Damming the truth, as only lil Ms. Stepford can

[jotsy]

DUer's notes: I modified the title to reflect the later update near the end of the article and used my own assessment of the subject matter to characterize. One other unauthorized edit was to remove her website, which I felt would taint the boards of m' beloved DU. Yes it's lengthy, but I thought it fun.

This essay is by Rick Ungar, an L.A. attorney who writes for the Policy Page at True Slant.


Why is it that defending Sean Hannity’s honor is more important to the radical right-wing commentator club than telling the truth to their all too trusting audience?

Stepping up to protect her brother-in-FOX, Michelle Malkin not only lied in her column about how Freedom Alliance, the charity fronted by Hannity and Oliver North, is rated by an independent charity rating organization, she actually provided the link to prove the lie!

That’s not something you see everyday.

Malkin writes-

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.

I invite you to click on the link Malkin provided above. I certainly did.

Here is what you will find-

The organization gave Freedom Alliance an overall rating of two stars out of a possible four-star total, hardly the full four stars reported by Malkin. There are a few other sub-ratings the rating service provides that I thought Malkin might turn to in an effort to cover her bull, but none of them award the charity four stars either!

If you scroll down to the bottom of the page on the link, the rating organization highlights and compares charities performing similar types of work. You’ll note that Freedom Alliance comes in dead last among the comparable charities in its rating. Bear in mind that this rating services appears quite generous in their treatment of Freedom Alliance when compared to the Institute of Philanthropy which rates Freedom Alliance an ’F’ – although, in one year, raised them to a ‘D-’.

Now, if you really want to enjoy yourself, take a look at the comment section where Michelle’s readers profusely thank her for ‘bringing home the truth’. Apparently, actually reading the link Malkin provided, the one that reveals that the truth is not exactly what Malkin is bringing, would put her followers over their five hundred words-per-day allotted reading limit.

Also note that while Malkin re-publishes some of the defenses put forth by those who apparently also benefit from kissing Hannity’s ass, there is not so much as one line that provides any real proof to back up their defense. And I mean not one line. Please read Malkin’s piece for yourselves so that you can see that there is no exaggeration going on here.

Indeed, most of the defenses focus on attacking Debbie Schlussel - the conservative commentator who first wrote about this story last month – suggesting that she is not someone that ‘the right’ takes as seriously as they once did along with other demeaning comments fired in Schlussel’s direction.

At least the right remains consistent. When you don’t have any facts on your side, go with making it personal.

I am rarely in agreement with Ms. Schlussel – but if she’s got it right, she’s got it right.

I’ll tell you what , Michelle. I’m not a member of the right-wing commentary cabal. I’m easy prey for you and your friends, so why not come after me? You can attack me as one of those lefties or whatever other invectives you can get your head around.

But you won’t.

You won’t because if you’ve read a word of what I’ve written on this topic, you know that I know how to read a tax filing. You know that I know how to categorize an expense that actually produces revenue for the intended beneficiaries versus an expense that is buried where it should not be to make it appear as if the expense is something other than what it is.

I have the tax returns. What do the defenders of Hannity have beyond statements that depend upon a misleading reading of the tax filings that I can take apart in my sleep?

I have never accused Hannity of breaking the law. I have accused Freedom Alliance of doing a crap job of running a charity and I have cautioned well meaning donators to be very careful about knowing to whom they are giving their money. Show me…with, you know, real facts – how I’m wrong.

I’ve also suggested that we deserve to know more about whether Hannity spent money on luxuries when that money should have been spent on the intended beneficiaries of the charity. Show me that these allegations are not true. But you’ll have to do better than handing me a press release from the charity claiming they didn’t pay these costs. We already know that. We want to know if the costs of Hannity’s perks were paid for by the for-profit company that was suppose to be giving every cent to the charitable purposes of Freedom Alliance. Give us Mr. Ward’s affidavit that his company, operating for a profit, never paid for Hannity’s private jets, luxury suites and fleets of automobiles and, if we believe him, we’ll shut up.

We are not going to buy the diversionary bull. Maybe your readers are foolish enough to listen to this nonsense- mine are not.

I have many or all of Hannity’s statements used in encouraging listeners to give their money to this charity or to the Freedom Concerts that we were led to believe were giving most of the money from the ticket sales to the charity. I know how to get my hands on Primiere’s tax returns. For those who may not know, Primiere is the private, for-profit corporation that really puts on the Freedom Concerts, despite Hannity’s strongly leading us all to believe they were sponsored by or primarily for the benefit of Freedom Alliance. The company is owned and operated by a man who is already in business with both Hannity and North, and has been for quite some time.

How do we get Primiere’s tax returns? It’s called discovery – and it’s all part of a day’s work in the civil litigation anyone who ever purchased a Freedom Concert ticket pursuant to representations that every penny raised would go to the charity’s scholarship fund is permitted to commence.

So…try me, Michelle. Please.

In the meantime, if Malkin’s readers need instruction on how to click on the links provided in Malkin’s columns, I’ll be happy to provide instruction free of charge. Maybe then these people will begin to understand how their gurus are playing them for total suckers.

UPDATE: A reader has pointed out a website that reveals that at the time Malkin wrote her piece, Charity Navagator had given the charity a four star rating – something they immediately changed once an action was filed with the FTC over the charity’s poor operating practices. It is now given two stars as reported above. It is, therefore, probable that the information provided by the link was different at the time Malkin wrote the story. However, as for the rest of her story – pure bull with absolutely no attempt to verify or tell her readers the truth.

The difference between Michelle Malkin and myself is that I will correct something if it is proven to be wrong. Most of what Malkin put in her piece in question is wrong – and we now know it is wrong. But she can’t be bothered to stay on top of it and tell her readers the truth, something rather typical of her style just like so many of her right-wing commentators. Why let the truth get in the way of a good attack?

###

I know it's wrong to mock folks with names like that, but when I think of that empty gaze and frown of desperate concern a step removed from aware and engaged, I just can't think of anything more apt to convey her less than witty way.