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A tribute to Condoleeza Rice and George W. Bush who, despite voluminious evidence to the contrary, said, "I don't think anybody could have predicted that these people would take an airplane and slam it into the World Trade Center, take another one and slam it into the Pentagon, that they would try to use an airplane as a missile," adding that "even in retrospect" there was "nothing" to suggest that" and "I don't think anyone anticipated the breach of the levees," respectively.

Wednesday, February 02, 2005

Smell Test: FAILED!

WHAT IS THE “LEADERSHIP INSTITUTE” AND ARE THEY ENTITLED TO BE A NON-PROFIT UNDER 501(c)(3)? ARE THERE ANY INVESTIGATIVE REPORTERS LEFT OUT THERE WHO MIGHT WANT TO LANCE THIS FESTERING BOIL?

What exactly is the Leadership Institute? This organization has been exposed for “graduating” people like Jeff Gannon from an “intensive, two-day seminar.” A little research shows that this is an organization whose objective is to train promoters of the right-wing agenda or what they deem conservative viewpoints.

I offer the following evidence:

The Founder: Morton Blackwell

Professionally, Morton Blackwell is the president of the Leadership Institute, a non-partisan educational foundation he founded in 1979. His institute prepares conservatives for success in politics, government and the news media.

Over the years the Leadership Institute has trained more than 40,000 students. It currently has revenue of $7 million per year and a staff of 57. {Conveniently free from taxation and oversight, which it would lose if activities were political}

In youth politics, Mr. Blackwell was a College Republican state chairman and a Young Republican state chairman in Louisiana.He served on the Young Republican National Committee for more than a dozen years, rising to the position of Young Republican National Federation national vice chairman at large.

Off and on for five years, 1965-1970, he worked as executive director of the College Republican National Committee under four consecutive College Republican national chairmen.

He served on the Louisiana Republican state central committee for eight years.First elected to the Arlington County (Virginia) Republican Committee in 1972, he is a member of the Virginia Republican state central committee and was first elected in 1988 as Virginia’s Republican National Committeeman (RNC), a post he still holds. In 2004 he was elected to the Executive Committee of the RNC.

Having worked actively in politics for more than forty years, he has probably trained more political activists than any other conservative. Starting in the 1960s, he has trained thousands of people who have served on staff for conservative and Republican candidates in every state.

Mr. Blackwell was Barry Goldwater’s youngest elected delegate to the 1964 Republican National Convention in San Francisco.He was a national convention Alternate Delegate for Ronald Reagan in 1968 and 1976, and a Ronald Reagan Delegate at the 1980 national convention.

In 1980, he organized and oversaw the national youth effort for Ronald Reagan. He served as Special Assistant to the President on President Reagan’s White House Staff 1981-1984.Mr. Blackwell is something of a specialist in matters relating to the rules of the Republican Party. He served on rules committees of the state Republican parties in Louisiana and in Virginia.

He serves now on the RNC’s Standing Committee on Rules and has attended every meeting of the Republican National Conventions’ Rules Committees since 1972.
{Sure sounds like a non-partisan kind of guy}

Their Mission Statement:

The Leadership Institute’s mission is to identify, recruit, train and place conservatives in politics, government and media. {Sounds a lot like infiltration}

{They purport to be non-partisan, obviously to protect their non-profit status as a 501(c)(3) organization.}

Their Bi-Partisan Congressional Advisory Board.

An advisory board which is exclusively populated with Republican Senators and Congressmen.

{A founder with a long history of championing the right-wing agenda, a mission statement which spells out its political affiliation and an advisory board which purports to be “bi-partisan” yet has no members who are not Republican. Yes, it smells!!}

BTW, I think the financial records of non-profits have to be made available for public inspection. Anyone willing to take a look?
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