After covering the campaign to distribute 28 million DVDs of the anti-Muslim documentary, Obsession, to sway voters to vote Republican in crucial swing states, I’ve decided to file an IRS complaint (form 13909) against the Clarion Fund, which produced the film and distributed it. There are too many subterfuges involved in the production of this film and the way that Clarion does business.
It is a 501c3 non-profit organization. That’s why the film’s packaging makes this bogus claim:
Clarion Fund is an independent, non-profit, non-partisan organization devoted to educating the public about national security issues.
501c3’s are prohibited from engaging in direct partisan political activity. Yet Radical Islam, another Clarion website, featured an endorsement of John McCain’s candidacy. It is Republican bedrock principle to frighten American voters with the bogeyman of Islamic terror. If they do, they figure they win as they have a lock on the national security vote. George Bush, Dick Cheney and now, John McCain have done this since 9/11. Similarly, Raphael Shore, the film’s producer and director of Clarion Fund, bets that any voter he can scare with this film is likely to vote Republican.
The Republican Jewish Coalition has sent out mass mailings of Obsession to various Jewish mailing lists. Right-wing evangelical groups distributed it at both national political conventions. The film’s packaging features this message:
The threat of Radical Islam is the most important issue facing us today. But it’s a topic that neither the presidential candidates nor the media are discussing openly (!). It’s our responsibility to ensure we can all make an informed decision come November.
In short, everything about this film and Clarion Fund is partisan and political. As such, the latter has clearly violated IRS regulations governing the behavior of non-profit organizations.
Further, every non-profit is required to file an IRS form 990 and make it accessible to the public. Clarion Fund acknowledges it has not done so. Gregory Ross, it’s PR flack claims it’s level of activity was not substantial enough to meet the threshold for filing a 990. I’m no expert on 501c3 regulations (though I AM a former non-profit fundraiser), but this sounds entirely bogus to me. This is another issue that the IRS should investigate as part of my complaint.
Will Evans of Truthdig writes that 501c3’s do not have to reveal their donor lists. This could be a golden reason why Shore has registered as a non-profit. He gives his donors the opportunity to make tax-deductible gifts to Clarion at the U.S. taxpayer’s expense. In the meantime, he can conceal their identity in ways that would not be possible were Clarion a different type of entity.
Finally, if anyone doubts the partisan nature of this film, the list of interviewees includes Alan Dershowitz, fake PLO terrorist Walid Shoebat, Nonie Darwish, Brigitte Gabriel, and Muslim-hater Daniel Pipes. Among the endorses with blurbs listed on the DVD are Jewish neocon Michael Medwed, an analyst from the right-wing Hudson Institute, and a professor from the U.S. Navy War College.
I’ve just discovered that CAIR has filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission against the Clarion Fund, claiming it is a front for Aish HaTorah and is shilling for the McCain campaign. CAIR believes the funding for distribution of the DVDs comes from Aish. My money is still on the RJC, but who knows.
Good for you Richard.
People like this think they can get away with anything. And most of us do not think of opposing them, cuz it seems, ‘What good will it do’.
I’m glad you’re taking them on.
Please keep us informed.
I have seen the film and there is nothing partisan about it. However, I can see that if you are involved in Cultural or Stealth Jihad, or are a sympathizer to such activities you would want to attack the film and all who were involved with its production. This film clearly will have little or no affect on the election. The filing of compliants with the FEC and the IRS are simply foolish actions, since neither complaint has provided any substantive facts under which the FEC or the IRS can launch an investigation in their respective areas of authority. Your suspicions are not a basis for an investigation, and are generated by your own negative reaction to the distribution of the Obsession DVD’s. Your negative reaction and CAIR’s negative reaction clearly result from the attempt to inform Americans about the threat of Radical Islam (although the DVD makes no mention of Cultural or Stealth Jihad. They should make another DVD which does discuss this after the election.) If you are really worried about something having an impact on the election, take a look at BarackObamaTest dot com. Why were the DVD’s distributed the way they were? The answer has more to do with the distribution channels of the New York Times outside of New York, than anything else. If this had been strictly a partisan effort, they would have targeted swingstate areas by mailing the DVD’s. It would have been much more effective and would not have cost much more. The newspaper was chosen because it was only an attempt to inform not to influence voters.
FANNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNTASTIC RICHARD!!!!!
Here’s the link for the list of possible reasons why they haven’t filed (or according to them haven’t filed because they don’t have to) filed a 990.
http://www.guidestar.org/help/faq_990.jsp#no990
I’m going to just cut and paste it here for you because I don’t know if you can get to the link if you aren’t a guidestar registered user. I don’t see ANY reason which qualifies them not to file because:
1. (under #6, as a 501(3)(c) They HAVE received tax exempt status.
2. They are not a faith based organization UNLESS they registered as one which only “television” shows up, not Aish Ha Torah (unless that can’t be seen on their registration)
3. They certainly have taken in more than $25,000 a year to pay for the distribution of this dvd.
4. They aren’t a subsidiary organization, or are they and you also can’t garner that information. If they ARE a subsidiary, a subsidiary to what?
ALSO (as an aside), their date for filing as a “non-profit” corporation is 11/6/2006, (their accounting period, could be changed with irs approval, but they are simply saying they are exempt from filing a 990) which would have given them til 10/07 to file with two extensions.
According to guidestar, once 990’s have been filed, they get them within two months. January of this year is long gone to not have their 990 available on guidestar. (which would be the case unless they messed with changing their accounting period)
In other words Richard, you have a case!
3. Why can’t I find a 990 for the organization that interests me?
If there isn’t a Form 990 and eDocs link in the right column of the report page, we don’t have a Form 990 for that organization. There are several reasons why we might not have Forms 990 for an organization:
* The organization is not required to file. (See question 6)
* The organization is newly formed and has not filed yet.
* The organization has not filed yet for the year. (See question 8)
* The organization has filed but we haven’t received the return from the IRS. (See question 10)
* The organization is not a 501(c)(3) organization, and we haven’t received its Form 990 from the IRS yet. (See question 11)
* The organization is a religious entity that is not required to file a return with the IRS.
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4. What is IRS Form 990?
Form 990 is an annual reporting return that certain federally tax-exempt organizations must file with the IRS. It provides information on the filing organization’s mission, programs, and finances.
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5. What organizations are required to file Form 990?
* With some exceptions (see question 6), federally tax-exempt nonprofits that have incomes of more than $25,000
* All 501(c)(3) private foundations, regardless of income
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6. Which organizations are not required to file Form 990?
In general:
* Nonprofits that have not received tax-exempt status from the IRS
* Most faith-based organizations
* Nonprofits with incomes of $25,000 or less
* Subsidiary organizations
For specific exceptions, see the instructions for Forms 990 and 990-EZ.
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7. What is the difference between Form 990, Form 990-EZ, and Form 990-PF?
* Form 990-PF is the form that all 501(c)(3) private foundations and 4947(a)(1) non-exempt charitable trusts must file; only those types of exempt organizations use Form 990-PF.
* Form 990-EZ is the “short form” for other 990 filers; exempt nonprofits with incomes of less than $100,000 and total assets of less than $250,000 may file Form 990-EZ, although they are allowed to file Form 990 if they prefer.
* Form 990 is the “long form” that other 990 filers with incomes of more than $100,000 or assets above $250,000 must file.
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8. What is the deadline for filing a 990?
There is no one date on which all Forms 990 must be submitted to the IRS. Instead, a nonprofit’s filing date is determined by the end of its fiscal year (the 12-month period for which the organization plans the use of its funds); each filing organization is required to file “by the 15th day of the 5th month after” its fiscal year ends.
Organizations can also receive up to two 90-day extensions of time to file. (Like the 990, the extension request form is a public document and is posted on the GuideStar site.) Thus, the Form 990 for a nonprofit whose fiscal year ended on December 31, 2004, might not be filed until November 15, 2005:
Accounting Period 990 Due Date Due Date with 1 Extension Due Date with 2 Extensions
1/1/04-12/31/04 5/15/05 8/15/05 11/15/05
A hundred rabbits feet and prayers and TRUTH on your side Richard.
@John Nosser: In a weird, perverse sort of way I’m grateful for noxious commenters like you. You make my case so much better than I could myself by displaying yr bile & spew for all to see. So thank you, I think.
We’ll just have to let both the FEC & IRS judge the merits of this complaint. You & I disagree on whether I have a case. The difference is you don’t know what you’re talking about & I do.
At the very least, an FEC & IRS investigation will make them shape up & fly right & follow IRS guidelines which they are shirking big time. This in turn will make their activities slightly more transparent.
I was really upset after reading your 2 posts on this… especially since I know there are no other 501s that stretch into being political or partisan…. but the capper for me was when CAIR indicated they were going to file against this 501… I know for myself and probably most Americans know CAIR to be a very credible organization. I only wish there was some way I could assist this important civil rights group.
The timing of this DVD (can anyone else EVER remember getting a FREE DVD in the mail?) and of course the subject matter easily labels it as right wing propaganda. I live in a battleground state and it is amazing what the top two parties will do to try to sway voters.
I’m tired of both parties to tell you the truth, but I’m glad to see that the Republicans are finally taking some heat and people are seeing this reckless and disgusting administration for what it really is.
Here is what I tell everyone: FORM YOUR OWN OPINION! If you vote for your religion, your wallet, your fetus belief…it doesn’t matter. Just get out of my face and don’t tell me what to think. Only sheep and idiots do (or vote) what people tell them to.
Oh and as for the DVD…burn it. If you lean left it’ll make you feel better that you are burning right wing propaganda; and if you lean right you can burn the star the of Islam which (allegedly) threatens our Western existence. Either way you’ll feel good….right???? 😉
Let’s for the moment, drop the timing and who shot John issues and look at the DVD merits. The DVD has tremendous merit. It asks us to up aside political correctness and look at radical fundamentalist Islam for what it is.
The fundamentalist is convinced in their heart that they are at war with the US and Israel. They have million dollar or billion dollar financing in the highest levels of the mid east governments. They are fully sanctioned and approved by many Mid East states. Their goal really is to spread Islam by any means to the rest of the world…and it is THEIR brand of Islam. They are perfectly willing to kill any other Muslim who does not agree with their version.
The movie or DVD was released in 2005. I challenge any of the above readers to state what is false in the DVD. Please don’t do an emotional tirade as some of the above bloggers but please present your position with facts.
I would really like to understand what isn’t true in the DVD.
@cashley73:
So, like the timing of sending out 28 million propaganda DVDs to swing state voters 40 days before a presidential election is unimportant??
As for the DVD’s alleged “merits,” you gave me a big laugh with that one. As for stating what is false about the film–there are almost no facts at all in it. It is simply propaganda.
No DVD that includes Walid Shoebat can be taken seriously. I recently heard him discourse on the use of horses by Muslim and Nazi armies, and how this has prophetic Biblical significance. Honestly. And there’s his argument about how the number 666 refers to Allah and portends a Muslim anti-Christ. That won’t be on the DVD, of course, but its purpose is to give this ridiculous man credibility.
I watched the movie and it’s very ironic that the very idea they are pushing, that religious fundamentalist group A is evil and practicing a violent hatred of all other groups, is in itself a hate filled diatribe to incite distrust or violence of a religious group. I guess if you are already prone to hating Muslims, its just preaching to the choir but I really really hope that people that get this and watch it are a bit more discerning when it comes to recognizing propaganda. Then again, this is Americans we are talking about so I doubt it.
You people saying ‘it’s not partisan’ or ‘this is threat number 1 to this country’ are simply insane. Go ahead and scream for us to smart bomb every Muslim in the world while your country is sold away to the Chinese and your rights are denied ‘for the good of the country.’ Just don’t act surprised when they come for you too.
@Richard Silverstein:
Thank you for your reply and for a very normal reaction. My intent is crystal clear — What is false about the film?
I have read many comments about the DVD and all but one attacked the film makers and the persons in the film.
Only one, so far, has tried to prove portions of the film as false.
If you believe the film to be propaganda, then you must have sources that prove the facts of the film as being lies.
Please do so. Prove to all the bloggers that the film is a lie based on the facts in the film and not on personal attacks.
I am really interested in your factual rebuttal.
Of course it’s propaganda. If you can afford the tremendous amount of money to fund the production and distribution of 28 million DVD’s, that is pushing your viewpoint in a manner that is not open for discussion. If it were an open, honest look at the situation (a documentary), there would be an open list of sources to trace back. There would be no secrecy shrouding the *organization* that produced it. All radical religionists are dangerous. Look at people in this country, like Hagee, Falwell, et al. They are so very similar to a “mad mullah,” and they equally make me nauseous.
I knew this was a propaganda piece as soon as I saw it in my mailbox. After being around marketing, advertisiting and graphic design types for years, you can easily recognize crap from craft.
@rusticitas, Silverstein, and Frag
Saying that the DVD is propaganda and attacking all aspects of the producers and the distribution channels does not make the content of the DVD to be false. So far not a single blogged person can point to a single fact in the DVD that is false.
All three of you appear to be of high intelligence and are greatly concerned. Surely, one of you can point to a section or scene and say, “This is a lie because xxxx.” which would be based on fact.
Please understand, I am not baiting but I want to understand the truth or false of the DVD.
Pausing for a moment, I would like to thank Mr. Silverstein for allowing me to post and comment on his blog.
But it does make it highly suspect, and should never be given the benefit of the doubt. If they are not going to stand in front of their claims, at be transparent, they and what they claim deserves no equal footing with actual facts and news reporting.
Cashley,
A few days ago I sat down to do some serious watching of this DVD because I’m not the type to do anything other than to analyze for myself rather than jump on any bandwagon. My method was to watch it, stop it, write, watch it stop it, write. To be honest, I got through about 13 minutes of it and quit because that’s all it took to analyze what I had seen up til that point. Why you ask, because I have lived in the Middle East, am amicably divorced from a Muslim and consider myself an educated person not only through studying but through experience. I am not going to try to tell you that “radical Islam” (as the term is used) doesn’t exist, because it does. What I am going to tell you is that if you cannot pickup on the fact that this is a propaganda film then it could only be because a) you have a pre-disposition to believe the material in this film due to prior bias from other such propaganda or b) you are simply not aware of what propaganda is, watched this film as a first learning experience and are naive. If you want to learn something much more EDUCATIONAL on this issue, then I suggest you watch the segment of Christianne Amamapor’s coverage that did in depth exposes of radical Islam, radical Judaism (settler movement in part), radical Christianity because “radical” exists in every religion there is, however this film is using propaganda methods to reel you in to be FRIGHTENED and not use your own noodle to even see that that’s what it’s whole intent is. In other words, this film has an agenda, BIG TIME.
I gave up on my analysis because it was a waste of my time to give it any more attention than I did. However, here is an excellent analysis of this so called documentary.
http://www.theamericanmuslim.org/tam.php/features/articles/in_depth_summary_analysis_of_obsession_radical_islams_war_on_the_west/0016753
@Robin
Thank you. Finally I have found someone who can dispute “Obsession.” So far, your reference to the above link is the best rebuttal to Obsession that I have read so far.
That is exactly what I was looking for. I am in the process of reading all 27 pages of it in detail. The authors have done a great job.
Robin, nice personal attack, unwarranted, but nice, but you did finally zero in on the movie content. Many people of both the left and right identify with the fear in Obsession. I have been trying to find a hard core rebuttal other than loud noise and hyperbole. With the info in your llink I can formulate reasoned talking points.
Last night I did find a somewhat decent rebuttal at
http://www.obsessionwithhate.com. Is is not the main page but you have to click on “read full rebuttal.”
Gentlement, looks like Robin has gotten you off the hook.
@cashley73:
C’mon now. You admire the film. So don’t tell us you’re really open to a critique of it. You’re not. It won’t sway you.
Frankly, you can have it. The rest of us know better. All you have to do is go back over the 5 posts I’ve written about this film to read specific aspects of it I find deeply objectionable. I’m now going to get into an extensive critique of it because frankly it’s simply not worth the breath. I’m willing to engage with right wing discourse that is serious even if I disagree with it. But Obsession is propaganda & hence not worth the effort. If you find it the greatest thing since sliced bread. That tells us a lot more about you than you think.
Please don’t become self righteous. I have adhered to the “Rules Comments” of the blog and have not engaged in personal attacks.
Right now Obsession is being discussed in the pews of many churches and faith groups. Some members have been dismissive but over 60 percent feel uneasy and many are fearful.
We had the same problem with the DiVincy code. The only effective way we found to deal with the questions and misinformation was to have discussion groups and refute the “facts” of the book.
This issue is at work here. Waving a hand and declaring “It’s propaganda.” doesn’t work when those asking the questions do not have the world view of this blog. They need calm thoughtful rebuttals that leads to open discussions.
Thank you for Blogging with me.
Richard, I think your responses to Cashley were unwarranted. Not everybody is as informed on the issues as you and people may come for guidance. I did not think she/he was unreasonable to ask for specific facts to be disputed. Note the phrase “with the info in your llink I can formulate reasoned talking points”, which suggests that the person wanted to have some ammo when discussing the DVD with others.
May I suggest that you’re a bit paranoid in assuming that anybody commenting here and not falling in line with your reasoning from the get-go was a rightwinder out to attack you? What about presumption of innocence?
Cashley,
I apologize if you thought I was personally attacking you, because I didn’t
intend it to be that. Please read again what I wrote concerning exposure to
prior propaganda. What I meant was that if this is the type of thing you have been exposed to-which would be a matter of circumstance of place and time (albeit
to a less blatant format) then you would have already been predisposed to
believe the material in this film. The thing about propaganda is that that is
it’s purpose, to condition the viewer/listener. The second part of what I wrote (which again I didn’t intend to be an attack) refers to not knowing what your
level of knowledge is so if this IS the first (or maybe just what you might
deem convincing) exposure to this sort of “education” then you wouldn’t have any
other knowledge to refute it yourself, you’d just believe it because it’s been
presented to you and it sure is SCARY. I really didn’t mean to personally attack you Cashley so again I apologize.
Understanding who is behind this dvd and that they certainly are not neutral
parties themselves is part and parcel of seeing through this film. So I hope
you do get something out of that link because we can all learn something
everyday if we are open to it.
Our media and our government has done quite an extensive job of propagandizing our citizenry with so called information concerning “radical Islam”. The invasion and occupation of Iraq itself, what I refer to as the “terrorist tea party” (We’ve got to fight them over there so we don’t have to fight them here), was sold to the American public based not only on false intelligence, but also on false connections (Iraq was responsible for 9/11 which obviously is not true)
Asking questions and seeking the truth is a GOOD thing.
Above you mention the pews of churches. My next suggestion to you would be to become involved in interfaith dialog with Muslims themselves, face to face, where you can learn directly from them. The fear that this film seeks to strike in the viewer spills over on to ALL Muslims whether or not they place their so called disclaimer up front. As a Catholic, mother of a Muslim/Arab daughter I can tell you personally that the misinformation and hatred that is stirred up by the sort of hate filled propaganda in this film DOES spill over on to Muslims at large. That isn’t a good thing for ANYONE, not the Muslims it affects, and not the haters themselves who are basing their bias on falsehoods. The only way possible for this to be undone is to deprogram people with the truth, otherwise there will NEVER be a chance for harmony between the faiths, or the nations with their weapons who choose to turn them on people based on propagandized fear.
@Peter D: NO, I think you’re wrong. I’ve dealt with thousands of right wing commenters here. They’ve formulated their questions in a myriad of ways, but most follow a certain set of patterns as Cashley’s did.
Contrary to what you say, I’m attuned to nuance in the way opposing arguments are presented. Before you judge my replies you should be careful to review all of his comments right from the beginning of this thread. This is not the statement of a truly open minded individual:
I mean for God’s sake, the film juxtaposes children supposedly being taught to become suicide bombers with Nazi propaganda footage. How can anyone in their right mind make the claim that this film has “tremendous merit???”
IF he’s truly interested in hearing a rebuttal, the only reason is so that he can formulate his own rebuttal to the progressive rebuttal. I am sure that if he were truly open minded, the way he formulated his comments would reflect that & it doesn’t.
Robin you are correct, Mr. Silverstein you are not. It is a shame and you are as hurtful and as hateful as those you propose to hate. I do have an open mind but you are to caught up in yourself to see it. Siverstein knows best for anyone who dares set foot in his holy blog.
I have zero intention of carrying this thread any further.
Mr. Silverstein has most definately ended this dialog. Since I am new here I think I can unsubcribe to this thread via subscriptions.
Good Day.
http://www.obsessionwithhate.com/
is a place one can find a rebuttal of this terrible DVD
@cashley73: No, if you truly had an open mind you wouldn’t have written that Obsession “has tremendous merit.” You tipped yr hand right there. If you really wanted to come across as a truly open-minded person you don’t praise the film in the very first sentence of the very first comment you publish here.
That’s a relief.
You’ll notice several commenters have provided the link to the site which rebuts Obsession. Yet Cashley hasn’t even acknowledged this. So just how open is he? Has he visited the site? Or does he have a not so hidden agenda?
I recall Jacobo Timerman opining that WWIII will probably be ignited by the use of an inappropriate analogy. I believe the use of the Nazi film segments in “Obsession” constitutes an inappropriate analogy.
Free of speech is a great right that any free society can have. But what this DVD has to do with free of speech when it brought
hate and violence against a community living in that society!
We have already in South Florida a home of a Muslim have been stoned! I assure you that this Muslim leader have promoted projects between Muslims and non-Muslims. The newspapers who promoted the Obsession DVD are responsible of hate incidents!
Is it healthy in the name of free of speech to start to create DVDs against Jews, against Christians, against Black, against Muslims by mentioning a part of these groups are radicals! That means be a ware of the whole population because we did not identify the part and we did not identified the meaning of radicalism! Yes we all support the free of speech but we should stand against any
plan or a plot made to create hate between communities living in the same society. We should instead bring projects to build a healthier Society to develop a stronger nation against all harms may comes to our country the US.
We all Americans should unite against hate and especially against hate promoters like Daniel Pipes, Joe Kaufman, Steven Emerson, Brigitte Gabriel and others. America can be a stronger nation without.
I stand with a great respect for all those who work against hate among our communities.
Br. Sofian Abdelaziz Zakkout
American Muslim Association of North America
http://www.al-amana.org
@Silverstien
Actually, I did acknowledge it and I also added the below comment in my above comments to you:
“Last night I did find a somewhat decent rebuttal at
http://www.obsessionwithhate.com. Is is not the main page but you have to click on “read full rebuttal.”
Gentlemen, looks like Robin has gotten you off the hook.”
I have had time to cool down from your comments and I have had time to read both rebuttals. I agree with the rebuttals and I agree with Mr. Silverman that Obsession’s content is hate literature and propaganda and should be treated as such.
Mr. Silverman is justified in tauting me with my own original statements and most likey will still think my agreement is some form of debate ploy. He has every reason to be suspicious given the other attacks and comments people have made and he doesn’t know me from the other crazies.
I apolozie in my initial support of the DVD and comments. In view of everything, it was reprehensible, and for that I am sorry.
@cashley73: I’m sorry too. I knew someone had mentioned the Obsession With Hate site twice but I didn’t realize that one of the folks who mentioned it was you. My apologies.
I’m gratified that you had the guts & class to admit you’d erred in yr original judgment of the film. So let me be the first to say how gracious it is of you to say that you’ve changed yr mind.
I get a lot of commenters here who are pugnacious & it tend to bring that out in my in reply. So let me apologize if my comments toward you were too much in that vein.
Thank you for your comments I understand especially when commentators say that the Iran’s PM is the greatest leader in the world.
I will do a condensed commentary based on the rebuttals for our Wed night church discussion group and I will include both rebuttals. If it was not for the Wall Street meltdown and the debates, more attention would be on the DVD. That is the only silver lining to come out of the bailout.