Some of us are new to this
world, this World Cup of Fútbol.
This world-uniting, crazy,
wild, quadrennial
world-has-gone-nuts-time.

Others knowingly accept
us novices and explain
offsides, yellow and red
cards and corner kicks,
calling it a beautiful game.

In a matter of a few weeks,
we novices are suddenly experts
giving our considered opinions
on stupid coaching errors,
flops and officiating misses
and all things Fútbol.

We are suddenly experts
on what is a foul, and what
is a just a normal mugging.
And we amaze that a striker on
a PK could miss what is
literally the side of a barn.

But it is a beautiful game,
if politics would just
stay the hell away. We
love the athleticism,
the gracefulness, and
glimpses of sportsmanship.

And then the crazy fans!
Is this who we are?
The beautiful people
who row in sequence,
who sing Country Roads,
who drink all the Sam Adam’s
beer in Boston, and so much more!

Small nations made us notice
them. Stars came out to shine
showing us greatness. There was
jubilation of wins, sadness of loses,
but this is sport, never one
without the other.

Yes, it is a beautiful game,
especially when it brings
the world together, for
there is too much that
seems to tear us apart!

The Women’s WC is just
next year.  We don’t have
to wait four more years!

A president gives a prime time address which promises to come with the release of previously classified materials.  In any other time this would have been an astounding event, covered by every network in full, then analyzed repeatedly.

But these are not ordinary times.  The much hyped Trump prime time speech was on Thursday this week.  I watched it, and found it disgusting.  ABC, NBC and CNN did not cover the speech live.  CBS interrupted it with fact checking and sandwiched the broadcast with rebuttals before and after.   Fox, part of the president’s propaganda mill covered it but their chief anchor Bret Baier said Fox News “is not in a position to evaluate the accuracy of the president’s statements and claims at this time.”  Even Fox and Friends the next morning never mentioned the speech.

The speech was full of lies and conspiracy theories clearly designed to undermine the country’s faith in the integrity of elections, with the intent to provide a pretext for interference in the up coming mid-term elections.  It ended with a demand for congress to pass the so called “Save America Act” which is designed to suppress the vote of American citizens while claiming it is for ensuring non-citizens don’t vote… which has never been a problem, as it is illegal and the penalties are high for fraudulent voting.

The president cannot give up on his conspiracy that he won the 2020 election, but it is not just about his vanity, it is about staying in power, and doing everything he can to cheat and win the next election.

The president gives a major prime time speech… that everyone knows is a lie.  No one wants to give it air time, and yet his cabinet does nothing.  Congress does nothing.  We all try to ignore and suffer through.

This would be really funny, if it weren’t dangerous and we didn’t have a delusional president, willing to do anything to hang on to power.   He is willing to disrupt and sow distrust of our election systems so that he’s not impeached.  Attacking the media, claiming their licenses should be revoked for not aiding in his lies and spreading his propaganda.  Attacking the judiciary for not bowing to his will.  Creating a pay for play government, and using the military to attack Iran to avoid further inquiries into the Epstein Files.

We have a third world despot of a president attacking and destroying the underpinning institutions of our great democracy… We can only win back our country through an overwhelming victory at the ballot box in November.  A win so big as to deliver a complete repudiation of Trump politics this fall.   A win so big, that he cannot find a way to deny or disrupt the results.

We must win big, or lose everything!

Here we are starting our next 250 years with hope that it’s not reduced to some 250 days.  We believe, we persevere because the alternative is too terrible.  In that alternative we would still be called Americans but we won’t feel the same, and no one would look at us the same.  We will be viewed as the ones to fear and/or to be bought off.  Freedom and liberty may be a concept that is based on ones financial situation.  Likewise migration will be based on money, maybe talent, and religion or skin color.  Bring us not your huddled masses and down-trodden, but your wealthy and talented.  We’ll send back the down-trodden.

But this ugliness, this un-American world can be avoided with the strength of our institutions.  The brilliance of the founders that elections would be the domain of the states.  The beleaguered but steadfast free media of the press, and the courts, sometimes defending liberty and sometimes giving in, but nonetheless a roadblock to tyranny… and you!  You who will vote and trust that your state will count it, trust that it matters, that a legislation of true representatives of the people and not the billionaire class will check a rouge executive branch.

Yes, I believe we will survive into the future due to the courage of this generation.  Just as we are here, as proud Americans, because of the great generations that came before us, those that fought tyranny, that created a country that is forever striving to be better.

Someday we will look back on this moment and know it to be a turning point, a moment when we said no to autocracy, and we reaffirmed our principles of fairness, justice and freedom.  Long live the democratic republic of these United States of America!