I just want to be sure I’m reading this correctly. Because we can’t get a laptop to every wounded soldier we should lighten up and not try so hard? LOL

Now that’s not exactly the spirit, is it? I think we’ll keep FbL’s shoulder to the wheel and nose to the grindstone, thank you very much!

Maggie/FbL, in the same way that the Republicans have politicized *everything* [DoJ, NASA, Climate Change], Malkin will use whatever the outcome is here to aggrandize herself – she won’t be able to help herself.

If liberal blogs take up her challenge overtly, she’ll crow at how she shamed some dirty libs into donating to the troops, which they would otherwise *never* do [regardless of your prior assertion that some have donated, anonymously]. If they donate anonymously and don’t tell Malkin, she’ll use it as evidence that “The Left” doesn’t give a shit about wounded soldiers, their efforts to increase funding for the returning wounded (defeated by the Republicans, by the way) notwithstanding.

It’s a fool’s game. It’s *really* unfortunate that your charity is caught in the crossfire, but her motives are *never* unselfish. I think that’s what people are reacting to. As I mentioned at Balloon-Juice, FbL playing along with that just rubs people who are already accused by Malkin’s ilk of “hating the troops” the wrong way.

Look at the bright side, at least you’ll have the 101st Fighting Keyboarders full-throated support, and to hear them talk, they support the troops more than *anyone* [up to $250.00].

One of my largest pet peeves is how down right un-Christian so many of these professed religious right folks are. How come we always have to point out “Islam is a religion of peace” but we never seem to have give Christianity the same disclaimer. Apparently only Muslims can warp their religion to insane ends. Christians would never do that. Nope. No sirree.

What would Jesus say? I’m not sure. But here is how Matthew 6:1 quotes Him: “Be careful not to do your ‘acts of righteousness’ before men, to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.

2″ So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. 3 But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 4 so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.”

Now, I grant you, Jesus doesn’t explicitly say that you shouldn’t use charity to shame people. I leave it to the imagination of the reader whether that is a subtext.

You have a point about the “give to my charity or else”. We have gotten a little carried away amongst ourselves. Springbored’s Springboard has the widget up on his site with the admonition “So BostonMaggie Won’t Hurt Us…Pony Up For Valor-IT!”. We all think it’s funny but I can see how someone else wouldn’t see the humor.

I freely admit to having no idea how to raise money for charity. I am terribly self-centered and heartless and this is my first experience. So thanks for the advice and benefit of your experience.

Can I challenge conservative bloggers to blog positively about warchild (www.warchild.org.uk) a group raising money to try and help some of the kids that happened to get in the way of the bombs we are surgically dropping on insurgents? Something tells me that would not be a respectful discussion. Especially if we got say Michael Moore to make the challenge.

One more thing: I can’t figure out how to get to your blog, but I’d love to take a look. I haven’t yet heard from Malkin herself, but her commenters who put down their own challenges are starting to pay up. So, if you’re sincerely interested in blogging about Valour-IT, I’d love to add your name to the list.

In past years smaller bloggers among us have actively reached out to the liberal bloggers we know, but with extremely limited success. So far this year, I’ve found five liberal bloggers supporting Valour-IT, which is an exciting increase.

Anyway, I appreciate the respectful discussion here, and just wanted to clarify that the challenge is textual, not financial.