I Have A Dream

VetVoice:: Glenn Beck--"Restoring Honor" or Exploiting the Children of Dead War Heroes

(Rob Diamond is the chairman of Organizing for America's Vets and Military Families Outreach Council, a Security Fellow at Truman National Security Project, a U.S. Naval Academy graduate and a Navy Veteran. - promoted by Richard Allen Smith)

This piece was originally posted on March 8th, 2010 at HuffingtonPost.com
I received an email Monday morning that stopped me in my tracks. It contained a link to the seemingly noble organization called the Special Operations Warrior Foundation (SOWF) (http://www.specialops.org) - a 501 (c)(3) tax-exempt, federally registered charity whose own mission statement says:
 

"The Special Operations Warrior Foundation provides full scholarship grants and educational and family counseling to the surviving children of special operations personnel who die in operational or training missions and immediate financial assistance to severely wounded special operations personnel and their families."

As a veteran who served in Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom I thought, "what a meaningful charitable organization to give my support." But sadly, things are not as noble as they look.
Read a little further on the homepage of the SOWF website, under the "Latest News" column, and you will see a link to none other than Glenn Beck. Yes, that Glenn Beck.
SOWF, it turns out, is the designated charitable organization that will benefit from a rally Glenn Beck is hosting on August 28th on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, DC--it is being called the "Restoring Honor Rally." (http://www.glennbeck.com/828/).
Or at least that is what Glenn Beck and SOWF want you to believe.
What is actually happening--and what is so obviously wrong--is that the rally is not actually raising money for SOWF. SOWF is raising all the money to pay for the rally.
Don't believe me? Just read the plain-as-day, italicized font on the SOWF website:
 

"All contributions made to the Special Operations Warrior Foundation (SOWF) will first be applied to the costs of the Restoring Honor Rally taking place on August 28, 2010. All contributions in excess of these costs will then be retained by the SOWF."

That's weird, I thought. I give $100 to SOWF and it goes to Glenn Beck first, college scholarships for children of deceased special operators (maybe) second? Why would Glenn Beck be using a charitable organization, whose mission it is to provide college scholarships to the children of deceased special operators, as the financing arm of his "non-political, non-partisan" rally? Glenn Beck got paid $18 million last year (http://www.businessinsider.com/the-empire-of-glenn-beck-slideshow-2009-4). Surely, these kids need the money more than he does.
Should it not be the other way around? I would think you would donate to the rally and then they would donate the money to SOWF? I am a Navy veteran and not a lawyer, but does that not smell like someone exploiting a charity at the least, or money-laundering at worst?
Let's cut to the chase and stop being naïve. The Special Operations Warrior Foundation is now serving as a financial front man for the right-wing, Fox News demagogue that is Glenn Beck. This so-called "rally" has nothing to do with SOWF's stated (and noble) mission of giving college scholarships to children of deceased servicemembers.
We all know this rally is going to be nothing more than an anti-Obama, anti-government, pro-Tea Party hate-fest with Glenn Beck spewing his vitriol under the banner of "supporting our troops."
Well, as one of those troops, I am calling this for what it is--a deceitful and deceptive attempt on behalf of far-right extremists to profit off of the memory of my fellow servicemen and women killed in action. Nothing is more wrong or disgusting.
Similarly, why is the leadership of the SOWF putting at risk their tax-exempt charitable status by engaging in this activity? Why would they risk the good name and good work they have done in the past in order to support someone like Glenn Beck?
Oh, I see, SOWF's Board of Directors is stacked with right-wing ideologues like Erik Prince, the founder and head of Blackwater (yes, that Blackwater).
Do what you want, but I will keep giving my money to real charities like Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (http://www.iava.org), Achilles International's Freedom Team of Wounded Veterans (http://www.achillesinternational.org/programs/freedom-team/overview) and The Wounded Warrior Project (http://www.woundedwarriorproject.org/)-- organizations that actually provide support to Veterans and their families who have earned and need the assistance.
I have no need to give my money to a multi-millionaire, hate-spewing faux patriot who has never served a day in his life in uniform, but would rather take money from those that have.
Shame on you Glenn Beck and SOWF. What a disgrace.

Five Days Until Beck's Restoring Honor Rally

On Saturday, August 28, Fox News conservative pundit Glenn Beck is hosting a rally at the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. called Restoring Honor. Set to take place from 10 am to 1 pm, this apolitical event is billed as a gathering to “honor our heroes, our heritage, and our future” and is expected to “pay tribute to America’s service personnel and other upstanding citizens who embody our nation’s founding principles of integrity, truth, and honor,” according to Beck’s website. Contrary to popular belief, Beck stresses that the event is not a Tea Party rally, nor is it political in nature.

“There will be absolutely no politics involved. This rally will honor the troops, unite the American people under the principles of integrity and truth, and make a pledge to restore honor within ourselves and our country.”

To emphasize the apolitical nature of the event, Beck has asked attendees not to bring signs of any variety to the gathering, in that “they may deter from the peaceful message we are bringing to Washington.”

Despite the seemingly benign intents of the Restoring Honor rally, the event has faced fierce opposition from civil rights leaders angered over Beck’s choice to host the rally on August 28, the anniversary of Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” speech.

Confused by the anger that the date of the event ha s provoked, Beck responds, “Blacks don’t own the legacy of Martin Luther King just as whites don’t own the legacy of Abraham Lincoln.”

In response, social activists, including Reverend Al Sharpton, are planning marches and demonstrations on the same day in order to coincide with Beck’s event.

Similarly, New Black Panther Party Chairman Malik Zulu Shabazz promises that the New Black Panther Party will meet Beck at the steps of the Lincoln Memorial.

The Left’s attempts at creating controversy over what should be a completely uncontroversial event have done little to deter Americans from making plans to attend.

Buses from as far as Washington and California as well as Vermont and New Hampshire have been scheduled to take interested parties to the rally, and many have already been sold out. Likewise, hotels in the Washington, D.C. area are filling up fast.

According to the Conservative Daily News, Fox News host Bill O’Reilly projects that the event will host approximately 15 to 20 thousand people, while Beck is hoping for well over 100,000.

Aware that many Americans are unable to attend the event for financial, work-related, or personal reasons, Beck has asked Americans to participate in any way they can, whether it is through spiritual engagements like fasting and praying, or through social participation such as promoting the event to friends and families, or donating money to the event (as all proceeds will be to the Special Operations Warrior Foundation).

Above all, Beck has emphasized that the event should encourage Americans to restore honor in their own lives.

While Beck has worked hard to keep much of the event secretive to preserve the element of surprise, announced speakers at the event include Beck, Sarah Palin, Ted Nugent, Dr. Alveda King — niece of Martin Luther King, Jr., and Marcus Luttrell.

Country artist Jo Dee Messina is set to perform at the event as well.

Beck contends that Restoring Honor will be an event “for the textbooks.” Whether such an rally will make its way into the pages of notoriously unpatriotic school textbooks is debatable, but one thing is certain: Americans across the country (including yours truly) are excited at the potential and will be flocking to D.C. on Saturday to be part of something big.

Those interested in the event should visit http://www.glennbeck.com/828/ for further information.