Good morning and Happy Friday! Thanks for being here today.
Well, the World Cup is officially underway. And while all is not well in the United States (we’re currently maybe at war, everything costs a small fortune, the White House is occupied by a sociopathic toddler with dementia and a mean streak, and secret police continue to roam the streets of America), the influx of foreigners has been a welcome reminder that “the US” is not who is in the White House or his political party.
The US is the people.
I went on the record early and often that I didn’t believe the US should be allowed to host World Cup matches, given the treatment of immigrants by ICE, the entirely unnecessary war against Iran, and our role in the genocide in Gaza. And much of what I was worried about has already come to pass. The US denied award-winning Somali referee Omar Artan entry into the US due to his citizenship in one of the “shithole” countries. Fans from Morocco were denied visas en masse. The Iranian delegation’s allocation of tickets was summarily revoked by FIFA (no doubt to appease Trump), and Haiti was forced to redesign their kits after soccer’s governing body determined they were “too political.”
It doesn’t help that FIFA has forced the temporary renaming of stadiums across North America, or that FIFA President Gianni Infantino is falling over himself to appeal to an audience of one. And that’s after he created the bullshit “FIFA Peace Prize” for Trump.
For the past year, FIFA, the governing body of international soccer, has leased an office on the 17th floor of New York’s Trump Tower that has sat all but empty. The rent goes to President Trump’s family business, but soccer officials say the space sits largely idle.
Paying rent to the Trumps was the choice of Gianni Infantino, FIFA’s president, who has made being close to Mr. Trump a top priority. He has lavished the president with praise, trophies and a medal. He has made pilgrimages to Mar-a-Lago, the Trump National Doral golf club and even the “Melania” documentary premiere.
Mr. Infantino has publicly boosted the president through impeachments and plummeting poll numbers.
In short, good vibes do not abound. At one of the worst times in recent US history, the entire world is staring directly at us. Our flag was even booed at the opening match in Mexico City.
I’ve not been excited for this World Cup the way I have been for those in the past. It’s hard to feel good about welcoming the world to the US given that we’re embarrassed by those in Washington on a daily, if not hourly, basis.
But two nights ago, the Insta algorithm dropped me off smack dap in the midst of posts made by Europeans who are absolutely delighted by the US — the people and culture, if not the government — and it was a balm for my soul. So today, rather than digging into yet another way Donald Trump is destroying our way of life, I thought we could take a moment to remember a few things that the US does well. We may suck from a socio-political standpoint, but we also have national parks and unlimited refills, and we should celebrate that.
While we’ve been shown images of ICE patting down foreign players, how about what the Hotel du Pont in Wilmington, DE, did to make Les Éléphants (Ivory Coast) feel at home?
Or Freddy, who hails from Germany, who is entertaining the internet by falling in love with Atlanta and Waffle House, among other iconic American restaurants:
A whole lot of Europeans are discovering Ranch dressing:
And there are so many more videos out there on Reels and TikTok that will remind you that countries are made up of people, not government officials.
There's a Scottish guy documenting a trip through Texas being welcomed by a pitmaster who wanted to show off his work. There's yet another German whose eyes are being opened by the stereotype-busting cleanliness and architectural beauty of Chicago. There's a Brit in Florida posting about stadiums and Big Gulps. There's a Japanese fan in Nashville calling the neon lights of the honky-tonks "a view so stunning it feels like a lie."
I was also moved this week by video clips from an Algerian television station following their national team at its training base in Lawrence, Kansas. From young American kids waving Algerian flags to older folks telling a reporter they didn't know a thing about Algeria but wanted to make sure people watching back home knew their team was going to be embraced by the local community, that's the America that should make us all proud to be co-hosting this global event.
Meanwhile, Northern Europeans are finally getting an understanding of why Americans live in shorts during the summer months. Here’s Norway trying to adapt to the heat in Greensboro.
Vegard Grøtt/Bildbyrån/Shutterstock
And (some of) the Scottish have arrived in Boston, which is always a recipe for a good time.
So many of these videos, especially on social media, show foreign fans expressing how happy they are to be here, how friendly Americans are, how big everything here is, and how beautiful our country is.
Despite all the bullshit racism coming out of the White House and its minions, we all probably desperately need to hear good things about the US, not so that we forget about what we’re doing wrong (a lot), but so that we remember that our country is worth saving.
This is always what happens during big international events. We start off hating the IOC/FIFA and all the corruption that comes along with it. But once the games get going, we all fall in love with the people involved, fascist governments and their enabling friends be damned.
I bookmarked a bunch of these videos, and when I feel too depressed and exhausted to keep fighting, I’m going to pull them out and remember that there is still good in this country, Mr. Frodo, and it’s worth fighting for.
In other news: Florida wants to run over your teens; Is SCOTUS reform going mainstream?; A hero is renovating the National Mall; and The High Note.
Here we go.
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Florida official offers up just running teens over
If you live near any kind of urban center, you’ve probably heard of the “teen takeovers” happening across the country. These are a more chaotic version of the flash mobs of the early 2000s, and local governments are losing their minds over them. While some have resulted in violent activity, most are just a bunch of kids looking to disrupt daily life, because they are literal children.
Anyway, Florida’s Attorney General has come up with a bold solution: Just run the kids over.
Mobs of teens rioting to “takeover” Florida cities can legally be run over and also charged with racketeering, Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier announced Thursday.
“You do not have the First Amendment right to stand in the middle of the street, obstruct traffic, and threaten violence,” Uthmeier said during Largo press conference, speaking days after a 17-year-old was shot during a “teen takeover” in Clearwater Beach.
“If you do that, people have the ability to run you over,” he added, referencing Florida’s “anti-riot” law, which provides a civil defense for drivers who mow down crowds encircling their cars. The state would also look at criminally charging these teens as adults, including for racketeering — a first-degree felony, Uthmeier said.
To be fair, we always have the “ability’ to run people over. Most of us choose not to do that, as we are not maniacs. Perhaps we could make life less shitty for teens with things like jobs, activity centers, libraries, and malls? Bring back malls!
Is court reform mainstream now?
At the end of Joe Biden’s term, those of us who advocated for expanding the number of justices on the US Supreme Court were dismissed as wackos and extremists. SCOTUS was last “adjusted” in 1869, by an act of Congress, which holds the power to change the makeup of SCOTUS at will. Between 1789 and 1869, the number of justices on SCOTUS changed 10 times, fluctuating between five and 10 members. So why not now?
There’s no better indicator that a once shocking idea has gained acceptance by mainstream America than when Pete Buttigieg brings it up as an option:
Granted, Mayor Pete said a lot of things there, but it’s heartening to hear the former mayor of South Bend toss out an idea that was dismissed as radical only a few years ago. The more establishment types talk about court reform as something we should be doing, the better.
Also, do the Electoral College.
Not all heroes wear capes
Maybe this person wears a cape; we don’t know. Frankly, we don’t want to know. But we support them nevertheless.
While it’s tough to make out the six and the four, I appreciate the effort, especially as Trump is hellbent on remaking the National Mall in his own image. I don’t love that this is so close to the World War II Memorial. Then again, I have to think the guys who literally took on the Nazis would probably be on board with it.
The feds are investigating the public protest as “deranged vandalism” and insisting, again, that this is a violent threat to Trump (it’s not). It sure would be a shame if “8647” started popping up everywhere ahead of Trump’s big birthday UFC bash.
The High Note
Each Day, I do my best to leave you with a smile on your face, a song in your heart, and the will to fight another day.
Let’s throw it back to when The Killers paused their show in London to show England heading to the Euro finals in 2024.
Hey, survive and advance out there today, kids. Don’t let the bastards get you down. Have a great weekend!
