Wow, a not-overtly-political or partisan fundraising email from MoveOn.org arrived in my email inbox.
Or so I thought.
It begins innocently enough.
Dear MoveOn member,
Hurricane Harvey is shaping up to be “one of the worst flooding disasters in U.S. history.”
Huge swaths of the fourth-biggest city in the U.S. and surrounding counties are already underwater. Untold numbers of people are currently trapped in their homes. Hundreds of thousands are without electricity. Authorities can’t even get around to fully assess the damage—much less to help everyone who needs aid.
And more—much more—rain is still coming. More than two additional feet of water are expected by the end of the week. The National Weather Service tweeted that the event will be “unprecedented & all impacts are unknown & beyond anything experienced.”
This is an epic disaster for the people of Houston and other Gulf Coast communities. They desperately need help—both right now and after the waters recede and the news cameras leave.
So far so good.
It continues:
Will you chip in to help the people of Houston? MoveOn will cover the credit card fees, so that 100% of your tax-deductible donation will go directly to local organizations helping people in dire need. […]
Local, community-based organizations do some of the most crucial relief work—providing meals, helping people find health care, distributing supplies, helping residents dig out, and supporting the recovery efforts after media attention has shifted. They’re deeply woven into their communities and can help keep them from falling apart under this much stress.
We’ve identified a relief effort that deserves our collective support—the Hurricane Harvey Community Relief Fund, which is spearheaded by the respected group Texas Organizing Project.
Texas Organizing Project (TOP) is respected? Well, that depends on who is doing the respecting.
TOP was founded on the ashes of the corrupt, criminal group ACORN (Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now) after the huge multi-issue pressure group collapsed in 2010.
This item by Matthew Vadum first appeared Aug. 31, 2017, at Bombthrowers.