Angel Ureña

Deputy Chief of Staff for President @BillClinton.

[Angel Ureña @angelurena]

Last week, a man named Pedro Ramirez Jimenez became a U.S. citizen. He works at the @ClintonCenter. It took him 27 years.

I wanted to share his powerful journey to citizenship.🧵

[Bill Clinton @BillClinton]

My statement on the 25th anniversary of the September 11th attacks:

[Bill Clinton @BillClinton]

Dolly Parton was one of a kind—a great songwriter and performer who told the stories of everyday Americans with honesty, humility, and heart. She rose high from her East Tennessee roots and never forgot where she came from. And she always believed in giving back, especially in her efforts to promote literacy. Hillary and I were big fans and first saw her in 1974, and will always be grateful for the music and the memories. Our thoughts and prayers are with her family, her legion of fans, and everyone who loved her.

[George Jarjour @GeorgeOnTap]

A Mets rookie jumped, kicked his legs apart, and slapped the grass after his first career strikeout, and half of baseball called it disrespectful to the game. Here's who he actually is, because once you know the story, "respect the game" starts to sound like the disrespectful part.

His name is Jefry Yan. He's a 29-year-old rookie. Read that again: 29, and a rookie, in a sport where most careers are over by then. He signed his first pro contract in 2013, at 16. Then he spent more than four years completely out of affiliated baseball. Out. Not in the minors, not rehabbing, out of the sport. The Miami Marlins rediscovered him pitching in a men's beer league in Arizona in 2021. A beer league. The kind you play in after your dream is supposed to be dead.

From there: Single-A, Double-A, a stint in Japan with the Seibu Lions, the Dominican Winter League, Triple-A Syracuse, and finally, thirteen years after he signed, his major league debut Wednesday night in Cleveland. He struck out the first batter he faced and did the celebration he's done at every stop of that thirteen-year climb.

Now the "unwritten rules" crowd wants him to tone it down. And here's where the whole "respect the game" argument collapses on itself.

The celebration isn't disrespect. It's the most respectful thing on the field, because it's the only honest one. Yan explained it himself: he wants to play like it's a kids' game, like he always has. This is a man who was told the game didn't want him, went to a beer league, and clawed back over thirteen years. The joy is not an act. It's the accumulated release of a decade of being nobody. Asking him to suppress it to look professional is asking him to pretend the climb didn't cost what it cost.

Baseball's "respect the game" ethic has always had this problem buried inside it. The unwritten rules police celebration hardest, and they disproportionately police the players who celebrate the way Latin players celebrate. Yan is Dominican. The flat-affect, act-like-you've-been-there ideal was built by and for a specific culture of the sport, and it has spent decades treating the expressiveness common in Dominican and Venezuelan baseball as a violation. Bat flips got the same treatment until the league finally realized it was marketing gold and started selling the highlights.

Here's the tell that the "disrespect" framing is empty. His own manager, Andy Green, said he doesn't fear teams taking offense, because Yan's reputation preceded him. The people inside the game aren't offended. The offense is almost entirely from the outside, from the guardians of an etiquette that was never really about respect. It was about conformity, dressed up as respect.

And notice what nobody's disputing: the man throws 101. He threw the eight fastest pitches any Met has thrown all year in a single inning. He earned the mound the hard way and the stuff is real. The celebration isn't covering for a lack of substance. It's sitting on top of a fastball that touches 101 and a story most players would have quit on at year three.

So the real question isn't why Jefry Yan gets a pass. It's why we ever decided joy needed one.

The game doesn't get disrespected by a man celebrating the thing he waited thirteen years and one beer league to do. It gets disrespected by pretending that celebration is the problem.

[In Pursuit USA @InPursuitUSA]

President Bill Clinton (@BillClinton) writes about Theodore Roosevelt and a presidency defined by conservation, worker protections, civil service reform and checks on concentrated power.

Roosevelt expanded the role of government and the meaning of “We the People,” while leaving much of that work unfinished.

@TRPresLibrary @ClintonCenter @ClintonFdn

[Bill Clinton @BillClinton]

Happy 80th birthday to my friend George W. Bush!

Your friendship—and that of your father and your entire family—has been one of the great gifts of my life. It has always reminded me that long before we’re politicians, we’re fellow Americans and, above all, human beings.

And for the next month, I’m especially grateful to finally have someone older than me! Wishing you many more years of good health, happiness, and friendship.

Our country is stronger when we remember that what unites us is greater than what divides us.

[Bill Clinton @BillClinton]

My statement on America at 250 and the state of the country:

[Bill Clinton @BillClinton]

America has become the longest-lasting democracy in history in large part thanks to generations of immigrants who have brought their talents, hard work, and dreams to our country. I was honored to welcome Pedro, who will help us write the next chapter of our American story.

[Bill Clinton @BillClinton]

The job of Fed Chairman is one of the hardest in Washington. Every move is heavily scrutinized at home and around the world, not only at the moment rate decisions are made, but for years and decades afterward. The best we can hope for is someone who is wise but takes good advice from experts around them, exudes confidence and integrity, and who always keeps the country’s best interests front and center. Alan Greenspan was all of those things and more. I enjoyed my conversations, and occasional arguments, with him when I was President. My heart goes out to Andrea and everyone who loved him. We were lucky to have him as long as we did.

[Bill Clinton @BillClinton]

Today, Hillary and I were honored to be on the South Side of Chicago to celebrate the opening of the Obama Presidential Center. The Obama Center tells the story of eight years of progress, and is a stirring reminder of the power—and responsibility—we have as citizens shape a better future.

Congratulations, Barack and Michelle, on this extraordinary accomplishment!

[Barack Obama @BarackObama]

To George and Laura, Bill and Hillary — we're grateful for your friendship, counsel, and devotion to this country. And to Joe and Jill, thank you for being on this journey with us.

[Politics & Poll Tracker 📡 @PollTracker2024]

President George W. Bush gives former first lady Michelle Obama mints ahead of the dedication ceremony at the Obama Presidential Center

Source: Getty Images

[Nike Basketball @nikebasketball]

Sleep well, NY.

[Bill Clinton @BillClinton]

What an incredible season! Basketball fans everywhere will remember the team that embodied New York grit, never quit, and battled to the final buzzer. Congratulations to James Dolan, Coach Mike Brown, Captain Jalen Brunson, every member of the New York Knicks organization, and the loyal Knicks faithful who waited 53 years to celebrate this championship!

[SNY Knicks @sny_knicks]

THE 53-YEAR WAIT IS OVER!

THE KNICKS ARE NBA CHAMPIONS!

[Bill Clinton @BillClinton]

Like all great chefs, André Poirot melded his talent, training, and discipline with that rare extra ingredient, the ability to prepare dishes that bring people together with shared delight. He was a perfect fit for our restaurant at the Clinton Presidential Center in Little Rock and we were so fortunate to have him in our kitchen and our lives as long as we did. He’ll be missed not only by all of us at the Center, but by everyone in Little Rock and around the world who were lucky to have gathered around a table to sample his gifts. https://t.co/e0ttomZ7JA

[Bill Clinton @BillClinton]

Nothing like a World Cup coming to the Americas! Welcome to all and go USA!

[NEW YORK KNICKS @nyknicks]

THE GREATEST COMEBACK IN NBA PLAYOFF HISTORY.

[Angel Ureña @angelurena]

Best basketball game I’ve ever watched.

Let’s. Go. Knicks.

[NEW YORK KNICKS @nyknicks]

🗣️CAPTAIN CLUTCH!!!

[NEW YORK KNICKS @nyknicks]

KNICKS WIN!!!