Sep 30, 2025
Sep 29, 2025
Trump's America
US fan ugliness at the Ryder Cup was merely a reflection of Trump’s all-caps America
European players were subjected to slurs and crude insults about their families. They were no surprise as public discourse in America has broken down
By the time Europe finished the job, finally, on Sunday, the golf had the last word. But until the thrilling denouement, the lasting memory of this Ryder Cup threatened not to be a single swing of the club so much as the ugly backdrop: galleries that drifted from partisan into venomous and the organizers who let the line slide until it snapped.
It didn’t happen all at once. For the first day and a half of golf’s most intense rivalry, it was New York-loud without being unruly. Then Saturday afternoon arrived and the tenor shifted. Rory McIlroy, the visiting lightning rod, kept stepping off shots as volleys of abuse landed in the quiet of his pre-shot routine. Shane Lowry played teammate and minder. Justin Thomas, not exactly a shrinking violet, began shushing his own end of the grandstand so his opponents could putt.
There’s a difference between atmosphere and interference, and Bethpage spent too much of the weekend blurring the two. Boos during practice swings and the sing-song “YEW-ESS-AY! YEW-ESS-AY!” after a European miss were tiresome, but survivable. What crept in on Saturday was different: insults aimed at players’ wives, homophobic slurs, cheap shots at McIlroy’s nationality dripping with tiresome stereotypes, gleeful reminders of Pinehurst the moment McIlroy crouched over anything inside five feet.
Europe answered with performance. So much for home advantage: for two years the Bethpage sales pitch was the snarling, uniquely American cauldron that would rattle Europe. Message received, but the idiots took it literally. Add the optics of Donald Trump’s fly-in on Friday – fist bumps, photo-ops, galleries dotted with Maga hats and a certain politics of humiliation playing to its base – and the swagger slid easily into license. That doesn’t make the Ryder Cup a referendum. It does explain how quickly the rope line starts to feel like a boundary you’re invited to test.
Given the guest of honor’s well-known aversion to losing gracefully, it was hardly a shock that the worst behavior broke out just as America’s chances were slipping away. But the tournament’s response to the ugly crowd conduct on Saturday was woeful. Extra security and a phalanx of New York state troopers materialized around McIlroy’s match at the turn. A couple of spectators were ejected near the main grandstands. The PGA of America said it bolstered policing and pushed more frequent spectator etiquette messages on the big screens. Fine, as far as it goes. But once a thousand people have decided a backswing is their cue, you can’t manage it with a graphic and a frown. Enforcement has to be swift, visible and consequential or it becomes permission by another name.
Sunday brought a tacit admission that the line had been crossed. The first-tee master of ceremonies, the comedian Heather McMahan, stepped down from her role after video showed her leading a chant of “Fuck you Rory!” on Saturday morning. The PGA announced her departure and apology before the singles. If the MC is amplifying the worst instincts in the building, that’s not “energy”; it’s an institutional failure.
Luke Donald chose his words carefully as he praised his team’s “anti-fragile” temperament and drew a firm boundary between “raucous” and “personal”. Keegan Bradley, the USA captain, bristled at any suggestion the US room had licensed the excess. He called the fans passionate and pointed – not incorrectly – to his team’s flat play as a trigger for their restlessness. But that defense only goes so far. You can be partisan without being toxic. You can fill a grandstand without emptying your standards.
It’s also true that many Americans tried to keep the thing on the rails. Thomas kept waving for hush. Cameron Young never took the bait. Plenty of fans actually supported their own rather than savaging the other lot. Too often, though, they were drowned out by the performative tough guys in flag suits and plastic chains who treat the Ryder Cup like a tailgate with better lawn care.
But framing Bethpage as a one-off misses the larger point. What happened here didn’t invent the tone of American life so much as reflect what’s been an incremental breakdown in public behavior. The country now lives in all-caps, from school-board meetings that sound like street rallies and comment sections that have spilled into the street. The algorithm bankrolls outrage, the put-down is political vernacular and the culture applauds “saying the quiet part out loud”. In 2025 you can say almost anything in public and be cheered for it (unless you’re Jimmy Kimmel). Put a rope line and a microphone in front of that mix and you get exactly what you got at the Ryder Cup: people testing boundaries not because the moment needs them to, but because they’ve been told volume is virtue. Some might argue golf, in the US particularly, has always been a sport for white conservatives, but it’s hard to remember galleries calling opposing players “faggots” and openly deriding their wives until recently. What could have changed?
Europe didn’t need rescuing. They rescued themselves. That could be seen on Saturday, when McIlroy and Lowry won their afternoon match two up in the eye of the storm. Rose and Fleetwood then dispatched Scottie Scheffler and Bryson DeChambeau 3&2 after a tense exchange about who had the stage; then they took the stage and won. Donald’s players came to New York expecting a test of nerve and got it at full blast.
Sunday gave us a memorable finish. But this week will also be remembered for the noise that wasn’t passion, the hostility that wasn’t edge and the adults who mistook the difference. Next time the Cup crosses the Atlantic, at Hazeltine in 2029, whether during Trump’s third term or not, the hosts will have a choice to make about what kind of event they want to run – and what kind of country they want it to reflect.
Sep 28, 2025
Today's Aaron
For some reason, I can't stop thinking about Lee Marvin and Jim Brown blowing shit up at a chateau in 1944.
They Don't Know
... because they don't want to know.
So along the same lines, it's not likely they'll make any real change in the way they think because they don't really think they were wrong about their core prejudices. They'll just wait for the next guy who makes them feel comfortable about their racism, misogyny, and xenophobia.
The good news is that a lot of them will probably spend a few cycles staying home.
Sep 27, 2025
Ladies And Germs - The President
Dirty Donald Trump shocked staff and left members of the royal household appalled after his overnight stay at Windsor Castle during his second state visit to the UK ended with his suite in a state of "total filth," RadarOnline.com can reveal.
Royal Family Disgusted by Filthy Suite
The 79-year-old U.S. president and his wife Melania, 55, were recently feted with all the pomp of a full state welcome in Britain, including a carriage procession with the King and Queen and a glittering white-tie banquet. But behind the scenes, insiders say the royal family were "disgusted" by the condition of Trump's rooms once he departed.
A palace source told us: "It was takeout boxes, tanning sprays and hair products everywhere. The bathroom was littered with bottles, the sinks stained, and his bed sheets had been left completely orange from whatever he uses. People were horrified. This was Windsor Castle, not a roadside motel."
Another insider added: "No one could say no to him. If Trump wanted fast food at 2am, the Secret Service would fetch it. The room smelled of fries and fried chicken by morning. For staff who are used to military precision and spotless suites, it was beyond the pale."
Pomp and Ceremony Masked Chaos
Trump's state visit to the U.K. – the second of his presidency – began on September 16 and lasted three days.
He was greeted on arrival by the Prince and Princess of Wales, joined the King in inspecting a Guard of Honour and dined beneath chandeliers with senior politicians including Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer.
The highlight was a carriage ride through the Windsor estate, accompanied by the Household Cavalry and military bands.
The formalities, however, masked growing unease among those tasked with hosting him.
"The president loves the pomp and ceremony," one official noted before the visit. "But staff quickly saw the chaos that came with it."
Palace Aides Stunned by the Mess
Palace aides said the extent of the mess was unprecedented.
One recalled: "He had sprays and tubs of hair gel scattered across the bathroom. Tan wipes were in the bin, the towels were ruined, and the housekeeping team had to replace nearly everything. It was like a bomb had gone off in Selfridges' cosmetics hall."
Trump has long prided himself on his appearance, once admitting to spending considerable time on his "distinctive" hair.
"But no one expected the trail it would leave," said a source close to his royal visit.
Public Duties Continued Smoothly
Despite the private dismay, the public program proceeded smoothly.
After paying respects at St George's Chapel to the late Queen Elizabeth II, Trump watched a Beating Retreat ceremony on the East Lawn, followed by a flypast from the Red Arrows and US F-35 jets.
That evening he toasted the King at a banquet before retiring to his suite.
The following morning, Trump departed Windsor for Chequers to meet Starmer, inspect the Churchill archives and hold a joint press conference. Behind the polished schedule, staff were still grappling with the aftermath of his stay.
"Everyone has hosted difficult guests," said one insider. "But nothing like this. For many, it was simply revolting."
New Guy
Why would a well-educated guy like Peter Thiel be funding social media bunksters to tear down the credibility of true academics, and to get us to think education is one big fraud.
And why would he be working so hard to put guys like JD Vance and Bobby Kennedy Jr in positions of enormous power?
- It makes for a very lucrative investment in for-profit education - a fully privatized school system will pay big dividends as it propagates and accelerates class division
- less well-educated people have a tendency to be more easily manipulated
- As the education gap widens, so does the wealth gap, which furthers the project of tearing down democratic self-government in order to install a corporate-style plutocracy
This is way long - because there's an awful lot of BKjr shit to sort thru.
Stalling
It's Trump's favorite play. Use every trick in the book to push your responsibilities out - to buy time, hoping people will stop thinking about it, or that somebody will come up with some bullshit that gets you off the hook.
Our British Cousins
There's no shortage of dog shit in the British press, but when they hit on it, they really hit on it.
You may already be more familiar with this than you care to be, but here's The Mirror story:
Donald Trump attacks UN and tells Europe: 'Your countries are going to hell'
US President Donald Trump arrived on stage at the UN General Assembly complaining that the teleprompter was broken and an escalator had broken down on his way into the building
Donald Trump launched an extraordinary rant against Europe today, telling leaders: “Your countries are going to hell.”
In a speech to the United Nations, he said immigration was ruining European countries and urged Keir Starmer to open more oil fields in the North Sea, as he declared global warming a "hoax." He doubled down on his feud with Sadiq Khan, making a baseless allegation that the London Mayor was trying to impose Sharia law in the capital.
He said the UN was "not living up to its potential" and suggested it operates in a corrupt manner. Mr Trump arrived on stage complaining that the teleprompter was broken, and that an escalator had broken down on his way into the building. Delegates and observers chuckled as he recounted having bid on the contract to refurbish the United Nations HQ in New York.
"Many years ago a very successful real estate developer in New York known as Donald J Trump, I bid on the refurbishment of this very building," he said. "I'm going to give you marble floors, they’re going to give you terrazzo. I’m going to give you the best of everything, you’re going to have mahogany walls. They’re going to give you plastic"
He went on: "They spent between $2 and $4 billion and didn't even get the marble floors I was promising. Looking at the building and getting stuck on the escalator...they still haven't finished the job."
He claimed the bidding process was "so corrupt" that he had been asked to testify in a court case about the matter. He said: "Unfortunately many things in the United Nations are happening just like that but on a much bigger scale, it's sad to see."
He listed the seven wars he claims to have prevented or ended, but criticised the UN for "failing" to offer to help.
"It's too bad that I had to do these things instead of the UN doing them," he said. "And sadly in all cases the UN did not even try to help in any of them. I never even received a phone call from the UN offering to help in finalising the deal."
He went on: "All I got from the UN was an escalator that stopped in the middle, if the First Lady hadn't been in great shape she would have fallen. And now a teleprompter that doesn't work. That's what I got from the United Nations, a bad escalator and a bad teleprompter."
The US President added: "What is the purpose of the United Nations? The UN has such tremendous potential...but it's not even coming close to living up to that potential. For the most part all they do is write a strongly worded letter."
Trump also took a swipe at Europe over immigration, saying: "You're countries are going to hell.
He said: "Europe is in serious trouble. They've been invaded by a force of illegal aliens like nobody's ever seen before and nobody's doing anything to get them out. It's not sustainable.
He took aim at London Mayor Sadiq Khan, with whom he has a long-running feud. He said: "I look at London, where you have a terrible mayor, terrible, terrible mayor, and it's been changed, it's been so changed. Now they want to go to sharia law. But you are in a different country, you can't do that."
A spokesperson for Sir Sadiq said: “We are not going to dignify his appalling and bigoted comments with a response.
“London is the greatest city in the world, safer than major US cities, and we’re delighted to welcome the record number of US citizens moving here.”
Mr Trump also used the speech to urge Keir Starmer to open more oil fields in the North Sea, as he declared global warming a "hoax."
"Drill baby drill," he declared from the stage, before telling delegates and observers that the Paris Climate Accord, to which almost all of them are signatories, was "fake." He said : "All green is all bankrupt. It's not politically correct, I'll get criticised for saying it."
"What a tremendous asset for the United Kingdom," he said of the North Sea. "I hope the Prime Minister is listening."
He went on: "The North Sea, I know the North Sea so well. They essentially closed it by making it so highly taxed that no oil company can go there. And he repeatedly attacked one of his longest-running bugbears - wind energy.
Mr Trump has campaigned about wind farms for decades, since a well-publicised row with the Scottish government over windmills planned for near to one of his golf courses.
"I want to see them stopping ruining that great English countryside with wind farms," he said. "We're not doing that in America."
Speaking at the UN General Assembly in New York, he told delegates: "We're getting out of the falsely named renewables. They're a joke. The wind doesn't blow, the windmills they're pathetic."
Meanwhile, Mr Trump tore into UN delegates who recognised Palestinian Statehood at a special meeting last night. "The rewards would be too great for Hamas atrocities," he said. "The reward would be too great for these terrible tragedies."
He added: "Instead of giving in to [Hamas'] ransom demands, we should have one message: release the hostages now."
Delegates and observers applauded for the first time in his speech in response to this message. He added: "We have to stop the war in Gaza immediately, we've got to get it done."
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