BloggeRhythms

Tens of thousands of Russian troops are amassed along the Ukrainian border, causing the nation and its allies to worry that Russia could follow its annexation of Crimea by invading eastern Ukraine.

 

According to Yahoo News via Drudge, “Washington warned Moscow of "additional consequences" if it fails to reduce tensions with Ukraine.”

 

Additionally, “During a telephone call with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, US Secretary of State John Kerry "made clear that if Russia did not take steps to de-escalate in eastern Ukraine and move its troops back from Ukraine's border, there would be additional consequences," a senior State Department official said.”

 

Having forgotten what the current “consequences” were, I looked them up to find that, on “April 10th A first wave of US sanctions unveiled in March had blacklisted officials and businesspeople close to Russian President Vladimir Putin to protest Moscow's takeover of Crimea.”

 

So, here we have the formerly most powerful nation on Earth reacting to an international crisis by blacklisting a handful of individuals who likely have their assets hidden all over the planet. Yet, in the meantime, Russia’s president does as he pleases, knowing full well the U.S. will never truly retaliate so long as its current administration remains in office.

 

While all this goes on, NBC’s Channel 4 in New York reports that, “President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama attended the Broadway revival of "A Raisin in the Sun," a play about an African-American family in 1950s Chicago.

 

The play, which stars Denzel Washington, capped a rare evening out in New York for the first couple. They were in the city for activist Al Sharpton's National Action Network conference, which the president addressed earlier Friday.”

 

This is the same Al Sharpton that New York Post wrote up this way: 

 

“The Rev. Al Sharpton’s nonprofit paid him nearly $242,000 — even as it carried $1.6 million in debt, according to documents obtained by The Post.

 

In all, the controversial activist and his empire, including the National Action Network and two for-profit companies, were $5.3 million in the red, public records show.

 

Most of NAN’s money woes stemmed from more than $880,000 in unpaid federal payroll taxes, interest and penalties. It also paid more than $100,000 to settle two lawsuits, byproducts of the unpaid bills.

 

And it still owed $206,252 in loans to Sharpton’s for-profit Bo-Spanky Consulting Inc. and Sharpton Media LLC, the records show.

 

Sharpton drew a $241,732 salary and perks that included first-class or charter air travel, tax filings show. He owes the IRS $2.6 million in income tax, and nearly $900,000 in state tax.”

 

As far as the incumbent’s concerned tax-wise, Fox News on-line states that “President Obama and first lady Michelle Obama paid $98,169 in taxes on $481,098 income last year, according to tax returns the White House released Friday. They paid an effective federal income tax rate of 20.4 percent.” Which means, I guess, that fortunately Sharpton won’t consider running for the presidency and taking the cut in total income. 

 

And now, coming back to today’s subject. Considering the international threat Russia poses once again, it would seem that a truly concerned U.S. president would remain in D.C., trying to resolve the crisis at hand. However, this one obviously prefers attending the theater with a tax-evading scam artist instead.

 

Which is likely why Charles Krauthammer, remarked on Thursday, “I think you have to go after Syria, the Iran negotiations, the Crimea, Ukraine, what’s happening in Eastern Europe. I mean this really is a collapse of America’s stature in the world.”

 

That's it for today folks.

 

Adios