February 19, 2007 6:54 AM

How about you stop using Jesus as an excuse for being a bigoted @$$hole??

Think Tanks, 503s and Rush Limbaugh—What’s The Real “Soft Money”

501(c)(3)

EDWARDS NEEDS TO CAN McEWAN

SECOND EDWARDS STAFFER QUITS

Organizations with this classification are prohibited from conducting political campaign activities to influence elections to public office. Public charities (but not private foundations) are permitted to conduct a limited amount of lobbying to influence legislation. Although the law states that “no substantial part” of a public charity’s activities may be devoted to lobbying, charities with very large budgets may lawfully expend a million dollars (under the “expenditure” test) or more (under the “substantial part” test) per year on lobbying.

Over the past week, we’ve seen what sort of damage one intolerant, Right-wing, hyper-religious bigot with a big mouth can do. Former DUMB@$$ AWARD wiener and world-class blowhard Bill Donohue scored a major coup when he essentially forced two bloggers to resign from John Edwards’ presidential campaign. Yes, Amanda Marcotte and Melissa McEwan could have remained on Edwards’ staff, but they recognized that the artificial furor created by Donohue’s self-interested bluster would not go away on it’s own. Not only would Donohue not stop until he achieved his goal of forcing his demands upon Edwards, Edwards didn’t have the balls to step up and tell Donohue where he could stuff his faux outrage.

Edwards’ wussiness cost him any chance of my supporting him during the primary season. If he is selected as the Democratic nominee, I’ll support him, because nothing is more important than taking back the White House. However, my support will come while I hold my nose. John Edwards had a magnificent opportunity to stand up for the truth and for free speech, and in the end he chose to symbolically fellate Donohue. Way to show some backbone there, John….

The aspect of this that I find most disturbing (besides the mental picture of Edwards on his knees in front of Donohue) in that Donohue’s Catholic League is a 501(c)(3) organization, which means it’s tax-exempt. It’s not particularly unusual for a religious organization to have tax-exempt status, but in the case of the Catholic League, this is a political organization masquerading as a tax-exempt religious organization. Donohue’s storm troopers may be smart enough to follow the letter of the regulation, but they’re certainly trampling on the spirit of it.

There’s nothing about the Catholic League that’s even remotely in line with the mission of a nonprofit organization. It seems the Catholic League exists for the sole reason of providing Bill Donohue with a platform from which to spew his venom and bile…and American taxpayers are supporting this bigotry and intolerance? Only in Right-wing AmeriKKKa….

The fact of the matter is that the Catholic League isn’t really a pro-Catholic organization so much as an organization dedicated to the task of demonizing liberals, feminists, and Democrats as anti-Catholic, which just so happens to be to the benefit of the Republican party. Tedra Osell has more on Donohue’s real crusade against liberals. Donohue has helped manufacture controversy in the past in situations that also conveniently gave Republican politicians a boost in their pro-Catholic image. The most noteworthy incident is when Donohue raised a ruckus over the show “Sensation” at the Brooklyn Museum of Art, which gave Rudy Giuliani a chance to puff up his social conservative credentials, even though he is pro-choice and pro-gay rights.

The Catholic League may function as an arm of the Republican party, but they have no legal relationship, so while the League may have troubles with the IRS, they are not in violation of any campaign finance reform laws.

If Jesus was a Swift Boat Vet, what would he do? He’d join the Catholic League!

Donohue’s private 501(c)(3) soapbox will continue to skirt 501(c)(3) anti-lobbying regulations. Though the Catholic League has been careful to avoid violating the letter of the regulation, Donohue’s tirades on behalf of Right-wing issues and candidates is arguably (and, in my mind, clearly) in violation of the spirit of the regulation…not that Donohue gives a damn. Like most any Right-wing bigot, he feels he has the perfect right to bloviate when and how he sees fit, and if you don’t agree, you can just SHUT UP!! Reasonable, dispassionate debate seems lost on Donohue, whose arsenal of persuasion seems to consists of little more than vitriol, insults, inflammatory accusations, and outright lies.

What would a good Catholic League member do? Well, if you’re Bill Donohue, it’s whatever might seem necessary to achieve your ends. If this involve shouting down and demonizing your ideological enemy, then that’s what you do. If it’s lying at the top of your lungs and accusing your adversary of the most vile, heinous acts- accusations that you know to be untrue- well, we’re in a culture war, and war is hell, don’tchaknow??

It’s unlikely that the IRS will ultimately do anything to strip the Catholic League of it’s 501(c)(3) status. With Republicans still firmly in control of the levers of power in Washington, and with Donohue’s willingness to cry “religious persecution” at the slightest provocation, the Catholic League’s non-profit still will no doubt remain intact. That doesn’t mean that those of us who detest Bill Donohue, the Catholic League, and everything they stand for can’tcomplain to the IRS. In the end, nothing may change, but if we can force the Catholic League to devote resources to dealing with IRS complaints, that’s resources they can’t use to support Bill Donohue’s bigotry. And that can only be considered a good thing.

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This page contains a single entry by Jack Cluth published on February 19, 2007 6:54 AM.

You can't say you weren't warned was the previous entry in this blog.

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