
This week, the apparent “dignity gap” amid more wrongdoing — war, flu, pools, fans — signals a subtle, emerging shift in momentum toward us the people. While Washington, D.C., was bogged down in the mire, New York came together “as a team” — Mamdani: “We find a way” — with a jubilant party for its beloved Knicks, and Chicago celebrated the launch last June of the dazzling, cheerful Obama Center that includes a free library, a museum, parks and a ski hill where “hope” for the first black president “took root,” and somehow still lingers.
At the same time, the regime tried to promote the fragile deal with Iran that was deemed “the worst foreign policy blunder in a decade” and achieved none of its goals, prompting Iran to declare “total victory” and prompting Andy Borowitz to report that the Ayatollah had named Trump “Employee of the Month.” Now, a newly empowered Iran will control the Strait of Hormuz, impose new tariffs, see sanctions lifted, and gain access to a $300 billion infrastructure fund. makes Obama’s 2015 payments dwindle, and she is free to continue building her nuclear stockpile and oppressing her people, all at the cost of thousands of lives including 175 Iranian schoolgirls and global economic chaos. Surreal Bonus: In ” “The Greatest Diplomatic Dwarf” After all, France’s Macron succeeded in convincing Trump, dazed by gold and ignorant of history, to sign the Memorandum of Understanding at Versailles, where the World War I allies forced Germany to sign “one of the most famous surrender documents in history.”
Despite all this, Israel, still killing, continued to bomb and kill civilians in Lebanon, and talks between the United States and Iran were canceled (again). Other, less fatal, and often embarrassing, failures continued to occur. Once again he played the clown on the world stage at the G7 summit, where… back Dazed and confused before chatting with the leaders, he claimed that Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni “begged me to take a picture with her!” Melonie, I’m fed up, fast to reply On social media she is “surprised” by the “totally made up” claim (America nods wearily), has no idea why he “acted the way he did”, and “Italy and I don’t beg”. Then the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Italy Canceled On a future trip here, he noted that Trump, “whether by intent or incompetence,” had succeeded, through his “inappropriate outbursts,” in making the United States “unpopular throughout the entire European continent” — which is “no easy feat.” sigh. Lots of winning.
An influenza outbreak infected 150 recruits training at Lackland Air Force Base in Texas weeks after fascist Pete Hegseth, a drunken Christo, declared that “your body, your faith and your convictions are non-negotiable.”restore freedom” By ending mandatory influenza vaccines, “Ridiculous and overreaching mandates (that) weaken our war fighting capabilities.” New viewership Data In the Battle of Freedom Cage 250 – Trump: “One of the most exciting days in the history of the legendary White House” – was no, As expected, “Super Bowl numbers“From 125.6 million, or Rubio roundabout one billion, But sad 17 million. The last thing they have attemptR ‘Make friends’ with MAGA hats and donut bribes for kids in Greenland, home country Make America go away hats, was met with frowns and fingers crossed. After Congress close Get him out, Trump to steal $352 million from The secret service of his dance hall. Then it was defeatD- Medal of Honor.
And in the ongoing disaster of the $14 million Lincoln Reflecting Basin remodel, the growing algae is worse than it has been in years — “Now that the bottom is nice and dark, the algae grows better” — and peeling pieces of its “blue American flag” paint are floating To the surface, diluted with chlorine-neutralizing hydrogen peroxide, the hapless workers are dumped into it. Historical kicking: Same thing Event – Create a green swamp Blessing inside you – At the Rio 2016 Olympics; It made global headlines, and it’s easy to remember. But no, not through the all-knowing Nero on the Potomac. The pattern repeats: claim something needs improvement, ignore the experts, screw it up a lot for a lot of money, and blame someone else when it breaks down. And it will end, God willing, in humanity.”“The oldest political ritual” – The “damnation of memory” in Rome where the names of villains are chiseled, statues toppled, their faces chopped off, and invalidated by history.
Until then, we’ll ride out any slivers of hope, good cheer, or good trouble we can find or cause. Thursday saw not only a parade but also a “jubilee” in New York, a vast, chaotic blue-and-orange spectacle of two million eager fans descending on a packed city to greet the Knicks, the NBA champions, after a 53-year wait. Amazing turnout for the first time Ribbon parade Ever the biggest sports title celebration, it caused mostly happy chaos in lower Manhattan. To start the parade at 10 a.m., thousands camped out overnight, paid others to reserve a spot, took flights, arrived at dawn, and advanced slowly; Many others were turned away when their viewing pens filled up before 8am and were forced to be content with watching on TVs in packed pubs. Buses were shut down, subways blocked exits, people boarded garbage trucks and friends’ balconies were crowded.
More than 10,000 officers, some wearing Knicks jerseys under their uniforms, wandered through thousands of pounds of shredded paper, rivers of toilet paper strung up on wires, dozens of floats and checkpoints, and miles of designated barricades and barricades. Public toilets. Celebrities set up floats. Young people climbed the scaffolding. Children held up signs bragging that they had dropped out of school or told reporters that their teachers were probably angry with them; Everyone, even the dogs, were wearing Knicks merchandise, hats, socks, T-shirts, miniskirts and sneakers, chanting and smiling: “New York energy. New York love. Everyone’s here for the same reason.” Indomitable Knicks captain Jalen Brunson, who led his team from behind in all four victories, rode on the float with his wife and daughter, leaning on the trophy, then hopped off and walked down Broadway holding it in his arms, reaching out to touch it.
At the city hall, a jubilant Mamdani gave each player the key to the city and praised The city’s “overwhelmed with happiness” unity was once united not by tragedy but by “pure, unfiltered joy.” He said the bettors, pundits and pundits “watching from afar” are doing what they do: crunching the numbers, discounting the Knicks, and giving the Spurs a 99.6% chance of winning. “But there’s one thing they don’t understand about this city,” he said. “In the 0.4% that we go to work… the Knicks do what New Yorkers always do when we’re told something’s impossible. We find a way. What is New York, if not 99.6% of the world against you?… What is New York if your back’s against the wall? The Knicks didn’t just win for New York City, they won like New York City. This is our city. This is our team.”
On the same day, Chicago, also jubilant, commemorated the end of slavery in America with a hopeful, sold-out, star-studded concert. Opening ceremony With private financing worth $850 million Obama Presidential Center On the long-neglected South Side, where Barack Obama organized community, fell in love, raised a family and entered politics. A decade in to prepare, Set in john lewis plaza, The center is located on a sprawling campus of approximately 20 acres. It has a museum, a digital presidential library, a free branch of the Chicago Public Library filled with books chosen by the Obamas, four floors of exhibits, a fruit and vegetable garden, an Eleanor Roosevelt Garden, a water gazebo honoring Obama’s mother Ann Dunham, an NBA-sized community basketball court and a sledding hill, because Michelle Obama grew up nearby and never had one. Inside are also 30 originals Artworks By various artists; In the hallway is the first Double image For both Obama By Nigerian-born Njideka Akunyili Crosby.
Wrapping either side of the top center is an excerpt in large letters from Obama’s 2015 speech at the Edmund Pettus Bridge on the 50th anniversary of Bloody Sunday 1965The march from Selma to Montgomery Al. Where police attacked John Lewis and other civil rights demonstrators. Obama said he was chosen because “there are places and moments in America where the fate of this nation is decided, and the city of Selma is such a place.” reads, In part, “You are America. Unbound by customs and conventions. Unbound by what is, and willing to seize what ought to be. Everywhere in this country, there are first steps to be taken, new ground to be covered, and more bridges to be crossed.” He said it was meant to “honor those who walked so we can run. We must run so our children can rise.” When he finished speaking, he said: Hug Lewis, a mentor who he said “gave me a sense of meaning and purpose” in a now-iconic photo.
Many politicians were in attendance – Biden, Clinton, Bush, Kamala, Pelosi, Pritzker, Newsom, Angela Merkel, Justin Trudeau – celebs including Tom Hanks and a smiling Stephen Colbert in a tan suit, and the A-list music Performers. Chicago-born Jennifer Hudson sang the national anthem, and John Legend sang the civil rights era One day we will all be freeSpringsteen sang Land of hope and dreams, Eddie Vedder sang I think better With young local musicians guitars over guns, Stevie Wonder invited all artists to join High ground. Thousands of South Side residents watched a live broadcast of the ceremony from nearby Midway Plaisance Park, bolstering Obama’s hope for the center. serves As a community hub, with a sense of possibility and belief that “we can come together and make the change we seek.”
Michelle Obama began her speech by asking the audience to “forgive me” for “singing full praise” of her husband. “Barack, you have to look at me,” she said, and he shook his head no, looked down, and cried. “You always gave us your best self and in doing so reminded the rest of us that we can too,” she said. “There are no words to express how proud I am of the way you showed up, and continue to show up every day…You were doing people’s work.” She recalled the racist vitriol he faced: “Eight years in the crucible and you never once melted in the heat, and you never once let it harden,” take away his generosity, courage, decency and work ethic. In her criticism of Trump, she also noted that a “lasting legacy” is not measured by an award or a name on a building but by “the difference we make in each other’s lives… We pick each other up when we’re down on our days.”
Moved by her speech, Obama argued: “She did me wrong. She wouldn’t let me see her speech. She knew she was going to screw me over, and she did it anyway.” Eloquently emphasizing the dark times, he focused on emphasizing “how special and valuable our democracy is…what we can achieve when we embrace our shared responsibilities as citizens.” Quoted from “Unfinished Business, My Flaws and Mistakes,” he acknowledged the flaws and shortcomings of democracy, quoting from a plaque he kept on the resolute desk: “Hard Things Are Hard.” He said: “It is tempting to give in to cynicism and even despair, but I do not believe that this is the story of America that will prevail in the end.” Instead, like Michel, it is indirectly refute and the cruel, stupid, and greedy folly of today’s national discourse by elevating “belief in the intrinsic dignity and worth of all people.”
The series continued: His basic belief: “No one is above the law or under its protection.” His belief in checks and balances, accountability, an independent judiciary, a strong free press, a military and law enforcement with loyalty not to an individual but to the people and the Constitution, and the peaceful transfer of power after the people speak in free and fair elections. Belief in personal qualities, “our greatest inheritance,” such as honesty, integrity, and compassion, and “belief in the morals of our fellow citizens, and the possibility that despite our differences we can see each other (and) make common cause together.” He added that the center’s exhibits “do not aim to arouse nostalgia for a mysterious past era.” “It’s meant to remind us of what’s possible, so we can move forward (and) do the work that needs to be done.” The multi-colored audience, who needed to hear it all again, cheered.
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