In the wake of Rep. Paul Ryan's embarrassing soup kitchen photo-op last week, the organization that runs the facility tells The Huffington Post that donors have begun pulling their money out of the Youngstown, Ohio charity.
Ryan may have suffered a few late-night jokes, but the fallout for the soup kitchen appears to be far more bruising. Brian J. Antal, president of the Mahoning County St. Vincent De Paul Society, confirmed that donors have begun an exodus in protest over Ryan's embarrassment. The monetary losses have been big. "It appears to be a substantial amount," Antal said. "You can rest assured there has been a substantial backlash."
Antal says he can't give an actual dollar amount. "I can't say how much [in] donations we lost," he said. "Donations are a private matter with our organization."
Antal's charity represents the kind of organization that conservative Republicans might champion. But that was before the Ryan incident went viral a few days ago. According to The Washington Post, Antal said that the moment should never have happened. He told the newspaper that the photo-op was not authorized and that the campaign had “ramrodded their way” inside.
Ryan supporters have now targeted Antal and his soup kitchen, Antal said, including making hundreds of angry phone calls. Some members of Antal's volunteer staff have had to endure the barrage as well, he said. "The sad part is a lot of [the callers] want to hide behind anonymity," he said, adding that if someone leaves their name and number he has tried to return their call. In addition to phone calls, people have posted a few choice words on the charity's Facebook wall, including statements like "I hope you lose your tax [sic] emempt status," Anyone who is thinking about donations to you should think twice" and "Shame on you Brian Antal!"
On the phone with HuffPost, Antal seemed worn out by all the vitriol. "Honesty, I really don't need any more attention," he said. "I really just want this to go away."
Just because your candidate is a giant douchebag who gets caught bullying his way into a charity to have his picture taken creating more work for the staff by contaminating sterilized dishes is NO reason to blame the charity!
Okay WTF is wrong with these people?
When Bristol was doing the abstinence speech scams why were those people so stupid? Glad to see the soup kitchen people have some sense. People still need to eat, hope they can just let Ryan and Mittens do without.
ReplyDeleteNothing says authentic like Paul Ryan scrubbing a pot while wearing his wristwatch.
ReplyDeletea $6K wristwatch
DeleteSo, the *volunteer* (that is, they're not getting paid) staff spoke the truth, for which they must be destroyed. Ryan sounds just like Palin.
ReplyDeleteSurprised wifey didn't have a grimace on her face carrying the "heavy" empty casserole. Frauds!
ReplyDeleteThe best angry comment was from someone who hoped they would lose their tax exempt status for not allowing a politician to stage an event there. I had no idea how very stupid the right is. Oh, and I wrote the soup kitchen a check today.
ReplyDeleteSo, rMoney's li'l yipper, rAyn, is a bully, also, too.
ReplyDeleteTaking a deep breath here and realizing this is a fraction of the population. Who would make nasty phone calls and pull money out of a soup kitchen? Are they crazy?
ReplyDeleteAnd why are Ryan's supporters mad at Mr. Antal? Is it because he was annoyed by them bullying their way into his charity? Is that it? I hope these fools never find themselves on the other end of the economic spectrum. It's getting cold in October and homeless people need sustenance. Playing politics with needy people! It's WORSE than Ebenezer Scrooge......at least he recognized there were always poorhouses. These people just want the down-and-outers to die.
The charity is being penalized by supporters for telling the truth about the candidate's dishonest, self-aggrandizing ruse?
ReplyDeleteThose loyal party-centric Repugs are something else, aren't they? I hope they're embarrassed to no end. I know that I feel that way whenever someone from the Dem side acts the same way these days. Same for other political ideologies.
It's supposed to be about "Doing good works", not "Pretending you're doing something you should be doing but you're not." The door to hypocrisy swings both ways, but the Repugs seem to be less averse to the shamelessness of doing like things, because they are more crass in doing so while performing their political grandstanding routine of self-righteousness and "pretend piety". Or, maybe the truth is shaded by my own political bias.
Either way, the truth is still the truth, facts are facts, and right is right, regardless of party affiliation. People suffer when any of us stand for our party instead of the truth.
Ryan should feel humiliated personally; still, he's not representative of ALL Republicans. But the people who withhold donations and harass the Charitable Organization for speaking the truth, they are the worst part of the story, IMO. Sad, small-minded people who put party above people. Not exactly the way their "Rabbi" and "Personal Savior" commanded of His followers, but "Hey, don't be attacking my religious freedom", I'm told. Whatever.
Too many black eyes here to list them all, but it's been a great teaching moment for me and my son to discuss the things that are important in life as well as a good illustration about human nature and how far we adults can put our heads up our asses when we really "push ourselves" to be our worst.
Well, the weather has started to turn colder in North America. Reckon there's any starving, freezing Alaska natives out there that need a platter of cookies? If so, I hope whatever enterprising televangelist and grifting politician that recognizes the marketing opportunity will be sure to bring their full camera and sound crew to document their important humanitarian mission. Remember, "No good works should go unRECORDED or un-REPORTED."
Oh, and be sure not to forget to pickup the cookies before you get out of town. It would be embarrassing to have to fake that part, also, too.
What a knock out comment!
DeleteThis part is what got me most:
"Too many black eyes here to list them all, but it's been a great teaching moment for me and my son to discuss the things that are important in life as well as a good illustration about human nature and how far we adults can put our heads up our asses when we really "push ourselves" to be our worst."
That's the way it's done!
And you got boney boo boo to a "T"! Do the bare minimum, preferably in front of a camera, to pander and hog the spotlight. Sarah Palin's M.O.
Thanks for commenting.
"Okay WTF is wrong with these people?"
ReplyDeleteThey are Republicans, duh.
I wouldn't be able to sleep at night If I concocted doing volunteer work for a photo op. What kind of people are these? Pretending that they love their fellow man? That is just so 'sketchy' and the basest of the base.
ReplyDeleteNo one who does pots and dishes on a commercial sink ever has a clean, dry apron. Fraud.
ReplyDeleteRepublicans eat their young.
Ryan should make up the difference in lost donations but since he is Ayn Rand mentee, he'll probably say that they should depend on themselves (which they had until he showed up!).
ReplyDeleteyeah- Ryan is a douche- and his actions speak for themselves-- anyone who saw the CBS video can clearly see how phony and staged it was.. but when it was revealed that Antal voted in democratic primary- i think he lost a bit of credibility when he claimed that the charity was a-political /non-partisan..
ReplyDeleteVoting in the Democratic primary doesn't necessarily mean you're a Democrat. I live in Alaska and several years ago, when the Republicans went to a closed primary, I changed my registration from Democrat to Undeclared so that I could vote in the Republican primary since that's generally where the election is won here. But for each primary election, I make a decision on which ballot to take depending on where the bigger battles are.
DeleteSince when is a private person's vote suddenly the political position of the place where s/he works? This is major stupid.
Deletebut when it was revealed that Antal voted in democratic primary- i think he lost a bit of credibility when he claimed that the charity was a-political /non-partisan.."
Delete---------------------------------------
It is important to know that the St, Vincent de Paul Society is nearly 200 years old and is international in scope. It is modeled after St. Vincent de Paul who devoted his life to helping the poor.
There are no religious tests or requirements to receive help from their food pantries or to shop in their thrift stores.
They are a model of what Christian charity should be.
Antal's personal views and political affiliations are truly irrelevant to the mission of the SVP Society:
"The Society’s first Conference in the United States was established in 1845 in St. Louis, Mo. Membership in the United States totals more than 172,000 in 4,600 communities. The national headquarters is in St. Louis. Programs include home visits, housing assistance, disaster relief, job training and placement, food pantries, dining halls, clothing, transportation and utility costs, care for the elderly and medicine. The Society in the United States provides more than $675 million in tangible and in-kind services, serves more than 14 million people in need each year, performs more than 648,000 visits to people in their homes, and delivers more than 7 million service hours to those in need."
What Ryan did is despicable.
Sign me lapsed but appreciative Catholic (they fed Democratic me and my pot-smoking Baptist friend when our families needed help the most).
Public taking greater notice of Mitt Romney's lies
ReplyDeletehttp://current.com/groups/news-blog/93931861_public-taking-greater-notice-of-mitt-romneys-lies.htm
Clinton does the thing he does so well!
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=93X6cHH2WrM&feature=channel&list=UL
Is there a way we can contribute directly to this organisation?
ReplyDeleteDonations can be sent to:St. Vincent de Paul Society Mahoning County
DeleteP.O. Box 224 Youngstown, Ohio 44501
Our PayPal account is attached to bantal@svdpusa.org.
I found the info on their facebook page
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Mahoning-County-District-St-Vincent-DePaul-Society/215152125241983
Thanks for the link! I just made my donation!
DeleteFrom the Facebook page there is a link to the Mahoning County SVDP website, from there you can make a donation through Paypal.
Thanks for the information.
DeleteI just made my donation through the PayPal link on Mahoning County SVPD website. There is a direct link from their Facebook page.
Instead of the donors pulling their money, they should flood Ryan's phone and web site with angry calls. That might get his attention.
ReplyDeleteSister Simone (Nuns On The Bus founder) called this donor exodus "political pique". So true, and so petty.
ReplyDeleteBTW, Gryphen, in your blogroll at the left is this link to Fark.com: "Farkers helped raise over $7000 for the soup kitchen involved in the Paul Ryan photo-op - in less than 24 hours. Let's keep up the awesomeness and help keep soup flowing to the needy"
I just saw that too! WTG Fark!
DeleteIt's now over $9000.00 YES!!!!!!!!
DeleteJust checked this morning. They are at $10,625, and have another 44 DAYS to go on the site.
DeleteFor IM friends in Washington state:
ReplyDeleteKCTS9 Washington Poll
Total – Obama 51.8%
Total – Romney 41.3%
http://www.washingtonpoll.org/results/kcts9wapoll_oct18.pdf
The unfortunate aspect to this drop in donations is that it's reportedly from Republican donors unhappy with the charity's reaction to the situation.
ReplyDeleteThis shows the devil for what he is.
ReplyDeleteI'm a non believer, and this is one charity I support. We left our local food bank but joined another. A butcher donated "hilal" (sp?) meats. It's freshly killed and perfectly good food, but because it's a muslim tradition (Similar to "Kosher"), after it was donated, the people who ran the food bank, poured bleach over it and tossed it in the trash. We're talking about a large donation that would have fed a lot of families.
These people don't realize that poverty and hunger never take a holiday, letting their beliefs and politics get in the way of helping other people survive is beyond me.
But they'll find a way to justify it in their minds and soothe their conscience, they always do. If the tables were turned, how would they cope?
Romney has no heart, no clue about social issues. Many people in the middle class have had to go to food banks for help, it's heart wrenching to see grown people who GAVE to charity have to swallow their pride and DEPEND on charity just to survive.
Support Ohio Soup Kitchen invaded by Paul Ryan:
ReplyDeleteMahoning County District St. Vincent DePaul Society,
P.O. Box 224 Youngstown, Ohio 44501
PayPal account: bantal@svdpusa.org
I'm willing to bet that the local Republicans don't give too much to a soup kitchen.
ReplyDeleteI'm with you Anony@4:15. I'll bet no republican has ever,lifted a hand in helping those in need. They only talk in a christian manner, never really doing the work.
ReplyDelete