Tag: Trump

  • USA v Belgium (Trump Ruins Everything)

    Monday’s 4-1 USA loss to Belgium was an embarrassment. The USMNT looked scared and timed out there. They couldn’t complete a pass, they were hesitant, and completely got manhandled by mediocre Belgium team. In all honesty, the score could have easily been 6-1. The world Cup Round of 16 is no joke, and not for half ass teams. If you don’t believe me, look at the England v Mexico match, or what Argentina just pulled off on Egypt. In this round, you come to play and give it all to win.

    So, what happened to Team USA?

    In all honesty, I never picked USA to win it all. But what I had seen in the group stage, and how they play against Bosnia lead me to believe that Pochettino had put together a team, and got them into the right head space to not only compete, but to go out there and expect to win. And putting up a good showing is worth it in the World Cup. Telling the world, we came to play, and you need to take us seriously is also part of the exercise. It isn’t always about being the strongest, or the best player in the world. It’s about getting a team to believe that the deserve to be on this stage. Getting a group of players to focus, work as one with a common purpose, and step up with others faulter. It’s about confidence; Sometimes it takes months if not years to build it, but it only takes a second to destroy it.

    And that’s what Trump did to Team USA – his killed their confidence.

    Was the Red Card on Folarin Balogun bullshit? Yes, it was. It shouldn’t have been called. But that’s the game. Refs make the wrong call all the time. You can complain about it. You can protest, but at the end of the day, this is how the game works. All professional sports works this way. There will never be a game where everything is called perfect. The mistakes are part of the game. Overcoming a wrong call, and still winning is what gets you respect from your opponent.

    Trump whining to Gianni Infantino is true to Trump’s brand. He constantly feels like he’s being treated unfairly and complains. Infantino giving in to the complaint was egregious, and just proves how corrupt Gianni Infantino and all of FIFA’s administration is – they will do whatever to keep the money flowing to their pockets. So, shame on FIFA.

    For Belgium, this just added fuel to their fire to show how good they are. They played with a mission to humiliate the USA. To show that Trump’s and FIFA’s meddling was bluntly crass manipulation to engineer a result that was underserved. And that’s what Belgium did. And then they mocked Trump’s dance.

    But it wouldn’t have been the 4-1 drumming if Team USA had just a tad bit of confidence. But how could they, after what Trump had done. There was no winning this game for USMNT. See, if they won the game, then the world would view it as a rigged result. And the team knew it. Everything they did out there was second guessed in the minds. The best example was Matt Freese’s muffed pass that was converted to a goal. You can see in his eyes he just wasn’t sure where to put the ball, which caused his foot to drag on the pitch.

    If Trump would have kept his mouth shut, even if Team USA lost the way they lost, a level of respect would have been earned. But with Trump getting involved, only a loss, an awful, sad, humiliating loss could have expunged the stink of favoritism off the team.

    See, Trump only cares about winning, because he sure as hell didn’t say anything positive or encouraging about Team USA after that match. No, he was nowhere to be seen.

    I want to add that Folarin Balogun didn’t deserve any of this. He showed a courage, grace, and professionalism in the face of unbelievable pressure. He put his head down and played. I would like to say to Folarin Balogun, sorry our President is such a dick and shit on your moment on the world stage that you worked so hard to achieve.

  • So… The Knicks Lost

    And it was all Trump’s fault.

    I sure am glad that The Orange One shut down all of New York just so he could fall asleep at the game.

    Hopefully, he learned his lesson and will stay the hell away from Madison Square Garden.

  • Short Story Review: “Safety” by Joan Silber

    (The short story “Safety” by Joan Silber appeared in the December 8th, 2025 issue of The New Yorker.)

    Illustration by Chris W. Kim

    You know, every “time” is a “historic time” but some are more historic than others. I will agree that we are in the middle of one of those historic times, and if I am lucky enough to have grandkids, then I imagine they will ask me “WTF was everyone thinking, grandpa?” The good news is that over the past three or four months, I have started to see works of art in different media start to tackle the events of deportation, disappearing, and what effect these policies will have on America. I am going to throw Joan Silber’s “Safety” in with all of these works, though uneven, I applaud what this story attempted.

    Overly Simplified Synopsis: Two girls become friends growing up in New York, one Muslim the other Jewish, and both decedents of people who immigrated to the US to escape dictators. They go their separate ways in life and reconnect in New York, where the Muslim friend now has a child and a partner who is a comedian. When the comedian is on his way home from a gig, he is disappeared by the Administration.

    There is an ease to this story, and a simple directness to the writing. What it does well is create a picture of the modern melting pot that America is – people of different backgrounds are still coming here, and their children are still connecting with people that are different from them, and finding a commonality in our shared humanity. Silber does well in creating a context for the Muslim family regarding escaping the Nazis, being forced to migrate by Stalin to Uzbekistan, and the trauma of family separation.

    Yet, through it all, I couldn’t shake the feeling that this story was pulling its punches. There is a huge amount of drama here that is being sieved through a philosophical existential filter, but it never seems to amount to an emotional climax. For example, think of how these families lives’ have been influenced by authoritarians – from being pushed out of home nations, to being pushed together in America – and how these families have made new lives for themselves. And when a new Authoritarian pressure is applied, the characters seem more resigned, as if ordained to this fate, rather than free to exist.

    Ultimately, I appreciated this story, and Silber, for taking a swing at an issue that needs to be swung at. “Safety” uncomfortably reminds us that history does repeat itself. That immigration, deportation, and citizenship (both in its legal and the social definition) needs to be discussed and debated again, so we can finally find a way to break this awful cycle.

  • ODDS and ENDS: Car Tires, Father’s Day, and No Kings

    (I don’t give a damn ‘bout my reputation…)

    What are you doing this weekend? Me? I’m getting new back tires got my car. I was hoping to schedule a root canal, but the dentist was busy so I decided to do the second most annoyingly painful thing I could. Sure, I like having a car, but I’m not big on maintaining a car. You know, it’s like shoe shopping for the car, and I need to do it before the Summer when we start driving a whole lot. Ung… just not in the mood for it. (There’s no real story here, I’m just complaining.) But I gotta do it, I gotta do it, gotta do it, do it, it!

    What am I doing on Father’s Day? Buying tires! I wonder if they run a special for new tires on Father’s Day? If not, they should. No, I’ll get a nice lox bagel that the wife will order for delivery, and then I will need to drive to the tire place while the wife and kid hang out at home.

    This seems about right.

    But before all of that fun, there is that issue of NO KINGS. If you haven’t heard, there are nation wide, peaceful protest marches planned for Saturday June 14th in reaction to the growing authoritarian threat from Trump and his administration. In case you forgot, this is a nation of no kings, and it’s time to start reminding everyone, including ourselves, that We The People are in charge; that this is a government of the people, by the people, and for the people. I encourage you to join the protest, to peacefully march, and share your voice. If you can’t make it out, then watch the live cast, share videos and messages on social media. This is not a day to be silent. There are many ways to participate, and we all need to pitch in and hold to the ideals that our nation was founded on.

  • ODDS and ENDS (Phoning It In Edition): The Most Powerful People in the World, Midnight Ice Cream, and D-Day

    ODDS and ENDS (Phoning It In Edition): The Most Powerful People in the World, Midnight Ice Cream, and D-Day

    (Feet Don’t Fail Me Now…)

    The most powerful people in the world are nothing more than spoiled, rotten, and little bratty children. So Sad.

    Ice cream, eaten late at night, without anyone knowing, tastes the best. It’s a scientific fact. Look it up.

    Today is the 81st Anniversary of D-Day.