’s lawyers or Henley’s whine, we’ll take it to where we should have posted it at the start: PopModal, “The Conservative Alternative to YouTube.” (The now-banned “Hope of November” music video can still be seen at: http://www.chuck76.com/nov/.) 

And, it goes without saying that I’ll now be looking for every opportunity to turn any Don Henley work I can into a parody of any left tilting politician who deserves it, (I keep thinking “All She Wants To Do Is Dance” would make a great transition into a Barbara Boxer parody).

In the New Testament, Paul admonishes us to “pray without ceasing.” I never understood that verse until I had a son deployed to a combat zone. Now I find myself praying for my son, his men, and their families almost constantly. Our Marine son is at a Forward Operating Base in Afghanistan. They have no running water, no heat, and only on occasion, electricity. The other evening I received a short email from him. His battalion lost three more men over the weekend. It was difficult for me to sleep that night, knowing somewhere in this nation mothers and fathers, wives, and children were mourning the death of a loved one. 

Obviously, my interest in what used to be called the “Global War on Terror” and now is apparently just an “Overseas Contingency Operation” is more than a historical fancy. I’ve tried to read as much as I can about the decision to launch the war, our efforts on all fronts, and our successes and failures to date. I’ve read the good, the bad, and the ugly. Trained as an attorney, I expect there to be at least two sides to every issue, but as a twenty-six year veteran of the FBI, I’ve also learned facts speak for themselves. Depending upon the author, I can find hope or discouragement. What I have found are heroes. Today’s young people (and even many adults) are as likely to find their heroes among athletes, actors, or rock stars. I guess that is the luxury of youth and a celebrity-worshipping culture. But I like Oliver North’s definition in his latest book, “American Heroes.” He says heroes “place themselves at risk for the benefit of others.” 

I’ve been fortunate to meet real heroes. Several weeks ago I attended “A Celebration of Freedom” at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library. I shook hands with more than thirty Medal of Honor recipients. It was truly one of the most memorable nights of my life. But a few days later during a visit to the doctor, I told him of my experience at the reception. Professing to be a history buff, his questions caught me by surprise. “Is the Medal of Honor for military and civilians?” “Aren’t there higher medals or is that the highest?” This doctor was educated at one of our most prestigious universities yet seemed clueless to the sacrifices others have made in order for him to live in a free society. 

Since my book was released in the fall, I’ve been able to share it with Marines wounded in this current war. I met a Marine who lost the use of his legs and is confined to a wheelchair for the rest of his life. He can maneuver pretty well, but he will never chase his children around the yard or at the beach the way you and I can. I met a Marine blinded by an RPG who will never see his children again. He can hear them and he can hold them but will never see them the way we see our children. I know a serviceman who was “present” for the birth of his child. He was deployed to a combat zone and listened over the phone as his wife give birth. I’ve spent time with children who pray every night for their daddy to come home safely. I’ve met the spouses of those deployed and watched them cope with not only managing a family but living with the constant worry the next phone call will bring tragic news. 

What is so remarkable is not one Marine, not one serviceman, not one spouse I met asked for your pity or even your thanks. No one claimed victim status. All are volunteers and all believe they are part of a team who answered the call. They are proud and they are strong. Maybe, they too, have found comfort in the words of Moses. They are all my heroes. 

Before you go to sleep tonight take a few moments to thank God for your spouse, your children, your home, a comfortable bed, and the servicemen and women who allow you to sleep under the blanket of freedom. I fear too many have forgotten or have never learned the real price of freedom.

Semper Fi.