Ron Arnold's Left Tracking Library

 

Color Of Change
SILENCING CONSERVATIVE MEDIA
This group formed the lead in the ferocious 2009 attack campaign to silence conservative FOX News talk show host Glenn Beck by bombarding most of his advertisers with accusations that Beck was race-baiting. Even though ColorOfChange.Org failed in its goal to run Beck off the air, it pressured many of his advertisers to shift their ads to other FOX programs. ColorOfChange.Org also joined a letter writing campaign to save Mark Lloyd from conservative exposes of his socialist writings and statements.
The ability of ColorOfChange.Org to partner with like-minded groups to incite huge left-wing mobs is serious.



Color of Change registered as ColorOfChange.Org (501(c)(4)
2008 revenue: $343,651
2008 assets:$66,738
1076 S Van Ness Ave  % James L. Rucker
San Francisco,  CA  94110
Telephone: 415-602-4208
Contact Information: James L. Rucker
 a 501(c)(4) advocacy organization
http://colorofchange.org
http://www.kanyewasright.org/ also directs to ColorOfChange.org. “Kanye” is rap artist Kanye West, who said that former President “Bush doesn’t care about black people,” for his Hurricane Katrina response. “Kanye was Right” is an anti-Bush / anti-conservative slogan.
EIN: 20-4496889
 IRS Form 990 for 2008 gives address as:
2150 Allston Way
Berkeley, California 98704
Motto: Changing the color of democracy

California Corporate Record

Entity Name: COLOROFCHANGE.ORG
Entity Number: C2788886
Date Filed: 03/16/2006
Status: ACTIVE
Jurisdiction: CALIFORNIA
Entity Address: 2150 ALLSTON WAY, SUITE 360
Entity City, State, Zip: BERKELEY CA 94704
Agent for Service of Process: CARMEN CHEUNG
Agent Address: 3155 FRONTERA WAY, 304
Agent City, State, Zip: BURLINGAME CA 94010

Self Description: ColorOfChange.org is strengthening Black America's political voice. Using the Internet, we keep our members informed and give them ways to act on pressing issues facing Black people in America. We are united behind a simple, powerful pledge: we will do all we can to make sure all Americans are represented, served, and protected-regardless of race or class.

Actual: Sophisticated anti-corporate, anti-conservative attack group founded by
Van Jones, former Obama "green czar," who was forced to resign when conservative talk show hosts, including Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh exposed his public comments disparaging congressional Republicans, his signing of the 911Truth.org petition, and Marxist associations during the 1990s. His board membership in the Apollo Alliance was also questioned. Upon leaving government, John Podesta gave him shelter as a senior fellow in the Center for American Progress.

Co-founder James Rucker is a Stanford graduate, high-tech Silicon Valley entrepreneur who worked 2003-2005 for MoveOn Political Action and MoveOn Civic Action as fundraiser, technology expert, and campaign strategist. He brought those skills to ColorOfChange.org and is the real force behind its success. Rucker is the only officer of the group. Rucker is a clever and ruthless attack manager with a huge network of allies (see the "Save Mark Lloyd" campaign roster for 55 of many hundreds).

ColorOfChange.org  financial condition 2008

 Revenue     Expenses
Contributions $292,671
Government Grants $0
Program Services $5,118
Investments $862
Special Events $0
Sales (mailing list) $45,000
Other $0

 
Program Services N/A
Administration N/A
Other N/A
Total Expenditures $383,723
Total Revenue $343,651   NET GAIN/LOSS $66,738

ColorOfChange.org paid $275,124 in salaries and benefits in 2008.
Even though ColorOrChange.org is a 501(c)(4) advocacy group not eligible for charitable donations, the San Francisco Foundation paid it $100,000 in 2007, and the Tides Foundation gave $50,000 in 2008. Such donations are legal, but require special monitoring to assure the funds go only to charitable and educational functions as defined by law.

ATTACKS AGAINST FOX NEWS

On July 28th, 2009 Fox talk-show host Glenn Beck appeared on the Fox & Friends morning show about Obama’s reaction to the arrest of Dr. Henry Louis Gates Jr, a media flap that became known as “Professor-Gate.” Beck saw the President’s past association with Rev. Jeremiah Wright as a prompt for Obama’s comment that Cambridge police officer, Sgt. James Crowley, acted stupidly. Beck noted that although most of the Obama administration is in fact white, the President’s "world experience" made him a “racist” against whites.

The remark was a great fundraising gaffe for James Rucker to exploit. He took no chances on muffing this opportunity and hired Hollywood’s high profile publicist Ken Sunshine to hustle a huge boycott of Beck's advertisers, demanding they stop sponsoring Beck. Sunshine did an outstanding job of attack management.


 Ken Sunshine

Sunshine's boycott resulted in at least 57 advertisers requesting their ads be removed from his programming, to avoid associating their brands with content that could be considered offensive by potential customers. Color of Change and Rucker's allied groups claimed that more than 100 companies stopped advertising on Beck's show or stipulated that their advertising not be aired there. Sunshine carefully hid the fact that many Fox advertisers had no idea which shows their ads appeared on, because they simply bought blocks of time, and some had no problem with sponsoring Beck, offensive or not. Beck's show kept its high ratings, so broadcast industry observers believe his earnings were unharmed. The boycott certainly made a big publicity splash for Color of Change.

Rucker picked Sunshine for the 2009 attack on Glenn Beck because his previous PR wars on Fox News were less than spectacular. Rucker put on his best face for the IRS in his 2008 Form 990 annual report describing his latest assault on Fox as one of the group's "program achievements," a statement required of all exempt organizations. Here's a direct Form 990 image of Rucker's take on a big push that moved nothing:
 


Notice that the real groups that delivered the 600,000 petitions are quietly dismissed as "partner organizations." Rucker's "approximately 100 ColorOfChange members" certainly couldn't begin to do such a thing.
 

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