LaRussa and Pujols attending Beck Rally?

[The Hitman]

Source: StL Today

Cardinals first baseman and three-time NL Most Valuable Player Albert Pujols will be among several honorees at a highly publicized and potentially politically charged Saturday morning rally expected to draw more than 20,000 to The Mall.

Organized by Fox News talk show host Glenn Beck and featuring former Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin, the "Restoring Honor" rally is scheduled to take place at the base of the Lincoln Memorial on the 47th anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King's "I Have a Dream" speech.

Beck, who met Pujols at Busch Stadium before a June appearance at Chaifetz Arena, is promoting the event as an apolitical celebration of the First Amendment and the Special Operations Warrior Foundation. Cardinals manager Tony La Russa, scheduled to introduce Pujols, insisted Thursday that he and Pujols are attending only after receiving assurances that the event is not a thinly disguised political rally.

Some liberal critics have portrayed the three-hour event as a platform for the conservative Tea Party movement.

Read more: http://www.stltoday.com/sports/baseball/professional/article_75ec5a21-1978-5ba0-a71b-d99c6109ad8e.html

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Yikes.

[sharp_stick]

1. Yet another reason to hate

the fucking Cardinals, as though I really needed one. ;-)

[pearl]

3. I hear ya

As a cubs fan I'm rooting for the reds all the way.

[Drale]

21. As a cubs fan

I hate Joey Votto and the Reds more this season then the cards and Albert but if this is true I will lose all the respect that I have for Pujols.

[saigon68]

45. assurances that the event is not a thinly disguised political rally.

They are Morans

[gater]

13. As a Met fan living in Ohio, I hate them for my Mets...

for the Reds(whom my friends here in Ohio root for), and now for the public good, I HATE THE CARDS!

[savalez]

30. Found this petition on Thom Hartmann's site. Link:

http://glennbeckisnotmartinlutherkingjr.com/

[joeybee12]

2. Is LaRussa really that stupid? Gee, it's not a political rally.

Moran.

[KurtNYC]

10. maybe he likes politcal rallys but doesn't like them disguised

since this one is sponsored by FNC, big donors to GOP Governors races, there is not even a "thin" disguise.

[Hell Hath No Fury]

4. Shame on Tony LaRussa!

I used ot have a lot of respect for him for the work he does for animals, but the man has to be insane if he thinks for a second this isn't a fucking political rally.

Stupid, stupid move, Tony. :puke:

[Auggie]

11. +1

[dhill926]

17. agreed.....

really incomprehensible.......

[Bozita]

22. +1

[Joanne98]

5. Albert Pujols is a "christian" He's there to meet Sarah Palin IMO

Personal life
Pujols married his wife, Deidre, on January 1, 2000. They have four children, Isabella (Deidre's daughter, from a previous relationship), Albert Jr., Sophia, and Ezra<48>. Albert and his wife are active in the cause of people with Down syndrome, as Isabella was born with this condition. He has taken part-ownership in Patrick's Restaurant in Maryland Heights, Missouri. The remodeled restaurant was re-opened as Pujols 5 in 2006.<49>

Pujols is close friends with third baseman Plácido Polanco, a former teammate with the St. Louis Cardinals. Pujols is godfather to Polanco's 3-year-old son, Ismael.<50> Polanco and Pujols played on opposite teams in the 2006 World Series.

In 2007 Pujols became a U.S. citizen,<51> scoring a perfect 100 on his citizenship test.<52> Later that year Upper Deck Authenticated announced it had signed Pujols to an exclusive autographed memorabilia agreement.

In 2008, Pujols agreed to help bring a MLS franchise to St. Louis by using his reputation and a large financial investment.<53>

Pujols and his wife are active Christians; his foundation's website states, "In the Pujols family, God is first. Everything else is a distant second."<54>

Pujols Family Foundation
In 2005, Albert and Deidre Pujols launched the Pujols Family Foundation, which is dedicated to "the love, care and development of people with Down syndrome and their families," as well as helping the poor in the Dominican Republic. Pujols has taken several trips to the Dominican Republic, by taking supplies as well as a team of doctors and dentists to the poor who need medical care.<55> The Pujols Family Foundation also holds an annual golf tournament in which members from the Cardinals and other people play golf to raise money to send dentists to the Dominican Republic.<56>

A new center for adults with Down syndrome that will bear his name ("Albert Pujols Wellness Center for Adults with Down's Syndrome") is scheduled to open in November 2009 in Chesterfield, Missouri.<57> He was there when it was launched on November 18, 2009.<58><59>

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_Pujols

This rally is going to be packed with evangelicals!

[peaches2003]

33. I don't give a damn what Pujols has done

It's idiotic for the Cards management to allow him and LaRussa to participate in a political event given by a nutjob and a bitch. Big mistake. Hope the Cards sink to the cellar and I have always rooted for them. What the hell has happened to baseball? This is as bad as that Red Sox Curt whoever campaigning for McCain/Palin.

[hack89]

35. He does a lot of good, it appears.

it's good to see celebrities give back to their community.

[Jim__]

6. Not a political rally? Pull your head out of your ass! - n/t

[robcon]

7. Why does anyone care whether baseball players or managers attend.

Let them have their rally.

[hughee99]

14. +1 n/t

[indepat]

8. Sickingly sullying the name of major league baseball by lending seeming legitimacy to a

hate-fest. :P

[missingfink]

23. LaRussa not popular in STL

I live in the St. Louis area & will add this: Despite his gaudy record as manager here with a World Series title (2006), a National League Championship (2004), and many division titles, Tony LaRussa is not a fan favorite. You would think someone who has been so successful would be more highly lauded by the fans. That is not the case with Tony in STL. There are a lot of reasons for this but arrogance is the root cause.

[lobodons]

9. 20,000

WTF!!?? Can't wait for the Fauz Noise coverage and file footage proclaiming over 2 million attendees. Come on now. 20,000!!??

[The Hitman]

12. Fucking Freeper Trolls

How dare you unrec me!

[Iwillnevergiveup]

15. Projecting attendance numbers

draws a line in the sand - 20,000 is really not that many considering the media blitz on this stupid sham. Of course, with the Koch brothers behind the scenes providing bodies and buses, maybe 20,000 dimwits can be manufactured.

[Demoiselle]

18. 20 thousand? Feh.

The first reference I looked at (Wikipedia) said the REAL I Have a Dream speech was delivered to a crowd estimated at at least 200 thousand. And they didn't ship em in on Koch busses.
I mean, if we're gonna do attendance duels.....

[Gecko6400]

16. Like I care about

this as much as when some dim witted show business type attends one of our rallies.

[CreekDog]

19. I hope his dog bites him

:grr:

[orbitalman]

20. Why would La Russa associate himself with such a questionable circus?? n/t

[davepc]

24. Tony La Russa Loves Arizona’s SB 1070 (he's a right winger)

St. Louis Cardinals manager Tony La Russa has chosen to publicly back Arizona’s odious, anti-constitutional, anti-immigrant Senate Bill 1070. Call me paranoid. Call me delusional. But it doesn’t take a tinfoil hat to intuit that there are larger forces at work shaping Major League Baseball’s political response to Arizona’s anti-immigrant attacks. When SB 1070 was signed by the state’s interim Governor Jan Brewer, baseball players were in an uproar. In a sport where half the league holds Spring Training in Arizona and 27% of players are Latin American immigrants, the reaction was bracing and immediate. Fifteen players lashed out against SB 1070 before the ink was even dry on Brewer’s signature. The Major League Baseball Players Association also issued a dramatic statement against the bill. Both Padres first baseman Adrian Gonzalez and White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen said they would boycott the 2011 All Star game if it was held in Phoenix as planned. And then… silence. It’s been like a faucet that was twisted violently shut. Players now just speak off the record with curt statements like, "Who would like it?" Others who spoke out earlier like the D-backs own Augie Ojeda, now just mumble, "We're here to play baseball.

And into the vacuum steps Tony La Russa, loud and proud in front of the cameras saying, "I'm actually a supporter of what Arizona is doing. If the national government doesn't fix your problem, you've got a problem. You've got to fix it yourself. That's just part of the American way." He then praised the handful of Tea Partiers who attended Wednesday's Cardinals/Diamondbacks game with banners and signs in support of SB 1070. (emphasis added)

No comment from Cardinal stars Albert Pujols or Yadier Molina about whether getting stopped without just cause is “just part of the American way.”

As players are silenced while managers come forward to defend Bud Selig’s conservative status quo, the lessons should be clear. Players spoke out heroically when the law was past, but they will not magically build a real grassroots movement against SB 1070. That happens off the field. We need to keep pushing to pressure Commissioner Bud Selig to move next year’s All Star game, and La Russa may have unwittingly given us a lead on just how to do it. After praising the Tea Partiers’ in-park demonstration, he said, "Anybody, I mean if you had the opposite view and you wanted to come out and have your signs, I mean this is great, you're going to have 40,000 people here to see it perfect. I don't care.=

http://www.thenation.com/blog/36959/vacuum-tony-la-russa-loves-arizona%E2%80%99s-sb-1070

[Supersedeas]

29. things are starting to add up

[Blue_Tires]

25. wow...just wow....

at least i know who not to cheer for anymore...


"NOT political??" Are they fucking SHITTING US??!?

[alp227]

26. Just to stick it up for "good ol' American values" the allstar game will still be in Arizona 2011

And Albert Pujols will join a bunch of other losers and ignoramuses in pissing on Martin Luther King's grave and cheering on an overly narcissistic crazed nutcase.

[KamaAina]

28. This from the league that hosts an annual preseason "Civil Rights Game" in Memphis

ironically, it features the Cards, since Memphis is the home of their AAA affiliate.

[KamaAina]

27. I always knew Pujols was a righty

but I thought that meant he batted and threw right-handed. :eyes:

[rabs]

31. José Alberto Pujols Alcántara

is likely to stand out among all the white faces -- and maybe catch a little flack from the beckers and teabaggers who do not know who he is before he is introduced.

[Green_Lantern]

32. I'm in St. Louis and not really into baseball but the Cubs suck..

And the Reds are morons who got their asses kicked in that big brawl. ;)

As far as Pujols going to this Beck rally...it's a bad pr move to associate himself with such divisive people.

By the way if this was a ball player at a rally with Castro does anyone think the Right would accept the "I didn't know it was political" excuse?

[DemEyeDick]

34. I am a Reds fan...

I root against La Russa, Pujols, and the Cardinals out of love of my Reds. This disgusting association between La Russa, Pujols and that idiot Glenn &%king pathetic.

[MarkInSavannah]

36. Personally, I think you all ought to be ashamed of yourselves!

As one writer so aptly pointed out, he/she couldn't care less if one of those chowder headed celebrities show up to a progressive rally so why should someone else be held to a different standard simply because they are not of one's own political bent? For those of you implying that you don't like him now because he went to Beck's rally, you have some real serious issues. You proclaim your open-mindedness to people of all colors, all religions, and all national origins yet you are so ready to shut yourself off to someone off a different (arguably) political persuasion? Do you not realize how silly and ignorant you make yourselves sound? Think there are more than a few of you here who need to grow the hell up!

[Akoto]

37. Tolerant of Beck's ilk? Crazy is not a valid political persuasion. n/t

[Doctor_J]

38. Thanks, Mark

Which one were you at the BecKKK rally today?

[MarkInSavannah]

41. OK........see this is going nowhere!

[Jefferson23]

39. Not a political rally? Yea, it's only a tea party..what an idiot. n/t

[Arugula Latte]

40. I'm so sad about Tony L. He's a big animal person.

He has an animal rescue foundation and a great shelter in the East Bay of S.F.:

http://www.tlr-arf.org/

[Doctor_J]

42. He also seems smarter than most jocks

this is a surprise

[KillCapitalism]

43. I don't know about Pujols...

but LaRussa is a hardcore wingnut. I could see him sitting there watching Palin and Beck speak & thinking "These people are way too liberal!"

[underpants]

44. Go Reds!

LaRussa is out of the book now.