Charity Shouldn't Grind An Ax

I’ve been up and down the last day or so with some minor ailments (nursing a swollen foot, ice on and off every 20 minutes), and that has something to do with the few posts lately. That may be the case for another day or so, I don’t know yet. We’ll see.

While I was flat on my back yesterday watching the Comcast channel, one of their public affairs shows (I guess that’s what you would call it) featured a lady named Frankie Mayo, whose son served in Iraq but has left the Army and is now a recruiter for the Delaware Army National Guard. She has started a non-profit business called Operation AC (for air conditioner…her organization has actually raised enough money to send 9,400 overseas, which is pretty amazing, as well as 14,500 heaters and 302 pairs of combat boots). The organization’s web site lists at least a couple of hundred other types of supplies that are needed by our troops in Iraq.

Ms. Mayo spoke at length about her organization and its efforts, for which it should rightly be proud. However, in the course of the interview, she uttered this little gem:

“(We have to do this)…because the mainstream media is beating up our troops.”

I was just about to throw the ice bag at the TV set when I was saved by the cat jumping onto my lap where the remote was and accidentally changing the channel (he’s a liberal too, no doubt).

When I was able to log on and find out more about this organization, it turns out that they have links to news reports that were aired on some of the so-called “mainstream media” that Mayo derided, as well as links to conservative propagandists like Glenn Beck, Michael Reagan, and Flush Limbore himself. Other links include Stars and Stripes and the Washington (Moonie) Times, so it seems that the organization is broadly represented, making me wonder why Mayo has a chip on her shoulder (and by the way, I have YET to find an example of the media “beating up on our troops,” though I see the attitude of, “look what our fine service people are doing for you, you lazy Americans” coming through all over the place…the work of the organization is commendable, but I wonder how much of the need they’re trying to fill was created by our government not doing what it was supposed to do for our service people to begin with).

(By the way, Michael Reagan’s web site is as obnoxious as he is. Try using the “back” button in your browser to get out of it and see what happens.)

As I investigated the Operation AC site some more, I came across a link to someone named Michael Yon (on Yon's preface page, Mayo gets in another dig at the “mainstream media”…how nice). It was news to me to find that Yon is a celebrated “warblogger” and photojournalist, whose work has been embraced by the likes of Michelle Malkin and Glenn Reynolds (freeper alert, freeper alert…and of course, Yon, like the rest of the group, has it in for the so-called “MSM” also, standard issue if you will for these types…and I admit I have to be careful about that phrase also). Yon has documented the fighting in Mosul through the eyes of a combat unit called Deuce Four, and he has apparently written a screenplay based on his posts at the scene (the Operation AC site mentions that the upcoming movie about Deuce Four will star Bruce Willis, for whatever that’s worth).

As I read more about Yon from the Mudville Gazette (which I believe is a site of milblogs…I’m pretty new to this particular subject and still trying to find out more), I came across this item. It seems that Yon was contemplating suing the Army over credit of a photo of an Iraqi girl “killed by terrorists.” The photo was credited to a U.S. Army major, though Yon took the photo. However, the Army lawyer argued that the photo was property of the Army, since Yon signed the standard liability form required of all embedded journalists, thus giving up his right to compensation.

I guess, at the prodding of Reynolds, Malkin and others of their ilk, Yon was able to get the Army to bend the rules and give him the photo credit after all, which to me is typical behavior for these people. And I REALLY had to laugh when I read that Yon, a resident of Massachusetts, contacted his senator, a member of the U.S. Senate’s Armed Services Committee, one Ted Kennedy by name, for help (talk about a conservative “having to eat humble pie” by pleading his case to their Number One Boogeyman of all time…and as you might expect, the commenters on the story all came down squarely on Yon’s side, calling the Army lawyer “stupid” and other names).

Am I being unreasonable to wonder why an organization that is ostensibly trying to perform charitable work would immerse itself in all of this shameless propaganda? Doesn’t it detract from the good they’ve accomplished to this point and as far into the future as long as our people are sentenced to serve in this desert gulag fighting this wretched war for Bush’s attempt at expansion of America’s empire?

All the same, if they’re helping our people, I would ask that you ignore Operation AC’s reactionary, jackbooted politics and consider doing the same through the organization also. Thanks.