.@hiltzikm #DonaldSterling is literally RINO, since ALL his contributions go to #DEMS AND far-left ballot measures: http://t.co/569f1LsTgs
— Donald Douglas (@AmPowerBlog) April 29, 2014Last Friday while speaking to a closed meeting of the Trilateral Commission, Secretary of State John Kerry raised the ante in his bid to keep his Middle East peace initiative alive. While lamenting the latest collapse of the talks, Kerry cast blame for the outcome on both Israel and the Palestinians but made it clear that the consequences for the former would be far more serious. In the recording of his comments, which was obtained by the Daily Beast, Kerry not only repeated his past warnings that if peace wasn’t reached Israel would be faced with a new round of violence from the Palestinians as well as increased boycott efforts. He went further and said that the alternative to an Israeli acceptance of a two-state solution was that it would become “an apartheid state.”Keep reading.
In doing so, Kerry exploded the notion that he is an evenhanded broker since he is, as he has done previously, effectively rationalizing, if not justifying the next intifada as well as the continued efforts of the BDS—boycott, divest, sanction—movement against Israel. The point here is that if the maintenance of the status quo will make Israel an apartheid state, then it must already be one. Given the odious nature of such a regime, that would not only justify the boycotts but also violence on the part of the Palestinians against Israel...
This is the modern right's biggest problem in microcosm.No kidding! No "left-leaning commentators"!! Oh no doubt! All the Beverly Hills liberals he's hanging out with 24/7 at all those foundation galas just can't stand Donald Sterling holla!
We had this over the weekend in a National Review post originally titled "Racist Clippers Owner Donald Sterling Is a Democrat":
At the American Power blog, Donald Douglas has an extended discussion of Sterling's donations to liberal causes and the left-leaning commentators who have lauded him in the past.Actually, that's not what's in Douglas's post -- that's what he says is in it, but the content doesn't match the description. Douglas quotes a deeply skeptical article about Sterling from the L.A. Times, an opinion piece by Earl Ofari Hutchinson urging the NAACP not to give Sterling an award, and a Sports Illustrated story that finds Sterling throwing lavish parties and stiffing a charity. There are no "left-leaning commentators who have lauded him in the past." And Douglas's post doesn't list Sterling's donations to liberal causes, apart from the references to the NAACP...
A stream of sponsors cut ties with the Los Angeles Clippers, and Mayor Eric Garcetti called for the harshest possible punishment Monday as NBA Commissioner Adam Silver prepared to announce the results of his investigation into remarks about blacks attributed to team owner Donald Sterling.Continue reading.
Sterling's purported comments were widely condemned, and the commissioner, after three months as leader of the 30-team league, confronts one of the most unsettling crises the NBA has faced in recent years.
Although NBA bylaws give the pro basketball league the power to oust owners in limited circumstances, experts said Silver would more likely hit the Clippers' owner with a sizable fine and a lengthy suspension, perhaps with the intent of pressuring the real estate magnate into selling the franchise he has owned for 33 years.
"He'll tell Sterling, 'If you choose to stay, I won't let you go to any games,' " predicted Andrew Zimbalist, a Smith College economics professor and a former consultant to the NBA players association. "'I won't let you make any personnel decisions. I won't let you communicate with the general manager, hire anybody in the front office, or talk to the media. You could do that, or sell the team … and walk away with a $700-million capital gain.' "
Sterling paid $12 million in 1981 for the team in San Diego and three years later moved the Clippers to Los Angeles. Years of losing would ensue, but the team's fortunes and value have risen precipitously in the last few years. Forbes magazine recently valued the team at $575 million, though some in the sports world think the franchise could sell for as much as $700 million.
The websites TMZ and Deadspin posted audio recordings over the weekend of a man they identified as Sterling chastising a female friend for making public her association with blacks. The conversation took place after the woman, V. Stiviano, posted an Instagram photo of herself posing with Lakers great Magic Johnson.
On Monday, 15 Clippers advertisers said they have terminated or suspended their sponsorship, although most expressed their continued support for the team's players, coaches and fans...
@AmPowerBlog I really don't care about this debate very much. Please direct tweets elsewhere.
— Olivia Nuzzi (@Olivianuzzi) April 29, 2014Although Sterling is a registered Republican he has supported Democratic candidates in the past. He gave $5,000 to Gray Davis' gubernatorial campaign in 2002, and $1,000 in support of a group pushing for Proposition 2 in 2008, which sought to give farm animals larger living quarters. He gave another $1,000 to Davis in 1991, a year when he also gave $1,000 to Vermont Sen. Patrick Leahy. In 1989, he gave $2,000 to former basketball player and Democratic senator from New Jersey Bill Bradley. If Republicans wanted to go really deep, they could also mention that Sterling attended the wedding of Jeff Greene in 2007, who ran in the 2010 Democratic Senate primaries in Florida -- to disastrous result.Typically, WaPo's Fuller draws unsubstantiated conclusions when she closes by arguing, "What does all of this say about Sterling's political affiliation?"
In 2009, the Los Angeles chapter of the NAACP gave Sterling a Lifetime Achievement Award, and he won the NAACP Presidents Award in 2008. His 2009 award coincided with Baylor's lawsuit. The NAACP chapter's president told the Los Angeles Times, "We can't speak to the allegations, but what we do know is that for the most part [Sterling] has been very, very kind to the minority youth community." He was scheduled to receive another Lifetime Achievement Award this week, but the chapter changed its mind.
The YES! on Prop 2 campaign was run by Californians for Humane Farms, sponsored by The Humane Society of the United States, Farm Sanctuary, and other animal protection groups, family farmers, veterinarians and public health professionals.OMG! totally Republican or something!!
Joe Ramsey was the official sponsor of the initiative. In addition to humane societies and animal welfare groups, the measure was also backed by the California Veterinary Medical Association, the Center for Food Safety, the Center for Science in the Public Interest, the Consumer Federation of America, Clean Water Action, the Sierra Club, the United Farm Workers, and the Union of Concerned Scientists. Proposition 2 was also endorsed by several politicians, including the California Democratic Party and U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein.
Jennifer Fearing was the campaign manager for the "Yes on Prop 2" campaign...
LMFAO: Racist Clippers Owner Is Far, Far Left #Dem About to Be Given NAACP Lifetime Achievement Award http://t.co/cUUgsxBhvx via @PatDollard
— Donald Douglas (@AmPowerBlog) April 27, 2014
.@Stinarichard OMG! It's Westside L.A. LOL! It's veritable liberal land ROTFLMFAO. But don't change. Reality is hard, lol!
— Donald Douglas (@AmPowerBlog) April 27, 2014
WASHINGTON — When the Obama administration imposed sanctions on individual Russians last month in response to Moscow’s armed intervention in Ukraine, one of the targets was a longtime part-owner of a commodities trading company called the Gunvor Group.Well, let's hope Treasury locates Putin's riches. The White House needs something --- anything! --- on which to claim some foreign policy successes.
His name, Gennady N. Timchenko, meant little to most Americans, but buried in the Treasury Department announcement were a dozen words that President Obama and his team knew would not escape the attention of Russia’s president, Vladimir V. Putin. “Putin,” the statement said, “has investments in Gunvor and may have access to Gunvor funds.”
For years, the suspicion that Mr. Putin has a secret fortune has intrigued scholars, industry analysts, opposition figures, journalists and intelligence agencies but defied their efforts to uncover it. Numbers are thrown around suggesting that Mr. Putin may control $40 billion or even $70 billion, in theory making him the richest head of state in world history.
Government troops outside Slovyansk on Saturday. The army is weak, but Ukraine has a history of partisans’ attacking invaders.News Analysis: For Russia, Negatives Seem to Outweigh Positives of an InvasionAPRIL 26, 2014
For all the rumors and speculation, though, there has been little if any hard evidence, and Gunvor has adamantly denied any financial ties to Mr. Putin and repeated that denial on Friday.
But Mr. Obama’s response to the Ukraine crisis, while derided by critics as slow and weak, has reinvigorated a 15-year global hunt for Mr. Putin’s hidden wealth.
Now, as the Obama administration prepares to announce another round of sanctions as early as Monday targeting Russians it considers part of Mr. Putin’s financial circle, it is sending a not-very-subtle message that it thinks it knows where the Russian leader has his money, and that he could ultimately be targeted directly or indirectly.
“It’s something that could be done that would send a very clear signal of taking the gloves off and not just dance around it,” said Juan C. Zarate, a White House counterterrorism adviser to President George W. Bush who helped pioneer the government’s modern financial campaign techniques to choke off terrorist money....
Friendly tip to @seanhannity, @SenRandPaul, @SenTedCruz: don't endorse or defend Donald Sterling. DO NOT do it. http://t.co/fVHKNZVYg2
— Paul Begala (@PaulBegala) April 26, 2014@PaulBegala <~~ obviously doesn't know that Donald Sterling's a Lib! @seanhannity @SenRandPaul @SenTedCruz @instapundit #ignoranceisbliss
— ConservativeBlackMan (@Thomasismyuncle) April 27, 2014@PaulBegala Check your donor lists, idiot. He's on them. @seanhannity @SenRandPaul @SenTedCruz
— Will Collier (@willcollier) April 27, 2014@instapundit @seanhannity @SenRandPaul @SenTedCruz I don't care if he's a Dem or Repub, I've denounced him. Where were you on Bundy?
— Paul Begala (@PaulBegala) April 27, 2014
On this day, on behalf of the Jewish people, I say to those who have sought and still seek to destroy us: You have failed and you will fail.
— Benjamin Netanyahu (@netanyahu) April 27, 2014
I'm having a good time watching the left twist itself into knots trying their darndest to make this guy out to be some kind of right wing, TEA Party conservative! Even Obama is trying to frame the story that way!Very well said.
Of course conservatives aren't surprised to hear liberals spew such vileness in the least. We've heard it all before. I think what still does shock us is the total hypocrisy of the leftist movement in general.
I mean these people are still having a total melt-down over Bundy's (poorly stated) comments, but let's put things in perspective here. Compare & contrast the statements made by the two men & what is & what is not real bigotry & hatred becomes obvious!
You know, I'm just tickled all over how leftists back themselves into a corner when calling out #TCOTs as racist, lol!
— Donald Douglas (@AmPowerBlog) April 27, 2014
Because leftists just come at you all day and then when confronted with #Democrat Party racism they bare their teeth like a cornered dog.
— Donald Douglas (@AmPowerBlog) April 27, 2014
Leftists: Sad bitter people who'll stop and nothing to ram through their hateful agenda.
— Donald Douglas (@AmPowerBlog) April 27, 2014
Tabitha Bliss is on Twitter as well. She's a good lady.
OAKLAND, Calif. — The Los Angeles Clippers, finding themselves embroiled in controversy surrounding racist remarks attributed to the team’s owner, took the court for their playoff game Sunday with a statement, both fashion and political. In sartorial signs of solidarity, players wore their shirts inside out during warm-ups, and each wore black socks and black wristbands during the game.Also, at the Lede, "Reaction to the Remarks Linked to Donald Sterling."
The owner’s wife sat courtside, across from the Clippers’ bench, with her husband barred from attending while the N.B.A. investigates the matter. She wore all black.
The recordings of the remarks, apparently made by Donald Sterling, the Clippers’ owner, bounced around the globe on Sunday like viral aftershocks, rattling the league’s leadership, overshadowing its playoff games and even receiving the attention of President Obama in Malaysia.
But the epicenter was at Oracle Arena, where the Clippers played the Golden State Warriors in Game 4 of their first-round playoff series. The teams are closely matched rivals, and although there were no clear signs that the crowd’s enthusiasm and voracity had anything to do with Sterling, the story line certainly provided a boost to the energy and intrigue.
The remarks struck a nerve in the N.B.A., in which the majority of players are black and the majority of owners are white. That the controversy should involve a team based in Los Angeles, a diverse city with its own history of race-relation problems but one that has long revered black athletes, only added a layer of complex context.
As the Clippers’ players quietly went through their usual pregame routine of stretching and relaxing, trying to make the unusual circumstances feel normal, their coach stepped into a warm and crowded room. Over seven minutes, he answered 13 questions about the racist comments attributed to Sterling.
“Racism, injustice of any kind, it should always be front and center, and we should never run from it,” the Clippers’ coach, Doc Rivers, said. “I think we all do a good job running from it. You should never run from it. You should confront it and try to do your best to handle it. I think we are doing our best right now in this case by trying to do that.”
In a meeting on Saturday, the team considered all its options, from ignoring the comments to boycotting the game, as some suggested.
“Our message is to play,” Rivers said. “Our message is that we’re going to let no one and nothing stop us from what we want to do. And I think that’s a good message.”
Update to an earlier post, and a restoration of the parts that were 100% accurate. @AmPowerBlog http://t.co/Mysildi44X
— Steve M. (@nomoremister) April 27, 2014[South Carolina Lieutenant Governor and Cliven Bundy clone] Glenn McConnell's thriving career is a reminder to me of why I automatically tune out any argument that contains the phrase "political correctness." I grant that there are things you simply "can't say," according to America's "official culture." But outside America's political and media centers, these "incorrect" ideas are loving cultivated, valorized, and carefully transmitted to future generations. That's why there are still Klansmen and neo-Nazis. That's why well-educated young men still think sexual penetration after the administration of Rohypnol or a few too many drinks is perfectly OK. That's why Silicon Valley and Internet comments sections are still hotbeds of virulent sexism. And so on. Cliven Bundy isn't a throwback. He's just a guy whose ideology usually flies under the radar. We just ignore the precincts where that ideology thrives.Oh, the poor precious widdle weftists. 'Cuz hatefwul conservatives are all about roofies, or something lol!!
Racist Clippers Owner Donald Sterling Is a Democrat http://t.co/3IJK9HbkS6 with bonus shoutout to @AmPowerBlog
— Bossy & Proud of It (@lamblock) April 27, 2014Moonbattery • 4 hours agoNails it!
All Democrats are racists. It is the foundation of the Democratic party. Keeping blacks in poverty is just an extension of when Democrats founded the KKK and opposed all civil rights acts the Republicans were trying to enact.
Don't let them keep rewriting history.
OMG! @JenGratz was killing it with civility! Jennifer Gratz vs. Shanta Driver - Fox News: http://t.co/2i2h2NXIJy #Schuette cc. @RSMcCain
— Donald Douglas (@AmPowerBlog) April 27, 2014.@JenGratz Ms. Driver is sad, bitter little woman and you handled yourself with exceptional grace. https://t.co/KbD2me5Rs7
— Donald Douglas (@AmPowerBlog) April 27, 2014BAMN employs an "ends-justifies-the-means" approach that, according to American Civil Rights Institute founder Ward Connerly, is reminiscent of the tactics advocated by the late community organizer Saul Alinsky. In Arizona in 2008, for example, BAMN activists tried to buy lists of signatures that had been collected by anti-affirmative-action petitioners—so as to prevent those names from being submitted to state legislators.Typical Alinskyite radicals. Disgusting, bitter people who'll stop and nothing to ram through their hateful agenda.
Many of BAMN's pro-affirmative action efforts are conducted collaboratively with such organizations as the NAACP, the ACLU, ACORN, and the Service Employees International Union. In BAMN's calculus, “attacks on affirmative action” can be attributed largely to a virulent brand of “smothering and deforming racism” that seeks to promote “a system of de facto segregation” in which “undocumented and immigrant students from less privileged communities” are “almost entirely shut out of [the] most selective public universities.”
Central to BAMN's pro-affirmative action crusade is its effort to eliminate the use of the SAT exam by university admissions departments, on grounds that the test is “biased” and “academically unsound.” On average, whites nationwide score about 200 points higher than their black counterparts—a fact that, according to BAMN, merely reflects “the complex racism and inequality of our society.”
Also active in the immigrant-rights movement, BAMN advocates the passage of a national DREAM Act which would allow illegal-alien students to attend college at the reduced tuition rates normally reserved for in-state legal residents, and to earn conditional permanent residency and a path to citizenship. Moreover, the organization seeks to ban “anti-immigrant raids” at workplaces; stop the deportation of illegals; make California a "sanctuary" state wherein illegal aliens are beyond the reach of the law; and repeal Arizona’s “racist” 2010 immigration law, which deputized state police to verify the immigration status of criminals suspected of being in the U.S. illegally. In the spring of 2006, BAMN helped lead the massive wave of immigrant-rights rallies that swept across the United States.
Consistent with BAMN's view that racism pervades American society, is the group's contention that the U.S. criminal-justice system egregiously discriminates against nonwhite minorities. To address this issue, BAMN has called for a “mass movement against police brutality.”
BAMN also seeks to “defend public education”—from the pre-K through college levels—by demanding an end to all tuition hikes, school-budget cutbacks, and teacher layoffs. Accusing “the rich and powerful” of seeking to use “the economic crisis” as a pretext for shirking their duty to pay school taxes, BAMN in 2010 called for any shortfalls in education budgets to be funded by “taxing the corporations, banks, and billionaires.” Additional revenue, said BAMN, could be generated by “end[ing] the U.S. occupation of Iraq and Afghanistan,” because “you cannot end racism at home while fighting a racist war abroad.”
The problem of Tea Party candidates being starved of donations by groups scamming their donors is real & serious http://t.co/NTxDJ7FUkx
— Dan McLaughlin (@baseballcrank) April 27, 2014MT @PeterHambyCNN: Jenny Beth Martin pays herself $450K/year, but Tea Party Patriots spent just $185K on candidates http://t.co/4QeQx0289L
— Zeke Miller (@ZekeJMiller) April 27, 2014Martin, the super PAC’s chairwoman, oversees all its expenditures, according to Broughton, meaning she sets her own $15,000 monthly fee for strategic consulting — payments that have totaled $120,000 since July.Nope. She's making too much money running an organization purportedly established to shrink government and restore liberty. So of course Ms. Martin declined to comment. Her salary figures are obscene.
She also draws a salary as president of the Tea Party Patriots’ nonprofit arm — getting more than $272,000 in the 2012 fiscal year, according to the group’s most recent tax filing.
Her twin salaries put her on track to make more than $450,000 this year, a dramatic change in lifestyle for the tea party activist, who had filed for bankruptcy in 2008 and then cleaned homes for a period of time to bring in extra money.
Martin, through Broughton, declined to comment. But Broughton said Martin’s fees could not “objectively be considered unreasonable.”
“She works the equivalent of two full-time jobs,” Broughton said. “When I say she probably works 90 to 100 hours a week, that’s not an exaggeration.”
