Wow, the Schloss-Blog goes to see John Mellencamp in concert (what a show, more to come on the politics of that), but the world goes to pot while we're at the show.
**Lindsay Graham dies (more to come);
**Trump launches attacks again on Iran (the cease-fire is over);
**The Strait of Hormuz is closed (again).
More to come on all that...
***
But first, the Schloss-Blog wants to know ... why don't the best athletes in the United States play soccer?
The structure of the sport leaves soccer seeking out the best athletes instead of the best athletes seeking out soccer.
That embarrassing loss to Belgium in the Round of 16 proves it: we were outclassed, outsmarted and outplayed in the entirety of that game by a team that flexed its veteran muscles and played angry about Folarin Balogun being eligible for the game in a mysterious, unethical decision by FIFA and its president, Ginnai Infantino, and the pressure he succumbed to from Donald J. Trump.
Nothing personal, Fo, but you shouldn't have played and Belgium knew it and was ticked off that Infantino caved to Trump and allowed him to play, reverseingthe suspension that automatically accompanies a Red Card.
***
Why is the Schloss-Blog writing somewhat at length here about John Mellencamp's phenomenal performance Saturday night at the Credit 1 Amphitheater in Tinley Park, IL?
No. 1, it was truly phenomenal. The Indiana man is 74 and kills it out there (still smokes - even snuck one in on stage). Has a book of hit songs that goes on forever. And performs them with perfection, backed by a truly marvelous band.
Beyond that, it was 20 miles from the Indiana border and it showed. The sold-out crowd of 28,000 definitely included a sizeable number of Hoosiers who love Mellencamp's music but are not in love with Mellencamp's liberal leanings. And it showed.
In his opening song, "Lawless Times," a pop-tune throwback to the '50s, he disparages ICE and its illicit efforts.
MAGA attendees got up and left. Just left. Large pockets of empty seats suddenly showed up in the pavilion after he blended a lyric about ICE into the 2014 cult hit. It was his first song. Tickets in the pavilion were pricey. These people didn't care - they just left.
Mellencamp wasn't done.
In an extended version of "Pink Houses," he belted out "... go to work is some high rise and vacation down at the Gulf of Mexico."
He paused. Looked out at the audience, the band holding the rhythm behind him ... and he asked, "You OK with the Gulf of Mexico?"
A smattering of boos in a crowd that was predominantly in favor of calling it that, rather than Trump's "Gulf of America." More MAGA loyalists got up and left.
From organizing "Farm Aid" with Neil Young and Willie Nelson, to the Gulf of Mexico (not America), Mellencamp has never been shy about expressing his liberal ways. Even ran a video during the show, a duet he did with The Boss, Bruce Springsteen, a song called "Wasted Days," a duet with one of Trump's biggest critics, who's not shy about expressing such on stage.
Take that MAGA.
***
As we enjoyed Mellencamp's performance, the Gulf (not Mexico, but Persian) was exploding again, with the accompanying gas and grocery price spikes that go with it
The US fired on some 140 Iranian targets in supposed response to Iran firing at a tanker in the Strait of Hormuz and having subsequently closed the Strait.
And it leaves us with oil tankers stranded. Gas prices spiking. An already sensitive world economy fracturing even further.
Welcome to Trump's ongoing War with Iran, the one that emphasizes his not thinking about Americans' financial situations and his feeling that "Nobody gives a sh_t about housing."
What a guy.
***
Good night, Mrs. Calabash. Here's to you, John Mellencamp.
More to come Sunday night on my Radio Free Phoenix rock 'n' roll show.
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