number two with a bullet

September 1, 2005 10:02 PM

While FEMA is slow to reach those in New Orleans, they were quick to promote Operation Blessing, Pat Robertson's controversial faith-based "charity", linking their website second only to the Red Cross. Hours after the federal agency was exposed by the blog Sploid today, they quickly tried to hide their support for the pastor's organization by changing their web pages.
posted by tsarfan (30 comments total)

As a citizen of Louisiana, let me be the first to say that I'd happily accept donations from the American Nazi Party or the Osama bin Laden Babykilling Club.
posted by ColdChef at 10:11 PM on September 1, 2005

Hugo Chavez is more likely to help for real.
posted by realcountrymusic at 10:20 PM on September 1, 2005

Yeah, I say we trade Robertson for Oil and aid from Chavez.
posted by shoepal at 10:28 PM on September 1, 2005

As a citizen of the United States, let me say that we want you in the south, ColdChef, to get those donations, and they aren't used, like they were by Operation Blessing in the past for Robertson's diamond mines.
posted by tsarfan at 10:29 PM on September 1, 2005

"As a citizen of Louisiana, let me be the first to say that I'd happily accept donations from the American Nazi Party or the Osama bin Laden Babykilling Club."

But would you want your tax dollars going to promote those charities? What if, SHOCK! HORROR!, not all of the funding would be going to the good people of Louisiana.

Not all charities are created equal. I'm giving my money to the Red Cross and keeping it as far away from Pat Robertson as possible.
posted by jimray at 10:36 PM on September 1, 2005

Well, of course FEMA is slow to respond; its the victims' fault, so why should they hurry? I mean, those poor and elderly folk really should get their priorities straight!

But it doesn't matter, because the director of FEMA thinks things are going relatively well.
posted by [insert clever name here] at 10:44 PM on September 1, 2005

Yep. Things are just peachie. FEMA's doing a great job.

A great job for me to poop on.

And yeah, our money's going to the Red Cross.
posted by geekhorde at 10:47 PM on September 1, 2005

Maybe I'm misreading something, but I failt to see how "Sploid" made them "hide" the link.

If you go to FEMA.gov there is a big graphic that "Hurricane Katrian >> Donate Now" That gives you a page with a list of resources including a link that says Volunteer or Make a Donation, and right there is Operation Blessing under "Donate Cash"

Me thinks "Sploid" is trying to get some publicity for itself.

If you choose not to give to Operation Blessing, that is your choice. FEMA lists many organizations to chose from.
posted by Steve_at_Linnwood at 10:56 PM on September 1, 2005

Thoughts on the whole mess from Josh Marshall, including the fact all of the listed organizations are religious.
posted by jimray at 10:56 PM on September 1, 2005

The Red Cross is religious?
posted by drezdn at 11:05 PM on September 1, 2005

Let's be open-minded about this. Perhaps we could use Robertson's more than ample supply of hot air to help dry out flood-soaked areas.
posted by Rothko at 11:07 PM on September 1, 2005

Phew! I was getting worried that we would not have Pat Robertson involved in the whole situation, but luckily he's managed to get on board. Let's hope he has a useful prayer or such to help out..
posted by Meccabilly at 12:58 AM on September 2, 2005

Hopefully Thursday was the worst and it will get better from here on out. It will take through the weekend to get everyone evacuated, but supplies will probably be brought in hold everyone over until then.

The heroism was in evacuating most of the city in advance. Once everyone is out, we can start to assess if there were any fuckups and who caused them, or if maybe there was just nothing to be done. This was a disaster of biblical proportions after all.

Let's remember the problem isn't over when everyone leaves NO. The refugees can't live in the Astrodome forever. Finding places for them will be the largest task of all.
posted by b_thinky at 1:07 AM on September 2, 2005

Once everyone is out, we can start to assess if there were any fuckups and who caused them, or if maybe there was just nothing to be done.

You are probably right. But one of the major fuckups was diverting funds from the levee programme to the war in Iraq.

Now when can we start calling this a civil war - or is it simply a war zone...
posted by Meccabilly at 2:38 AM on September 2, 2005

Or is it just like Vietnam?
posted by Meccabilly at 3:39 AM on September 2, 2005

This was a disaster of biblical proportions after all.

Yeah, and the flood sucked, too.

/rimshot
posted by Civil_Disobedient at 4:08 AM on September 2, 2005

Wow, that FEMA chief is shockingly insensitive. This quote is amazing: "So, we've got to figure out some way to convince people that whenever warnings go out it's for their own good," Brown said. "Now, I don't want to second guess why they did that. My job now is to get relief to them."

Hmmm, maybe the effect of four years of fake news-rigged terror alerts made people tend to disregard government warnings? I remember my mama reading me a little book about a boy who cried wolf...
posted by miss tea at 4:19 AM on September 2, 2005

WTF???

I'm with ColdChef here. I lost my house and a lifetime's worth of photos and possessions in Biloxi. I now own exactly what is sitting here with me in a barracks room on a military base. But the worst part is, I am pretty damn lucky. I have food in my belly, and I'm not wet, being raped, suffering dysentary, or mourning my loved ones. It's all well and good for you to sit high and dry in your 90027 zipcode with more than just memories of the last 30 years of your life and pass judgment on a relief agency, but there are desperate people out there.

Fuck you and your damn politics.

Welcome to the Anger stage of bereavement.
posted by Hal Mumkin at 4:32 AM on September 2, 2005

Hal Mumkin: Yes, you're in a hard situation. Yes, it's easier for those of us who are not there.

That's why we'd like to do something to help.

The problem is that fake charities like "Operation Blessing" won't help you at all. They'll take the suckers' money and use it to enrich that fat lying prick Pat Robertson.

If you're lucky, he'll send someone along to distribute signed pictures of himself and a few Bibles. Then he'll spout some more crap about how gays and lesbians are to blame.

Exposing frauds like Robertson is nothing to do with "politics".

I respect your anger, you're entitled to be angry.

Please try to direct it as intelligently as you can.
posted by cleardawn at 4:48 AM on September 2, 2005

Hal, you should perhaps get angry at people who want to use your tragedy to advance their own agendas (like, say, Pat Robertson, via the Federal government), rather than those who want to limit people trying to do that.
posted by OmieWise at 5:32 AM on September 2, 2005

Fuck you and your damn politics.

Hal, if someone donates to Operation Blessing, that means that the money will not go to the people who need it. Robertson and OB have a long history of misappropriating private donations. That's why we're upset.
posted by Optimus Chyme at 6:27 AM on September 2, 2005

Hal are you at Keesler AFB by chance? Or did you get moved inland?

How is it you have web access?
posted by a3matrix at 7:53 AM on September 2, 2005

Fuck you and your damn politics.

Damn straight. It's sad how much glee the standard Democratic blogs get out of finding this stuff. Always looking for their angle.
posted by smackfu at 8:10 AM on September 2, 2005

Damn straight. It's sad how much glee the standard Democratic blogs get out of finding this stuff. Always looking for their angle.

Where do you see glee, you dick! Everyone is angry. Stop parroting that crap you heard on Rush or whatever and think for yourself. There's a hell of a lot of anger and no glee anywhere. Feel free to speak up if you think it's misdirected, but I challenge you to find any "glee".
posted by milovoo at 8:20 AM on September 2, 2005

I've heard the Operation Blessing planes were used to transport workers and machinery to Robertson's African diamond mines.
I've heard the Operation Blessing planes were used to transport supplies to the Contras in Nicaragua.

I HAVENT heard much about them doing any real relief work.

So you can "assisting con-men" to the list of reasons to be angry with the government in regards to the NOLA disaster.
posted by bashos_frog at 8:33 AM on September 2, 2005

Maybe Robertson should've tried to divert this hurricane, like he has done so many times in the past.
posted by bashos_frog at 8:35 AM on September 2, 2005

Damn straight. It's sad how much glee the standard Democratic blogs get out of finding this stuff. Always looking for their angle.
posted by smackfu at 8:10 AM PST on September 2

"Our angle" is that donating to Operation Blessing is extremely risky, all things considered, and that a) that money would be best sent to a real charity without dubious financial motives and a history of using donations to further its founder's diamond mining operations abroad and b) that FEMA's endorsement of OB is a bad idea, especially considering that its founder is also a morally reprehensible sociopath who believes that assassination is a valuable political tool.

I wish we didn't have to talk about this. I wish everyone knew that donations are best sent to the Red Cross. But lo: some scam artists are using this disaster, this tragedy, to stuff their wallets, and one of those scam artists just happens to be endorsed by the federal agency ostenibly in charge of the entire relief operation.
posted by Optimus Chyme at 8:38 AM on September 2, 2005

Hmm... The head of FEMA used to be head of the Arabian Horse Association. Robertson owns race horses. Coincidence? I think not!
posted by brundlefly at 11:49 AM on September 2, 2005

Operation Blessing has no credibility whatsoever. None. Robertson and his bunch are shysters, plain and simple. Now they're trying to profit of the bodies of the dead and the suffering of thousands. There is a damn good reason to be pissed as hell right now and it has nothing whatsoever to do with politics. Politics is a diversion 'Oh look, there's a liberal', they're making fun of your suffering' BULLSHIT. There is no one making fun of anyone here. There is genuine and well-deserved anger and scorn at those who would take advantage of those who are in need use that suffereing to profit while keeping those who most deserve help and assistance from it.

Repeat it over and over and over: Robertson and his group are frauds. They are not chrisitans anymore than those who agree with them are righteous and decent human beings.
posted by mk1gti at 5:56 PM on September 2, 2005

Juan Gonzalez on Operation Blessing, writing in the NY Daily News.

Operation Blessing, with a budget of $190 million, is an integral part of the Robertson empire. Not only is he the chairman of the board, his wife is listed on its latest financial report as its vice president, and one of his sons is on the board of directors.

Back in 1994, during the infamous Rwandan genocide, Robertson used his 700 Club's daily cable operation to appeal to the American public for donations to fly humanitarian supplies into Zaire to save the Rwandan refugees.

The planes purchased by Operation Blessing did a lot more than ferry relief supplies.

An investigation conducted by the Virginia attorney general's office concluded in 1999 that the planes were mostly used to transport mining equipment for a diamond operation run by a for-profit company called African Development Corp.

And who do you think was the principal executive and sole shareholder of the mining company?

You guessed it, Pat Robertson himself.

Robertson had landed the mining concession from his longtime friend Mobutu Sese Seko, then the dictator of Zaire.

I found that pretty astonishing, so I did a Google search and found the following:

While OBI trumpets its work at home and abroad through its Web site, other sources provide a more nuanced picture. In 1996, the Norfolk, Va.-based Virginia-Pilot newspaper reported that two pilots who were hired by the charity to fly humanitarian aid to Zaire in 1994 were used almost exclusively for Robertson's diamond mining operations. Chief pilot Robert Hinkle, claimed that in the six months he flew for Operation Blessing, only one or two of more than 40 flights were humanitarian -- the rest carried mining equipment. OBI resources were being diverted to support the African Development Co., a private corporation run by Robertson. At the time, Robertson also had a special relationship with Zaire's late dictator, Mobutu Sese Seko.

"My first impression when I took the job was that we'd be called Operation Blessing and we'd be doing humanitarian work," Hinkle, a former Peace Corps volunteer, told the Virginia-Pilot. "We got over there and 'Operation Blessing' was painted on the tails of the airplanes, but we were doing no humanitarian relief at all. We were just supplying the miners and flying the dredges from Kinshasa out to Tshikapa."

At first, an OPI spokesperson denied the charges by the Virginia Pilot. Later, however, a written statement from the group admitted Robertson's mining company used Operation Blessing planes "from time to time," but that most air missions in Zaire were for humanitarian or training purposes. "For example, medicine was transported to some 17 clinics in Zaire," the spokesman told the paper. Hinkle called the OPI statement "a clear-cut lie."
posted by russilwvong at 12:18 PM on September 9, 2005