FEMA Urges Donations to Pat Robertson - It Just Keeps Getting Worse

[paineinthearse]

http://www.conyersblog.us/archives/00000231.htm

Blogged by John Conyers on 09.06.05 @ 04:22 PM ET

FEMA Urges Donations to Pat Robertson
It Just Keeps Getting Worse

Via the National Jewish Democratic Council, the following tip, which I gather is old news that I missed:

"As Republicans and Democrats alike continue to decry the slow federal response and lack of initial assistance to those profoundly affected by this disaster -- many of them impoverished -- an additional facet of FEMA's mishandling of this calamity has come to light.

We are now learning that in the hours following Katrina's landfall, FEMA -- the Federal Emergency Management Agency, now a part of the Department of Homeland Security -- rightly encouraged Americans to make charitable donations, but wrongly placed Pat Robertson at the top of that list.

Making matters worse is that as soon as this insult came under scrutiny, after millions of Americans had already been urged by FEMA to give to Robertson, FEMA began covering its tracks -- erasing any sign of its actions from its Internet site.

On August 29th, FEMA encouraged Americans to donate to three central charities on its web site -- the Red Cross, Operation Blessing, and America's Second Harvest. So what is Operation Blessing, and who are its leaders? A visit to Operation Blessing's web site lists "M.G. Robertson" as the Chairman, and Dede Robertson as Vice President. Who is "M.G. Robertson?" None other than Pat Robertson himself; Robertson's personal website identifies him as "M.G. Pat Robertson." And Dede? That's his wife.

This is of course the same Pat Robertson who urged the assassination of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez... the same Pat Robertson who intoned that God will judge Israel's leaders harshly for withdrawing from Gaza -- bringing sharp rebukes from the Anti-Defamation League and many, many others.

Operation Blessing tries to hide more than just its leadership, though; they would also be happy if we forgot some of what they've done. As reported two years ago, "...Operation Blessing's tax-exempt cargo planes were used almost exclusively for Roberton's diamond-mining operation , not for humanitarian purposes. A subsequent investigation by Virginia authorities turned up evidence for charging Operation Blessing with violations of the state's charitable solicitation law."

But within hours of Internet blogs reporting on FEMA's outrageous call to help Katrina's victims by donating to Pat Robertson, FEMA pulled the references to Robertson's group from their website. Not so fast: a snapshot of FEMA's central Katrina donation page, still live as of August 31st , can be viewed by
https://www.fema.gov/news/newsrelease.fema%3Fid%3D18473+%22Volunteers+should+not+report+directly+to+the+affected+areas+unless+directed+by+a+voluntary+agency%22+%22Operation+Blessing%22+site:fema.gov&hl=en">clicking here."

[Mr_Spock]

1. Holy freakin shit!! IS there no end to the graft and corruption of this

government? Unbelievable!

[Shredr]

11. exactly what i was going to say

shouldn't this man be in prison? Using his tax-free status to smuggle diamonds? Are you serious?

[MeDeMax]

2. thnx, was also reported by Amy Goodman

on DemocracyNow on Friday:

"FEMA Suggests Donor Gives To Pat Robertson's Charity"

<http://www.democracynow.org/index.pl?issue=20050902>

[spooky3]

3. I wonder why there's no report on O. B. at www.give.org (BBB).

(Better Business Bureau's website for charities)

[paineinthearse]

4. Because it doesn't qualify as a charity?

:shrug:

[spooky3]

7. Give.org provides reports for those who don't meet its standards as well

as those who do.

[napi21]

5. This list of Charities has been on the FEMA site for 8 days now.

Just how much have each collected so far?

I heven't even heard how much the Red Cross has collected in donations either!

The reason I'm asking is because I want to know just HOW GENEROUS these Robertson followers really are when faced with a real emergency!

[paineinthearse]

9. $219 million in 10 days

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20050902/ap_on_bi_ge/katrina_relief_aid_hk3

...In a tally including the Red Cross figure, The Chronicle of Philanthropy said Friday that total aid for Katrina has reached $219 million. By way of comparison, the publication noted that Americans donated $239 million in the 10 days following the terrorist attacks and $30 million in the three days following the tsunami....

[omega minimo]

6. Um. ExCUSE me?

:puke:


So they didn't mention the aid offered by the President of Venezuela?

[paineinthearse]

8. Operation Blessing = $500,000

http://philanthropy.com/pcgi2-bin/printable.cgi?article=http://philanthropy.com/free/update/2005/09/2005090701.htm

Operation Blessing, a Christian relief organization in Virginia Beach, Va., had received Internet gifts totaling more than $500,000 by Friday, but beyond that, the charity was not sure how much it has raised overall. "We're still trying to get to that," says Kristin Vischer, a spokeswoman for Operation Blessing. "Our phones are ringing off the hook."

[autorank]

10. You are one Hell of a news hound. This is just superb.

Screen shot and all. Let 'er roll on Greatest forever.

Post this all over the internet.

You nailed it.

This will have huge impact, simply huge.

I can't say enough good words about it.

Amazing!!!!1

[Verve]

12. Ummm....Is separation of church and state still upheld in our country? n/t

[ecdab]

13. I wonder if Pat will use any money

he gets from this to fund shipping to and from his diamond mines in Africa, like he did with the aid money given to him to help mitigate problems during the Rwanda genocide.

[Historic NY]

14. Must be for Robertson's hit squads...........

you know bullets are expensive.

[emcguffie]

15. Something else to look at:

Apart from "Operation Blessing", the list is alphabetical. Operation Blessing is just stuck in there in second place, right after American Red Cross and before America's Second Harvest.

[izzybeans]

16. As Bill Hicks used to say "Sucking satan's pecker, Come on

Suck it" FEMA, bobbing the knob of the verile mob.

:kick: