GWB saves wounded veterans charity $150k

[Moonbeam]

LOL

"But Bush Clinton!" :awe:

It's what he does, but the part I find really unkind is him talking about Bush making Chimp Change.

 

[waggy]

/facepalm

jesus some will find the most idiotic thing to nit pick about...

 

[werepossum]

/facepalm

jesus some will find the most idiotic thing to nit pick about...

Disagree. While it's admirable that he made them an additional $1.5 million and I have no problem with them picking up his travel and accommodation, charging a speaking fee to show up and support maimed warriors he personally sent to war is beyond the pale. Any former or current American politician SHOULD do that for free, but W has an absolute moral obligation to go beyond that. For that matter, how difficult would it have been for Bush to arrange transportation to be donated by one of his buddies? I'm not saying anyone has an obligation to provide this, but given the nature of the group I would think it would be an easy task to get a volunteer. And given the nature of their needs and how those needs were incurred, shouldn't Bush of all people be looking for ways to go above and beyond for these people?

 

[Nebor]

All the outrage ... does anyone actually think that W gives two shits about the troops he sent to Iraq? No. That's why this doesn't surprise me at all.

He's involved in a lot of veteran charities around the country. In Dallas he regularly does bike rides, 5ks, lunches and other events with local veterans groups.

It seems like a lot of people in this thread don't realize that Bush is still beloved by most in the military (to include veterans.) He was a strong leader, and people respected that, even if he did send them to war.

The fact that he charged money to speak at a veteran charity is disgusting, and has significantly changed my view of him. :thumbsdown:

 

[werepossum]

He's involved in a lot of veteran charities around the country. In Dallas he regularly does bike rides, 5ks, lunches and other events with local veterans groups.

It seems like a lot of people in this thread don't realize that Bush is still beloved by most in the military (to include veterans.) He was a strong leader, and people respected that, even if he did send them to war.

The fact that he charged money to speak at a veteran charity is disgusting, and has significantly changed my view of him. :thumbsdown:

Agreed, and well said.

 

[CitizenKain]

Why would anyone want to hear W speak about anything?

"Hey remembered how I sent you into war on a whim, wasn't that hoot! Then I tried to prevent you from getting help when you got back!"

 

[Jaskalas]

The fact that he charged money to speak at a veteran charity is disgusting, and has significantly changed my view of him. :thumbsdown:

Taking a slice of the pie is nothing unusual, odd, or disgusting. People take a cut of the money they raise / recover / find / etc. That's how the world works.

Moreover, what was his percentage of the cut, and how does it compare to the charity's own overhead / admin fees?

 

[Nebor]

Taking a slice of the pie is nothing unusual, odd, or disgusting. People take a cut of the money they raise / recover / find / etc. That's how the world works.

Moreover, what was his percentage of the cut, and how does it compare to the charity's own overhead / admin fees?

Taking money from a veteran's charity implies that that money would otherwise have gone to the veterans meant to benefit from the charity. The fact that he was almost directly responsibly for many of those wounded veterans needing a charity at all makes taking the money that much worse. I don't see how you could see this any other way.

 

[Don Vito Corleone]

Taking money from a veteran's charity implies that that money would otherwise have gone to the veterans meant to benefit from the charity. The fact that he was almost directly responsibly for many of those wounded veterans needing a charity at all makes taking the money that much worse. I don't see how you could see this any other way.

Yeah, I am having a hard time seeing the other side of this one. Does President Bush have the legal right to negotiate whatever speaking fee he wants, for any event? Sure. That doesn't make it right, particularly when we are talking about a wounded warriors charity. He has been responsible for wounding more of our troops than any other President in the last 40 years, and he was astronomically wealthy before he ever took office.

 

[Murloc]

meh I don't understand this personality cult. Especially of politicians.

 

[Sheik Yerbouti]

just because you CAN do something doesn't make it CORRECT that you did it.

 

[JSt0rm]

war crimes. This guy and his handler Chaney should be brought up in international court and end up in the hague.

 

[MrPickins]

But not from this kind of charity, that's the point. As the President who sent them to war, he owes them more than would, say, Bill or Hillary Clinton. I don't think paying his own expenses to raise money for wounded veterans is too much to ask.

I've said it before: I don't always agree with werepossum, but when I do, I really agree with werepossum.

 

[sandorski]

He could have saved the US Government $trillions by conceding defeat in 2000

 

[Moonbeam]

He's involved in a lot of veteran charities around the country. In Dallas he regularly does bike rides, 5ks, lunches and other events with local veterans groups.

It seems like a lot of people in this thread don't realize that Bush is still beloved by most in the military (to include veterans.) He was a strong leader, and people respected that, even if he did send them to war.

The fact that he charged money to speak at a veteran charity is disgusting, and has significantly changed my view of him. :thumbsdown:

The difference to me is that while you value what you imagine to be strength I value wisdom. There can be no real strength in irrational and reckless stupidity. To me this lack of perception regarding a charity is just a possible small potatoes manifestation in a much greater reprehensibility.

 

[Jhhnn]

What a great deal- get paid to appear for a charity that wouldn't exist if you hadn't created the need for it with reckless military adventurism.

It's not like W isn't quite wealthy in the first place. I think that he could have donated his time & taken his usual fee as a tax write-off, iirc.

Oh, oh, oh! But Clinton, right? From the article-

However, former president Clinton, and his predecessor George H W Bush, both claim they have never charged a charity.

Create tens of thousands of tore up, shot up, blown up & fucked up veterans, then make money speaking on their behalf. Perfect Republicanism- absolutely shameless.

 

[SlowSpyder]

Thanks Obama.

 

[ivwshane]

What a great deal- get paid to appear for a charity that wouldn't exist if you hadn't created the need for it with reckless military adventurism.

It's not like W isn't quite wealthy in the first place. I think that he could have donated his time & taken his usual fee as a tax write-off, iirc.

Oh, oh, oh! But Clinton, right? From the article-

Originally Posted by :
However, former president Clinton, and his predecessor George H W Bush, both claim they have never charged a charity.

Create tens of thousands of tore up, shot up, blown up & fucked up veterans, then make money speaking on their behalf. Perfect Republicanism- absolutely shameless.

Whoa that changes things quite a bit! Dick move indeed!

 

[werepossum]

Taking money from a veteran's charity implies that that money would otherwise have gone to the veterans meant to benefit from the charity. The fact that he was almost directly responsibly for many of those wounded veterans needing a charity at all makes taking the money that much worse. I don't see how you could see this any other way.

Agreed, and well said. No one is disagreeing that the organization is better off for Bush's participation, just that his taking a speaking fee is crass and ignores that his own actions, right or wrong, are responsible for the vast majority of this charity's needs. It's not like he raised so much money that this extra hundred grand would have been spent on hookers and blow. This is a hundred grand that won't be available to house a warrior's family as he or she attempts to rebuild a shattered life, or provide a working robotic prosthesis rather than a static cosmetic or crude mechanical version, or fund an experimental therapy not covered by the VA, or build ramps or buy a lift so that a maimed vet can negotiate her own home.

Taking a slice of the pie is nothing unusual, odd, or disgusting. People take a cut of the money they raise / recover / find / etc. That's how the world works.

Moreover, what was his percentage of the cut, and how does it compare to the charity's own overhead / admin fees?

Agreed, but Bush's relationship to this charity IS odd and unique. Ignoring this fact is just silly; Bush owes these people in a way grossly atypical to any other celebrity/charity combination.

I will go a bit farther and say that any celebrity raising money for any charity should pay his own way and forgo compensation if financially able. The idea that celebrities worth tens of millions should be made whole or worse, come out ahead as they try to convince much poorer people to donate their much scarcer resources has always been unseemly to me. But Bush's special, near-unique relationship with these people and their needs makes his accepting a speaking fee one of the morally worst things I have seen from an ex-President, ever.

I've said it before: I don't always agree with werepossum, but when I do, I really agree with werepossum.

lol thanks. And no one should always agree with me, as there is no way I am always correct.

 

[sportage]

Considering the millions, (billions?) Cheney and Halliburton made off our dead and wounded American soldiers, $100k seems like chump change.
And after all, they did in fact hire a chump for their fund raiser.