WTF! FEMA is directing donations to Pat Robertson's Operation Blessing

[PA Democrat]

From the FEMA website:

Beware of charity fraud. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) resources on how to make donations wisely.
Please check with your tax advisor or the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) for more information regarding the tax deductibility of your donation.
American Red Cross
1-800-HELP NOW (435-7669) English,
1-800-257-7575 Spanish;

Operation Blessing
1-800-436-6348

America’s Second Harvest
1-800-344-8070

http://www.fema.gov/press/2005/resources_katrina.shtm#canhelp



Christ almighty. They direct money to Pat Robertson, who used airplanes purchased by Operation Blessing for supposed humanitarian aid almost exclusively for his privately owned mining operation. Bush's corrupt government warns people of "charity fraud" and then directs people to donate to a fraudulent charity.



VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (AP) -Airplanes sent to Zaire by evangelist Pat Robertson's tax- exempt humanitarian organization were used almost exclusively for his diamond mining business, say two pilots who flew them.

Three airplanes were flown to Zaire in September 1994 by Operation Blessing.

However, chief pilot Robert Hinkle said only one or two of the roughly 40 flights during his six months in the country could be considered humanitarian.

All the rest of the flights were mining-related, he told The (Norfolk) Virginia-Pilot.

http://www.geocities.com/djsleeve/Diamonds.html

[Sunkiss BlueStar]

1. No Fkin Way.

Do they give refunds because I will mail the money directly to the Astrodome. Those babies are cooking in the Sun and these Fuckers are directing money to Gollum!
:wtf:

[PA Democrat]

7. FEMA is requesting that individual citizens make donations to Operation

Blessing. I don't know if they (Operation Blessings) are getting government funds as well.

I donated to the American Red Cross. I trust them more than Robertson or sadly, our own federal government.

[Karenina]

25. It's called

Redistribution of wealth. NOLA is another "trifecta."

[Bleacher Creature]

22. Yes Fkin Way

These people are sum.

[arwalden]

2. FUCKED. UP.

Truly fucked up.

How about Pat Robertson's "Operation Assasination"??

[PsychoDad]

31. Who's to say the money won't be used for that.

too many of these "charity" operations have no oversight. IIRC Robertson has used operation blessing funds for his own "needs" like airplanes and maybe diamond mines in africa.

[CrispyQ]

3. This is so wrong in so many ways.

I've suspected for many months now that the America I grew up in is dead. This week is proving I am right.

[Redstone]

4. Excuse me; I need to go vomit.

Redstone

[LiberalCompassionate]

20. me too

:puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke:

[Roy]

5. Of course they are....

why do you think Bush puts emphasis on CASH DONATIONS everytime he gave his spiel today?

[disgruntled_goat]

6. whoopsie i duped you

my bad.

FWIW, here's an additional salient link.

http://www.sploid.com/news/2005/09/01/fema-directing-donations-to-rev-pat-robertson-123509.php

[PA Democrat]

8. Nice isn't it? Our federal government directs charitable donations

to a crook and traitor.

[NYC]

9. Pat Robertson should not profit from this disaster.

I hope people give to the Red Cross because they are familiar with it, but I guess Pat Robertson's followers will waste their money on Pat Robertson instead of New Orleans.

[REACTIVATED IN CT]

10. I've been wondering what that group was

I knew it had to be "faith-based" but had no idea it was Robertson's

[PA Democrat]

12. Yeah, "faith-based" because you have to have a lot of blind faith

that Robertson will not use the funds for personal profit.

[AnnInLa]

11. Guess who else will be raking in the fed. relief bucks?? Bauer/Perkins

Tony Perkins, Gary Bauer to rake in Fed. Relief $$ ??? (Katrina)


This morn, WBRZ in Baton Rouge was touting a new organization, ShareYourHome.org. Please go to the website, and click on "press releases" for a pdf doc that says the following:

"Billie Brown of Franklin, Louisiana announced formation of a charitable organization dedicated to assist families displaced by Katrina to find temporary housing.

snip

Although the organization is less than 24 hours old, it is already being supported by state Rep. Gary Beard (R-LA), Louisiana native and President of Family Research Council Tony Perkins, Campaign for Working Families Gary Bauer, and the Republican Party of Louisiana."



This needs to spotlighted...I'm sure these guys are being "charitable" for the fed relief $$$ involved. While the idea is great, I sure don't trust the people involved...there will be SO much federal relief money floating around, so am wondering just what the motive is from Bauer and Perkins.

[PA Democrat]

14. Anyone for the return to separation of church and state?

Can I get an AMEN???? Can I get an AMEN, my fellow DU'ers?

[PsychoDad]

32. Not against churches and other places of worship...

being used to distribute aid and shelter in a case like this receiving federal aid for that purpose, but it should be done on a local level with oversight. Not just handed to an apostate terrorist like Robertson.

[sundog]

13. yup.

you surprised? i'm not

[PA Democrat]

15. No, not surprised, but sometimes the hypocrisy of these people

just smacks you so hard it stings. Bush scolds people not to politicize the hurricane, but then he directs money to the religious right despite Robertson's corruption.

[JaneGat]

16. Reverend International Incident, Pat Robertson?

That's it, it is officially over.

[Chicago Democrat]

17. Pat Robertson will burn in Hell for all eternity if there is a God...

And there is... I Believe!

[Pallas180]

18. bush's faith based bullshit - robertson talks to bush everyday

and I believe its said Falwell does too.

[NashVegas]

19. So Did Will Pitt

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=104&topic_id=4508475&mesg_id=4508475

Does this make Will a Freeper in disguise?

I don't think so.

[PA Democrat]

24. No one is calling Will a Freeper

But I hope that Will considers removing Operation Blessing from his list based upon Pat Robertson's track record with this charity. There are plenty of other reputable charities to choose from.

[doublethink]

21. Okay time for shit to hit the fan .... N/T.

[Usrename]

23. no mercy, none n/t

[Celica Toyota]

26. Kick Let's make a big deal out of this and complain

We can't let that lunatic get those donations.

[Joanne98]

27. NOMINATED!

[sbj405]

28. I am fed employee and we got this info in an email

Unreal. We also got an email encouraging our participation in the Freedom Walk.

[Judi Lynn]

29. More race horses for Pat. Maybe another refinery.What about some diamonds?

God madeth these things upon the face of the earth, and He wanteth Pat to haveth them.

[Doctor_J]

30. Visualize Impeachment

NOW.

[gatorboy]

33. Criminals!!

So many criminals running this country. I can't see how the rest of the country can keep their heads above water with these assholes in charge. :mad:

[Princess Turandot]

34. CNN just showed that name and number..

along with 4 recognizable charities. I only noticed it because I had no idea who the organization was.

[Califooyah Operative]

36. i saw it too. nt

[babsbunny]

35. We have to alert the Media!

Well, Keith Olbermann, Stephanie Miller, The American people have to know that their money is going to a Psycho!!!!!!!!!

[Nothing Without Hope]

37. GREG PALAST:funds diverted from Operation Blessing to Pat's huge personal

financial empire

Greg Palast tells us more about Pat Robinson's enormous personal wealth and how money raised for desperate Rwandans via a passionate Operation Blessing fundraising drive was actually used instead for airplanes for Robertson's own diamond mines in Zaire. Yes, he knew about it, too – Pat Robertson has' ridden in one of those diamond mining planes himself.

And that's ONLY THE BEGINNING. Operation Blessing looks to be involved in other shady deals as well, BIG ones.

http://www.gregpalast.com/detail.cfm?artid=49&row=0

Pat Robertson: 'I don't have to be nice to the spirit of the Antichrist'

Observer, London - reprint
Tuesday, August 23, 2005
by Greg Palast

(snip - much more and it should all be read)

The combination of ministry and Mammon has provided Robertson with a net worth estimated at between $200m and $1 billion. He himself would not confirm his wealth, except to tell me that his share of the reported $50m start-up capital for the bank is 'just a small investment for me'.

Neil Volder, president of Robertson Financial and director of the new bank venture, emphasises that Robertson selflessly donated between 65 and 75 per cent of his salary as head of International Family Entertainment. But that amounted to only a few hundred thousand dollars a year - pocket change for a man of Robertson's means.

There was also, says Volder, the $7m he gave to 'Operation Blessing' to alleviate the woes of refugees fleeing genocide in Rwanda. Robertson's press operation puts the sum at only $1.2m. More interesting is the way the Operation Blessing funds were used in Africa. Through an emotional fundraising drive on his TV station, Robertson raised several million dollars for the tax-free charitable trust. Operation Blessing bought planes to shuttle medical supplies in and out of the refugee camp in Goma, Congo (then Zaire).

But investigative reporter Bill Sizemore of the Virginian Pilot discovered that over a six-month period - except for one medical flight - the planes were used to haul equipment for something called African Development Corporation, a diamond mining operation a long way from Goma. African Development is owned by Pat Robertson.

(snip)

:grr: :grr: :grr:

You'll notice on the FEMA donation page that Operation Blessing isn't identified as Patwa Robertson's pet charity - there's just a phone number to send the cash. I doubt a lot of it will be going to give real help to the hurricane victims any more than it did those Rwandans.

Greg Palast's article details more of the "miracles" by which Pat Robertson made huge amounts of money from investments purchased with tax-exempt donations. Read through them and your blood will boil. One of them was a deal in which a cable channel (and some old sitcoms) financed this way were sold to RUPERT MURDOCH FOR 1.82 BILLION DOLLARS.

I doubt a lot of the money being sent through the FEMA donation site to Patwa’s Operation Blessing will be going to give real help to the hurricane victims any more than it did those Rwandans.

The Virginia State Attorney General is conducting an investigation into Operation Blessing that is looking into the use of the charity's equipment.

But he's obviously a pal of FEMA's Bush Administration bosses!

[PA Democrat]

38. More info on Pat Robertson's misuse of charitable donations

Robertson has a long history of befriending brutal dictators in Africa, like Charles Taylor of Liberia and Mobutu Sese Seko of Zaire (now Congo). Robertson used his tax-exempt 700 Club to lobby for special treatment for his murderous friends, and he used humanitarian aid as a means of gaining access in Zaire for his mining operations.

Pat Robertson has more shady business dealings than a mafia don.

http://www.msmagazine.com/sept03/sizemore.asp