We dropped a nuclear bomb on Japan, twice, and 80 years later they light up their cities in our colors as a show of how much they love us.
Meanwhile, we bailed half of Europe out, twice, and their governments take every last opportunity to signal how much they despise us.
250 years ago, fifty-six men signed their names to a death warrant.
If the Revolution failed, that document was a hanging list. They knew it and they signed nonetheless. Pledging their lives, their fortunes and their sacred honor to an idea that did not yet have an army strong enough to defend it.
N.C. Wyeth painted the gap between the promise and the price.
Above, in the light and clouds, the signers commit their names.
Below them, the farmers, tradesmen and frontiersmen, are the ones who had to make those words real. In the smoke and the fight.
It took seven more years of war. Trenton. Valley Forge. Saratoga. Yorktown.
Most of the men in the struggle never signed the Declaration.
But they paid for it.
America 250 🇺🇸
#USMNT striker Folarin Balogun on his immediate reaction to red card:
“I think it was just important to stay calm. I never want to react out of anger and out of emotion. There’s still lots of people we’re inspiring, little kids, boys and girls who are watching, and we have to show them the correct way to handle things, even when you think it's unjust.”
On shaking ref’s hand postgame:
“As said, you can feel like something, injustice can happen to you. It’s not an excuse to be disrespectful… I'm aware that the World Cup might be the first time a lot of American viewers are tuning in. So it's important just to show people, whether things happen to you, good or bad, just to continue to be yourself.”
"There is no canonical “right” answer to many, perhaps most, questions in medicine; instead there are many wrong answers and a shorter list of defensible choices."
"Perhaps the right question is the existential question. Wake up doctor— are you sure this patient needs more chemo?... As a wise oncologist told me... “It is easy to give more chemo, it is hard to be honest.”
"AI is wonderful, but AI can’t jump out of the screen and ask you all these things. AI can’t lay hands on the patient and look them in the face. And touch their legs, and listen to their heart and lungs."
FIFA would do well today to put out a brief and simple statement saying, the USA-B&H officials did not abide by the proper VAR protocols and wrongly awarded Balogun a red card, and thus the one match suspension has been voided. Will they do it? No. But they'd be right to.
🚨🇺🇸 Zlatan Ibrahimović & Thierry Henry praise Mauricio Pochettino after USA 2-0 Bosnia & Herzegovina
🗣️ Zlatan Ibrahimović: “People will remember the goals, the red card, the free kick and the saves. I will remember the coach. When your team goes down to ten men in a World Cup knockout match, panic usually enters the stadium. It never entered this American team. That tells me one thing—Pochettino prepared them for every situation before the first whistle.”
🗣️ Thierry Henry: “Exactly. What impressed me wasn’t just the result, it was the structure. The United States pressed Bosnia high from the start, forced mistakes, and created enough chances to be out of sight before halftime. Even after the red card, they didn’t abandon their identity. They became more compact, protected the central spaces, trusted Matt Freese, and still looked dangerous on the counter.”
🗣️ Zlatan Ibrahimović: “That’s coaching. You don’t become defensive because you’re scared—you become organised because you’re intelligent. Bosnia had more of the ball after the sending-off, but they rarely looked like a team that knew how to hurt the United States. Every player knew his job.”
🗣️ Thierry Henry: “And look at the details. Christian Pulisic was given the freedom to drift and connect attacks, Balogun stretched the back line before the red card, Tillman found the moments to arrive between the lines and then produced a world-class free kick, while the back four defended with discipline. That’s not luck. That’s a coach putting his players in positions where their strengths can win the game.”
🗣️ Zlatan Ibrahimović: *“So far, Pochettino has been spot on in this tournament. He has built a team that knows when to attack, when to suffer, and when to finish the job. In knockout football, that’s more valuable than beautiful football. If the United States keep showing this mentality, nobody will want to face them.”
#USABIH
Serious foul play can’t be judged in 240fps slow motion replays. We need to understand the football context.
Was Balogun trying to play the ball? Was the opponent trying to play the ball? Was Balogun trying to endanger the opponent? What was the force of the tackle?
At best it was a yellow. Like Messi’s. It’s football, there’s contact and feet get tangled. Sometimes more nasty than others.
The most bitter part is that it happened on the US’s turf. At their own World Cup they get poked in the eye like this. Harsh. Way too harsh.
FIFA sources confirm there is no mechanism to appeal a World Cup red card in their Disciplinary Code. Which seems quite surreal. But it means Balogun will not be able to play Belgium.
Free to read @TheAthleticFC
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George Washington was down a man once. Did he pack it in and play defense? Hell no. He snuck across the Delaware at night and got a second goal.
Finish them, USA