So Long Phelps, you won't be missed

I have to admit, this is going to be a blog that even I have no clue how it’s going to turn out. Because thanks to a moment of thought…the entire landscape of this blog is going to change.

As I went to write this blog, my original intent was that of a celebration of the death of Fred Phelps. Phelps, the leader (or as I’ve learned, the fallen leader, appears he wasn’t intolerant enough of homosexuals to appease his family) of the Westboro Cult, which routinely picketed funerals of soldiers, gay people, victims of school shootings, and so forth. They held signs that read “Thank God for 9/11”, among other vulgar, disgusting things. As disgusting and distasteful as their comments and signs are, according to the Supreme Court, they are protected under the first amendment. A rite, that thankfully, extends to blogs like mine.

I would like to take this time that I shed not a single tear for Fred Phelps, and I reacted with a celebratory cheer when I heard he was dead. I even had joined a group on Facebook, called the Fred Phelps Death watch. I have several friends who are gay, in same sex relationships, and I have a cousin who had gender reassignment surgery, going from female to male. I support all of them, and I’ve declared Phelps, his ilk, supporters of Westboro my sworn enemy.

I still find myself intrigued on why someone would personally decide to make themselves so hated. Why does someone in real life, want everyone else to look upon them with disgust. In my career as a pro wrestling manager and commentator, I’ve played the role of a villain, only becoming a “good guy” over the last few years. But there is the key, I was playing a role. Outside of the character I played for years, I’m the most easy going, accepting person you’re ever going to meet.

If Phelps wanted to be against gay marriage, fine that’s his right, just as the KKK and others like them rallied against interracial marriage 50 years ago.  No matter how clear the evidence is that not only is someone wrong morally, that they are on the wrong side of history, they have a right to their opinion.  However, the question that begs to be asked, is why take it to such an extreme?

What drove the likes of Phelps, Hitler, Bin Laden all peas in the same pod, the feed off hatred?  Was it a desire to satisfy the ambitions of fame? Are they just men who felt more comfortable embracing hatred, and spreading the seeds of evil?

Simply fact is we are never going to know. And while some may find my happiness that a vile being such as Phelps has shuffled off the mortal coil wrong, when you have a right to that opinion. Protesting his funeral isn’t going to do anything, because his family is going to love every minute of it. They are attention starved, and the best thing we can do, is ignore his funeral. Though I do kind of think it would be funny if someone broke into his gravesite, and buried and inflated male sex doll with him, it is best that we simply move on.

It’s time that the Westboro cult fades into obscurity and becomes forgotten about. Maybe they will become a walking punchline like the KKK has become. Maybe, our culture will so become acceptive enough of same sex relationships, that when future generations gaze upon the Westboro cult, they will laugh mockingly, wondering how anyone could have such foolish hate-filled beliefs like Westboro. Much like right-minded members of our generation view the Klan.

So let the emotion cool and set aside the urge to protest. Let’s give Westboro something they don’t want…a cold shoulder. And for those wondering why I compare Phelps so much to Adolf Hitler, it is because they really have the same doctrine. Just Phelps has recast gay people in place of the Jews. And like Hitler, Phelps was a man with zero redemptive features. A man who no one is going to shed a tear over, and as I suggested before, will suffer a fate fitting him. In search of fame, he’ll instead be relegated to the bin of the forgotten, only to see his name resurrected when it comes time to compare a vile, evil, and disgusting existence of a man to someone.

And now we’ve reached the end, so, now we both know how this blog turned out. So long Fred…you won’t be missed!

Return of Bonds ingites old question

It’s nearly spring. And for those of us tired of the winter, we have a sign that the cold season is almost over. That of course, is spring training baseball.

Now, the stars really don’t play much, and many of these games feature those players trying to solidify their spot on the roster, toss in a bunch of minor leaguers who most likely, will fade away into obscurity after they are demoted.

However, the big talk surrounding this spring training is Barry Bonds. Yeah, Bonds, after spending the last four years out of the spot light is back as a spring training advisor for the San Francisco Giants. Feel free to insert your jokes here.

For those who aren’t baseball fans, Barry Bonds is forever linked to the steroid era. Bonds, whose weight ballooned from 175 to nearly 250 pounds seemingly overnight, went for being a for batting average hitter to being a power hitter. Though every single sign pointed to PED use, Bonds steadfast denied it. Bonds would go on to break the all-time single season record for home runs, and career record for home runs, though no sane baseball purist would acknowledge these records.

Bonds, like Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa, and many other players from what is now famously called “The PED Era” is also the center of another conversation: Is he worthy of the hall of Fame?  There are many that feel that none of the players linked to PEDs should be allowed into the hall of fame.

And it is at that point where I have to disagree. I have no problem with any of the PED players going into the hall of fame, because many of them already were putting up hall worthy numbers. Well, save for Sammy Sosa and Rafael Palmerio, because they were more nice career, but not HOF career players.

I also think both Pete Rose and “Shoeless” Joe Jackson should be in the hall, ditto for White Sox pitcher Eddie Cicotte. There was never any hard evidence, on or off the field that Jackson tanked any games. In the case of Cicotte, he admitted to through a couple games he pitched. After years of denial, Pete Rose admitted to gambling on a few games.

There is this misnomer that only players of pure virtue can be elected into the hall of fame. Don’t let yourself be fooled. If there was really something called “the sanctity of the hall”, there are two men who never would have been admitted.

Cap Anson was the first bonafide superstar of baseball. He was a star for Chicago from the 1870’s into the 1880’s. He had plenty of power, both on and off the field, and he would use that later in his career. Anson was a racist. He had a strong hatred from African-Americans that would lead to him bullying many semi-pro and major league teams from fielding them. A famous incident occurred in 1884, during an American Association game against Toledo. The AA was the second major league, and Toledo featured an African-American catcher named Moses Fleetwood Walker. It was only after the Toledo manager refused to withhold payment of the Chicago team then Anson relented.

Angered at the mere notion of integrated rosters, Anson put forth the movement known as the “White Players Revolt”. After threatening the owners in the National League that they’d walk out and form their own league, the owners drew up the agreement that never again would an African-American be allowed to play on a major league team. Despite this legacy, Anson was elected to the baseball hall of fame. No one batted an eye at what he did off the field to harm the game.

Kennesaw Mountain Landis was the flag bearer for keeping major league baseball a White Man’s only game. As commissioner of baseball, Landis famously said “They have their league, and we have ours. That’s how it must remain.” Landis had no issue threatening any team that scouted a black ball player with permanent expulsion from baseball.

Landis had a reputation as a judge for sentencing African-Americans to harsher penalties than he would a white man. Landis got the job as the czar of baseball for a single reason. When the Federal League, attempting to be the third major league, sued Major League Baseball, Landis was the judge assigned to the case. Landis dragged his feet on the case, and it wasn’t long before the Federal League was broke, and out of business. As a reward, Landis was chosen to clean up the mess of the Black sox Scandal .Sadly history has recast Landis as a hero for his actions. It is no wonder that Jackie Robinson’s debut never occurred until after Landis’ death in 1945. Had Landis lived a few years longer, Jackie Robinson very well may have never played in the Major Leagues.

So here is what one can surmise. As for election to the hall of fame, they are willing to overlook racism. However, take steroids, or bet on a game, well then, you must be banished forever. I don’t understand that logic, and I never will. I seriously would love for someone to explain why if they hold the hall of fame in such high regard, why racist are allowed enshrinement. I’m not holding my breath, because no one has done so yet. Though it would be nice if someone finally did make a statement.  Of course, it would be better if they were going to keep Jackson, Ciccotte, Rose out, and keep the PED players out, they must expunge known racist like Landis and Anson from the hall. Anything else is an endorsement of bigotry.

Putin longs for the past

I’ve searched high and low, and I simply could not find one. I sort of felt like Sherlock Holmes, or Encyclopedia Brown on the hunt for a clue, and yet it kept evading me. Searched and searched until mentally, my mind could not take now more.

Alas, I could not find one quote or phrase admonishing FDR for not taking a stronger stand against Adolf Hitler. I searched further back, trying to find any instance in which elected officials in the US sent so much words of admiration of a man trying to dominate through force a group of weaker people, yet condemning their own elected leader. And yet, that is what we have right now, with people like Lindsay Graham and failed VP candidate Sarah Palin. Graham has suggested that president Obama is weak because he hasn’t gone in guns blazing into Russia to repel Putin’s army. Palin, gushing like a school girl in love with a teen idol. Said “Putin wrestles bears, and a hunt without a shirt on, President Obama wears mom jeans.” Ouch! In fact, talking heads at Fox News (also known as the unofficial PR firm of the Republican Party) have suggested that President Obama is weak because he has the gull to actually negotiate in cases in Russia and Syrian, instead of sending in troops first.

And that’s pretty much the game plan for the Republican Party when it comes to handling world affairs. President Reagan didn’t want to attack Russia in a full scale war, so he used Afghan troops instead. Instead of pulling out of Vietnam like President Johnson had suggest, President Nixon instead rushed in, amped up the war, and cost countless lives. If you trace back through America history, some of the bloodiest and most costly military engagements have occurred under the leadership of a Republican president.

America got into a mess in the Korean War. Countless lives were lost, and it pretty much ended up being a stalemate. Sadly, not much is taught in school about this war. I’m willing to bet that if you polled a random group of people, they would say that Vietnam was the war following World War II.

And on the subject of World War II, I could endlessly restate how America had been on the outside looking in until we got drawn in combat after Pearl Harbor. Instead, I’m going to focus on what Hillary Clinton said when she rightfully compared Putin’s actions to that of Hitler. It is almost like they are following the same game plan. Invade a small country say that you were worried about your fellow countrymen there, etc. Russia under Putin has had some of the most repressive laws of any nation not in the Middle East. Putin famously jailed members of the punk rock band Pussy Riot because they had written songs critical of the government. For those of you, who know your American history, think of President Adams’ “Alien and Sedition” acts, which made it a crime to speak ill of the president or the government. Some of you might have experienced something on a smaller scale from 2002-2008, when anytime you spoke out against the many war crimes of the Bush regime, you were considered not to be a true patriot.

Putin’s outdated thinking has also led him to enact laws that state homosexuality is a crime. In Russia, you can be arrested for being gay, or in possession of pro homosexual material. Yes, owning an all lesbian porn film could very well get you arrested in Russia. So, President Obama, in a stroke of brilliance, sent over to Russia a committee of some of America’s most well-known gay athletes.

Bottom line is this, just because you take a seat at the negotiating table is not a sign of weakness. It shows that you act out of intellect instead of emotion. If said talks fail, then they fail, and it works to the advantage of the US, because it shows Putin for what he really is: A black hearted former KGB agent who longs for the days of the cold war. He longs for the days in which both Russia and the US spent much of their budget on military defense and very little on anything else.

Hell, maybe we’ll take it one step further back. Perhaps Putin envisions himself a modern day Khrushchev, with President Obama playing the role of John Kennedy.  Perhaps all of this is nothing more than Putin’s own Cuban Missile Crisis. It’s clear to anyone that Putin longs for a past that is best to stay buried. Putin wrongly claims that the Ukraine government is illegal, despite that he belief his been rebuked many. Maybe Putin knows that deep down, and it is true what I’ve suggested in this blog. Putin is simply a cold war relic.

I have no problem with how President Obama is handling this. And I really don’t give a damn about what the puppets at Fox news spout. I just find it amusing that these are the same people engaging in acts now that they once found so un-American.  

Putin is a clown, and sooner or later, he’s going to have to retreat back across the border. And if Sarah Palin wants to admire him so much, she can jolly well book herself a one way trip to Russia. And if Lindsay Graham wants a war, he can jolly well carry a gun and stand a post. If anyone is doing anything to harm America’s standing in the world regarding this rift with Russia, it’s people like Graham and Palin. Putin is on the wrong side of history….and he’s going to see that soon enough.