Stealing a ring and kissing another.

This is Father's Day, and I hope that all of you out there who just happen to be sperm donors took the opportunity to reflect on your lives and what you could have done better.

And, if you are like this guy, you have some serious soul searching to do.

Anyway, this story with Putin and the Super Bowl ring is crazy.  Can you imagine if the owner of a sports franchise accused President Obama of stealing his ring?

Putin, as is to be expected, says that Kraft is lying, and that he [Kraft] gave it to him as a gift.

Kraft says that Putin basically strong armed him and took the bling.

"Kraft returned to the U.S. without his Super Bowl XXXIX ring, which, in 2005, he claimed he had given to Putin as a gift. Now Kraft has a new spin on the story.

Via the New York Post:

Kraft explained the incident happened while Sandy Weill and other business execs were in St. Petersburg. “I took out the ring and showed it to [Putin], and he put it on and he goes, ‘I can kill someone with this ring,’ ” Kraft told the crowd at Carnegie Hall’s Medal of Excellence gala at the Waldorf-Astoria.“I put my hand out and he put it in his pocket, and three KGB guys got around him and walked out.”

That’s right, Vladimir Putin pocketed the New England Patriots’ owner’s Super Bowl ring. Kraft told the crowd that he later received a call from the Bush White House strongly advising him to say he gave the ring as a gift in order to help with U.S.-Russian relations. So Kraft did just that, which I guess was what he figured was his……ahem…..Patriotic duty." [Source]

Honestly, I don't know who to believe. I have never been a Robert Kraft fan, but I can see Putin conveniently forgetting to give the ring back as well.

"I took out the ring and showed it to [Putin], and he put it on and he goes, 'I can kill someone with this ring,'" Kraft told the crowd, according to the New York Post. "I put my hand out and he put it in his pocket, and three KGB guys got around him and walked out."

A spokesman for Putin, however, told CNN on Sunday that the ring was definitely given as a gift.

"What Mr. Kraft is saying now is weird," Dmitry Peskov told CNN. "I was standing 20 centimeters away from him and Mr. Putin and saw and heard how Mr. Kraft gave this ring as a gift.

Peskov told CNN that the ring now is at the Kremlin's library."

Too bad the Patriots didn't have one of their secret video tape machines taping the exchange.

Finally, if the republican party ever wants to be relevant again they are going to have to stop kissing the ring of the likes of Glenn Beck.

He has weighed into the immigration reform battle and is comparing republicans politricksters who oppose immigration reform to civil rights leaders of old who battled injustice here in America.

Hmmm, Medgar Evers or Louis Gohmert. One was shot and lost his life while trying to make this a better country, one shoots off his mouth while making it worse.

"Beck has pledged to put his entire network behind these members (once again turning it into a public policy organization) and, on the program last night, called upon his viewers to rally in support of this effort, saying that if they don't, it will be like Saddam Hussein's slaughter of the Kurds. Comparing them to heroes like George Washington, Beck ended his monologue by comparing these anti-immigration Republicans to civil rights leaders by running a montage of images of Martin Luther King and other civil rights activists alongside the words "we shall not be moved"' [Source]

This country is in some serious trouble.

What does Joanne Chesimard and the right have in common?

There is a growing fear among conservatives and [right]wingnuts that the Socialist in power and his left wing cohorts are going to take away all of their guns and their rights. They believe this in spite of the fact that the Socialist in chief was declaring on foreign soil that Americans believe in their guns and will always have a right to bear arms.

Of course they aren't buying it. They actually believe that an armed rebellion might be necessary to take the Socialist Kenyan out of office.

"Is the second American revolution on our doorstep? Nearly half of all Republicans apparently believe it might be necessary, according to a new poll from a New Jersey University.

Fairleigh Dickinson University’s PublicMind found that 44% of Republican respondents agreed that an “armed revolution” might be needed in the next few years to defend liberties.

The same poll found 18% of Democrats and 27% of independents agreed it could be necessary.

“The differences in views of gun legislation are really a function of differences in what people believe guns are for,” Fairleigh Dickinson political science professor Dan Cassino said in a news release. “If you truly believe an armed revolution is possible in the near future, you need weapons and you’re going to be wary about government efforts to take them away.”

When half of the people in one of the major parties in our country believe that an armed revolution might be necessary to overthrow a legitimately elected government, I think it is safe to say that we have pretty much hit rock bottom as a nation.

There is an NRA convention going on down in Houston, and one of the leaders from the right took the opportunity to declare that the government might have some kind of nefarious plot in the works to tie the right wing to some loser who took his own life at the Houston airport.

 "Broadcasting live from Houston last night — the site of this weekend’s annual NRA convention — Glenn Beck offered up his take on Thursday afternoon’s Houston airport suicide: The media should dig deeper, he said, because this could very well be a “setup” akin to the burning of the Reichstag in the lead-up to Nazi Germany.

On Thursday afternoon, an unidentified man reportedly fired a shot from his AR-15 into the ceiling near the ticket counter of Bush International Airport’s Terminal B. When air marshals arrived to confront the suspect, he reportedly pulled out a pistol and shot himself in the head, dying later at a local hospital.
An hour after the incident, Beck told his live audience the story of what had just happened. He cautioned that the “simpletons in the media” might report “this is what Beck said,” and so he made clear that he will first relay the news story and then give his personal opinion on the matter.

After describing the news event, Beck added: “That doesn’t make sense to me.”
“I have been looking and fearing moments like this,” he warned. “If it’s not this one, it will happen in the coming days.”

Beck then indicated that law enforcement sources have told TheBlaze that the unidentified man was an out-of-towner staying at an area hotel, and that his intent was to “take out as many people as possible” in that airport using an AR-15.

“First of all, the idea that this is a coincidence, that this is happening at the airport with the NRA is too much to believe,” he suggested, before imploring “honest journalists” to do their due diligence and “look for these connections,” namely:

“Look for any connections of who this man is and any connections he might have to the uber-left. I believe that, and only because I have been looking for this, I believe this man could fall into the category of somebody who has lost his job, is depressed, etc., etc.

Seemingly without any evidence, Beck then imagines a “likely” plot line for what he believes was a depressed man with possible “uber-left” ties committing suicide at the Houston airport:

“Somebody comes in, off to the side, winds him up, says, ‘Oh, you should make a statement.’ I believe that’s probably — I shouldn’t say that — I believe there’s a very good chance that that’s what happened. He then gets to the airport, he then realizes — it’s pretty clarifying I imagine when you kill people — he realizes that’s not who I am. He shoots in the air, drops the AR, the air marshals come, he realizes there’s no way out, he shoots himself.”

He continued on to suggest the suicide could be a setup like one particular historical event from Nazi Germany.." [Source]

Yes, just call the president Adolf Hitler, and the shooting at the Houston Airport his own personal Reichstag.

And the hits just keep coming for these NRA folks. They actually elected a president who believes that the South will rise again.

"The NRA has a new president and judging by a speech he made at the New York State Rifle and Pistol Association’s annual meeting last June he could generate some controversy for the gun advocacy group. Jim Porter, previously a lawyer from Alabama, told that crowd that he likes to refer to the Civil War as the “war of Northern Aggression” and called Barack Obama a “fake president” whose entire administration is “anti-freedom.”

Speaking at that event in New York, Porter shared some of the shared history between the NRA and the local NYSRPA. “The NRA was started, 1871, right here in New York state. It was started by some Yankee generals who didn’t like the way my southern boys had the ability to shoot in what we call the “War of Northern Aggression.” Now, y’all might call it the Civil War, but we call it the War of Northern Aggression down south.” He added that the organization remains vital today to train civilians to use firearms so “when they’re ready to fight tyranny, they’re ready to do it." [Source]

All this talk of tyranny and armed revolution did not start until the current Commander- in- Chief took office.

How ironic that a former Black Panther, who, along with her cohorts, was calling for an armed revolution against the government, is now the first ever woman on the FBI's most wanted list. 

"But Field, this is different; this woman actually took up arms and shot a police officer to death"

This is true. The wingnuts aren't there just yet. But 47% of them think that Tupac's Godmother might have been on to something. 

Two down and one "bad,bad,bad" Saudi to go.

I sure hope that an international crisis doesn't pop up over the next few days. Because, if it does, our president will not be able to properly engage himself with the situation. Unfortunately our president is hunkered down with top advisers and aides,  trying to figure out how to deal with Glenn Beck's threat to expose his regime for the "false flag" operation that played itself out in Boston a few days ago.

"Near the end of today's radio broadcast, Glenn Beck declared that the cover-up of the Saudi link to the Boston Marathon bombing makes this the second most important thing (behind 9/11) that he has ever covered in his broadcasting career. And depending on how the media and the government responds in the coming days, it just might be the most important thing he's ever covered because the response "will either save our country or we will be done."

Beck then went on to send a semi-coded message to those in the upper level of the government warning that they had better come clean about this Saudi national because The Blaze has information that reveals that he "is a very bad, bad, bad man" which will be revealed on Monday.

"I don't bluff," Beck stated, "I make promises. The truth matters. I've had enough of what you've done to our country. I thought I had heard and seen it all. I thought I didn't trust my government. Oh no, no, no. There is no depth that these people will not stoop to. They have until Monday and then The Blaze will expose it." [Source]

Oh lawd! I bet his Oness is shaking in his boots. I am sure that the president knows how Beck had his former regulatory chief fearing for his life after he called him out to all of his right wing friends. This Beck guy is no joke.

Your administration better get their stuff together and Mr. President. It seems that Glenn Beck and Anzor Tsarnaev both have your number.

I can't wait until Monday to see what my wingnut friend, Glenn Beck, has on the government. I am sure that his bombshell will shake the very foundation of our republic and change the country forever.

Still, as my twitter fam Gary astutely noted: If Mr. Beck does know of a "bad, bad, bad"Saudi man on the loose, why is he letting him run free in our country until Monday and giving him an entire "weekend to do harm"?

Lock your doors America; the Saudi man could be anywhere.




 

"Someone fell through the cracks, Bret'

That was Shepard Smith of Radio Rwanda to his colleague, Bret Baier.

He was talking, of course, about Mr. Jared Lee Loughner .(What is with these shooters and the name Lee?) A stark raving wingnut who took in upon himself to make some news today by killing six people (including a federal Judge, and a nine year old girl) and wounding twelve.
One of the wounded was a US Congresswoman. I am having 1995 flashbacks.

Poor Gabrielle Gifford was doing what a politician is supposed to do; meeting and reaching out to the constituents in the middle of her district. But in this toxic political climate, and thanks to- so called- main stream politicians threatening her and putting her in their "cross hairs", (yes Sarah, I am talking to you) one where popular talk show hosts who reach millions of people make a living off of ignorant and hate filled demagoguery, (yes Glenn and Rush, I am talking to you) she just didn't realize how dangerous the world in which she lives has become. Frankly, I am surprised that something like this didn't happen sooner. Remember all those tea party folks attacking their elected officials at those town hall meetings in the middle of the health care debate? Wingnuts, you are Jared Lee Loughner.

"I won't pay currency that does not involve gold and silver". Of course no one wants to jump to conclusions, but I will. This wingnut was exactly the type of ignoramus that the likes of Rush and Beck preach to everyday. With the help of the Jared Lee Loughners of the world, FOX NEWS and talk radio thrived; now watch how fast they will all try to run away from him.

It won't work. Those of us in A-merry-ca -who actually use our brains to think- can see exactly what is going on. Pump up the ignorant, and when they do the expected go into your best Inspector Renault impersonation.

I must admit that two years ago if someone were to tell me that an elected official in Washington would be shot, I would have thought it would be the man giving his condolences from the White House this evening, and not some poor congresswoman from Arizona. Now, however, I am not surprised. This is the nation that we have become.

It is a nation where we are told to fear those other people because they are taking our jobs and our way of life. It's not them. The real threat to our democracy is coming from those individuals who are going to be falling through the "cracks". Cracks that are being made bigger everyday thanks to an ideology of hate and hysteria that benefits a few but hurts many.

"We need a drum roll for those front runners in the election; those illegal teachers, pigs, and politicians of yours are under illegal authority of their constitution. Those dirty pigs think they know the damn year. Thirdly, tell them mother fuckers to count from 0 to whenever they feel a threat to stop their count…Those illegal military personal are able to sign into a country that they can't find with an impossible date! How did you trust your child with them fraud teachers and front runners, listener? Did you now know that the teachers, pigs, and front runners are treasonous! " [Source]

Enough Jared, your 15 minutes are up. You can turn things over to your friends now.

Carry on A-merry-ca.

"I am for freedom of religion and against all maneuvers to bring about a legal ascendancy of one sect over another”

I love that quote attributed to Jefferson.

So I was thinking: Why is it that people can be such blatant hypocrites in A-merry-ca and get away with it? For instance; my man Glenn Beck is all over this Mosque being built near Ground Zero, and his argument goes something like this: (I am paraphrasing) Of course they have a right to their religious freedom under our Constitution, but why do they choose to build a church there given how people feel about that? They should be more sensitive to the feelings of their fellow A-merry-cans, just because they have a right to do it, doesn't mean that they should do it.

Ahhh Glenn (and I hate to agree with your colleague, Greta Von Frenkenstein, but do you notice something about that kettle staring you in the face? Yep, it looks just like you.
My man, you are doing the very same thing when you hold your march on the anniversary of Dr. King's I Have A Dream speech. Of course you have a right to do it, but should you? Given how some folks feel about you and your views on race. (You did call A-merry-ca's first black president a racist) I call bullshit on it being a mere coincidence, you knew exactly what you were doing.

And as for this Mosque at Ground Zero, I see that something like seventy percent of A--merry-cans oppose it. I wonder how many of them lost loved ones on 9/11? I agree with
Bob Cesca when he writes the following:

"If we take Sarah Palin, Glenn Beck and Newt Gingrich at their word, their objection to the proposed community center two blocks north of Ground Zero is that the entire area is hallowed ground, and a Muslim facility so close to the site is an insult to the victims and heroes of September 11.

Of course this is entirely about a swath of 9/11 fetishists, mostly Christians, ginning up anti-Muslim fear and demagoguery to score political points. It's a cheap and obvious exploitation of the widespread American prejudice that anyone who happens to be Muslim is equally as guilty and offensive as the terrorists who hijacked and crashed two airplanes into the World Trade Center towers.

It must be an election year because Republicans are once again rolling out September 11 as a wedge issue. You know, because they care about honoring the fallen. When it helps them politically.

If Beck, Limbaugh, Palin and Gingrich, along with the entire population of far-right AM talk radio, really cared about hallowed ground and historical preservation, they wouldn't be limiting their crusade to Park 51 (formerly Cordoba House).

As many of us have heard, there's a strip club two blocks away. I'm not sure how lap dances are less offensive than a religious community center. In fact, there are quite a few places in lower Manhattan within short walking distance of Ground Zero that would have to be eliminated as part of these stringent guidelines dictating how sacred ground ought to be respected. Via Twitter, Sarah Palin urged President Obama to weigh in on the Park 51 issue. Well, I urge Sarah Palin to weigh in on the strip club "at Ground Zero." We're waiting, Sarah. Will you campaign against the strip club? How about the gun shows that happen at Cox Pavilion, not far from the site of the Oklahoma City bombing? Or the shinto shrines a mile or two from Pearl Harbor?" [Article]

And I agree with Robert McIlvaine:

"Robert McIlvaine still struggles and probably always will. When the subject of his son, Bobby, comes up, McIlvaine asks that I give him a minute so he can compose himself.

Bobby McIlvaine, a Princeton graduate and aspiring writer who worked in media relations for Merrill Lynch, was on his way up to the 106th floor of the World Trade Center for a seminar that September morning when the plane hit. He never made it there. He was only 26.

Once the elder McIlvaine starts talking about the mosque controversy, sadness gives way to anger. How can people shred the Constitution to justify their biases?

"Nobody's asked me, and there are plenty of 9/11 families who feel the way I do," says McIlvaine, 65, a retired teacher who lives in Oreland.

When he first heard of the proposed Islamic center, he had no problem. "I didn't give it a second thought," he said. "And if you knew my son, you'd know he'd be rolling over in his grave over this."

As would the American Muslims who also died on that day.

"It's a sin what [fearmongers] are doing, making this about politics at the families' expense," McIlvaine adds. "It's producing hate, and it's the last thing this country needs right now." [Story]

Mr. McIlvaine, it's folks like you who makes us all realize that the terrorist lost that day. Sadly, if folks like Beck and company have their way, our victory will be short lived.

BECK HINTS THAT OBAMA WILL "KILL WHITE BABIES".

Yes he did. Today on his radio program, while playing the clip of some so called New Black Panther over and over again, he declared that the guy was only saying what his O ness was thinking. And he tried to link Obama to all things black and radical in A-merry-ca. (Did you know that DOJ is reviewing the verdict in the bay area shooting case because the victim was black?) And this is the second most listened to radio program in A-merry-ca. (He is behind this guy, who, just the other day, said that the Queen of day- time talk owes all of her success to her race. Go figure.)

But Glenn is trying to start a race war, and he got the NBP party to bite. (Of course that was easy. Those clowns have never seen a camera that they don't like.) Seriously, who pays attention to guys who go around calling for the "killing" of " all crackers and "white babies"? That is stuff you leave for fringe bloggers to talk about, not one of the most popular right wing political figures in the country. But this is all a part of a well orchestrated plan by Beck and company to racialize (Is that a word?) Obama and further divide the country. It's a smart move politically, because white folks still have the power of numbers when it comes to votes. At the end of the day, Beck is just a variation of the same republican machine. Don't believe that crap about being independent and not being beholden to any political party. It's not true. If you don't believe me, watch how the rhetoric changes when a republican finally takes back the White House.

Obama knows it, which is why he runs away from you black folks like Usain Bolt. Are you Negroes upset that he is skipping the NAACP convention next month? Don't worry, he will send Michelle. She is the designated black person in the White House.

But back to Beck. This all should be fun, because as we get deeper into the political season let's see how far the republicans will play along with Beck and company in this game of black vs. white. Some in the republican party are starting to say enough. But it might be too little too late. I think that horse has already left the barn.

Still, Beck will keep doing what he is doing, and folks who are desperate for a bogeyman to take away the pain from their own own miserable lives will keep biting. They will do it in spite of editorials like this from the very white Philadelphia Inquirer. The Inquirer, by the way, happens to be the flagship paper in the city where all of this so called voter intimidation against white folks was supposed to have taken place.

I don't know about the rest of you, but the more I think about it is the more I want to be in DC come August 28, 2010. I will stock up on lots of popcorn during my ride down.