I Humbly Apologize To My Readers

For years I have supported Troopathon, the pro-troop charity which is a part of Move America Forward.  MAF was established 10 years ago.  Many of its staunchest supporters were celebrated personalities like Gary Sinise, Rush Limbaugh, Robert Davi, Donald Rumsfeld, Mark Levin, Dana Loesch, Herman Cain, Allen West, Dr. Ben Carson, John Bolton, Gold Star Mother Debbie Lee and Andrew Breitbart.

I began participating in the annual Troopathon events in 2009.  I became aware of Troopathon after reading a post over at Hot Air.  I became a member of the blogging team known as the "Hot Air Steamers" that participated in the blogger competition to determine which team could secure the greatest number of donations for care packages to our troops.

Today I learned that an examination of fundraising appeals, tax records and other documents shows that Move America Forward has repeatedly misled donors and inflated its charitable accomplishments while funneling the millions of dollars it raised to the men behind the group and their political consulting firms.

To make matters worse “the charity has taken images and stories from other groups and from veterans themselves without permission to use in fundraising appeals.”

“Last year, Move America Forward even solicited funds by claiming a partnership with Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, the largest hospital for wounded service members in the country. No such partnership existed, Defense Department officials say.”

I received an email from Jonathan Salazar who is a contributor to Breitbart News on May 20, 2014 asking if I would support Troopathon VII this year.  He sent me the link to a webpage where donations could be made to send care packages to our troops and a link to the graphics that I could use to promote the event on my blog.

During one telephone conversation with Mr. Salazar on June 12th, he promised that I would have an opportunity to interview Gary Sinise before the event launched on June 26, 2014.  The interview never occurred.  I attributed it to Mr. Sinise’s obviously busy schedule.  I never gave it another thought.

I heavily promoted Troopathon VII with a blog post. One month before the launch I placed a masthead banner at the top of my blog and added two clickable graphics on my sidebar to make donations convenient.

Ed Morrissey of Hot Air writes, “…the issues of having TPE founders and their vendor operations profiting from the transactions for the care packages is disturbing, if true, even if it doesn’t necessarily violate any laws. That’s certainly not what donors and sponsors thought were happening in the Troopathons, and both MAF and TPE owe those donors and sponsors a more detailed explanation than just dismissing the allegations because ProPublica made them."

I am taking the opportunity today to say how sorry I am to anyone who may have been persuaded to donate to Troopathon in 2014 or in previous years at my behest.

It sorrows me that the name of Andrew Breitbart has been sullied.  He loved our troops and was the event’s most devoted supporter.

I hope you can forgive me for being misled and in turn misleading you, my readers.

Kim Baker, who authored the exposé for ProPublica, received this bullshit statement from Danny Gonzalez, Director of Communications for Move America Forward.

If You Loved Andrew Breitbart…Step Up And Support Troopathon VII

The late great Andrew Breitbart was a constant co-host of the Troopathon and it was a charity and cause close to his heart.

Join Stephen K. Bannon, long-time friend of Andrew, as he hosts Troopathon VII along with co-founder of Move America Forward and talk show host Melanie Morgan and Gold Star mom Debbie Lee in a star-studded 8-hour web-a-thon that will broadcast from the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Museum in Simi Valley, CA.

Guests slated to appear are:  Senator Ted Cruz, S. E. Cupp, Jon David Kahn, Donald Rumsfeld, Robert Davi, Mark Levin, Herman Cain, John Bolton, Rep. Louie Gohmert, Frank Gaffney, Gary Sinise, Mike Krzyzewski, Clark Howard, Col. Allen West, Adam Corolla, Jedediah Bila, Dennis Miller, Diana Falzone, Dana Loesch, Liz Cheney,  former Navy SEAL Leif Babin, Gary Graham, Hulk Hogan, former Navy SEAL John Willink, John Ondrasik, former Navy SEAL Kevin Lacz, Ned Vaughn, Rita Cosby, Special Forces Vet Terry Schappert, Brad Thor, Dr. Ben Carson and Lars Larson.

This year’s Troopathon makes it easy for you to help send a little piece of home right now to our 33,000 soldiers, Marines, sailors, airman, and guardsman putting their lives on the line in Afghanistan.

The event will be Livestreaming right here or you can visit www.troopathon.org for more information.

Move America Forward is a 501(C)3 so all care package donations are tax deductible.

You can purchase a care package by clicking on the link, make a donation through PayPal or mail your personal check made out to MOVE AMERICA FORWARD at 8795 Folsom Blvd. #103, Sacramento, CA 95826.

You can also follow Troopathon on Twitter and Facebook.

Troopathon VII

Nothing brings a serviceman or woman more joy than knowing that someone back home is thankful and thinking of them while they are on deployment.  You can help make the daily routine of our 33,000 troops putting their lives on the line in Afghanistan a little more bearable and thank them for their services all at the same time.

We've heard from countless members of the Armed Forces about items that the military does not provide, are hard to come by and they really appreciate getting. That's why Move America Forward has responded and compiled care packages that contain these goods as a way of saying "thank you" for their sacrifices and courage.

Each care package will include a personal message written by you where you can express your gratitude to our military.

Troopathon is a once-a-year month long campaign.  This year’s Troopathon begins on June 25, 2014 at 1PM Pacific time, 4PM Eastern live from the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library & Museum in Simi Valley, California. The webcast will be available on www.troopathon. If you miss the 8 hour broadcast you can still find videos and information on the website right now, leading up to, and after the show.

As in years past, we are partnering with Breitbart.com. The late great Andrew Breitbart was a constant co-host of the Troopathon and it was a charity and cause close to his heart.

While our Troopathon campaign culminates with the big event on June 25th, it is a month-long drive and we need people to donate today.  Our troops need support now.

Move America Forward is a 501(C)3 so all care package donations are tax deductible.

You can purchase a care package by clicking on the link, make a donation through PayPal or mail your personal check made out to MOVE AMERICA FORWARD at 8795 Folsom Blvd. #103, Sacramento, CA 95826.

You can follow Troopathon on Twitter and Facebook.

UPDATE:  I spoke with Jonathan Salazar, columnist with Breitbart News this afternoon, and I have asked him to coordinate an interview with one of my all-time heroes Gary Sinise.  So stay tuned for my interview with Lt. Dan.

Troopathon 5: Send Care Packages To Our Troops

Ask any serviceman how many milestone events in their lives they have missed due to deployment and without batting an eye, you will hear tales from these dad’s who have missed the birth of a child, countless birthdays and anniversaries, graduations and holiday’s like Thanksgiving or Christmas. Sure, you might detect the wistful look in their eye as they recount the wonder of meeting their child for the first time after a long hard tour away from home, but you will also note the unmistakable tone of satisfaction which comes only from knowing that their sacrifice makes a difference. Many of our Deployed Dads will be celebrating Father’s Day alone this year, and for some it may be their very first Father’s Day as a dad.

They are proud to do their job, making sure their kids and everyone else’s are being watched over and protected by the greatest troops the world has ever known.

Let’s make sure these brave dads are looked after as well. 

You can help make the daily routine of our troops serving in Afghanistan and Iraq a little more bearable and thank them for their services all at the same time.

You can order your Father’s Day Care Packages here.

Conservative bloggers like me loved Andrew Breitbart.  What Andrew loved most was our troops.  In his honor, won’t you send a Care Package to our troops?  The campaign goes through July 12^th.  Thank you so very much.