Althouse: At the Skylight Café...

July 5, 2026

At the Skylight Café...

... you can talk about whatever you want.

86 comments:

Leland said...: Almost home from a great American road trip.; 7/5/26, 1:25 PM
Nancy said...: That is a magical photo.; 7/5/26, 1:34 PM
Original Mike said...: How did we get here?

"Britain’s strictest headmistress just said the thing almost nobody in public life has the nerve to say."; 7/5/26, 1:45 PM
tcrosse said...: Better than clouds in my coffee.; 7/5/26, 1:47 PM
FullMoon said...: Mike's link above def worth watching.; 7/5/26, 2:50 PM
Original Mike said...: We oldsters laugh off the left flinging "racist!" at everything that moves. They wore it out. Unfortunately, the youngsters took it to heart.; 7/5/26, 2:58 PM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: Appropriate, after all that furniture rumination.; 7/5/26, 3:37 PM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: I'm just seeing the additional boldface rule. Another way of emphasizing something is by saying it another way, or repeating it. But, I don't want to get political.; 7/5/26, 3:48 PM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: YouTube: An evergreen video about celebrating Americas Birthday.

"Another reason why progressives should love the United States is that America is among the most racially progressive societies on Earth. That may come as a shock to those who only focus on headlines, but if you compare us to the rest of the world, as it actually is, America comes out looking excellent on questions of racism and bigotry in general."

Give the video a chance until the end.; 7/5/26, 4:03 PM
Saint Croix said...: Original Mike

thanks for that link

she makes a lot of great points

the idea that she's the only one brave enough to say these things is kind of ridiculous.

Just the other day I read an interesting post about how Howard Zinn was to blame for so much of this.

It's basic Marxism, although it's often twisted in a racist way. I was surprised to find out that many schools use Zinn's book as a history textbook.; 7/5/26, 4:07 PM
William50 said...: Nice brown lip mark.; 7/5/26, 4:17 PM
Indefinitely Extended Excursion™️ said...: Trump Asked FIFA to Review U.S. Player’s Suspension. Now He’s Eligible to Play. ~ NYT

FIFA doing FIFA things.; 7/5/26, 4:20 PM
JK Brown said...: All the pundits want to talk about the Baby Dearth. They a plethora of "causes". But none dare look at the fact that marriage and births corollate strongly with the stability of male employment.

Since 1984, less than 41% of men have been able to keep continuous, high employment from ages 27-49. That in itself means later marriage, and children being born to older parents.

And male employment disruptions increases the risk of divorce by 30-70%, while 33% of those men who maintain stable employment will still be divorced by age 55. And 56% of those over 50 experience involuntary lay-off or retirement from their job with only 10% regaining their previous salary.

Want more kids, just overturn the entire job landscape put in place since 1973 for the bottom 90% of male earners.; 7/5/26, 4:29 PM
Saint Croix said...: FIFA doing FIFA things.

As usual, IEE, you are full of it.

The American player accidentally stepped on the guy's ankle. This was extensively covered in the NYT, including here and here.

"Those ensconced in FIFA’s refereeing hub may see that as a conclusive and shut case. Yet to most observers and many of those who have played the game, at any level at all, this was a miscarriage of justice."

So the story, sir, is that FIFA was doing a miscarriage of justice, with the NYT and most fans concluding that nothing could be done. No appeal, no right of appeal, nothing.

And President Trump picked up a phone -- you know how Obama was always bragging about his phone capabilities -- and called his buddy in the FIFA, and got him to delay the punishment so that the USA could field the same number of players as Belgium.

To you that's outrageous. Because you hate Trump so much, you now hate the USA as well.; 7/5/26, 4:45 PM
Saint Croix said...: And justice! You hate justice, you nincompoop.; 7/5/26, 4:48 PM
Saint Croix said...: The NYT's sport reporting is pretty damn good, I say.; 7/5/26, 4:51 PM
Mason G said...: "As usual, IEE, you are full of it."

He doesn't give a shit about FIFA. If Trump wasn't involved, he wouldn't have said a word about it.

Typical leftard "thinking":
1. Look to see what Trump did today.
2. Complain about it.

Simple as that.; 7/5/26, 4:53 PM
Peachy+2 said...: 4:45 Saint Croix - burn! Nice one.; 7/5/26, 4:54 PM
Jim at said...: So Trump made a phone call in an attempt to do something good for the USMNT. FIFA responds by doing something - albeit, controversial - to help the USMNT.

Personally, I thought it was a bullshit call at the time. And so did a LOT of other people. Plus, if anybody has reason to be upset over today's events, it would be Belgium.

But now that Trump has done something good to help the USA, the left will revert to their default mode, hate the USMNT and cheer for their failure.

Keep in mind, these are the very same people who cheered on Megan Rapinoe when she pissed all over the flag and the National Anthem.

Regular people - who aren't fucked in the head with TDS - will look at this, realize it's a big break and hope the US advances to the quarters for only the second time in history.; 7/5/26, 5:05 PM
Saint Croix said...: And the Guardian adds the important context that FIFA used the same provision (Article 27) to clear Cristiano Ronaldo to start for Portugal, after his red card against Ireland.

Why is that okay but the Americans must be punished?

You and all the other Marxist fuckers ought to note that in soccer, we are the little guys. We are the oppressees, not the oppressors. We are the Jamaican bobsledding team. So why aren't you rooting for the underdog? Why must you crush our dreams and insist that the USA, the little guys, play 10 against 11?; 7/5/26, 5:10 PM
Saint Croix said...: Why don't you cheer Trump for his affirmative action, you racist fucker.; 7/5/26, 5:12 PM
Original Mike said...: "Personally, I thought it was a bullshit call at the time."

It was.; 7/5/26, 5:13 PM
Saint Croix said...: The poor black kid, being punished for a crime he didn't do. Trump goes in, and gets a reprieve. And all you can do is hate, hate, hate.; 7/5/26, 5:13 PM
Indefinitely Extended Excursion™️ said...: First time I've seen a player receive a red card and not be banned for at least 1 game during the tournament.

The red card against Balogun and resulting one game suspension was a bad decision and most rules experts agreed. But FIFA’s rules/procedure regarding review of the decision is wide open to complaints of favoritism. The fact that only Ronaldo and Balogun have had their suspension suspended does nothing to mitigate that perception, nor does FIFA’s reputation. The fact that no reason for the change was provided doesn’t help either.; 7/5/26, 5:14 PM
Mason G said...: "Why don't you cheer Trump for his affirmative action, you racist fucker."

Everybody knows the answer to that question.; 7/5/26, 5:15 PM
Original Mike said...: Who made the call, the ref on the field or the booth? Was there a reason for the official to have a biased motive? I found the call inexplicable.; 7/5/26, 5:29 PM
Humperdink said...: Don’t argue with a guy with terminal case of TDS. He has more axes yet to grind in his closet. Have you noticed a new piddly complaint everyday? Reminds me of a chihuahua nipping at one’s heels.; 7/5/26, 5:30 PM
cfs said...: A progressive protest group has been flying an 8647 flag on federal land near the National Mall, aimed squarely at the President of the United States.

The National Park Service called it a true threat and moved to shut it down. An Obama-appointed federal judge just told the government to leave it alone.

On June 29, 2026, U.S. District Judge Randolph D. Moss, appointed by Barack Obama, granted summary judgment to Accountability NOW USA and entered a permanent injunction against the Park Service and Interior officials.

The order blocks the government from revoking the group’s demonstration permit or seizing and removing the 8647 flag and similar displays over the message they carry.

The display sits on NPS-managed ground near the George Meade Statue on Constitution Avenue in Washington, D.C.; 7/5/26, 5:37 PM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: Very good video with the Headmistress OM. Thanks for posting.; 7/5/26, 5:37 PM
Indefinitely Extended Excursion™️ said...: Turns out it’s easier to fix the World Cup than the reflecting pool.; 7/5/26, 5:37 PM
Saint Croix said...: First time I've seen a player receive a red card and not be banned for at least 1 game during the tournament.

You mean, second time, since FIFA allowed the world-famous Ronaldo to play, despite his red card. Maybe you can link to your post where you were bitching about that? Or did you fail to notice?

Are you actually unhappy that Trump made that phone call? Why?

complaints of favoritism

Are you seriously trying to pretend that you are practicing "cruel neutrality"? Literally every comment you make is anti-Trump. So you don't get to pretend like you're just some rule-stickler and neutral referee fan.

The red card against Balogun and resulting one game suspension was a bad decision and most rules experts agreed.

So cheer Trump for fixing the bad. Why is that so hard?; 7/5/26, 5:42 PM
Saint Croix said...: Was there a reason for the official to have a biased motive? I found the call inexplicable.

The refs looked at it in slow motion and freeze-frames, instead of live action. You can see my links at 4:45. There's a good discussion of why the bad call happened.; 7/5/26, 5:45 PM
steve uhr said...: Trump and FIFA have a lot in common. They are both corrupt to the core. Hopefully the team will do the right thing and not destroy its reputation; 7/5/26, 5:51 PM
cfs said...: An underground church pastor has been released from prison in China and has arrived in the United States, less than two months after President Donald Trump publicly raised his case with Chinese President Xi Jinping. Ezra Jin Mingri, who founded Beijing’s fast-growing Zion Church, was detained in October last year along with 17 other church leaders in what was one of China’s largest crackdowns on a single religious congregation in decades.; 7/5/26, 5:55 PM
bagoh20 said...: Trump fixes broken things - easy or not. Nice proclivity for a President, or any man. Tearing things down, not so much.; 7/5/26, 5:55 PM
Indefinitely Extended Excursion™️ said...: What is FIFA doing about Paraguay and the Uzbek referee of the match against France? Being promoted to FIFA’s ethics chief?; 7/5/26, 5:56 PM
steve uhr said...: How is it fair they talked to only one side before making its decision. What other team sport does that?; 7/5/26, 5:57 PM
Jim at said...: *Hopefully the team will do the right thing and not destroy its reputation

The 'right' thing was not getting a red card for an accidental foul.

The 'right' thing was getting a yellow card ... at worst.

The 'right' thing would be looking at who and why that call was made in the first place.

And the 'right' thing will be winning the game just so people like you can bitch about something else.; 7/5/26, 5:59 PM
bagoh20 said...: A creatures go, a racist chihuahua is a little scary, but mostly sad. Poor little thing is angry and helpless.; 7/5/26, 5:59 PM
steve uhr said...: Last time rule used was 1962. But you can delude yourself into believing thinking that the winner of the first (and probably last) FIFA peace price had no undue influence.; 7/5/26, 6:01 PM
bagoh20 said...: Which is really fixing a game: Letting the teams play and high score wins, or forcing one team to play without it's best players?; 7/5/26, 6:04 PM
steve uhr said...: Jim. I could say the same thing about dozens of calls every year in the NFL. Sometimes the refs screw you. It’s called part of the game; 7/5/26, 6:06 PM
Mason G said...: The left so yearns for a USA loss.

Sad.; 7/5/26, 6:11 PM
Humperdink said...: Speaking of soccer …… if a player feigns injury, the grabbing of the knee like he has compound fracture and the medical staff attends to him, he sits for 10 minutes. Get up and play you faker or go to the bench.; 7/5/26, 6:12 PM
Humperdink said...: @ steve uhr. In the NHL, the league reviews these calls the next day.; 7/5/26, 6:14 PM
boatbuilder said...: "Hopefully the team will do the right thing and not destroy its reputation".

What would "the right thing" be? Have the young star player miss the biggest game of his career because of a call that virtually everyone agrees was grossly and egregiously wrong?
Because Trump* had the audacity not to accept "that's just the way it is?"
*I am assuming that Trump had something to do with it, only because Rich said so. The announcers in the Norway/Brazil game said they were glad that justice was done, with no mention of Trump.; 7/5/26, 6:14 PM
RCOCEAN II said...: The player should never have gotten a red card. He supposedly stepped on an another players ankle. Yet there was no foul called on the field and no injury resulted. It was only after VAR review that a red card was issued.; 7/5/26, 6:18 PM
Mason G said...: "The announcers in the Norway/Brazil game said they were glad that justice was done, with no mention of Trump."

Trump got to them, then?

Another reason to hate Trump.; 7/5/26, 6:19 PM
Humperdink said...: @ steve uhr You’re right, in the NFL the refs make bad calls regularly, but I am not aware they have the authority to suspend a player the next game. Tell me I’m wrong.; 7/5/26, 6:23 PM
RCOCEAN II said...: soccer penalties are too rigid and draconian. Penatly kicks are given for fouling a player "in the box" even if the foul didn't result in stopping a goal kick. Its as if a pitcher hitter a batter wasnt just penalized by allowing the hit player to 1st base. But he had to throw the next 4 pitches underhand - with all the infielders sitting on the sidelines!; 7/5/26, 6:23 PM
Indefinitely Extended Excursion™️ said...: The red card was crap, the decison to suspend the suspension was crap, and Trump jumping up and claiming credit made the smell of crap too strong to ignore.

The USMNT, Poch, and, worst, Balogun are now in a no win position. And things had been going surprisingly well...; 7/5/26, 6:23 PM
bagoh20 said...: What a country! Even if you have a dumb anti-American opinion, you can tell everybody, and all that happens is everybody knows your dumb and anti-American. Freedom!; 7/5/26, 6:24 PM
boatbuilder said...: Steve Uhr: "Jim. I could say the same thing about dozens of calls every year in the NFL. Sometimes the refs screw you. It’s called part of the game."

What you seem incapable of understanding is that the call--a red card--results not only in the player being kicked out of the game and his team having to play with 10 players instead of eleven, but also in that player being suspended from the next game.
The NFL doesn't impose suspensions during games. It imposes suspensions after a post-game review by the league. And there is a significant appeal process. AS is true in the NHL, NBA, MLB and every other professional sport that I know of.
But "Trump!"; 7/5/26, 6:25 PM
bagoh20 said...: Soccer does have bad rules. Rules that over-punish accidents, and far too often reward faking it.; 7/5/26, 6:26 PM
RCOCEAN II said...: All hail Norway. What a win. sorry to see Brazil go, they play a beautiful game. But Norway deserved to win. The 2nd goal by Norway was amazing, a rifle shot through a brazilian players legs into the Goal.; 7/5/26, 6:27 PM
Jim at said...: *Jim. I could say the same thing about dozens of calls every year in the NFL. Sometimes the refs screw you. It’s called part of the game

So what you're saying is the ref screws up a call, the league reviews the call, overturns the ref's screw-up and the player and team who benefits from the correction should do the 'right' thing, not abide by the correction and sit said player.

You know, you'd be more honest if you simply said you hate Trump and don't really care about this other than you hate Trump and what he did.

At least it would be the truth, and the rest of us wouldn't have to watch you twist yourself into a pretzel over some bullshit principals you only apply when Trump's involved.; 7/5/26, 6:29 PM
RCOCEAN II said...: Waiting for England v. Mexico. The poor Englanders will have to be up at 1 AM London time to watch it. I expect them to lose. Mexico has the home field advantage and they're used to the altitude. But Brazil and Germany have been bounced so anything can happen.; 7/5/26, 6:29 PM
bagoh20 said...: If Biden made the call. We would all be happy.; 7/5/26, 6:30 PM
boatbuilder said...: RC--If you didn't have the penalty kick rule for fouls in the box, there would never be any goals scored, because the defenders would just foul every player who comes close. It's like the two-minute penalty for delay of game in hockey for shooting the puck over the glass to clear the zone.; 7/5/26, 6:31 PM
RCOCEAN II said...: BTW you had an awful call in the Norway game, that thanfully came so late it didnt matter. A Norwegian player was called for a foul in "the box". The ref thought it was an "elbow to the head" when fighting for a header, in fact it looked like the Norwegian just put arm on the Brazilan players shoulder and the elbow "touched" the Brazilians head. there was no injury.

But it resulted in a PK and Brazilian Goal.; 7/5/26, 6:33 PM
bagoh20 said...: That old trope about people criticising Trump if he cured cancer just keeps looking truer every day.; 7/5/26, 6:34 PM
boatbuilder said...: Balogun is in a no-win position? Wha?

If he scores a goal on Monday it will be celebrated by everyone except you, Steve Uhr and possibly a few Belgians upset because their entirely unearned windfall got taken away.; 7/5/26, 6:37 PM
bagoh20 said...: Since everybody seems to agree it was a bad call, what is the best and proper thing that should happen after a bad call that removes a player from an upcoming game in the World Cup?; 7/5/26, 6:38 PM
RCOCEAN II said...: BTW, Mitch the Bitch McConnell is still AWOL from the Senate. They've released 911 tapes which showed he was found unconcisious (sic) and needed resuscitation. Still in the hospital - but no pictures or audio of McConnell have been released.

His wife flew back to China 3 days after the event. And per twitter is still there. People are speculating Mitch is either a vegetable or on his last legs, and Thune and Senate R's want to keep him "Alive" till August 3rd. After that he can die and no special election needs to be held.

The last thing Thune wants is for a MAGA Senator to replace McConnell and serve till Jan 2027.

Per Grok, if you're over 80 and hospitalized for a heart attack and resuccitation (sic) your odds of leaving the hospital alive are about 1 in 10. Even getting CPR in a hospital after a heart attack is bad news for a 80 y/0 - odds about 3/10.; 7/5/26, 6:44 PM
Jaq said...: The Marlins just took out a pitcher who was throwing a perfect game going into the eighth inning. The game was on because NBC was showing all of the games for free, first Marlins game I had been able to watch all season. He was doing some stretches in the dugout that suggested that he may have twinged something though.; 7/5/26, 6:53 PM
Saint Croix said...: “Last time rule used was 1962.”

Wrong. FIFA struck two red cards in this tournament. Pay attention.; 7/5/26, 7:05 PM
Humperdink said...: @ steve uhr. When Caitlin Clark (WNBA) took a shot to the throat, did the refs suspend the offending player? Nope, the league did the next day.

I am thinking you didn’t think your comment through.; 7/5/26, 7:05 PM
Mason G said...: "what is the best and proper thing that should happen after a bad call that removes a player from an upcoming game in the World Cup?"

The Left: "Whatever reflects most poorly on Donald Trump. Who gives a shit about the game?"; 7/5/26, 7:08 PM
Original Mike said...: "The USMNT, Poch, and, worst, Balogun are now in a no win position."

Yes, and Iran has the US right where they want them.; 7/5/26, 7:08 PM
Mr. T. said...: KKKak/Richsockpuppet/paidActbluetrollaccount(TM) said:

"Trump Asked FIFA to Review U.S. Player’s Suspension. Now He’s Eligible to Play. ~ NYT

FIFA doing FIFA things."

Do you even review the pink slime slop you receive from your AcTbLue NGO disinformation masters before you post it?

Is the greatest crime to you people that Trump didn't replace Balogum with a transurrectionist UCSD NAMbLAn instead???; 7/5/26, 7:09 PM
Original Mike said...: "I am thinking you didn’t think your comment through."

He's been doing that a lot lately. Still waiting for him to produce a list of nazis the Republicans have elected.

It's Happy Hour, steve. Go get yourself a cheap drink.; 7/5/26, 7:10 PM
boatbuilder said...: A yuge irony here is that Balogun is essentially British, but can play for the USA because his parents were in the US when he was born. So he has "birthright citizenship" and is a dual citizen of Britain and the US.; 7/5/26, 7:11 PM
The Cracker Emcee Refulgent said...: “We oldsters laugh off the left flinging "racist!" at everything that moves. They wore it out. Unfortunately, the youngsters took it to heart.”

Not that I’ve seen. Certainly not among young men. Riffing on race, other’s or your own, seems to be the dominant form of humor among the young these days. And it tends to be overwhelmingly more knowing than malicious. Comparing that to the racial humor prevalent in my youth, it may represent profound progress.

As ever, people determined to be offended, will be. That’s such a given that it hardly merits comment.; 7/5/26, 7:26 PM
Left Bank of the Charles said...: It was surprisingly magnanimous for Trump to call FIFA on Balogun’s behalf, as Balogun is not a U.S. citizen eligible to be on the U.S. men’s national soccer team, according to Trump’s now-rejected theory of citizenship under the 14th Amendment:

“Balogun was born in Brooklyn, New York, to Yoruba Nigerian parents. His parents were living in London, and visited New York when his mother was seven months pregnant with him. Airline staff did not allow her to board the family's return flight to London due to safety concerns over the advanced state of her pregnancy, and Balogun was subsequently born in New York. He returned to the United Kingdom with his parents when he was two months old and grew up in London.“

To be fair to Trump, Balogun would have been grandfathered under Trump’s now-unconstitutional executive order, as he was born before the order’s effective date.; 7/5/26, 7:31 PM
Gospace said...: So a question for our hostess-

If we use the cut and paste method of adding italics- or bold, or even u͟n͟d͟e͟r͟l͟i͟n͟e͟ so we avoid blogger missing the closing tags- is that OK with you?

As far as I'm concerned it's even easier then adding the opening and closing tags.

Couldn't find (easily) a colored font copy/past site, that worked. But I'm sure there's one out there...; 7/5/26, 7:35 PM
rehajm said...: yah, I type italics but am working to stop…; 7/5/26, 7:41 PM
rehajm said...: that goal- nutmeg beats brazil nut; 7/5/26, 7:45 PM
Indefinitely Extended Excursion™️ said...: Gianni Infantino did what Mike Pence lacked the courage to do.; 7/5/26, 7:55 PM
Big Mike said...: “It's Happy Hour, steve. Go get yourself a cheap drink.”

They have Happy Hour on Sundays where you live?; 7/5/26, 9:23 PM
FullMoon said...: Original Mike said...
"I am thinking you didn’t think your comment through."

He's been doing that a lot lately. Still waiting for him to produce a list of nazis the Republicans have elected.

It's Happy Hour, steve. Go get yourself a cheap drink.

LOL. Inside joke; 7/5/26, 9:32 PM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: It looks like the Mexican fans ‘dieron una metida de pata’ taunting the English team at their hotel in Mexico City.

The English are beating Mexico 3-1 in the second half of the match.; 7/5/26, 9:32 PM
Saint Croix said...: I thought the red card applied in the next game as well. Not exactly. When you get a red card, you have to play the rest of the game a man short. (The USA did that, and won). The next game, you lose the player again, but now you can substitute for him. So you’re not a man down any more.

I haven’t watched soccer in 40 years. I’m enjoying this tournament. England - Mexico game was great.; 7/5/26, 10:12 PM
Saint Croix said...: England was a man down. Mexico was a point down. And they hammered the goal over and over. And England, outnumbered, held on for the win.; 7/5/26, 10:15 PM
Saint Croix said...: It will be interesting to see if the English PM makes a phone call to FIFA. I’m betting not.; 7/5/26, 10:19 PM
bagoh20 said...: "They have Happy Hour on Sundays where you live?"

Yes. 12 - 12. am/pm is optional.; 7/5/26, 10:59 PM
Saint Croix said...: Politico has no sports desk, obviously, so their outrage is particularly bad

The stupid Politico is apparently clueless that Belgium is the country playing the USA in its next game.

Of course Belgium is mad that FIFA is allowing one of the USA's best soccer players to suit up for the World Cup game against Belgium. Of course Belgium politicians are united "across the political spectrum."

What kind of dummy hates on your own country's soccer team?

Politico uses the term "politicians across the political spectrum" to suggest that Trump is being universally criticized for his phone call.

Yeah, universally criticized in Belgium.

All the criticisms are coming from Belgium!

Leave it to American media to side with Belgium, and the Belgium team, and to boo Trump, and the American team.; 7/6/26, 2:26 AM