The World Series

Seven Days of Distraction From the Other Tragedies  of LA and the Nation

The entire City of Los Angeles, or at least everyone who watches Major League Baseball, sat on the edge of their seats as the Toronto Blue Jays nearly won the seventh and deciding game of the World Series. It was the Blue Jays’ game to lose, but the Dodgers narrowly snatched victory from the jaws of defeat. Winning yet again the championship title, the city erupted into fireworks, celebrations, and cheer, as it seemed to be the elixir for all the troubles and tragedies of the city’s recent times. People just needed to feel good about something again.

For a brief seven days, much of the news cycle was focused on the Dodgers versus Blue Jays matchup, soaking up attention away from the Orange Felon occupying the White House. People were riveted to their TV screens, watching every pitch, foul ball, home run and error. Not paying attention to the demise of the East Wing of the White House or the corruption of those paying for this insult. The fact that the Republican shutdown was going to starve SNAP recipients or end Head Start programs for millions of Americans was just background noise to the spectacle of the World Series.

Yes, all televised sports have become more spectacle than sport. From the national anthem to the air force flyovers, from halftime extravaganzas with big-name stars to the commercials and sponsorships — sports are a means to pacify the masses with circuses and games. Sports is infotainment. I believe America has always relied upon sports as a means of distraction. By comparison, politics is slow, boring, not very sexy (unless there’s a sex scandal), and most political figures are old, pedantic, and not very entertaining.

Reality Infotainment is not unlike the gladiators in the Roman Colosseum fighting wild beasts or killing Christians; it carries some of the same elements of aggression and lust. As I think about it, this infotainment craze is exactly what brought us the reality TV presidency of the Orange Felon. All of the bullying bullshit, threats, revenge prosecutions and tariffs are just as easily explained as a performance of distraction. 

Even the cruelty of the government shutdown — the removal of millions of poor and working-class Americans from food subsidies and the firing of thousands of government workers — is all just for show. Meanwhile, the Felon in the Oval Office and his family quietly expand massive contracts for the war machine in a time of virtually no declared wars — unless, of course, he decides to start one with Venezuela to once again divert our attention from the Jeffrey Epstein files or the genocide in Gaza.

You see, the reason why the U.S. House of Representatives is in a month-long-plus recess is to avoid seating the newly elected Arizona Democrat, Adelita Grijalva, who will be the 218th vote to force the vote on releasing the Epstein files. This is a threat to the Orange Felon because if there’s one thing that will split the MAGA nuts, it is connecting him and his billionaire buddies with sex trafficking of underage girls.

The recently released memoir by Virginia Roberts Giuffre, Nobody’s Girl,  was a driving force in exposing what federal prosecutors later called a sex trafficking ring in which Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell exploited hundreds of minors and young women. Giuffre’s memoir is poised to tell more of her story: It was published posthumously, months after Giuffre died by suicide at age 41.

However, keeping the masses distracted, keeping the courts backed up with lawsuits, and terrorizing the blue cities with ICE raids just distracts from the one thing that will take him down. Remember, it was the MAGA QAnon folks who were accusing the Democrats of being pedophiles — what happens when the truth gets revealed and the table’s turned?

He has unleashed the worst instincts of American racists and neo-Nazis, pardoned some of the worst criminals, and broken so many laws just to enforce his demented dictatorship. He is the tyrant that our founding fathers warned us about, and all of the legal and moral norms have been broken to satiate his cruel ego.

And yet his MAGA movement is starting to implode, turning its own hate on itself. I’ve seen this before, as hate begets more hate and eventually turns on itself. And it is enervating to watch it every day all the time, on all the different media. Which is why it is such a relief to watch baseball, where there actually are rules. The umpire calls the balls and strikes, then there’s instant replay if one team challenges an out. The games are usually over in nine innings, but don’t end until there’s a clear winner.

The Orange Felon’s reality TV show never seems to end, even when he loses 64 times in court, is impeached, indicted and convicted. Clearly, the laws of our country need to be more clearly defined, like baseball. When you are out, you are out. And if you argue with the umpire, you can get thrown out of the game.

What America needs is a good umpire with the balls to yell, “You are out!”