South Dakota Republican State Senator Phil Jensen is today’s poster boy for the GOP’s ongoing “rebranding” effort, as he tells the Rapid City Journal that businesses run by the KKK should legally be able to deny service to African Americans.

Jensen goes so far as to say that businesses should have the right to deny service based on a customer’s race or religion - whether that’s right or wrong, he says, can be fairly addressed by the free market, not the government.

“If someone was a member of the Ku Klux Klan, and they were running a little bakery for instance, the majority of us would find it detestable that they refuse to serve blacks, and guess what? In a matter of weeks or so that business would shut down because no one is going to patronize them,” he said.

Jensen, of course, is an evangelical Christian like any good Republican; and he also wants to make it legal to discriminate against gays, under the disguise of “religious freedom,” this year’s right wing excuse for bigotry.

This session, Jensen sponsored Senate Bill 128, which would have allowed businesses to deny service to people based on their sexual orientation and not fear a lawsuit.

Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender advocates, and even some Republicans, decried the legislation as discriminatory. Sen. Mark Kirkeby, R-Rapid City, called it “a mean, nasty, hateful, vindictive bill.” It was killed in committee.

But Jensen remains a supporter of SB 128. He calls it a bill that would have ensured the freedom of businesses to choose their clientele.

“It’s a bill that protects the constitutional right to free association, the right to free speech and private property rights,” he said.

(h/t: Tom Kludt.)

#Ukraine update 3: Russia TV host says Moscow can turn “the USA into radioactive dust.” http://t.co/6Xp4OdGttt pic.twitter.com/o1QtMUCsf3

— Jim Roberts (@nycjim) March 17, 2014

This is the same guy who advocates genocide for gay people — and he’s not kidding one bit: State TV Says Russia Could Turn US to ‘Radioactive Ash’.

Moscow (AFP) - A leading anchor on Russian state television on Sunday described Russia as the only country capable of turning the United States into “radioactive ash”, in an incendiary comment at the height of tensions over the Crimea referendum.

“Russia is the only country in the world realistically capable of turning the United States into radioactive ash,” anchor Dmitry Kiselyov said on his weekly news show on state-controlled Rossiya 1 television.

Kiselyov made the comment to support his argument that the United States and President Barack Obama were living in fear of Russia led by President Vladimir Putin amid the Ukraine crisis.

And as this is happening, Glenn Greenwald is blatantly shilling for Russia’s sham referendum in Crimea with a sleazy and wholly disingenuous comparison — while at the same time, mocking and insulting anyone who points out he’s shilling for Russia.

Has Snowden condemned the earthquake in LA yet?

— Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) March 17, 2014

Purple fingers: “Democracy won in a landslide”, beamed NYT OpEd about the 05 Iraqi election held under US occupation http://t.co/VCsUaQMq1D

— Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) March 17, 2014

@jonlovett It's immoral to compare what the US does to any of the Bad Countries. We are Good and that's the difference.

— Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) March 17, 2014

God: Putin shill MT @mattyglesias Awfully hypocritical of tectonic plates to stage earthquake in US while ignoring Russia entirely. Telling.

— Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) March 17, 2014

This is what passes for wit among the dudebros.

As Vladimir Putin shuts down dissenting media outlets, cracks down on dissidents and brings Europe to the brink of war, some observations on Glenn Greenwald’s very noticeable evasiveness when the subject turns to Russia’s propaganda machine:

And there’s Glenn Greenwald ducking and dodging questions about Russia and spewing insults at those who ask: https://t.co/yJoez1Wl9I

— Charles Johnson (@Green_Footballs) March 16, 2014

Greenwald absolutely refuses to say a single negative word about Russia. It’s incredibly revealing.

— Charles Johnson (@Green_Footballs) March 16, 2014

Make of it what you will.

Vimeo

Music Video
Year: 2014
Directed by Albert Sala
Production Company: Village Green and Guinarde

Girl: Jordana Mba
Assistant Director: Guillem Coma
Producer: Albert Sala
Production Manager: Xènia Pintó, Javi Requena
Producer Assistant: Joan Sala, Jamie Soong

Here’s the official statement from the White House on today’s Crimean referendum to secede from Ukraine:

THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 16, 2014

The United States has steadfastly supported the independence, sovereignty, and territorial integrity of Ukraine since it declared its independence in 1991, and we reject the “referendum” that took place today in the Crimean region of Ukraine. This referendum is contrary to Ukraine’s constitution, and the international community will not recognize the results of a poll administered under threats of violence and intimidation from a Russian military intervention that violates international law.

No decisions should be made about the future of Ukraine without the Ukrainian government. Moreover, this vote was not necessary. The Ukrainian government has made clear its willingness to discuss increased autonomy for Crimea, and the presidential elections planned for May 25 provide a legitimate opportunity for all Ukrainians to make their voices heard on the future of their country.

In addition, Ukraine, the United States, the EU, the OSCE, the UN, and others have called for Russia to allow international monitors into the Crimean peninsula to ensure that the rights of ethnic Russians in Ukraine are being upheld. Russia has spurned those calls as well as outreach from the Ukrainian government and instead has escalated its military intervention into Crimea and initiated threatening military exercises on Ukraine’s eastern border.

Russia’s actions are dangerous and destabilizing. The UN Security Council recognized this in a vote yesterday that only Russia opposed. As the United States and our allies have made clear, military intervention and violation of international law will bring increasing costs for Russia - not only due to measures imposed by the United States and our allies but also as a direct result of Russia’s own destabilizing actions.

In this century, we are long past the days when the international community will stand quietly by while one country forcibly seizes the territory of another. We call on all members of the international community to continue to condemn such actions, to take concrete steps to impose costs, and to stand together in support of the Ukrainian people and Ukraine’s territorial integrity and sovereignty.