MMFA: Charitable Chumps

This morning I spent a little quality time over at the Media Matters for America, otherwise known as “All Fox News, All the Time”.  You may also know it as the “Glenn Beck, Glenn Beck, Glenn Beck” site.  I don’t head over there too often.  If I want to know what Fox News is doing I’ll turn on the TV. myself.  If I want to see a Glenn Beck “evil-face” montage of pictures, I’ll Google it.  But every now and again I like to see what type of hate the Senior Fellows are using their 501(c)(3) status to spew.

Whenever I do stop through, I never fail to click on their “About” page and read their mission statement – because I love to laugh.  It is good medicine for the soul, after all.  At least that’s what people with souls say.  The folks over at Media Matters don’t seem to laugh much, so you do the math.  This is my favorite part:

 Launched in May 2004, Media Matters for America put in place, for the first time, the means to systematically monitor a cross section of print, broadcast, cable, radio, and Internet media outlets for conservative misinformation — news or commentary that is not accurate, reliable, or credible and that forwards the conservative agenda — every day, in real time.

 Isn’t that hilarious?  The best part is how they claim to “monitor a cross section” of conservative media outlets.  But click on their home page and look at the “cross section” of offerings they have produced.  As I write this the top three stories are “Fox News Ran With Completely Baseless Accusation that Immigrants Set AZ Fire”, Jay Varney on Fox News, and “Glenn Beck Embraces a Kahanist”.  That’s quite a diverse offering.

Question: How many Senior Fellows does it take to provide a cross section of conservative media outlets? Answer: Fox News.

There are so many things that are so horribly wrong about MMFA, starting with the fact that they are underwritten by George “Darth Vader” Soros, and including the fact that they are a 501(c)(3) and thus enjoy a very cushy tax-exempt status.  Yes, this “charity” gets a tax break from the government to discredit private sector businesses.  On top of that, Soros gets to enjoy a “charitable” tax deduction every time he gives Eric Boehlert money for lunch and massages.  It really is a testament to the tenacity ($) and resourcefulness ($) of Darth Soros that he was ever able to secure a tax-exempt status for MMFA in the first place.  I don’t begrudge his desire to squash the fledgling right wing media, but I do resent that the government helps him to do it.  Over at Big Government, Meredith Dake has made it her personal mission to expose MMFA’s lies and distortions and strip them of their 501(c)(3) status.  She has carefully (and brilliantly, I might add) laid out a plan of attack to accomplish this.  Dake provides the IRS’s own guidelines for what merits an investigation of a charitable organization.  Even just a quick perusal reveals that MMFA is clearly in violation in at least two instances – “Organization is involved in a political campaign” and “Organization is involved in excessive lobbying activities”.  I don’t need to view a cross section of MMFA’s site to know that they have really screwed the pooch on just those two things.  Dake goes on to explain the process for citizens filing complaints against Team Soros with the IRS and even provides the links to the necessary forms.  Some may feel this is excessive, but her point is well made: Media Matters for Soros has already declared war on Fox News and conservative outlets in general; in a day and age where government waste is about sink the entire country and liberals are calling for more taxes to cover their incompetence, it only makes sense that an organization that is so clearly NOT charitable be required to contribute financially to the coffers of America.

The right to free speech is the most valuable right provided to Americans under the Constitution, perhaps only trumped by the right to own property.  No conservative would ever deny the right of an organization or group of people to express opinions.  The fact that MMFA exists and is funded by Overlord Soros is not at issue here.  The fact that MMFA is narrow-minded to the point of being extremely dull is not at issue here.  The fact that that MMFA posts blatant lies and misinformation is not at issue here.  These are all things that are protected under our Constitution, and should remain that way.  MMFA has every right to exist, and should be free to suck for as long as they want.  What they shouldn’t be free to do is enjoy a charitable tax-exempt status.  It is clearly inappropriate, and at the very least it is journalistic malpractice.  I don’t really feel comfortable referring to MMFA and journalism in the same sentence, but I’m at a loss for a word to accurately describe what exactly it is they do.  Harassment? Whining? Storytelling? Regardless, the sinister connections between MMFA, George Soros and our federal government mean that conservatives will need to keep a watchful eye on this organization.  As the 2012 election season heats up, this propaganda machine will be in full swing, and they’ll be getting lucrative tax breaks to do so.