"Loitering is not permitted in this area," an audio recording sternly warns, as uniformed National Guard troops patrol Washington's iconic, algae-plagued reflecting pool. "Please proceed to a designated location."
Journalist Amanda Moore's dystopian video, shot last weekend just steps from the Lincoln Memorial, instantly went viral—a perfect 8-second encapsulation of American democracy under Donald Trump. Amanda has spent the past 18 months documenting the chaos and brutality of the administration's militarized takeovers and immigration raids in cities across the country. Her footage has been shocking, often horrifying. But it's never before been quite so absurd. (Well, maybe once.)
In her latest video report for Mother Jones, Amanda takes us on a tour of the Trumpified National Mall as the nation attempts to celebrate its 250th birthday. Not far from the reflecting pool's nanobubblers and security theater, there's a very different scene: Trump's Great America State Fair. When Amanda visited this marquee anniversary event, she found a dearth of visitors, a shortage of napkins, and a decaying model of the triumphal arch the president wants to build across the Potomac.
The symbolism here is about as subtle as a Jon McNaughton painting. If I hadn't seen Amanda's reporting, I never would have believed it was real.
We went to Donald Trump’s Great American State Fair for the U.S.’s 250th anniversary. But the 16-day celebration is proving to be less than successful.
Watch @prem_thakker explore the disastrous fair.
NYC Mayor Mamdani gives a speech behind George Washington's desk with new citizens: "Independence may have been declared in Philadelphia but it was rescued in New York City."
New York City Mayor Mamdani just gave one of the most amazing speeches you will ever hear:
"We are told that America is exceptional because we are richer, stronger, and more powerful than everyone else.
"The truth, my friends, is that America is exceptional because here, nothing is fixed into place. The frontier may be closed. We may have walked on the moon. But the work of fulfilling the values first enshrined in the Declaration of Independence — that work endures, and it belongs to us all.
"It belongs, too, to our newest Americans: those standing here with me today, all of whom were recently naturalized. Nearly a decade ago, I, too, felt what you feel: the joy of no longer being just a New Yorker, but an American, too.
"You each hold a special power: the power to determine what America means.
"The powerful have always known their answer. America, in their view, is an arena of supremacy where only a select few are allowed freedom; where not all are created equal. America, if you ask them, becomes less the more people it welcomes. America, they will tell you, belongs only to those with the right accent or the right shade of skin. The rest of us, they insist, should be grateful for merely being allowed to visit.
"How small they are. How weak. How unoriginal.
"At every moment in our past, those who led through exclusion and isolation have tried to win power and enrich themselves by turning us against one another. Division is the oldest trick in politics — and the cheapest.
"But time and again, including 250 years ago, those forces of division have been vanquished by the forces of progress."
Until African Countries get rid of this Weak Mentality and Inferiority complex, African football will never progress at the World Cup. Senegal have nobody but themselves to blame today for bottling this victory against a weak Belgium side.
Can someone ask the commentators why it is embarrassing to lose to Congo? Yo these fucking commentators have been microaggressive this entire tournament. Racist fucks.
Il faut avoir les nerfs solides pour suivre les matchs des équipes africaines commentés par des journalistes occidentaux. La condescendance, le manque de respect, de professionnalisme, d’éthique, de déontologie envers les africains est insupportable.
Dear Zambians living in South Africa, please consider returning to your homeland. You still have a place called home, where you will be treated with humanity and respect. It is not worth it to suffer the indignity of being chased and beaten like common criminals.