Saturday, June 15, 2013

New England Patriots Owner: Putin Stole My Super Bowl Ring

Here's a bit of an explanation for some stories last month:
Vladimir Putin keeps John Kerry waiting for THREE HOURS during ...
RealClearWorld - How Putin Rolled John Kerry on Syria

From Economic Policy Journal:
There is really something poetic about a bunch of crony capitalists in Russia, with one of them getting ripped off in pure daylight by a master state operator.

NyPo reports:
New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft revealed the real story behind a 2005 meeting with Vladimir Putin, during which the Russian president pocketed his Super Bowl ring, worth more than $25,000. Kraft, at the time, claimed the diamond-encrusted bauble was a gift, but he now admits Putin stole it, and the White House intervened when he demanded it back. 
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.”
Of course, the White House intervened on the side of its Russian power-center counterpart, Putin...MORE
I really wish we had someone with balls talking to Putin. Hillary maybe.