Caught it late but I caught it: the N&O ran a story on Franklin Graham’s charity operating in Haiti among all those Scientologists and baby-stealers. But those last two are the crazies…not like Samaritan’s Purse! Just ask former Republican senator Bill Frist:

It’s this no-frills, fast-moving approach that Frist likes. The one-time Senate majority leader has been volunteering with Samaritan’s Purse, mostly in Sudan, for 11 years.

“What distinguishes [Samaritan's Purse] is the efficiency, coupled with speed,” he says. “There’s little overhead, and when there’s a problem, it’s dealt with directly.”

Well, Bill, it’s your “little overhead” comment that I like. Especially because CBS busted you on your World of Hope AIDS charity scam:

The donors included several corporations with frequent business before Congress, such as insurer Blue Cross/Blue Shield, manufacturer 3M, drug maker Eli Lilly and the Goldman Sachs investment firm.

The fundraiser generated $4.4 million in contributions, but only $3 million went to the AIDS charities. The remaining $1.4 million went to overhead, including more than $450,000 in consulting fees to two companies run by Linus Catignani, Frist’s chief campaign fundraiser. The AP story revealed that one of the Catignani’s firms was co-run by Linda Bond, the wife of Missouri Republican senator Kit Bond.

Whoops! Samaritan’s Purse ended up getting $490,000 of that 3 mil. It must have been a great time to be in with the “faith-based initiatives” crowd, because Samaritan’s Purse also received a $5.6 million grant from the U.S. Agency for International Development in 2004 to work on abstinence programs to stop the spread of AIDS in Africa (Yes, that’s millions spent for fighting AIDS without condoms).

But let’s go back to the Frist/Graham relationship. The National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy proved that even among conservative Christian Republicans, you don’t get shit for free:

Senate records reveal, however, that not long before the World of Hope fundraiser, Senator Frist went to Chad, Sudan, and Kenya on a junket paid for by Samaritan’s Purse.

NCRP of course has done its own additional research on the World of Hope connections and would add the following to the AP story:

We found at least three Frist trips sponsored by Samaritan’s Purse, one shortly before the Republican convention between 8/06/04 and 8/11/04 to Chad, Sudan, and Kenya costing $1,594, a one day trip on 9/19/03 to Nashville, TN (with Mrs. Frist) costing $1,524, and a third from 8/27/03 to 9/01/03 to Namibia and Kenya (costs undetermined). Since the Convention fundraiser, Samaritan’s Purse has continued its subsidization of Frist’s trips, including a one-day trip on 9/04/05 for the Senator and his son to Mobile, AL costing $3,311 and a trip on 10/07/05 to 10/08/05, again for the Senator and Mrs. Frist to Asheville, NC for $2,130.

Graham himself was recently busted by the Charlotte Observer for pulling down $1.2 million last year from his NON-profit and his dad’s NON-profit. But I get it, they’re Republicans, we already KNOW they’re crooked, let’s move on from the boring financial stuff and get to the “psycho Christian” part.

Seriously, Google should have searched Franklin during their Super Bowl ad because this shit is HILARIOUS: asking Obama if he’s a Muslim to his face, using the U.S. military to distribute Arabic language Bibles during Desert Storm, calling Hindu refugees “bound by Satan’s power”, the whole Christian Zionist thing, on and on and on…

But it turns out Frank’s not the only Christian Zionist…

(Ed. note: Sarah, we’re living in the Jersey Shore era and that cross necklace JUST ISN’T BIG ENOUGH)

This is where it gets fun: Franklin had a Samaritan’s Purse jet fly Sarah out to see his pops during her “bus” tour, where she told him all about how she came to the J-man as a girl in bible camp and he gave her good quote:

“He’s followed her career and likes her strong stand on faith,” said son Franklin Graham, who was present for the 2 1/2-hour get-together. “Daddy feels God was using her to wake America up.”

Wake up from what??! Well, based on some recent bizarre quotes from Sarah regarding Israel, it turns out she just believes in “unconditional American support to Israel in order to bring about the end of the world and the return of Jesus Christ to earth.” Here’s a little more on this batshit crazy line of thinking. And wouldn’t you know it, Franklin Graham’s into it too!:

Muslims and other non-Jewish religious minorities in the U.S. have no standing with the Christian right; indeed, Christian Zionists are openly hostile toward Islam. Though an evangelical-Islamic dialogue has begun, it is too new to begin to counter the voices of outspoken Christian right leaders such as Franklin Graham, Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson, who have consistently portrayed Islam as an evil force that will align itself with the Antichrist to attack Israel, leading to the Battle of Armageddon.

No wonder she’s called Scary Sarah…