A Few Unpopular Observations - The Patriot Post

It’s been a busy week news-wise. Here are a few of my observations (not likely to be popular) on some of the most notable headlines.

1.) The U.S. men’s soccer team should have declined the red card reversal. During the World Cup game between the USA and Bosnia-Herzegovina, star scorer Folarin Balogun got a “red card” for “serious foul play” from a referee after a collision with B-H player Tarik Muharemovic, resulting in a one-game suspension. This call was widely criticized, both because a red card typically requires intentional conduct (Balogun wasn’t even facing Muharemovic, whose ankle he stepped on) and because the red card was issued after a slow-motion review, contrary to FIFA play protocol.

However, the day before the U.S. was to play Belgium in the round of 16, it was announced that FIFA had withdrawn the red card — the first time such an action had been taken in more than 60 years. We were also told that President Donald Trump had called FIFA president Gianni Infantino. Trump insisted that he only asked for a review but put no pressure on FIFA. Even assuming that’s true, it was a bad look.

The team should have declined the penalty reversal.

As a host of this year’s World Cup, and given Trump’s global power, it made the team look like sour grapes — an accusation the men didn’t deserve. Belgium filed an appeal, which was denied, so they came into the game loaded for bear and soundly defeated the USA 4-1. The U.S. team did not play their best, and it’s reasonable to wonder whether the brouhaha and bad press affected their performance. (The nasty social media post by the Belgian team after their victory — “Overturn this” — only served to reinforce the point.)

There’s no question that Balogun’s absence would have put the team at a disadvantage against Belgium. In addition, if the red card was a bad call, as many claimed, that disadvantage would have been unfair. But the U.S. men would have walked into the game as underdogs with broad public support; that kind of “fire in the belly” wins close games. If they’d lost under those circumstances, few would have faulted them, and if they’d won, it would be an even greater triumph.

As it was, the U.S. team lost even with Balogun, which left everyone — except perhaps Belgium — with a bad taste in their mouths.

2.) If Graham Platner stays in the race, it’s possible he’ll win. Maine Democrats selected Graham Platner to be their candidate for the U.S. Senate to run against Republican incumbent Susan Collins. Platner has a nasty backstory, including a Nazi tattoo, a history of vulgar and sexist social media posts, and allegations of sexual assault and violence. Even so, many leading lefty lights — Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders, Ro Khanna, Ruben Gallego — sang Platner’s praises, and the media predictably ran cover for him. The New York Times further shredded their dwindling credibility by ignoring the abundant evidence Lyndsey Fifield (a conservative woman) had provided them about her disturbing experiences with Platner.

Then, Jenny Racicot, a Democrat, accused Platner of rape. That, apparently, was a bridge too far. Pretending not to have known about Platner’s character deficits, Democrats are now calling for Platner to step down. In what has become something of a pattern for the Democrat Party (Barack Obama chosen over Hillary Clinton in 2008, Hillary using her “superdelegates” to oust Bernie Sanders in 2016, former Vice President Kamala Harris thrust in to replace former President Joe Biden at the last minute in 2024), they apparently intend to substitute a candidate that their voters didn’t select.

At this writing, Platner hasn’t stepped down and is insisting he won’t unless he gets to choose his successor, a demand the party is — thus far — rejecting.

What if he refuses to step aside? Might Platner think he can still beat Collins?

That’s not as farfetched as people assume. In Virginia’s 2024 elections, Democrat Jay Jones ran for state attorney general. When texts emerged in which Jones said that he would like to shoot Republican (then-Virginia House Speaker) Todd Gilbert in the head, that his children should be murdered because they were “little fascists” and that Gilbert’s wife should be holding her children in her arms as they died, Jones didn’t step down. He apologized and stayed in the race.

He won.

3.) Trump needs to figure out that Iran isn’t going to abide by any deal. Here we are again, with another breach in the “ceasefire” agreement between Iran and the United States, and more attacks by Iran on ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz. Trump announced on Wednesday that the ceasefire established by a Memorandum of Understanding in June was “over,” that the U.S. had hit Iran Tuesday night in retaliation for the Hormuz attacks, and that more airstrikes would be forthcoming on Wednesday. Iran is, of course, insisting that ships will only pass through the strait on their terms.

The volatility has sent oil prices higher again, which affects not only the price of gas here in the States but energy, groceries, transportation and much else. How long are Americans supposed to put up with these financial pressures?

Other than keeping Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons capacity - which Trump assures us is already the case — what’s the objective here? Is it just the free flow of oil through Hormuz? The destruction of the regime? Something else?

4.) Socialists must be taken more seriously. Author and undercover journalist Karlyn Borysenko released video earlier this week that she secretly recorded during a recent training session held by the Party for Socialism and Liberation. Two of the speakers openly advocated for armed revolution, the overthrow of our government, destruction of the American capitalist economic system, the abolition of private property and the writing of a new constitution that will give all rights — political and economic — to “workers.”

This is Borysenko’s area of expertise, but despite the in-depth information (often obtained at great personal risk) that she puts into her books and podcasts, too few appreciate just how serious this risk really is.

Americans had better wake up, and fast. One of the speakers Borysenko recorded is a teacher and an officer in the National Education Association teachers union. I guarantee she is not alone.

These people are instructing your children.

What’s frightening listening to socialists is how appallingly ignorant they are, ardor notwithstanding. Every reference to “capitalism” is synonymous with “big business.” But most business in the United States is small business; there are more than 36 million businesses in the U.S. with fewer than 500 employees each; fully 80% of all firms with employees have fewer than 20.

America’s capitalism is entrepreneurial. Entrepreneurship is responsible for virtually every innovation we enjoy, for most employment, and for the creation and growth of the middle class. Anyone can become an entrepreneur, and millions of immigrants have. The prosperity we have as a nation is because of entrepreneurial capitalism.

Socialists want to destroy it all. And they are gaining ground.

The Patriot Post® · A Few Unpopular Observations