<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><rss xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/" xmlns:content="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/" xmlns:atom="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom" version="2.0" xmlns:itunes="http://www.itunes.com/dtds/podcast-1.0.dtd" xmlns:googleplay="http://www.google.com/schemas/play-podcasts/1.0"><channel><title><![CDATA[State of the Day]]></title><description><![CDATA[Sharp reporting and commentary on news, politics, and culture — without political correctness or spin. Includes Unfit to Print, Mr. Right, Good Life, State of the Day, Extras, and Video.]]></description><link>https://stateoftheday.us</link><image><url>https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!WpLm!,w_256,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fcadc6152-0913-4e8b-8d5d-96faf5f7825a_801x801.png</url><title>State of the Day</title><link>https://stateoftheday.us</link></image><generator>Substack</generator><lastBuildDate>Sat, 20 Jun 2026 18:01:27 GMT</lastBuildDate><atom:link href="https://stateoftheday.us/feed" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml"/><copyright><![CDATA[State of the Day]]></copyright><language><![CDATA[en]]></language><webMaster><![CDATA[stateoftheday@substack.com]]></webMaster><itunes:owner><itunes:email><![CDATA[stateoftheday@substack.com]]></itunes:email><itunes:name><![CDATA[State of the Day]]></itunes:name></itunes:owner><itunes:author><![CDATA[State of the Day]]></itunes:author><googleplay:owner><![CDATA[stateoftheday@substack.com]]></googleplay:owner><googleplay:email><![CDATA[stateoftheday@substack.com]]></googleplay:email><googleplay:author><![CDATA[State of the Day]]></googleplay:author><itunes:block><![CDATA[Yes]]></itunes:block><item><title><![CDATA[The World Cup Highlights America's Best Side]]></title><description><![CDATA[The game and all the fans made me extremely proud to be an American.]]></description><link>https://stateoftheday.us/p/the-world-cup-highlights-americas</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://stateoftheday.us/p/the-world-cup-highlights-americas</guid><dc:creator><![CDATA[Mary Rooke]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Sat, 20 Jun 2026 12:02:41 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!7wqp!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F5b37b9bd-f5a1-486f-aa48-fd52aff841df_2400x1600.png" length="0" type="image/jpeg"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!7wqp!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F5b37b9bd-f5a1-486f-aa48-fd52aff841df_2400x1600.png" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!7wqp!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F5b37b9bd-f5a1-486f-aa48-fd52aff841df_2400x1600.png 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!7wqp!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F5b37b9bd-f5a1-486f-aa48-fd52aff841df_2400x1600.png 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!7wqp!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F5b37b9bd-f5a1-486f-aa48-fd52aff841df_2400x1600.png 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!7wqp!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F5b37b9bd-f5a1-486f-aa48-fd52aff841df_2400x1600.png 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!7wqp!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F5b37b9bd-f5a1-486f-aa48-fd52aff841df_2400x1600.png" width="1456" height="971" data-attrs="{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/5b37b9bd-f5a1-486f-aa48-fd52aff841df_2400x1600.png&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:null,&quot;height&quot;:971,&quot;width&quot;:1456,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:null,&quot;bytes&quot;:3660227,&quot;alt&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;image/png&quot;,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:false,&quot;topImage&quot;:true,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:&quot;https://stateoftheday.us/i/202730395?img=https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F5b37b9bd-f5a1-486f-aa48-fd52aff841df_2400x1600.png&quot;,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}" class="sizing-normal" alt="" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!7wqp!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F5b37b9bd-f5a1-486f-aa48-fd52aff841df_2400x1600.png 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!7wqp!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F5b37b9bd-f5a1-486f-aa48-fd52aff841df_2400x1600.png 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!7wqp!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F5b37b9bd-f5a1-486f-aa48-fd52aff841df_2400x1600.png 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!7wqp!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F5b37b9bd-f5a1-486f-aa48-fd52aff841df_2400x1600.png 1456w" sizes="100vw" fetchpriority="high"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg role="img" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><title></title><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a><figcaption class="image-caption">United States of America football team supporters give the peace sign while holding up the Stars and Stripes flag during the 1994 FIFA World Cup group A game between the United States and Romania (Photo by Stephen Dunn/Allsport/Getty Images)</figcaption></figure></div><div><hr></div><p><em>Welcome back to Good Life, a newsletter about navigating our modern culture and staying sane in the process. This weekend we discuss my experience at the World Cup and how it made me feel about America&#8217;s future.</em></p><p><em>Enjoying this newsletter? Share it with your friends and family! And if you&#8217;re one of those friends or family members, you can sign up to get your own copy every week right <strong><a href="https://stateoftheday.us/s/good-life">here</a></strong>.</em></p><div><hr></div><p>The World Cup is in full swing in the U.S., and I&#8217;ve been pleasantly surprised by the reactions from international fans to our country. There have been so many viral moments of Scottish, German, Japanese, and English national fans in awe of how great America is that it almost doesn&#8217;t feel real.</p><p>Of course, I love this country and still believe it is the greatest in the world. But there is still a tinge of an inferiority complex that rears its ugly head when Europeans come to town. Will they see the beauty, culture, and traditions the same way I do? Or will they look down on us because, despite being 250 years old, we are still a young country in comparison?</p><p>So I had to join the crowd to see for myself.</p>
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          <a href="https://stateoftheday.us/p/the-world-cup-highlights-americas">
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   ]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[The Vice President, Unpolished]]></title><description><![CDATA[This is the book that was on tour last week]]></description><link>https://stateoftheday.us/p/the-vice-president-unpolished</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://stateoftheday.us/p/the-vice-president-unpolished</guid><dc:creator><![CDATA[Reagan Reese]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Fri, 19 Jun 2026 18:45:25 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!onb5!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F83ea17f3-e666-4c96-a289-84ceb79b1d90_8192x5464.jpeg" length="0" type="image/jpeg"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!onb5!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F83ea17f3-e666-4c96-a289-84ceb79b1d90_8192x5464.jpeg" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!onb5!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F83ea17f3-e666-4c96-a289-84ceb79b1d90_8192x5464.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!onb5!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F83ea17f3-e666-4c96-a289-84ceb79b1d90_8192x5464.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!onb5!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F83ea17f3-e666-4c96-a289-84ceb79b1d90_8192x5464.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!onb5!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F83ea17f3-e666-4c96-a289-84ceb79b1d90_8192x5464.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!onb5!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F83ea17f3-e666-4c96-a289-84ceb79b1d90_8192x5464.jpeg" width="1456" height="971" 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srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!onb5!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F83ea17f3-e666-4c96-a289-84ceb79b1d90_8192x5464.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!onb5!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F83ea17f3-e666-4c96-a289-84ceb79b1d90_8192x5464.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!onb5!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F83ea17f3-e666-4c96-a289-84ceb79b1d90_8192x5464.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!onb5!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F83ea17f3-e666-4c96-a289-84ceb79b1d90_8192x5464.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw" fetchpriority="high"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg role="img" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><title></title><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a><figcaption class="image-caption">(Photo by Heather Diehl/Getty Images)</figcaption></figure></div><p><em>Communion</em>, Vice President JD Vance&#8217;s memoir on his journey from Protestant to atheist to Catholic, is raw and honest. If you&#8217;ve read <em>Hillbilly Elegy</em>, that might not surprise you.</p><p>But it should.</p><p><em>Hillbilly Elegy</em> was written before Vance was a public figure. <em>Communion</em> was not. He started it several years ago, and refined it over the years as his faith deepened and his political career exploded. He finished it as the vice president of the United States.</p><p>That&#8217;s what makes it striking &#8212; and what most of his book tour interviews have completely missed.</p><p>This isn&#8217;t a window into policy. It&#8217;s not an explanation of the immigration agenda of President Donald Trump&#8217;s administration or a preview of Vance&#8217;s 2028 ambitions. The book is largely not political at all.</p>
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   ]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[In Defense Of Awesome Uncles]]></title><description><![CDATA[RFK Jr. did what?!]]></description><link>https://stateoftheday.us/p/in-defense-of-awesome-uncles</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://stateoftheday.us/p/in-defense-of-awesome-uncles</guid><dc:creator><![CDATA[John Loftus]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Fri, 19 Jun 2026 17:15:15 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!QGvs!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F18d98759-5162-4815-8e1a-0bb86a7f6492_1176x786.png" length="0" type="image/jpeg"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" 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stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><title></title><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a><figcaption class="image-caption">(Screenshot/RFK Jr./X)</figcaption></figure></div><p>We all know RFK Jr. is a bit of an odd duck.</p><p>Leaving aside his views on vaccines and whatnot, he&#8217;s <strong><a href="https://abcnews.com/US/rfk-jr-captures-pair-snakes-viral-video/story?id=133344367">obsessed with snakes</a></strong>, at one point <strong><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/aug/23/rfk-jr-wildest-campaign-moments">believed</a></strong> he was suffering from brainworm, and <strong><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/aug/23/rfk-jr-wildest-campaign-moments">staged</a></strong> a photo op with a dead bear. He also has a magnetic, Rasputin-esque charm with the ladies. During his confirmation process, I distinctly remember women <em>cooing</em> over his old pictures that resurfaced on social media.</p><p>We now have a new RFK Jr. anecdote to add to our collection of hilarious oddities: the time he tossed a live snake into a pool as kids were swimming in it.</p><p>Kerry Kennedy, his sister, shared the (unverified) details in a <strong><a href="https://people.com/kerry-kennedy-says-rfk-jr-released-snake-pool-full-of-children-12000369">recent CNN interview</a></strong>.</p><p>Twenty-five years ago, Kerry decided to host a birthday pool party for her daughter. She noticed a snake in the garden, however, and made the mistake of asking her brother for help.</p><p>Of course, RFK Jr., the serpent specialist that he is, &#8220;rushed over&#8221; once he got wind. (If you have any doubts about his snake wrangling expertise, <strong><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G2zYbtefHoE">watch him</a></strong> handle two at Dr. Oz&#8217;s home in Florida. It&#8217;s a great video, and you can hear his wife, actress Cheryl Hines, begging him to cut it out.)</p><p>After arriving at the party, &#8220;he grabbed the snake and stuffed it into the pillowcase while he was holding his infant son. So that was a little scary,&#8221; Kerry recalled.</p><p>RFK Jr. then took a tiny rodent and fed it to the snake as all the kids screamed. The snake also latched onto his hand at one point.</p><p>Later, as a &#8220;ton of kids&#8221; were playing in the pool, RFK Jr. went full-on crazy funcle and <em>released </em>the snake into the water, Kerry said.</p><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://stateoftheday.us/subscribe?&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Subscribe now&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://stateoftheday.us/subscribe?"><span>Subscribe now</span></a></p><p><em>Snake! Snake in the water!</em></p><p>I can&#8217;t imagine the absolute bedlam. Kerry was probably like Chief Brody in <em>Jaws</em>. &#8220;<strong><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cVPTibn-ewI">Get out! Everybody out! Out of the water! Everyone out! Get outta there!</a></strong>&#8221;</p><p>Nevertheless, it&#8217;s objectively hilarious.</p><p>Kerry conceded during the interview that her brother has an admirable &#8220;fascination with nature.&#8221;</p><p>&#8220;But, on the other hand, [he] has, you know, a great lack of judgment when it comes to the safety and care of children.&#8221;</p><p>&#8220;Is this the person you want running [the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services]?&#8221; Kerry asked.</p><p>She had to make it about politics, didn&#8217;t she?</p><p>The Kennedys have many skeletons in the closet, and RFK Jr. has had a rocky personal life. But there is no doubt he is an awesome uncle.</p><p>Sadly, in today&#8217;s world, if the crazy funcle crashed the pool party with a harmless snake, parents would be <em>up in arms</em>. The police would get involved. Lawsuits would be filed. You would never hear the end of it.</p><p>But maybe to break this spell of helicopter parenting and bubble-wrap culture, the uncles of America need to step up and take a cue from RFK Jr. Act more like a kook, because kids love a kook.</p><p>In fact, my favorite part about being an uncle is that I can act like an immature kid again without being judged. I love being able to crawl around on the floor, imitating a Japanese man and making fart noises. I look like an idiot, but it entertains a toddler. That&#8217;s all that matters.</p><p>I always told my siblings I was going to be a weird uncle. They&#8217;d better buckle up for what&#8217;s to come. The only thing I can promise is that there won&#8217;t be any live snakes.</p><div><hr></div><p><em>Like what you&#8217;re reading? If so, please consider subscribing to State of the Day or sharing this with a friend. You&#8217;d be supporting this newsletter and helping keep independent journalism alive.</em></p><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://stateoftheday.us/subscribe?&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Subscribe now&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://stateoftheday.us/subscribe?"><span>Subscribe now</span></a></p><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://stateoftheday.us/p/in-defense-of-awesome-uncles?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email&utm_content=share&action=share&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Share&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://stateoftheday.us/p/in-defense-of-awesome-uncles?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email&utm_content=share&action=share"><span>Share</span></a></p><p><em>If you are already a paid subscriber, make sure to join the conversation in our subscribers-only chat below.</em></p><div class="community-chat" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://open.substack.com/pub/stateoftheday/chat?utm_source=chat_embed&quot;,&quot;subdomain&quot;:&quot;stateoftheday&quot;,&quot;pub&quot;:{&quot;id&quot;:6361003,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;State of the Day&quot;,&quot;author_name&quot;:&quot;State of the Day&quot;,&quot;author_photo_url&quot;:&quot;https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!_bUL!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F9134fb16-1032-4282-9207-956db1874f73_1201x1201.png&quot;}}" data-component-name="CommunityChatRenderPlaceholder"></div><div><hr></div><h3><strong>MORE FROM STATE OF THE DAY</strong></h3><div class="digest-post-embed" data-attrs="{&quot;nodeId&quot;:&quot;ff24de96-33ca-4328-b374-273071438953&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;cta&quot;:null,&quot;showBylines&quot;:true,&quot;showDescription&quot;:true,&quot;showImage&quot;:true,&quot;size&quot;:&quot;lg&quot;,&quot;isEditorNode&quot;:true,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;State of Friday: NO HOMO&quot;,&quot;publishedBylines&quot;:[{&quot;id&quot;:400592680,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;Geoffrey Ingersoll&quot;,&quot;bio&quot;:&quot;Prayer. 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url="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!mwG_!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F1de3dfed-cd1e-402d-a5db-bc4b53bcc4c5_2400x1600.png" length="0" type="image/jpeg"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!mwG_!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F1de3dfed-cd1e-402d-a5db-bc4b53bcc4c5_2400x1600.png" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!mwG_!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F1de3dfed-cd1e-402d-a5db-bc4b53bcc4c5_2400x1600.png 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!mwG_!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F1de3dfed-cd1e-402d-a5db-bc4b53bcc4c5_2400x1600.png 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!mwG_!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F1de3dfed-cd1e-402d-a5db-bc4b53bcc4c5_2400x1600.png 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!mwG_!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F1de3dfed-cd1e-402d-a5db-bc4b53bcc4c5_2400x1600.png 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!mwG_!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F1de3dfed-cd1e-402d-a5db-bc4b53bcc4c5_2400x1600.png" width="1456" height="971" 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srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!mwG_!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F1de3dfed-cd1e-402d-a5db-bc4b53bcc4c5_2400x1600.png 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!mwG_!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F1de3dfed-cd1e-402d-a5db-bc4b53bcc4c5_2400x1600.png 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!mwG_!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F1de3dfed-cd1e-402d-a5db-bc4b53bcc4c5_2400x1600.png 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!mwG_!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F1de3dfed-cd1e-402d-a5db-bc4b53bcc4c5_2400x1600.png 1456w" sizes="100vw" fetchpriority="high"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg role="img" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><title></title><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a><figcaption class="image-caption">Photo by OLGA MALTSEVA/AFP via Getty Images</figcaption></figure></div><div><hr></div><p><em>Greetings, Dear Reader,</em></p><p><em>I&#8217;m sure you know it&#8217;s &#8220;Pride Month.&#8221;</em></p><p><em>How could you not, it invades every aspect of our lives!</em></p><p><em>But there&#8217;s been a bit of a difference this year. Can you feel it?</em></p><div><hr></div><h3><strong>NO HOMO</strong></h3><p>Two years ago almost exactly, a video went viral depicting a small boy approaching a gay pride float. On the float stood what we&#8217;ve all gotten used to over the years: Homosexual men dressed to varying degrees like sexual deviants.</p><p>(Side note: I wrote about this last year. My newsletter was not yet being posted online, but Nat Sandoval <strong><a href="https://dailycaller.com/2025/06/30/gay-pride-parade-lgbt-tradition-lgbt/">did a good job summing</a></strong> up the message. Unbelievable but true: Gay pride marches used to be business professional attire as a matter of course.)</p><p>The boy walks up to the obnoxious public exhibition of marginal sexuality and one of the deviants hands him a small gay pride flag. The boy then immediately turns, <strong><a href="https://x.com/AFpost/status/1800662737397374987">throws the flag on the ground and stomps it</a></strong>. You can hear adults laughing.</p><p>Five-ish months later, Donald Trump trounced Kamala for the presidency. His most prolific ad was about Harris wanting taxpayers to fund sex changes for incarcerated violent criminals.</p><p>&#8220;Harris is for they/them. I am for you.&#8221; Was the tag line (or some approximation of it).</p><p>You could say the culture had shifted, and you wouldn&#8217;t be wrong. But like his first election, Trump&#8217;s second win was just the result. The shift had already begun to occur years earlier.</p><p>Gay conservative columnist Andrew Sullivan has a good, and stark, <strong><a href="https://andrewsullivan.substack.com/p/the-tq-threat-to-lgb-rights-f02">breakdown of this shift</a></strong> and why it occurred that&#8217;s worth reading. If you&#8217;re not into reading (except the Bible and my newsletter, of course, Dear Reader), Emily Jashinksy <strong><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yzwgU50Bmyk">did an excellent video analysis</a></strong>.</p><p>The Cliff&#8217;s notes version is that support for gays in general has cratered in just the last few years.</p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!ZCpp!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F477ad936-358a-4abc-95f9-d9f7cf74953d_1212x1028.png" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!ZCpp!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F477ad936-358a-4abc-95f9-d9f7cf74953d_1212x1028.png 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!ZCpp!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F477ad936-358a-4abc-95f9-d9f7cf74953d_1212x1028.png 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!ZCpp!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F477ad936-358a-4abc-95f9-d9f7cf74953d_1212x1028.png 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!ZCpp!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F477ad936-358a-4abc-95f9-d9f7cf74953d_1212x1028.png 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!ZCpp!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F477ad936-358a-4abc-95f9-d9f7cf74953d_1212x1028.png" width="1212" height="1028" data-attrs="{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/477ad936-358a-4abc-95f9-d9f7cf74953d_1212x1028.png&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:null,&quot;height&quot;:1028,&quot;width&quot;:1212,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:null,&quot;bytes&quot;:null,&quot;alt&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:null,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:true,&quot;topImage&quot;:false,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:null,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}" class="sizing-normal" alt="" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!ZCpp!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F477ad936-358a-4abc-95f9-d9f7cf74953d_1212x1028.png 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!ZCpp!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F477ad936-358a-4abc-95f9-d9f7cf74953d_1212x1028.png 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!ZCpp!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F477ad936-358a-4abc-95f9-d9f7cf74953d_1212x1028.png 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!ZCpp!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F477ad936-358a-4abc-95f9-d9f7cf74953d_1212x1028.png 1456w" sizes="100vw" loading="lazy"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg role="img" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><title></title><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a></figure></div><p>The historical trend line is still up, but there&#8217;s an unmistakable withdrawal right around 2020.</p><p>Why?</p><p>&#8220;Now we&#8217;ve gotten marriage, we will indoctrinate <strong><a href="https://andrewsullivan.substack.com/p/who-is-looking-out-for-gay-kids-a19">your kids</a></strong> in queer and gender theory, fire you if you don&#8217;t repeat our pronouns, force girls to shower next to boys in locker rooms, give irreversible sex changes to minors, and <strong><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/19/magazine/scotus-transgender-care-tennessee-skrmetti.html">insist</a></strong> that &#8216;a penis is not a male body part. It&#8217;s just an unusual body part for a woman,&#8217;&#8221; writes Sullivan.</p><p>It&#8217;s an imposition. What started as a primarily G and L movement with a mostly libertarian mantra of &#8220;leave us alone&#8221; has become a Queer and Trans movement of totalitarian imposition.</p><div class="subscription-widget-wrap-editor" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://stateoftheday.us/subscribe?&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Subscribe&quot;,&quot;language&quot;:&quot;en&quot;}" data-component-name="SubscribeWidgetToDOM"><div class="subscription-widget show-subscribe"><div class="preamble"><p class="cta-caption">This Substack is reader-supported. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.</p></div><form class="subscription-widget-subscribe"><input type="email" class="email-input" name="email" placeholder="Type your email&#8230;" tabindex="-1"><input type="submit" class="button primary" value="Subscribe"><div class="fake-input-wrapper"><div class="fake-input"></div><div class="fake-button"></div></div></form></div></div><p>Write a Genesis quote on the gay hats they&#8217;re forcing you to wear in the MLB? Politicians like the eminently weird Scott Weiner will condemn you while the league itself rebukes you.</p><p>Do you think &#8220;mom&#8221; is an okay word? It isn&#8217;t. New York Dems have almost unanimously voted to purge the word in favor of the almost-too-literally-reptilian &#8220;gestating parent.&#8221;</p><p>Don&#8217;t like it? You&#8217;re a bigot.</p><p>There are still activists out there who count the days from June 1 to when corporations do their first &#8220;pride&#8221; post online.</p><p>The movement has all the characteristics of an open-air mafia.</p><p>&#8220;Would be a shame if you didn&#8217;t post how much you love the gays this month,&#8221; growled Vinny on Twitter.</p><p>Sullivan outlines the results (emphasis mine):</p><blockquote><p>Support for marriage equality from the center and center-right is <strong><a href="https://news.gallup.com/poll/710810/support-lgbtq-issues-remains-down-peak.aspx">nosediving</a></strong>. Gallup shows a decline from 71 percent to 65 percent support for gay marriage among all Americans in just three years. Among Independents, support has dropped by six points in four years, from 73 to 67 percent; and among Republicans by 18 points, from 55 percent in 2022 to just 37 percent today &#8212; setting us back 20 years. On the morality of same-sex relations, the drops are more acute: down 10 points among Indies and 21 points among Republicans. As someone who played a part in bringing those Republicans and moderates around to gay marriage, it&#8217;s distressing to see what the queer overreach has done &#8212; especially in red states.</p></blockquote><p>Even self-identified Democrats are dropping from previous support.</p><p>The marginal elements of the LGBT movement have completely upended its previous leaders. Els and Gees are out, Tees and Qs are in. Their interests have completely subdued the leftwing party apparatus, and they&#8217;re unabashedly coming for your livelihood and your children.</p><p>Like the kid stomping the flag, though, there are anecdotal signs to support the polling and the notion that it&#8217;s finally all boiled over.</p><p>As I mentioned earlier, more athletes are rebelling against the demands of the movement. Three San Francisco Giants drew rebuke for including Bible verses on their gay pride hats. A minor league baseball team in Pennsylvania cancelled a pride night game when players flat out refused to wear the rainbow gear.</p><p>Perhaps more importantly, corporate sponsorships for &#8220;Pride&#8221; have undergone significant &#8220;ghosting,&#8221; various homosexual news outlets have reported.</p><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://stateoftheday.us/subscribe?&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Subscribe now&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://stateoftheday.us/subscribe?"><span>Subscribe now</span></a></p><p>Corporate financial support for this year&#8217;s deviant displays has cratered around 40% by some measures. Anheuser-Busch and Walmart are out. Financial behemoths are also pulling back.</p><p>In the most ironic example of projection, gay rights groups blame Trump and say the corporations are intimidated.</p><p>Or maybe they&#8217;re just not intimidated anymore. Maybe you overreached. Maybe they&#8217;re tired of the constant imposition. Maybe they don&#8217;t want to pay the protection money. Maybe, stick with me here, the spell from the cartel of freaks and weirdos is starting to dissipate.</p><p>In any case, this year more and more people seem to be putting the no in &#8220;no homo.&#8221;</p><div><hr></div><h3><strong>MORE LINKS</strong></h3><p><strong><a href="https://dailycaller.com/2026/06/18/exclusive-trump-admin-aids-south-africa-government-funding/">EXCLUSIVE: Trump Admin Yanks South Africa&#8217;s AIDS Funding After Government Failed To Protect White Farmers</a></strong></p><p>Consequences</p><p>&#8212;</p><p><strong><a href="https://dailycaller.com/2026/06/18/governor-candidate-vows-to-keep-sharia-law-out-of-swing-state-with-large-muslim-population/">Governor Candidate Vows To Keep Sharia Law Out Of Swing State With Large Muslim Population</a></strong></p><p>Important read</p><p>&#8212;</p><p><strong><a href="https://dailycaller.com/2026/06/18/canada-abolishes-religious-exemptions-hate-speech-bible-christianity/">Canada Moves To Abolish Religious Protections For So-Called &#8216;Hate Speech&#8217;</a></strong></p><p>SMH</p><div><hr></div><p><em>Like what you&#8217;re reading? If so, please consider subscribing to State of the Day or sharing this with a friend. You&#8217;d be supporting this newsletter and helping keep independent journalism alive.</em></p><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://stateoftheday.us/subscribe?&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Subscribe now&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://stateoftheday.us/subscribe?"><span>Subscribe now</span></a></p><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://stateoftheday.us/p/state-of-friday-no-homo?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email&utm_content=share&action=share&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Share&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://stateoftheday.us/p/state-of-friday-no-homo?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email&utm_content=share&action=share"><span>Share</span></a></p><p><em>If you are already a paid subscriber, make sure to join the conversation in our subscribers-only chat below.</em></p><div class="community-chat" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://open.substack.com/pub/stateoftheday/chat?utm_source=chat_embed&quot;,&quot;subdomain&quot;:&quot;stateoftheday&quot;,&quot;pub&quot;:{&quot;id&quot;:6361003,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;State of the Day&quot;,&quot;author_name&quot;:&quot;State of the Day&quot;,&quot;author_photo_url&quot;:&quot;https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!_bUL!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F9134fb16-1032-4282-9207-956db1874f73_1201x1201.png&quot;}}" data-component-name="CommunityChatRenderPlaceholder"></div><div><hr></div><h3><strong>MORE FROM STATE OF THE DAY</strong></h3><div class="digest-post-embed" data-attrs="{&quot;nodeId&quot;:&quot;546f13ca-068c-4549-83c9-11f6a34da3f8&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;cta&quot;:null,&quot;showBylines&quot;:true,&quot;showDescription&quot;:true,&quot;showImage&quot;:true,&quot;size&quot;:&quot;lg&quot;,&quot;isEditorNode&quot;:true,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;Unfit to Print: HEY SOUTH AFRICA, DON'T BE RACIST!&quot;,&quot;publishedBylines&quot;:[{&quot;id&quot;:91309548,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;Amber Duke&quot;,&quot;bio&quot;:&quot;Amber Duke is the Editor-in-Chief of the Daily Caller and a co-host of Reason's \&quot;Free Media.\&quot; 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Analysis Writer at the Daily Caller&quot;,&quot;photo_url&quot;:&quot;https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/bdcd23bf-f2a7-41d8-aecf-337577c444d8_829x829.jpeg&quot;,&quot;is_guest&quot;:false,&quot;bestseller_tier&quot;:100}],&quot;post_date&quot;:&quot;2026-06-18T18:08:07.762Z&quot;,&quot;cover_image&quot;:&quot;https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!qImL!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fe2b9624c-a8e1-4c22-b482-f4c7955d8f93_7609x4888.jpeg&quot;,&quot;cover_image_alt&quot;:null,&quot;canonical_url&quot;:&quot;https://stateoftheday.us/p/disneys-new-movie-might-be-ugly-on&quot;,&quot;section_name&quot;:&quot;Extras&quot;,&quot;video_upload_id&quot;:null,&quot;id&quot;:202613116,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;newsletter&quot;,&quot;reaction_count&quot;:24,&quot;comment_count&quot;:4,&quot;publication_id&quot;:6361003,&quot;publication_name&quot;:&quot;State of the Day&quot;,&quot;publication_logo_url&quot;:&quot;https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!WpLm!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fcadc6152-0913-4e8b-8d5d-96faf5f7825a_801x801.png&quot;,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:true,&quot;youtube_url&quot;:null,&quot;show_links&quot;:null,&quot;feed_url&quot;:null}"></div><div class="digest-post-embed" data-attrs="{&quot;nodeId&quot;:&quot;23a11b14-c97a-4487-a1e0-ba95ad4eebb4&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;cta&quot;:null,&quot;showBylines&quot;:true,&quot;showDescription&quot;:true,&quot;showImage&quot;:true,&quot;size&quot;:&quot;lg&quot;,&quot;isEditorNode&quot;:true,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;State of Thursday: AN IRANIAN RECEIPT&quot;,&quot;publishedBylines&quot;:[{&quot;id&quot;:400592680,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;Geoffrey Ingersoll&quot;,&quot;bio&quot;:&quot;Prayer. Husband. Father. Drinker. Writer. Fighter. @NJC_YAF @DailyCaller. Opinions are mine, and they&#8217;re spectacular.&quot;,&quot;photo_url&quot;:&quot;https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/2f030508-8f1a-4f09-8f02-17688ade7732_400x400.jpeg&quot;,&quot;is_guest&quot;:false,&quot;bestseller_tier&quot;:100}],&quot;post_date&quot;:&quot;2026-06-18T13:30:39.298Z&quot;,&quot;cover_image&quot;:&quot;https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!5bc_!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fdbc6852e-2140-4fd5-9bcc-e980cb026184_2808x1872.jpeg&quot;,&quot;cover_image_alt&quot;:null,&quot;canonical_url&quot;:&quot;https://stateoftheday.us/p/state-of-thursday-an-iranian-receipt&quot;,&quot;section_name&quot;:&quot;State of the Day&quot;,&quot;video_upload_id&quot;:null,&quot;id&quot;:202577337,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;newsletter&quot;,&quot;reaction_count&quot;:15,&quot;comment_count&quot;:1,&quot;publication_id&quot;:6361003,&quot;publication_name&quot;:&quot;State of the Day&quot;,&quot;publication_logo_url&quot;:&quot;https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!WpLm!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fcadc6152-0913-4e8b-8d5d-96faf5f7825a_801x801.png&quot;,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:true,&quot;youtube_url&quot;:null,&quot;show_links&quot;:null,&quot;feed_url&quot;:null}"></div>]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[Unfit to Print: HEY SOUTH AFRICA, DON'T BE RACIST!]]></title><description><![CDATA[Trump doles out consequences for anti-whiteness]]></description><link>https://stateoftheday.us/p/unfit-to-print-hey-south-africa-dont</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://stateoftheday.us/p/unfit-to-print-hey-south-africa-dont</guid><dc:creator><![CDATA[Amber Duke]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Fri, 19 Jun 2026 10:03:01 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!jclV!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fc7aed7c1-0b5d-4f22-9547-d7df78a1c2ff_2400x1600.png" length="0" type="image/jpeg"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!jclV!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fc7aed7c1-0b5d-4f22-9547-d7df78a1c2ff_2400x1600.png" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!jclV!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fc7aed7c1-0b5d-4f22-9547-d7df78a1c2ff_2400x1600.png 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!jclV!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fc7aed7c1-0b5d-4f22-9547-d7df78a1c2ff_2400x1600.png 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!jclV!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fc7aed7c1-0b5d-4f22-9547-d7df78a1c2ff_2400x1600.png 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!jclV!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fc7aed7c1-0b5d-4f22-9547-d7df78a1c2ff_2400x1600.png 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!jclV!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fc7aed7c1-0b5d-4f22-9547-d7df78a1c2ff_2400x1600.png" width="1456" height="971" 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srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!jclV!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fc7aed7c1-0b5d-4f22-9547-d7df78a1c2ff_2400x1600.png 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!jclV!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fc7aed7c1-0b5d-4f22-9547-d7df78a1c2ff_2400x1600.png 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!jclV!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fc7aed7c1-0b5d-4f22-9547-d7df78a1c2ff_2400x1600.png 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!jclV!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fc7aed7c1-0b5d-4f22-9547-d7df78a1c2ff_2400x1600.png 1456w" sizes="100vw" fetchpriority="high"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg role="img" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><title></title><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a><figcaption class="image-caption">Photos by Per-Anders Pettersson/Getty Images and Chris McGrath/Getty Images</figcaption></figure></div><div><hr></div><p><em>Hey y&#8217;all, welcome back to Unfit to Print.</em></p><p><em>Today we&#8217;re covering the Daily Caller&#8217;s exclusive story on the State Department pulling PEPFAR funding from South Africa.</em></p><div><hr></div><h3><strong>HEY, SOUTH AFRICA: DON&#8217;T BE RACIST</strong></h3><p>The State Department just sent a blunt message to South Africa: you don&#8217;t get any of our precious foreign aid if you fail to protect your white citizens.</p><p>The Trump administration is preparing to draw down funding to combat AIDS in South Africa after the country&#8217;s government failed to meet a series of policy requests from Washington, according to a State Department scoop obtained by the Daily Caller.</p><p>To put it bluntly: the U.S. is no longer treating foreign aid like a no-strings-attached entitlement.</p><div><hr></div><p><em>To continue reading this newsletter, please become a paid subscriber.</em></p>
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   ]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[Disney Teases Another Ugly Stinker]]></title><description><![CDATA[Is Disney's latest designed for TikTok?]]></description><link>https://stateoftheday.us/p/disneys-new-movie-might-be-ugly-on</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://stateoftheday.us/p/disneys-new-movie-might-be-ugly-on</guid><dc:creator><![CDATA[Natalie Sandoval]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Thu, 18 Jun 2026 18:08:07 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!qImL!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fe2b9624c-a8e1-4c22-b482-f4c7955d8f93_7609x4888.jpeg" length="0" type="image/jpeg"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!qImL!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fe2b9624c-a8e1-4c22-b482-f4c7955d8f93_7609x4888.jpeg" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!qImL!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fe2b9624c-a8e1-4c22-b482-f4c7955d8f93_7609x4888.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!qImL!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fe2b9624c-a8e1-4c22-b482-f4c7955d8f93_7609x4888.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!qImL!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fe2b9624c-a8e1-4c22-b482-f4c7955d8f93_7609x4888.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!qImL!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fe2b9624c-a8e1-4c22-b482-f4c7955d8f93_7609x4888.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!qImL!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fe2b9624c-a8e1-4c22-b482-f4c7955d8f93_7609x4888.jpeg" width="1456" height="935" 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srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!qImL!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fe2b9624c-a8e1-4c22-b482-f4c7955d8f93_7609x4888.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!qImL!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fe2b9624c-a8e1-4c22-b482-f4c7955d8f93_7609x4888.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!qImL!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fe2b9624c-a8e1-4c22-b482-f4c7955d8f93_7609x4888.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!qImL!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fe2b9624c-a8e1-4c22-b482-f4c7955d8f93_7609x4888.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw" fetchpriority="high"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg role="img" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><title></title><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a><figcaption class="image-caption">(Photo by VALERIE MACON / AFP via Getty Images)</figcaption></figure></div><p>Disney released the trailer for &#8220;Hexed&#8221; on Tuesday, an upcoming animated film about a misunderstood quirky middle schooler who discovers she&#8217;s a witch.</p><p>The plot is familiar. But stories that have been told many times before can be interesting and valuable, if they&#8217;re told in beautiful language and images. See: Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty. Of course, the source material for these films &#8212; European fairy tale &#8212; was much stronger than the source material for &#8220;Hexed,&#8221; which, like most modern Disney films, appears to be derived from the fantasies of neurotic 30-somethings still recovering from feeling rejected by their fifth-grade peers.</p><div class="twitter-embed" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://x.com/romanhelmetguy/status/2067442626517664030?s=20&quot;,&quot;full_text&quot;:&quot;&#8220;Maybe there&#8217;s nothing wrong with me at all. Maybe I&#8217;m meant for something more.&#8221;\n\nThe message of every kids movie today is: If you&#8217;re having trouble navigating the world, the world is the problem and actually you&#8217;re just too awesome and you should never ever work on yourself.&quot;,&quot;username&quot;:&quot;romanhelmetguy&quot;,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;Roman Helmet Guy&quot;,&quot;profile_image_url&quot;:&quot;https://pbs.substack.com/profile_images/1541479276658266113/ompBY7zo_normal.jpg&quot;,&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2026-06-18T03:01:48.000Z&quot;,&quot;photos&quot;:[],&quot;quoted_tweet&quot;:{&quot;full_text&quot;:&quot;First trailer for Disney&#8217;s &#8216;Hexed&#8217; has been released.\n\nIn theaters November 25th.&quot;,&quot;username&quot;:&quot;ToonHive&quot;,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;ToonHive&quot;,&quot;profile_image_url&quot;:&quot;https://pbs.substack.com/profile_images/1819527388918677504/jqvlDxWk_normal.jpg&quot;},&quot;reply_count&quot;:78,&quot;retweet_count&quot;:210,&quot;like_count&quot;:3508,&quot;impression_count&quot;:69695,&quot;expanded_url&quot;:null,&quot;video_url&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:false}" data-component-name="Twitter2ToDOM"></div><p>As one X user <strong><a href="https://x.com/heytherenrds/status/2067283916608696473">observed</a></strong>, &#8220;this is like the fifth time disney has made the exact same film in less than a decade[.]&#8221;</p><p>&#8220;Hexed&#8221; is predictably ugly. The characters are composed of ovals and tubes which contract and expand for comedic or dramatic effect. The characters aren&#8217;t fully fledged &#8220;bean mouths,&#8221; a reference to the CalArts style popularized by shows like &#8220;Steven Universe,&#8221; but they aren&#8217;t too far off.</p><div class="twitter-embed" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://x.com/SLAYJENSEN/status/2067013247736148312?s=20&quot;,&quot;full_text&quot;:&quot;Fucking Christ I hate this character design&quot;,&quot;username&quot;:&quot;SLAYJENSEN&quot;,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;&#119853;&#119842;&#119847;&#119844;&#119858; &#119856;&#119842;&#119847;&#119844;&#119858;&#8217;&#119852; &#119849;&#119854;&#119851;&#119852;&#119838; &#127817;&quot;,&quot;profile_image_url&quot;:&quot;https://pbs.substack.com/profile_images/2000655298311147520/k3_6l4Yd_normal.jpg&quot;,&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2026-06-16T22:35:36.000Z&quot;,&quot;photos&quot;:[{&quot;img_url&quot;:&quot;https://pbs.substack.com/media/HK-BlrxXgAAuevB.jpg&quot;,&quot;link_url&quot;:&quot;https://t.co/0DR3ZCkqEW&quot;},{&quot;img_url&quot;:&quot;https://pbs.substack.com/media/HK-Blr6XsAE32Tl.jpg&quot;,&quot;link_url&quot;:&quot;https://t.co/0DR3ZCkqEW&quot;}],&quot;quoted_tweet&quot;:{&quot;full_text&quot;:&quot;First trailer for Disney's new animated film &#8216;HEXED&#8217;.\n\nThe film follows a girl who discovers her magical abilities &amp;amp; sets out on an adventure into a magical realm.\n\nIn theaters on November 25.&quot;,&quot;username&quot;:&quot;DiscussingFilm&quot;,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;DiscussingFilm&quot;,&quot;profile_image_url&quot;:&quot;https://pbs.substack.com/profile_images/1706429397467549696/hmvwfChQ_normal.jpg&quot;},&quot;reply_count&quot;:7,&quot;retweet_count&quot;:633,&quot;like_count&quot;:23849,&quot;impression_count&quot;:973721,&quot;expanded_url&quot;:null,&quot;video_url&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:false}" data-component-name="Twitter2ToDOM"></div><p>Some social media users <strong><a href="https://x.com/foalymatripony/status/2066952666031308979?s=20">speculated</a></strong> that the film was made with the use of artificial intelligence tools. I admit that I wondered this myself &#8212; the trailer for &#8220;Hexed&#8221; refuses to linger on a scene, instead effectively summarizing the movie in a series of frantic clips. Then again, that might just be how Disney promotes their films. The <strong><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TbQm5doF_Uc">trailer</a></strong> for &#8220;Frozen,&#8221; released in 2013, also features quick cuts between shots and scenes. I err on the side of &#8220;Hexed&#8221; not being animated with much, if any, AI tools, and just being bad.</p><div class="subscription-widget-wrap-editor" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://stateoftheday.us/subscribe?&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Subscribe&quot;,&quot;language&quot;:&quot;en&quot;}" data-component-name="SubscribeWidgetToDOM"><div class="subscription-widget show-subscribe"><div class="preamble"><p class="cta-caption">This Substack is reader-supported. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.</p></div><form class="subscription-widget-subscribe"><input type="email" class="email-input" name="email" placeholder="Type your email&#8230;" tabindex="-1"><input type="submit" class="button primary" value="Subscribe"><div class="fake-input-wrapper"><div class="fake-input"></div><div class="fake-button"></div></div></form></div></div><p>If anything, the accusations of AI use suggest that Disney&#8217;s product is no longer distinguishable from &#8220;slop.&#8221; One does get the sense that &#8220;Hexed&#8221; is a movie made of other movies, clumsily cobbled together to produce a whole which is less than the sum of its parts.</p><p>Then, there&#8217;s the matter of composition. A colleague pointed out that the vast majority of shots in the trailer feature a centered focal point. This is likely intended to make the movie friendly for TikTok and Instagram reels and Facebook reels and YouTube Shorts.</p><p>One X user reformatted the aspect ratio of the &#8220;Hexed&#8221; trailer to be vertical. Basically nothing of substance was lost, indicating that the trailer either coincidentally works perfectly as a Tiktok video, or was designed with that aspect ratio in mind.</p><p>&#8220;Hexed&#8221; is generic from top to bottom. Worse, it&#8217;s ugly. It might still be a box office hit, on account of it being a wish fulfillment fantasy which appeals to outcast little girls.</p><div><hr></div><p><em>Like what you&#8217;re reading? If so, please consider subscribing to State of the Day or sharing this with a friend. You&#8217;d be supporting this newsletter and helping keep independent journalism alive.</em></p><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://stateoftheday.us/subscribe?&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Subscribe now&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://stateoftheday.us/subscribe?"><span>Subscribe now</span></a></p><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://stateoftheday.us/p/disneys-new-movie-might-be-ugly-on?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email&utm_content=share&action=share&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Share&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://stateoftheday.us/p/disneys-new-movie-might-be-ugly-on?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email&utm_content=share&action=share"><span>Share</span></a></p><p><em>If you are already a paid subscriber, make sure to join the conversation in our subscribers-only chat below.</em></p><div class="community-chat" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://open.substack.com/pub/stateoftheday/chat?utm_source=chat_embed&quot;,&quot;subdomain&quot;:&quot;stateoftheday&quot;,&quot;pub&quot;:{&quot;id&quot;:6361003,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;State of the Day&quot;,&quot;author_name&quot;:&quot;State of the Day&quot;,&quot;author_photo_url&quot;:&quot;https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!_bUL!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F9134fb16-1032-4282-9207-956db1874f73_1201x1201.png&quot;}}" data-component-name="CommunityChatRenderPlaceholder"></div>]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[State of Thursday: AN IRANIAN RECEIPT]]></title><description><![CDATA[Iran MOU seems like a retread.]]></description><link>https://stateoftheday.us/p/state-of-thursday-an-iranian-receipt</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://stateoftheday.us/p/state-of-thursday-an-iranian-receipt</guid><dc:creator><![CDATA[Geoffrey Ingersoll]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Thu, 18 Jun 2026 13:30:39 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!5bc_!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fdbc6852e-2140-4fd5-9bcc-e980cb026184_2808x1872.jpeg" length="0" type="image/jpeg"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!5bc_!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fdbc6852e-2140-4fd5-9bcc-e980cb026184_2808x1872.jpeg" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!5bc_!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fdbc6852e-2140-4fd5-9bcc-e980cb026184_2808x1872.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!5bc_!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fdbc6852e-2140-4fd5-9bcc-e980cb026184_2808x1872.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!5bc_!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fdbc6852e-2140-4fd5-9bcc-e980cb026184_2808x1872.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!5bc_!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fdbc6852e-2140-4fd5-9bcc-e980cb026184_2808x1872.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!5bc_!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fdbc6852e-2140-4fd5-9bcc-e980cb026184_2808x1872.jpeg" width="1456" height="971" 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srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!5bc_!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fdbc6852e-2140-4fd5-9bcc-e980cb026184_2808x1872.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!5bc_!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fdbc6852e-2140-4fd5-9bcc-e980cb026184_2808x1872.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!5bc_!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fdbc6852e-2140-4fd5-9bcc-e980cb026184_2808x1872.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!5bc_!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fdbc6852e-2140-4fd5-9bcc-e980cb026184_2808x1872.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw" fetchpriority="high"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg role="img" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><title></title><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a><figcaption class="image-caption">A woman walks past a billboard displaying Iran's national flag at Enghelab Square in Tehran on June 14, 2026. US President Donald Trump said that a deal with Iran to end the Middle East war could be signed on June 14, and that the strategic Strait of Hormuz would be "open to all" immediately after. (Photo by AFP via Getty Images)</figcaption></figure></div><div><hr></div><p><em>Greetings, Dear Reader,</em></p><p><em>Well the &#8220;memorandum of understanding&#8221; (MOU) has been (digitally) signed.</em></p><p><em>In 60 days, a more formal ceasefire/peace deal is supposed to emerge with Iran.</em></p><p><em>Until then, I&#8217;m still tentatively a wait-and-see guy.</em></p><div><hr></div><h3><strong>AN IRANIAN RECEIPT</strong></h3><p>The vicious &#8220;America First&#8221; nationalists among us might want to take a beat and thank globalism, but they won&#8217;t.</p><p>There&#8217;s no doubt in my mind that at the center <strong><a href="https://x.com/KobeissiLetter/status/2067303869051515390">of the 14-point MOU</a></strong> sits the interconnectedness of the international economy, particularly around oil being a global commodity. In fairness, there has been some balkanization of the markets. There&#8217;s reason to believe three distinct oil-producing regions have emerged, or at least, been further defined in the wake of Trump&#8217;s Shock and Awe 2.0.</p><p>That might ultimately be to the US&#8217;s advantage, as the biggest of those emerging markets.</p><p>But I digress.</p><p>You can read the MOU for yourself and probably come away with the same sense that I have. Iran promises to behave. Iran swears to Allah (and Trump) it will behave. <em>In return, </em>Trump and the west will reconsider certain sanctions AND start a development fund to help rebuild certain parts of the Iranian block fort they spent three months kicking over.</p><p>Reactions range from tepid to outraged. Liberals call the $300 billion dollar fund a pay off on America&#8217;s dime, which isn&#8217;t technically true, but recall they are the &#8220;men can be women actually&#8221; crowd. How the international development fund will play out remains to be seen, but it&#8217;s certainly not pallets of cash.</p><p>Conservative reactions are muddled. The neocons are pissed, obviously. The natcons are pissed as well. Why&#8217;d we even do this?</p><p>The primary problem at the center of all this is very simple: What did we get for all the trouble?</p><div class="subscription-widget-wrap-editor" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://stateoftheday.us/subscribe?&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Subscribe&quot;,&quot;language&quot;:&quot;en&quot;}" data-component-name="SubscribeWidgetToDOM"><div class="subscription-widget show-subscribe"><div class="preamble"><p class="cta-caption">This Substack is reader-supported. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.</p></div><form class="subscription-widget-subscribe"><input type="email" class="email-input" name="email" placeholder="Type your email&#8230;" tabindex="-1"><input type="submit" class="button primary" value="Subscribe"><div class="fake-input-wrapper"><div class="fake-input"></div><div class="fake-button"></div></div></form></div></div><p>Promises from Iran are like receipts from Blockbuster Video. Or Pizza Hut.</p><p>Even I, who quite loves vulgar, violent displays of American might, wonder if the promises contained on this piece of paper were actually worth all the trouble in the first place.</p><p>JD is doing a bit of a speedrun on major media networks attempting to explain the results of the conflict. Outside of him, historically speaking, I don&#8217;t think anyone this side of Trump has been a clearer voice on what America First actually means.</p><p>That said, I&#8217;ve listened to all his soundbites and so far, I&#8217;m still trying to figure out what Iran&#8217;s receipt shows we bought.</p><p>No nukes? Uranium inspections? Don&#8217;t mine the strait?</p><p>None of this is new.</p><p>Maybe we spent three months, ~100 billion, and 13 American lives just to flick a couple Iranian leaders and their military gear off the checkerboard. Maybe that was it. Steep cost.</p><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://stateoftheday.us/subscribe?&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Subscribe now&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://stateoftheday.us/subscribe?"><span>Subscribe now</span></a></p><p>Regardless, nobody in the admin seems to have a clear, non-cliche answer for what the receipt actually shows that might be novel and not a rehash of previous tired promises from a backward regime.</p><p>We&#8217;ll see if that changes as the 60-day window comes to a close.</p><div><hr></div><h3><strong>MORE LINKS</strong></h3><p><strong><a href="https://dailycaller.com/2026/06/17/rooke-tribune-texas-republican-convention-muslim-delegates-cair-mohamed-tarek-hussein/">ROOKE: Islamic Group With Terror Ties Tried To Infiltrate Texas GOP &#8212; Media Treated Them Like The Victims</a></strong></p><p>An important read.</p><p>&#8212;</p><p><strong><a href="https://dailycaller.com/2026/06/16/kearns-father-clementine-david-daleiden-abortion-baby-organ-harvesting-cherry-hill-womens-center/">Parents Of Aborted Child Say Baby Was Born Alive, Trafficked For Organ Harvesting</a></strong></p><p>Sickening, but also an important read.</p><p>&#8212;</p><p><strong><a href="https://dailycaller.com/2026/06/17/gay-california-utilities-contract/">Are You Gay Enough To Get A California Utilities Contract? Here&#8217;s The Test</a></strong></p><p>Well &#8230; are you?</p><div><hr></div><p><em>Like what you&#8217;re reading? If so, please consider subscribing to State of the Day or sharing this with a friend. You&#8217;d be supporting this newsletter and helping keep independent journalism alive.</em></p><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://stateoftheday.us/subscribe?&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Subscribe now&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://stateoftheday.us/subscribe?"><span>Subscribe now</span></a></p><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://stateoftheday.us/p/state-of-thursday-an-iranian-receipt?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email&utm_content=share&action=share&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Share&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://stateoftheday.us/p/state-of-thursday-an-iranian-receipt?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email&utm_content=share&action=share"><span>Share</span></a></p><p><em>If you are already a paid subscriber, make sure to join the conversation in our subscribers-only chat below.</em></p><div class="community-chat" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://open.substack.com/pub/stateoftheday/chat?utm_source=chat_embed&quot;,&quot;subdomain&quot;:&quot;stateoftheday&quot;,&quot;pub&quot;:{&quot;id&quot;:6361003,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;State of the Day&quot;,&quot;author_name&quot;:&quot;State of the Day&quot;,&quot;author_photo_url&quot;:&quot;https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!_bUL!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F9134fb16-1032-4282-9207-956db1874f73_1201x1201.png&quot;}}" data-component-name="CommunityChatRenderPlaceholder"></div><div><hr></div><h3><strong>MORE FROM STATE OF THE DAY</strong></h3><div class="digest-post-embed" data-attrs="{&quot;nodeId&quot;:&quot;e2181643-6b0c-4b0c-a14d-56f9cde4c3b3&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;cta&quot;:null,&quot;showBylines&quot;:true,&quot;showDescription&quot;:true,&quot;showImage&quot;:true,&quot;size&quot;:&quot;lg&quot;,&quot;isEditorNode&quot;:true,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;Unfit to Print: HOW THEY TREAT WHITE GIRLS RAPED BY BROWN MEN&quot;,&quot;publishedBylines&quot;:[{&quot;id&quot;:91309548,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;Amber Duke&quot;,&quot;bio&quot;:&quot;Amber Duke is the Editor-in-Chief of the Daily Caller and a co-host of Reason's \&quot;Free Media.\&quot; 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of the Day&quot;,&quot;publication_logo_url&quot;:&quot;https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!WpLm!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fcadc6152-0913-4e8b-8d5d-96faf5f7825a_801x801.png&quot;,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:true,&quot;youtube_url&quot;:null,&quot;show_links&quot;:null,&quot;feed_url&quot;:null}"></div>]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[Unfit to Print: HOW THEY TREAT WHITE GIRLS RAPED BY BROWN MEN]]></title><description><![CDATA[Direct testimony from the rape gang victims]]></description><link>https://stateoftheday.us/p/unfit-to-print-how-they-treat-white</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://stateoftheday.us/p/unfit-to-print-how-they-treat-white</guid><dc:creator><![CDATA[Amber Duke]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Thu, 18 Jun 2026 10:03:12 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!WOH3!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fddc396bf-20af-4fcc-a0f9-35aa2cd0a3d7_2400x1600.png" length="0" type="image/jpeg"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!WOH3!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fddc396bf-20af-4fcc-a0f9-35aa2cd0a3d7_2400x1600.png" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!WOH3!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fddc396bf-20af-4fcc-a0f9-35aa2cd0a3d7_2400x1600.png 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!WOH3!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fddc396bf-20af-4fcc-a0f9-35aa2cd0a3d7_2400x1600.png 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!WOH3!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fddc396bf-20af-4fcc-a0f9-35aa2cd0a3d7_2400x1600.png 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!WOH3!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fddc396bf-20af-4fcc-a0f9-35aa2cd0a3d7_2400x1600.png 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!WOH3!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fddc396bf-20af-4fcc-a0f9-35aa2cd0a3d7_2400x1600.png" width="1456" height="971" data-attrs="{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/ddc396bf-20af-4fcc-a0f9-35aa2cd0a3d7_2400x1600.png&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:null,&quot;height&quot;:971,&quot;width&quot;:1456,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:null,&quot;bytes&quot;:8946842,&quot;alt&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;image/png&quot;,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:false,&quot;topImage&quot;:true,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:&quot;https://stateoftheday.us/i/202520458?img=https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fddc396bf-20af-4fcc-a0f9-35aa2cd0a3d7_2400x1600.png&quot;,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}" class="sizing-normal" alt="" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!WOH3!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fddc396bf-20af-4fcc-a0f9-35aa2cd0a3d7_2400x1600.png 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!WOH3!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fddc396bf-20af-4fcc-a0f9-35aa2cd0a3d7_2400x1600.png 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!WOH3!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fddc396bf-20af-4fcc-a0f9-35aa2cd0a3d7_2400x1600.png 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!WOH3!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fddc396bf-20af-4fcc-a0f9-35aa2cd0a3d7_2400x1600.png 1456w" sizes="100vw" fetchpriority="high"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg role="img" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><title></title><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a><figcaption class="image-caption">The &#8220;Pink Ladies&#8221; anti-immigration group were met by a &#8220;Women Against The Far-Right&#8221; counterprotest, the day after the UK and France agreed to a new three-year deal over the policing of migrants traveling to England in small boats via the English Channel. (Photo by Guy Smallman/Getty Images)</figcaption></figure></div><div><hr></div><p><em>Hey y&#8217;all, welcome back to Unfit to Print.</em></p><p><em>As we covered in this newsletter yesterday, the Rape Gang Inquiry report released by MP Rupert Lowe exposed the UK&#8217;s failure to protect victims of migrant rape gangs.</em></p><p><em>Because British authorities chose to revictimize the estimated 250,000 girls who were abused by the grooming gangs, we are going to center some of their stories.</em></p><div><hr></div><h3><strong>THIS IS HOW THEY TREAT GIRLS RAPED BY BROWN MEN</strong></h3><p>The Rape Gang Inquiry probably isn&#8217;t all that surprising to those of us who&#8217;ve been paying attention &#8212; at least, we knew that mass migration was leading to higher rates of rape in the UK.</p><p>What sets this report apart though, is what fills roughly 80 pages in the center of the <strong><a href="https://static1.squarespace.com/static/6810978a41bbc42489eafa81/t/6a314bb1151e511944bd4421/1781615537601/The+Rape+Gang+Inquiry+Report.pdf">report</a></strong>: survivor testimony, in their own words.</p><div><hr></div><p><em>To continue reading this newsletter, please become a paid subscriber.</em></p>
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   ]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[Iran War: The 10,000-Foot View]]></title><description><![CDATA[What does this all mean?]]></description><link>https://stateoftheday.us/p/iran-war-the-10000-foot-view</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://stateoftheday.us/p/iran-war-the-10000-foot-view</guid><dc:creator><![CDATA[John Loftus]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Wed, 17 Jun 2026 21:01:31 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!dUuU!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fa50b8def-3da8-4d12-9462-fac6634a30b2_2048x1366.jpeg" length="0" type="image/jpeg"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" 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data-attrs="{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/a50b8def-3da8-4d12-9462-fac6634a30b2_2048x1366.jpeg&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:null,&quot;height&quot;:971,&quot;width&quot;:1456,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:null,&quot;bytes&quot;:null,&quot;alt&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:null,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:false,&quot;topImage&quot;:true,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:null,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}" class="sizing-normal" alt="" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!dUuU!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fa50b8def-3da8-4d12-9462-fac6634a30b2_2048x1366.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!dUuU!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fa50b8def-3da8-4d12-9462-fac6634a30b2_2048x1366.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!dUuU!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fa50b8def-3da8-4d12-9462-fac6634a30b2_2048x1366.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!dUuU!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fa50b8def-3da8-4d12-9462-fac6634a30b2_2048x1366.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw" fetchpriority="high"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg role="img" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><title></title><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a><figcaption class="image-caption">(Photo by Alex Brandon-Pool/Getty Images)</figcaption></figure></div><p>This was an historic week for America, a week that will be much discussed by future historians.</p><p>President Donald Trump announced Sunday that the U.S. and Iran had reached a memorandum of understanding, the first major hurdle in a longer peace process. If things hold, and negotiations do not collapse over the next 60 days or so, the Iran War, which began Feb. 28, will come to an end.</p><p>What follows is a 10,000 foot view of this war&#8217;s aftermath. My observations might shock you, or perhaps you will find them more dangerous and deluded than anything. Maybe, you will think they are spot on. Either way, if you are afraid of heights, this might not be for you. Climb aboard, if you dare. I promise, there is a silver lining at the end of it all. </p>
      <p>
          <a href="https://stateoftheday.us/p/iran-war-the-10000-foot-view">
              Read more
          </a>
      </p>
   ]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[The UFC Fights Were Downright Awesome. Stop Pretending Otherwise.]]></title><description><![CDATA[What critics called dystopian felt surprisingly normal in person.]]></description><link>https://stateoftheday.us/p/the-ufc-fights-were-downright-awesome</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://stateoftheday.us/p/the-ufc-fights-were-downright-awesome</guid><dc:creator><![CDATA[Avery Long]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Wed, 17 Jun 2026 19:04:50 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!J8wt!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Febb76a50-708b-4b52-9eb7-f626d40d773d_2400x1600.png" length="0" type="image/jpeg"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!J8wt!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Febb76a50-708b-4b52-9eb7-f626d40d773d_2400x1600.png" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!J8wt!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Febb76a50-708b-4b52-9eb7-f626d40d773d_2400x1600.png 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!J8wt!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Febb76a50-708b-4b52-9eb7-f626d40d773d_2400x1600.png 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!J8wt!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Febb76a50-708b-4b52-9eb7-f626d40d773d_2400x1600.png 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!J8wt!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Febb76a50-708b-4b52-9eb7-f626d40d773d_2400x1600.png 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!J8wt!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Febb76a50-708b-4b52-9eb7-f626d40d773d_2400x1600.png" width="1456" height="971" data-attrs="{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/ebb76a50-708b-4b52-9eb7-f626d40d773d_2400x1600.png&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:null,&quot;height&quot;:971,&quot;width&quot;:1456,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:null,&quot;bytes&quot;:9515701,&quot;alt&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;image/png&quot;,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:false,&quot;topImage&quot;:true,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:&quot;https://stateoftheday.us/i/202456287?img=https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Febb76a50-708b-4b52-9eb7-f626d40d773d_2400x1600.png&quot;,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}" class="sizing-normal" alt="" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!J8wt!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Febb76a50-708b-4b52-9eb7-f626d40d773d_2400x1600.png 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!J8wt!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Febb76a50-708b-4b52-9eb7-f626d40d773d_2400x1600.png 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!J8wt!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Febb76a50-708b-4b52-9eb7-f626d40d773d_2400x1600.png 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!J8wt!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Febb76a50-708b-4b52-9eb7-f626d40d773d_2400x1600.png 1456w" sizes="100vw" fetchpriority="high"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg role="img" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><title></title><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a><figcaption class="image-caption">(Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)</figcaption></figure></div><p>Did y&#8217;all hear about the savage cage matches hosted on the White House Lawn this past Sunday?</p><p>Did you know there was punching, kicking, choking, and chest-beating? Some guy even did a backflip. Just one shameless display of hypermasculinity after another.</p><p>Before I got to the event, I thought the F in UFC stood for fascism, but a blue-collar Republican in the crowd told me it was for &#8220;fighting.&#8221;</p><p>The octagon was built on the South Lawn and covered by a gargantuan 92-foot steel structure, weighing around 600 tons, known as &#8220;The Claw.&#8221;</p><p>I thought, &#8220;What a spooky name.&#8221;</p><p>The blue-collar Republican thought it was &#8220;awesome.&#8221;</p><p>Personally, I don&#8217;t know how to have fun or how not to make everything about politics, so the event, for me, felt aggressive, nationalistic and borderline authoritarian. But to everyone else, it looked suspiciously like a UFC event.</p><p>In all seriousness, I attended UFC Freedom 250, and upon leaving the event, I scraped my knee, looked down, and can confirm I now bleed red, white <em>and</em> blue.</p><p>I&#8217;ll give the gripers one thing, though: Joe Rogan&#8217;s tie was definitely too short.</p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!IW7E!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F4beb211f-7f77-4580-b7f2-bef1c7b79459_1260x1085.jpeg" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!IW7E!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F4beb211f-7f77-4580-b7f2-bef1c7b79459_1260x1085.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!IW7E!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F4beb211f-7f77-4580-b7f2-bef1c7b79459_1260x1085.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!IW7E!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F4beb211f-7f77-4580-b7f2-bef1c7b79459_1260x1085.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!IW7E!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F4beb211f-7f77-4580-b7f2-bef1c7b79459_1260x1085.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!IW7E!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F4beb211f-7f77-4580-b7f2-bef1c7b79459_1260x1085.jpeg" width="556" height="478.77777777777777" 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https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!IW7E!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F4beb211f-7f77-4580-b7f2-bef1c7b79459_1260x1085.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!IW7E!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F4beb211f-7f77-4580-b7f2-bef1c7b79459_1260x1085.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!IW7E!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F4beb211f-7f77-4580-b7f2-bef1c7b79459_1260x1085.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw" loading="lazy"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg role="img" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><title></title><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a><figcaption class="image-caption">Screenshot from Ratioed Sports on X</figcaption></figure></div><p>The disconnect between my experience and the way the media reported on this event is so stark that I can only assume it&#8217;s intentional. I didn&#8217;t see the authoritarian spectacle the press is describing. Instead, I saw tens of thousands of Americans having the time of their lives.</p><p>&#8212;</p><p>The Ultimate Fighting Championship hosted a &#8220;one-of-one&#8221; mixed martial arts event to celebrate 250 years of being the best damn country this world has ever seen.</p><p>The celebrations kicked off with press conferences backdropped by the Lincoln Memorial. Fighters stood in front of thousands of cheering fans on the Ellipse for the ceremonial weigh-ins. The U.S. Army Golden Knights parachute team dove from sunsetting skies over the Washington Monument with American flags in hand. They even had a bald eagle fly over the grounds. Zac Brown Band put on an outstanding performance, jamming at one point with the U.S. Army Band and closing, of course, with &#8220;Chicken Fried.&#8221;</p><p>May freedom forever fly. Let it ringgggg. You know the one.</p><p>Sunday was the &#8220;bloody cage match,&#8221; which can be described as nothing short of totally and irrefutably awesome.</p><div class="subscription-widget-wrap-editor" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://stateoftheday.us/subscribe?&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Subscribe&quot;,&quot;language&quot;:&quot;en&quot;}" data-component-name="SubscribeWidgetToDOM"><div class="subscription-widget show-subscribe"><div class="preamble"><p class="cta-caption">This Substack is reader-supported. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.</p></div><form class="subscription-widget-subscribe"><input type="email" class="email-input" name="email" placeholder="Type your email&#8230;" tabindex="-1"><input type="submit" class="button primary" value="Subscribe"><div class="fake-input-wrapper"><div class="fake-input"></div><div class="fake-button"></div></div></form></div></div><p>Upward of 85,000 fans gathered together, cold beers in hand, anticipating what would become one of the most thrilling UFC cards in the sport&#8217;s history.</p><p>The fried chicken guy came out again and sang a beautiful rendition of the national anthem. During which, the Blue Angels and Thunderbirds flew overhead in their &#8220;Super Delta&#8221; formation, which basically means there were twelve jets instead of the four you would typically see in a flyover.</p><div class="twitter-embed" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://x.com/ufc/status/2066319715409265145&quot;,&quot;full_text&quot;:&quot;&#129761;&quot;,&quot;username&quot;:&quot;ufc&quot;,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;UFC&quot;,&quot;profile_image_url&quot;:&quot;https://pbs.substack.com/profile_images/2066552329814638592/YiymouCM_normal.jpg&quot;,&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2026-06-15T00:39:45.000Z&quot;,&quot;photos&quot;:[{&quot;img_url&quot;:&quot;https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!qZ1u!,w_1028,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:best,fl_progressive:steep/l_play_button_usfui2,w_88,e_colorize:0/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F__ss-rehost__tw-video-preview-13_2066319530507595776.jpg&quot;,&quot;link_url&quot;:&quot;https://t.co/7cM1lzz1Fn&quot;}],&quot;quoted_tweet&quot;:{&quot;full_text&quot;:&quot;No better way to start #UFCWhiteHouse &#128079;\n\nLIVE NOW on @ParamountPlus!\n\n[ UFC Freedom 250 Presented by @Cryptocom &amp;amp; @RamTrucks ]&quot;,&quot;username&quot;:&quot;ufc&quot;,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;UFC&quot;,&quot;profile_image_url&quot;:&quot;https://pbs.substack.com/profile_images/2066552329814638592/YiymouCM_normal.jpg&quot;},&quot;reply_count&quot;:1351,&quot;retweet_count&quot;:5779,&quot;like_count&quot;:43474,&quot;impression_count&quot;:5119972,&quot;expanded_url&quot;:null,&quot;video_url&quot;:&quot;https://video.twimg.com/amplify_video/2066319530507595776/vid/avc1/720x900/5qM-BdtC-J5elUK3.mp4&quot;,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:true}" data-component-name="Twitter2ToDOM"></div><p>As for the so-called &#8220;brawls,&#8221; zero fights went to a decision. It was knockout after knockout &#8230; after knockout.</p><p>Underdog <strong><a href="https://stateoftheday.us/p/state-of-monday-and-lastly-michelle">Justin Gaethje</a></strong> pulled out an unexpected win despite entering with six-to-one odds against him, then delivered an <strong><a href="https://x.com/ConservativeOG/status/2066527381565616210?s=20">inspiring speech</a></strong> to close out the night: </p><p>&#8220;Hey, I&#8217;m from America. Two hundred and fifty years ago, we were way bigger than six-to-one dogs, and look at us thriving now.&#8221;</p><p>He thanked God, former and current military service members, police officers, firefighters, and first responders for their service.</p><p>Topuria was <strong><a href="https://www.mmafighting.com/ufc/494889/report-ilia-topuria-injuries-revealed-following-ufc-white-house-loss">reportedly</a></strong> released from the hospital earlier this week.</p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!wCJI!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F46ce3e40-4ad2-4a2f-84f6-fcbda52188ac_1080x1350.jpeg" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!wCJI!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F46ce3e40-4ad2-4a2f-84f6-fcbda52188ac_1080x1350.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!wCJI!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F46ce3e40-4ad2-4a2f-84f6-fcbda52188ac_1080x1350.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!wCJI!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F46ce3e40-4ad2-4a2f-84f6-fcbda52188ac_1080x1350.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!wCJI!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F46ce3e40-4ad2-4a2f-84f6-fcbda52188ac_1080x1350.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!wCJI!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F46ce3e40-4ad2-4a2f-84f6-fcbda52188ac_1080x1350.jpeg" width="449" height="561.25" data-attrs="{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/46ce3e40-4ad2-4a2f-84f6-fcbda52188ac_1080x1350.jpeg&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:null,&quot;height&quot;:1350,&quot;width&quot;:1080,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:449,&quot;bytes&quot;:null,&quot;alt&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:null,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:true,&quot;topImage&quot;:false,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:null,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}" class="sizing-normal" alt="" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!wCJI!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F46ce3e40-4ad2-4a2f-84f6-fcbda52188ac_1080x1350.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!wCJI!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F46ce3e40-4ad2-4a2f-84f6-fcbda52188ac_1080x1350.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!wCJI!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F46ce3e40-4ad2-4a2f-84f6-fcbda52188ac_1080x1350.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!wCJI!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F46ce3e40-4ad2-4a2f-84f6-fcbda52188ac_1080x1350.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw" loading="lazy"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg role="img" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><title></title><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a><figcaption class="image-caption">Screenshot from ESPN MMA on X</figcaption></figure></div><p>&#8212;</p><p>According to the media, however, the event was garish, militaristic, crass, violent, and tacky.</p><p>NBC News, apparently encountering the sport for the first time, <strong><a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/sports/ufc/ufc-freedom-250-inside-trump-birthday-event-white-house-rcna350049">reported</a></strong> in an alarmed tone that &#8220;more than a dozen fighters were moments away from punching, kicking and choking each other.&#8221;</p><p>Someone alert the authorities! Everything is going exactly as planned!</p><p>The Los Angeles Times <strong><a href="https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/story/2026-06-15/ufc-freedom-250-trump-birthday-maga-propaganda-fights">suggested</a></strong> there was &#8220;political and psychological messaging&#8221; concealed within the event.</p><p>They elaborated:</p><blockquote><p>&#8220;When strutting, preening and wild-eyed reaction revolves around what was, for better and worse, a series of rules-free brawls being force-fed into a narrative about this country&#8217;s enduring strength, what emerges is not so much a sporting event as it is a piece of naked and nationalistic propaganda.&#8221;</p></blockquote><p>This is the part where I should say, &#8220;touch grass,&#8221; right?</p><p>Then they claimed the event served as &#8220;an almost-six-hour ad for the UFC.&#8221;</p><p>I&#8217;m not even sure what to say to this one. Does that mean the NBA Finals were a five-day ad for the NBA? Or the Superbowl for the NFL? Take a breather, LA Times. No one knows what you&#8217;re talking about.</p><p>But they did relent, noting the tens of thousands of Fan Fest attendees were &#8220;clearly having a very good time.&#8221;</p><p>Hell yeah we were.</p><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://stateoftheday.us/subscribe?&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Subscribe now&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://stateoftheday.us/subscribe?"><span>Subscribe now</span></a></p><p>The Daily Kos also had some strong <strong><a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2026/6/15/800055938/whitehouse/trump-cage-match-grosser-than-you-think/">opinions</a></strong>, remarking that it was a &#8220;deeply unpatriotic move&#8221; to let fighters warm up &#8220;barefoot and shirtless&#8221; in the &#8220;White House&#8217;s historic Indian Treaty Room.&#8221;</p><p>It&#8217;s the pearl-clutching emphasis on the bare feet for me. Also, find the irony <strong><a href="https://x.com/libsoftiktok/status/2066218734490956097/video/1">here</a></strong>.</p><p>As always, there were some unsolicited celebrity opinions on the matter.</p><p>Sheryl Crow, the American country singer from Tennessee, posted an Instagram story, and we all know how effective Instagram stories are. She wrote: &#8220;To stay quiet means to turn a blind eye. What happened last night on the lawn of the White House was disgraceful and void of decency.&#8221;</p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!ciYr!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fb9c90d05-84c4-4454-8cb9-de3c46609900_868x1340.png" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!ciYr!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fb9c90d05-84c4-4454-8cb9-de3c46609900_868x1340.png 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!ciYr!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fb9c90d05-84c4-4454-8cb9-de3c46609900_868x1340.png 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!ciYr!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fb9c90d05-84c4-4454-8cb9-de3c46609900_868x1340.png 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!ciYr!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fb9c90d05-84c4-4454-8cb9-de3c46609900_868x1340.png 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!ciYr!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fb9c90d05-84c4-4454-8cb9-de3c46609900_868x1340.png" width="415" height="640.668202764977" data-attrs="{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/b9c90d05-84c4-4454-8cb9-de3c46609900_868x1340.png&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:null,&quot;height&quot;:1340,&quot;width&quot;:868,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:415,&quot;bytes&quot;:null,&quot;alt&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:null,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:true,&quot;topImage&quot;:false,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:null,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}" class="sizing-normal" alt="" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!ciYr!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fb9c90d05-84c4-4454-8cb9-de3c46609900_868x1340.png 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!ciYr!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fb9c90d05-84c4-4454-8cb9-de3c46609900_868x1340.png 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!ciYr!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fb9c90d05-84c4-4454-8cb9-de3c46609900_868x1340.png 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!ciYr!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fb9c90d05-84c4-4454-8cb9-de3c46609900_868x1340.png 1456w" sizes="100vw" loading="lazy"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg role="img" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><title></title><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a></figure></div><p>Jemele Hill, an American sports journalist, <strong><a href="https://www.aol.com/entertainment/jemele-hill-thinks-ufc-freedom-191853796.html?format=embed">said</a></strong> the event &#8220;has the feel of a Klan rally.&#8221;</p><p>Inventive. Inspired.</p><p>But we&#8217;ll end on a positive note with comments from ESPN&#8217;s Jay Williams, who <strong><a href="https://www.foxbangor.com/news/national/espns-jay-williams-is-right-ufc-freedom-250-was-a-better-event-than-the-nba/article_2fea9a42-406f-5283-8c03-3561209f543e.html">said</a></strong>: &#8220;It was a better event than the NBA Finals. With the White House literally being right there, incredible.&#8221;</p><p>&#8212;</p><p>Williams is exactly right. The event was historic and symbolic. Against a backdrop of endless political cynicism, tens of thousands of Americans gathered at the White House to celebrate their country, watch world-class athletes compete, and have a genuinely great time.</p><p>Some are (I am) comparing it to a Mosaic <strong><a href="https://x.com/MichaelRCaputo/status/2066520832675844457?s=20">miracle</a></strong>. The storm split in two and the very scary bugs vanished. <br><br>The media saw authoritarianism. I saw a UFC fight.</p><p>As a general rule of thumb, if it looks like a UFC fight and quacks like a UFC fight, it probably is just a UFC fight.<br><br>And this one was awesome.</p><div><hr></div><p><em>Like what you&#8217;re reading? If so, please consider subscribing to State of the Day or sharing this with a friend. You&#8217;d be supporting this newsletter and helping keep independent journalism alive.</em></p><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://stateoftheday.us/subscribe?&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Subscribe now&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://stateoftheday.us/subscribe?"><span>Subscribe now</span></a></p><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://stateoftheday.us/p/the-ufc-fights-were-downright-awesome?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email&utm_content=share&action=share&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Share&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://stateoftheday.us/p/the-ufc-fights-were-downright-awesome?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email&utm_content=share&action=share"><span>Share</span></a></p><p><em>If you are already a paid subscriber, make sure to join the conversation in our subscribers-only chat below.</em></p><div class="community-chat" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://open.substack.com/pub/stateoftheday/chat?utm_source=chat_embed&quot;,&quot;subdomain&quot;:&quot;stateoftheday&quot;,&quot;pub&quot;:{&quot;id&quot;:6361003,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;State of the Day&quot;,&quot;author_name&quot;:&quot;State of the Day&quot;,&quot;author_photo_url&quot;:&quot;https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!_bUL!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F9134fb16-1032-4282-9207-956db1874f73_1201x1201.png&quot;}}" data-component-name="CommunityChatRenderPlaceholder"></div>]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[Raising The Next Generation ... To Be Disabled]]></title><description><![CDATA[Parents would do well to remember that their children are capable of doing hard things.]]></description><link>https://stateoftheday.us/p/raising-the-next-generation-to-be</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://stateoftheday.us/p/raising-the-next-generation-to-be</guid><dc:creator><![CDATA[Mary Rooke]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Wed, 17 Jun 2026 17:01:44 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!cheP!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F24aaa802-d0d1-4fd5-9300-23d4cf045aaa_2400x1600.png" length="0" type="image/jpeg"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!cheP!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F24aaa802-d0d1-4fd5-9300-23d4cf045aaa_2400x1600.png" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!cheP!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F24aaa802-d0d1-4fd5-9300-23d4cf045aaa_2400x1600.png 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!cheP!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F24aaa802-d0d1-4fd5-9300-23d4cf045aaa_2400x1600.png 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!cheP!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F24aaa802-d0d1-4fd5-9300-23d4cf045aaa_2400x1600.png 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!cheP!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F24aaa802-d0d1-4fd5-9300-23d4cf045aaa_2400x1600.png 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!cheP!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F24aaa802-d0d1-4fd5-9300-23d4cf045aaa_2400x1600.png" width="1456" height="971" data-attrs="{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/24aaa802-d0d1-4fd5-9300-23d4cf045aaa_2400x1600.png&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:null,&quot;height&quot;:971,&quot;width&quot;:1456,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:null,&quot;bytes&quot;:3678174,&quot;alt&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;image/png&quot;,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:false,&quot;topImage&quot;:true,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:&quot;https://stateoftheday.us/i/202441557?img=https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F24aaa802-d0d1-4fd5-9300-23d4cf045aaa_2400x1600.png&quot;,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}" class="sizing-normal" alt="" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!cheP!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F24aaa802-d0d1-4fd5-9300-23d4cf045aaa_2400x1600.png 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!cheP!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F24aaa802-d0d1-4fd5-9300-23d4cf045aaa_2400x1600.png 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!cheP!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F24aaa802-d0d1-4fd5-9300-23d4cf045aaa_2400x1600.png 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!cheP!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F24aaa802-d0d1-4fd5-9300-23d4cf045aaa_2400x1600.png 1456w" sizes="100vw" fetchpriority="high"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg role="img" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><title></title><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a><figcaption class="image-caption">Photo by Chris Ware/Keystone Features/Hulton Archive/Getty Images</figcaption></figure></div><div><hr></div><p><em>Welcome back to Good Life, a newsletter about navigating our modern culture and staying sane in the process. This week, we discuss how parents are actively making their children&#8217;s lives worse.</em></p><p><em>Enjoying this newsletter? Share it with your friends and family! And if you&#8217;re one of those friends or family members, you can sign up to get your own copy every week right <strong><a href="https://stateoftheday.us/s/good-life">here</a></strong>.</em></p><div><hr></div><p>I think the hardest pill for parents to swallow is the reality that their children&#8217;s behavior is directly connected to their parenting choices. At the most basic level, their views on morality, modesty, and human dignity all come from your example. But it&#8217;s more than that.</p><p>Jo Frost, aka Supernanny, released a video warning parents that they are disabling their children&#8217;s independence.</p><p>&#8220;We are slowly disabling our children, and I don&#8217;t say that lightly. I say that because I work with families continuously every day, and I am seeing a pattern that is growing. Children who are capable but not being taught,&#8221; Frost said.</p><p>&#8220;We are pushing children along on bikes instead of teaching them how to ride them. We&#8217;re keeping children in strollers, who should be walking, climbing, building strength. We&#8217;ve got four-year-olds still using dummies (pacifiers), when that was only ever meant to be a short-term aid. Seven-year-olds who can&#8217;t brush their teeth properly without an electric toothbrush. Eight-year-olds who can&#8217;t sit at the table and use a knife and fork. Nine-year-olds who don&#8217;t understand basic bathroom hygiene. And I find myself asking, when did we stop teaching these life skills?&#8221;</p><p>Frost said that she understands that our modern world makes it hard to slow down and parent correctly, but that if parents don&#8217;t get back to basics, an entire generation will be lost. Probably the most important thing Frost said in this warning is that parents don&#8217;t have to do this &#8220;perfectly, but consistently.&#8221; That&#8217;s the key. Consistency makes the biggest difference in successful parenting.</p><p>Take potty training, for example. It can be the most frustrating experience for a new parent because it requires devoted time and effort, which most of us don&#8217;t have the bandwidth for. When my oldest was a baby, one of my sisters gave me a book on how to potty-train a toddler in three days. One of the warnings said you have to clear your schedule for three days because you have to be devoted to taking your child to the toilet the entire time.</p><div class="subscription-widget-wrap-editor" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://stateoftheday.us/subscribe?&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Subscribe&quot;,&quot;language&quot;:&quot;en&quot;}" data-component-name="SubscribeWidgetToDOM"><div class="subscription-widget show-subscribe"><div class="preamble"><p class="cta-caption">This Substack is reader-supported. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.</p></div><form class="subscription-widget-subscribe"><input type="email" class="email-input" name="email" placeholder="Type your email&#8230;" tabindex="-1"><input type="submit" class="button primary" value="Subscribe"><div class="fake-input-wrapper"><div class="fake-input"></div><div class="fake-button"></div></div></form></div></div><p>When it was time, I loaded up the water bottle, cleared my schedule, and got the extra sheets out. I was surprised how well the method worked. It wasn&#8217;t that the girls were completely trained by the third day, but they understood what they needed to do. After that, the accidents were few and far between. They&#8217;d let me know it was time, and I&#8217;d take them. But the only reason it worked is that I was consistent.</p><p>It&#8217;s our responsibility as parents to guide our children through every stage of their lives. We are passing little pieces of ourselves onto the next generation every time we teach them how to brush their teeth, bathe, or pick up after themselves.</p><p>Independence is a crucial part of becoming an adult, and parents have a finite amount of time to teach their children how to live a successful life on their own. Every once in a while, I&#8217;ll see the same conversation around childhood chores enter the online discussion. There are always two sides fighting over whether having your children help with things like laundry, cleaning, and cooking is considered good parenting. I&#8217;m sure you can guess which side of the battle I&#8217;m on, but in case you are new here, I think it&#8217;s borderline neglect not to have your children do chores.</p><p>Not only is it important at baseline for your children to &#8220;help out&#8221; around the house, but I would be ashamed if my girls went off to college not knowing how to take care of themselves as well as I do.</p><p>Our oldest daughter told me the other day she remembered the moment I began teaching them how to do the laundry. She said I was carrying a basket of clean laundry up the stairs and slipped. Apparently (because, funny enough, I don&#8217;t remember this), I hurt myself, and in my frustration, I told the girls to line up at the table so I could teach them how to fold.</p><p>I do remember starting them off slow. At first, it was just folding the easy things like shirts, shorts, and socks. Once they mastered that, I had them learn how to properly hang clothes, followed by putting them away. Now the girls know how to sort the laundry by colors, delicates, and heavy loads. They can independently do the laundry without my help. Every day they come home from school, they are required to gather their school clothes and any sportswear they used that day into the washing machine.</p><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://stateoftheday.us/subscribe?&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Subscribe now&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://stateoftheday.us/subscribe?"><span>Subscribe now</span></a></p><p>I remember going off to college craving a home-cooked meal. Luckily, I had a basic understanding of how to cook the meals that graced my table as a child. But I wanted more than that for our girls. So, similar to laundry, I started them with breakfast and worked my way up to dinner. The other night, I had to run one of my daughters to basketball practice, which meant I would be out until 8:00 pm. But this didn&#8217;t stress me out like it would have five years ago, because now I can tell one of my daughters I need her to have dinner ready when we get home. I chose the protein, but let her decide the rest of the menu. Not only was it a balanced meal, but it was delicious.</p><p>I don&#8217;t say any of this to brag, but to show that it is possible.</p><p>Parents would do well to remember that their children are capable of doing hard things. They aren&#8217;t born with the knowledge; that has to come from us. But they can do it. And once they learn this independence, your home life is so much more peaceful than you could ever imagine.</p><div><hr></div><p><em>Please send any questions or comments about the newsletter to <strong><a href="mailto:goodlife@dailycaller.com">goodlife@dailycaller.com</a></strong></em></p><div><hr></div><h3><strong>Heard It Through The Grapevine</strong></h3>
      <p>
          <a href="https://stateoftheday.us/p/raising-the-next-generation-to-be">
              Read more
          </a>
      </p>
   ]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[State of Wednesday: GUILLOTINES ... IN PUBLIC]]></title><description><![CDATA[First up on my list &#8230;]]></description><link>https://stateoftheday.us/p/state-of-wednesday-guillotines-in</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://stateoftheday.us/p/state-of-wednesday-guillotines-in</guid><dc:creator><![CDATA[Geoffrey Ingersoll]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Wed, 17 Jun 2026 15:11:22 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!WwoH!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F4856db0b-27b4-4286-b776-e077b863438e_2400x1600.png" length="0" type="image/jpeg"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!WwoH!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F4856db0b-27b4-4286-b776-e077b863438e_2400x1600.png" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!WwoH!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F4856db0b-27b4-4286-b776-e077b863438e_2400x1600.png 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!WwoH!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F4856db0b-27b4-4286-b776-e077b863438e_2400x1600.png 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!WwoH!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F4856db0b-27b4-4286-b776-e077b863438e_2400x1600.png 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!WwoH!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F4856db0b-27b4-4286-b776-e077b863438e_2400x1600.png 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!WwoH!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F4856db0b-27b4-4286-b776-e077b863438e_2400x1600.png" width="1456" height="971" data-attrs="{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/4856db0b-27b4-4286-b776-e077b863438e_2400x1600.png&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:null,&quot;height&quot;:971,&quot;width&quot;:1456,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:null,&quot;bytes&quot;:9558124,&quot;alt&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;image/png&quot;,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:false,&quot;topImage&quot;:true,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:&quot;https://stateoftheday.us/i/202435185?img=https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F4856db0b-27b4-4286-b776-e077b863438e_2400x1600.png&quot;,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}" class="sizing-normal" alt="" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!WwoH!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F4856db0b-27b4-4286-b776-e077b863438e_2400x1600.png 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!WwoH!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F4856db0b-27b4-4286-b776-e077b863438e_2400x1600.png 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!WwoH!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F4856db0b-27b4-4286-b776-e077b863438e_2400x1600.png 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!WwoH!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F4856db0b-27b4-4286-b776-e077b863438e_2400x1600.png 1456w" sizes="100vw" fetchpriority="high"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg role="img" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><title></title><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a><figcaption class="image-caption">Screenshot from X; Photo by Toby Melville - WPA Pool/Getty Images</figcaption></figure></div><div><hr></div><p><em>Greetings, Dear Reader,</em></p><p><em>A close friend once told me that the longer I stay in conservative media, the more likely it is I&#8217;ll eventually go insane.</em></p><p><em>So I <strong><a href="https://stateoftheday.us/p/unfit-to-print-the-truth-they-buried">encourage you first to read Amber Duke&#8217;s take</a></strong> on the Rupert Lowe report covering rape gangs in the UK. She&#8217;s only about half as crazy as I am now and her write-up is much more measured than I&#8217;m about to be.</em></p><p><em>It&#8217;s got all the primary facts as well.</em></p><p><em>I intend to be way less sober than Amber.</em></p><div><hr></div><h3><strong>GUILLOTINES &#8230; IN PUBLIC</strong></h3><p>It&#8217;s time we reinvigorate one of the west&#8217;s favorite pastimes that has been shelved in the last century or so: Guillotining prominent people in public.</p><p>There&#8217;s a long history there. Charles I of England was beheaded. Mary, Queen of Scots also. Marie Antoinette. Open the aperture to public executions generally and you&#8217;ve got even more names. Thomas Cromwell, Nicolae Ceau&#537;escu, Saddam Hussein.</p><p>Japanese General Hideki Tojo actually attempted to off himself only for allied doctors to resuscitate him so he could later be executed by hanging. He oversaw the infamous Rape of Nanking in China during WWII in which somewhere between 20,000 and 80,000 Chinese women were raped.</p><p>Sound familiar, prime minister?</p><p>MP Rupert Lowe published his UK rape gang report Tuesday and it&#8217;s orders of magnitude worse than we could ever imagine. You could bundle up Nanking, the Catholic Church, and Jeffrey Epstein and it wouldn&#8217;t come close to touching both the body count and the institutional culpability. The report&#8217;s estimates &#8211; admittedly, imperfect &#8211; say the number of white, christian young girls and women victimized by the gangs could number as high as 250,000.</p><p>I want to emphasize white and christian. This was a targeted ethnoreligious pogrom. The report itself concludes that 95% of the perpetrators were Pakistani Muslim men. Many witness statements include bits about the rapists saying Islamic prayers right before truly horrendous acts.</p><p>On that note, I&#8217;m not going to recount the gory details of any of these. If you want to find them, you can. They&#8217;re grisly. The acts and corresponding injuries are truly gruesome. The rape was by many accounts more about creative, sexualized torture and less about sexual gratification.</p><p>The cases in which officers of the law, government and elected officials either looked the other way or actively suppressed information are staggering.</p><p>A concerned mother <strong><a href="https://x.com/ArtemisConsort/status/2067087184105283816">describing the perpetrators</a></strong> she believed to have abducted her daughter to a UK police desk sergeant was upbraided on the phone.</p><p>&#8220;You can&#8217;t describe the men as Asian,&#8221; the officer said, according to the mother, &#8220;that&#8217;s racist. You should be glad your child is being taught a different culture.&#8221;</p><p>Somehow it got worse for her daughter.</p><div class="subscription-widget-wrap-editor" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://stateoftheday.us/subscribe?&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Subscribe&quot;,&quot;language&quot;:&quot;en&quot;}" data-component-name="SubscribeWidgetToDOM"><div class="subscription-widget show-subscribe"><div class="preamble"><p class="cta-caption">This Substack is reader-supported. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.</p></div><form class="subscription-widget-subscribe"><input type="email" class="email-input" name="email" placeholder="Type your email&#8230;" tabindex="-1"><input type="submit" class="button primary" value="Subscribe"><div class="fake-input-wrapper"><div class="fake-input"></div><div class="fake-button"></div></div></form></div></div><p>Police located her and returned her to the house where the abuse was occurring, telling the men inside, &#8220;have fun with her.&#8221; Later, police advised the men to pressure &#8220;Fiona&#8221; &#8211; the woman&#8217;s name in the report &#8211; to sign herself out of care, so the police &#8220;wouldn&#8217;t bother&#8221; them anymore.</p><p>Another young woman who had attempted suicide as a result of all the raping later went on Facebook and named her perpetrators. When the post went viral, police showed up and arrested her.</p><p>Once convicted and imprisoned, Muslim men continued harassing the girl&#8217;s family. Police were no help.</p><p>One young woman abducted and abused by five men was forced into having eight abortions. Her abusers required her to wear a hijab and walk five feet behind them in public. She was required to learn Arabic and Urdu and speak only those languages. She made several attempts to escape, one in which she reported to a police station.</p><p>The Muslim police officer advised her to drop the charges for &#8220;lack of evidence.&#8221;</p><p>It goes well beyond just incompetent or evil beat cops. City councils across the UK took part in the cover-up. The Mayor of London Sadiq Kahn looks <strong><a href="https://spectator.com/article/has-there-been-a-cover-up-of-london-grooming-gangs/">highly likely to have reviewed</a> </strong>actual evidence of the rape gangs only to continue publicly denying their existence. UK&#8217;s own prime minister, Keir Starmer, as head prosecutor, released as many as 13,000 known perpetrators and pedophiles with &#8220;warnings.&#8221; He, like Kahn, continually denied these reports until the information coming out was so overwhelming it became undeniable.</p><p>As the report concluded most succinctly (emphasis mine):</p><blockquote><p><strong>Every institution that existed to protect children instead enabled the gangs.</strong> Police forces across England and Scotland discouraged reporting, criminalised victims, destroyed evidence, allowed known rapists to walk free on bail, and in some cases actively participated in or shielded the networks. Social care removed parental authority, placed children in trafficking hubs inside children&#8217;s homes and semi-independent units, closed cases despite clear evidence of exploitation, destroyed records, and retaliated against whistleblowers. The NHS recorded genital injuries, multiple STIs in 13-year-olds, pregnancies caused by rape, and suicide attempts yet discharged the children back to their abusers the same night with no safeguarding or trauma care. Schools watched older men collect girls at the gates, heard disclosures of rape in toilets, and excluded the victims rather than protecting them. Taxi licensing authorities renewed permits for the very drivers who formed the logistical backbone of the trafficking networks and collapsed in the face of organised protests when basic safety measures were proposed.</p></blockquote><p>The sheer scale of these rape gangs and the depth of institutional culpability demands proportionate accountability.</p><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://stateoftheday.us/subscribe?&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Subscribe now&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://stateoftheday.us/subscribe?"><span>Subscribe now</span></a></p><p>It&#8217;s without even the slightest hesitation that I say there should be a modern version of the Nuremberg Trials, followed by high-profile executions.</p><p>Police officials, school officials, public health officials, regulators and even politicians, right along with all the perpetrators. They should be investigated, tried, and then guillotined.</p><p>Enthusiastically guillotined, right in public, for all to see.</p><div><hr></div><h3><strong>MORE LINKS</strong></h3><p><strong><a href="https://dailycaller.com/2026/06/16/officials-warn-water-making-you-infertile/">Officials Warn There&#8217;s Something In The Water, And It May Be Making You Infertile</a></strong></p><p>We need more baby-making, not less.</p><p>&#8212;</p><p><strong><a href="https://dailycaller.com/2026/06/16/religion-poll-gallup-women-youth-republicans/">Women, Youth Led American Exodus From Religion Over Past 13 Years, Poll Shows</a></strong></p><p>Also need more (strong) men leading the youth.</p><p>&#8212;</p><p><strong><a href="https://dailycaller.com/2026/06/16/democrats-adriano-espaillat-darializa-avila-chevalier-world-cup-america-pix-politics-rooting-mexico-senegal/">Interviewer Asks Two Democratic Candidates Who They&#8217;re Rooting For In World Cup. Neither Say America</a></strong></p><p>Despicable.</p><div><hr></div><p><em>Like what you&#8217;re reading? If so, please consider subscribing to State of the Day or sharing this with a friend. You&#8217;d be supporting this newsletter and helping keep independent journalism alive.</em></p><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://stateoftheday.us/subscribe?&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Subscribe now&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://stateoftheday.us/subscribe?"><span>Subscribe now</span></a></p><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://stateoftheday.us/p/state-of-wednesday-guillotines-in?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email&utm_content=share&action=share&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Share&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://stateoftheday.us/p/state-of-wednesday-guillotines-in?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email&utm_content=share&action=share"><span>Share</span></a></p><p><em>If you are already a paid subscriber, make sure to join the conversation in our subscribers-only chat below.</em></p><div class="community-chat" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://open.substack.com/pub/stateoftheday/chat?utm_source=chat_embed&quot;,&quot;subdomain&quot;:&quot;stateoftheday&quot;,&quot;pub&quot;:{&quot;id&quot;:6361003,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;State of the Day&quot;,&quot;author_name&quot;:&quot;State of the Day&quot;,&quot;author_photo_url&quot;:&quot;https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!_bUL!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F9134fb16-1032-4282-9207-956db1874f73_1201x1201.png&quot;}}" data-component-name="CommunityChatRenderPlaceholder"></div><div><hr></div><h3><strong>MORE FROM STATE OF THE DAY</strong></h3><div class="digest-post-embed" data-attrs="{&quot;nodeId&quot;:&quot;42187939-3e6e-4261-ab8d-771d699b1e31&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;cta&quot;:null,&quot;showBylines&quot;:true,&quot;showDescription&quot;:true,&quot;showImage&quot;:true,&quot;size&quot;:&quot;lg&quot;,&quot;isEditorNode&quot;:true,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;Unfit to Print: THE TRUTH THEY BURIED&quot;,&quot;publishedBylines&quot;:[{&quot;id&quot;:91309548,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;Amber Duke&quot;,&quot;bio&quot;:&quot;Amber Duke is the Editor-in-Chief of the Daily Caller and a co-host of Reason's \&quot;Free Media.\&quot; She previously served as cohost of The Hill&#8217;s &#8220;Rising,&#8221; Washington Editor of The Spectator and was the White House Correspondent for the Daily Caller.&quot;,&quot;photo_url&quot;:&quot;https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/de083280-2ec1-47a9-a436-9a137d9e1128_1054x1054.jpeg&quot;,&quot;is_guest&quot;:false,&quot;bestseller_tier&quot;:100}],&quot;post_date&quot;:&quot;2026-06-17T10:00:57.192Z&quot;,&quot;cover_image&quot;:&quot;https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!bQGd!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ff7f75d90-5071-4a05-80d9-eb74fda37c3a_2400x1600.png&quot;,&quot;cover_image_alt&quot;:null,&quot;canonical_url&quot;:&quot;https://stateoftheday.us/p/unfit-to-print-the-truth-they-buried&quot;,&quot;section_name&quot;:&quot;Unfit to Print&quot;,&quot;video_upload_id&quot;:null,&quot;id&quot;:202343069,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;newsletter&quot;,&quot;reaction_count&quot;:24,&quot;comment_count&quot;:0,&quot;publication_id&quot;:6361003,&quot;publication_name&quot;:&quot;State of the Day&quot;,&quot;publication_logo_url&quot;:&quot;https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!WpLm!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fcadc6152-0913-4e8b-8d5d-96faf5f7825a_801x801.png&quot;,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:true,&quot;youtube_url&quot;:null,&quot;show_links&quot;:null,&quot;feed_url&quot;:null}"></div><div class="digest-post-embed" data-attrs="{&quot;nodeId&quot;:&quot;bde72acf-0d83-42cf-a7db-c198b1b42f5f&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;cta&quot;:null,&quot;showBylines&quot;:true,&quot;showDescription&quot;:true,&quot;showImage&quot;:true,&quot;size&quot;:&quot;lg&quot;,&quot;isEditorNode&quot;:true,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;State of Tuesday: FAKE, GAY AND WEAK, an open letter to the political left&quot;,&quot;publishedBylines&quot;:[{&quot;id&quot;:400592680,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;Geoffrey Ingersoll&quot;,&quot;bio&quot;:&quot;Prayer. 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url="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!bQGd!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ff7f75d90-5071-4a05-80d9-eb74fda37c3a_2400x1600.png" length="0" type="image/jpeg"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!bQGd!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ff7f75d90-5071-4a05-80d9-eb74fda37c3a_2400x1600.png" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!bQGd!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ff7f75d90-5071-4a05-80d9-eb74fda37c3a_2400x1600.png 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!bQGd!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ff7f75d90-5071-4a05-80d9-eb74fda37c3a_2400x1600.png 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!bQGd!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ff7f75d90-5071-4a05-80d9-eb74fda37c3a_2400x1600.png 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!bQGd!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ff7f75d90-5071-4a05-80d9-eb74fda37c3a_2400x1600.png 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!bQGd!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ff7f75d90-5071-4a05-80d9-eb74fda37c3a_2400x1600.png" width="1456" height="971" 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srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!bQGd!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ff7f75d90-5071-4a05-80d9-eb74fda37c3a_2400x1600.png 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!bQGd!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ff7f75d90-5071-4a05-80d9-eb74fda37c3a_2400x1600.png 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!bQGd!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ff7f75d90-5071-4a05-80d9-eb74fda37c3a_2400x1600.png 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!bQGd!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ff7f75d90-5071-4a05-80d9-eb74fda37c3a_2400x1600.png 1456w" sizes="100vw" fetchpriority="high"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg role="img" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><title></title><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a><figcaption class="image-caption">Screenshot from X; Photo by Carl Court-Pool/Getty Images</figcaption></figure></div><div><hr></div><p><em>Hey y&#8217;all, welcome back to Unfit to Print.</em></p><p><em>Today we&#8217;re covering a member of Parliament&#8217;s scathing report on migrant rape gangs.</em></p><div><hr></div><h3><strong>THE TRUTH THEY BURIED</strong></h3><p>For years, British officials told the public the migrant rape gang scandal was exaggerated &#8212; if it existed at all.</p><p>They had every incentive to lie. Telling the truth meant admitting that their supposedly &#8220;compassionate&#8221; immigration policies had helped leave women and children at the mercy of predators.</p><p>Now, a stunning new inquiry from a member of Parliament is dragging that truth into the light.</p><p>The sheer number of alleged victims &#8212; and the obvious signs of what was happening to them that were ignored at every level &#8212; reveals the repeated failures that became endemic to the British system.</p><div><hr></div><p><em>To continue reading this newsletter, please become a paid subscriber.</em></p>
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   ]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[State of Tuesday: FAKE, GAY AND WEAK, an open letter to the political left]]></title><description><![CDATA[You&#8217;ll never win like this.]]></description><link>https://stateoftheday.us/p/state-of-tuesday-fake-gay-and-weak</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://stateoftheday.us/p/state-of-tuesday-fake-gay-and-weak</guid><dc:creator><![CDATA[Geoffrey Ingersoll]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Tue, 16 Jun 2026 14:15:30 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!pfkh!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F098182de-d629-43ef-a282-fddf3192a6f5_2048x1058.png" length="0" type="image/jpeg"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!pfkh!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F098182de-d629-43ef-a282-fddf3192a6f5_2048x1058.png" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!pfkh!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F098182de-d629-43ef-a282-fddf3192a6f5_2048x1058.png 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!pfkh!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F098182de-d629-43ef-a282-fddf3192a6f5_2048x1058.png 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!pfkh!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F098182de-d629-43ef-a282-fddf3192a6f5_2048x1058.png 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https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!pfkh!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F098182de-d629-43ef-a282-fddf3192a6f5_2048x1058.png 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!pfkh!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F098182de-d629-43ef-a282-fddf3192a6f5_2048x1058.png 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!pfkh!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F098182de-d629-43ef-a282-fddf3192a6f5_2048x1058.png 1456w" sizes="100vw" fetchpriority="high"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg role="img" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><title></title><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a></figure></div><div><hr></div><p><em>Greetings, Dear Reader,</em></p><p><em>You read the title. You know what you&#8217;re here to read.</em></p><div><hr></div><h3><strong>FAKE, GAY AND WEAK, an open letter to the political left</strong></h3><p>The Bolsheviks would turn away. Mao&#8217;s student radicals would be sickened. Stalin? Utterly disgusted.</p><p>Dear political left, why are you gay? &#8230; weak, and/or fake?</p><p>How can you possibly be expected to load us all onto trains when your spiritual avatars are elderly, long irrelevant women and men in women&#8217;s clothing?</p><p>Robert De Niro, Jane Fonda, Bette Midler and Patti Smith (who?) headlined your big Sunday night event. It was meant to compete with Trump&#8217;s astoundingly over-the-top America 250th UFC display. You called it &#8220;Rise Up, Sing Out: A Concert for the First Amendment,&#8221; as if we&#8217;re supposed to believe you care about speech after the last 10 years of unpersoning and imprisoning <strong><a href="https://dailycaller.com/2022/01/11/miguel-cardona-parent-domestic-terrorist-merrick-garland-fbi/">normal folks</a></strong> for making jokes online.</p><p>It had a crowd of tens of people who paid hundreds of dollars to sit in an air-conditioned auditorium listening to a parade of elderly women crow. At the same time, American servicemen attended Trump&#8217;s event for free to watch warriors ensconced in the American flag fight a brutal bloodsport in a literal arena.</p><p>A full 80,000 people stood in the <strong><a href="https://www.nps.gov/whho/planyourvisit/explore-the-southern-trail.htm">ellipse</a></strong>. No cover charge. Drinking ice cold beers and cheering on the display of hyper-masculine dominance.</p><p>While billions of dollars in American might jetted above the crowd to the sound of a classic rendition of the National Anthem, your event featured weak beatnik singing and dancing from the Vietnam era. A soundtrack set to the last struggling neurons of activist boomerdom firing hysterically before the impending darkness. Millionaires in designer outfits screeching resistance porn. Fragility wrapped faux courage. A geriatric larp of 60s radicalism.</p><p>It was gross negligence to carry through with this event and you did it with an oblivious, drooling enthusiasm previously associated only to those who suffer profound head trauma when they see pudding.</p><p>Hollywood is out, haven&#8217;t you heard? A writer/director most well known for dick and poop jokes on YouTube <strong><a href="https://x.com/chakravartiiin/status/2066384082142204300">just upended your whole business model</a></strong> with a horror satire on female mental illness. Your professional fakers still boast a $2 million food budget while producing unwanted, un-asked for half-billion dollar acts of vandalism all to boost the cause of diversity. It&#8217;ll bomb at the box office, by the way, because literally nobody wants a modern Odyssey that is fake, weak and gay.</p><p>And for the record, I could lobotomize the fully dysmorphed Ellen Page with a fart, and you cast her as Achilles.</p><p>Isn&#8217;t it perfect?</p><div class="subscription-widget-wrap-editor" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://stateoftheday.us/subscribe?&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Subscribe&quot;,&quot;language&quot;:&quot;en&quot;}" data-component-name="SubscribeWidgetToDOM"><div class="subscription-widget show-subscribe"><div class="preamble"><p class="cta-caption">This Substack is reader-supported. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.</p></div><form class="subscription-widget-subscribe"><input type="email" class="email-input" name="email" placeholder="Type your email&#8230;" tabindex="-1"><input type="submit" class="button primary" value="Subscribe"><div class="fake-input-wrapper"><div class="fake-input"></div><div class="fake-button"></div></div></form></div></div><p>You invited Joy Reid and Julia Roberts to motivate the crowd. A media diversity hire most recently famous for hallucinating time traveling Russians and a woman whose most profound contribution to the arts was playing a reformed prostitute 30 years ago.</p><p>We have Teddy, Abe and George. We have <strong><a href="https://stateoftheday.us/p/state-of-monday-and-lastly-michelle">Justin Gaethje</a></strong>, Dana White and Sean O&#8217;Malley. Our comedians are actually funny. Our actors do bombing runs in sequels that outperform your entire lineup.</p><p>At one point, Patti Smith, the punk poetess, got the crowd rehearsing &#8220;People Have the Power&#8221; in advance. Call-and-response choruses of &#8220;the people rule&#8221; and echoes about redeeming &#8220;the work of fools.&#8221; The pre-show rehearsal footage captured the scripted nature: lyrics projected, backups drilled, audience prepped for performative enthusiasm. Smith&#8217;s gravelly delivery and the song&#8217;s anthemic swell fit the evening&#8217;s theme of collective delusion &#8211; that singing folk rock will somehow dismantle &#8220;strongman politics.&#8221;</p><p>It&#8217;s all so fake and weak. No Kings and Indivisible &#8211; funded in large part by foreign communists and Alex Soros, an obviously gay man who hasn&#8217;t realized it yet &#8211; piped the steam over social to literally just hundreds. My guess is you got more views from people making fun of you online over the next two days.</p><p>The next day David Ellison was going bananas. He cold-called Dana White. The numbers on Paramount+ must have been earth-shattering. The witness to America&#8217;s strength was undoubtedly global.</p><p>For you, the theme of weakness permeated every element. Fonda at 88+ invoking nonviolence while history recorded her cheering actual murderous communists. Midler changing the lyrics for &#8220;our time&#8221; into Trump Derangement Syndrome folk clap because original protest songs aren&#8217;t quite on-message enough. Your heavy reliance on Broadway choirs and drag performers like Peppermint signaled a celebration of aesthetic fragility over martial virtue.</p><p>&#8220;Fake, weak and gay&#8221; isn&#8217;t crude slang here. It captures the effete, theatrical, identity-obsessed performance art that substitutes for substance. You don&#8217;t build or fight. You emote and signal.</p><p>Your America is a feelings circle, not a proving ground.</p><p>We embodied discipline, hierarchy by merit, resilience under pressure. No safe spaces, no trigger warnings, no corporate apologies.</p><p>&#8220;Push back from who?&#8221; said Dana White at a presser.</p><p>&#8220;From people who say &#8216;aw this event shouldn&#8217;t happen on the white house lawn?&#8217;&#8221; asked a reporter.</p><p>&#8220;Fuck em. I don&#8217;t give a shit about that.&#8221;</p><p>In the arena, skill met will to spectacular effect and a new champion was crowned. He thanked America&#8217;s servicemen and women. He thanked God.</p><p>Your counterprogramming, meanwhile, revealed a deep rot. You&#8217;ve abandoned the working man for coastal cultural clerisy. Your &#8220;First Amendment&#8221; defense was selective. You defend only speech that aligns with your priors. Book bans? You mean teaching kids how to have homosexual sex, literally. Also, you pioneered content warnings and curriculum purges! Cancel culture? You invented it. Corporate cowardice? Silicon Valley and Hollywood bent the knee to progressive orthodoxy for years. Now you cry when accountability arrives.</p><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://stateoftheday.us/subscribe?&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Subscribe now&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://stateoftheday.us/subscribe?"><span>Subscribe now</span></a></p><p>Your aging icons reek of sour obsolescence. Dried bleach on the floor of a government-subsidized old person&#8217;s home. Your newer faces merely filled diversity checkboxes. They generated little fire. The bellies of Americans are unmoved. You are warmed over milk.</p><p>You are a movement of managed decline. Singing dirges for a cultural hegemony slipping away. You &#8220;rise up&#8221; on stage and &#8220;sing out&#8221; platitudes, but you lack the fortitude to engage in the actual contest of ideas or physical mettle.</p><p>You aren&#8217;t just wrong on policy, you&#8217;re soft where it counts. Fake in your toughness, effete in your aesthetics, weak in your vision. Your men are soft-penis debutants, your women are &#8220;men.&#8221;</p><p>Trump&#8217;s UFC night wasn&#8217;t just entertainment, it was a statement. The left&#8217;s concert was the rebuttal that proved the point. While warriors competed, the fragile sang and banged on tambourines.</p><p>America chooses strength. The rest is fake, gay and weak noise.</p><div><hr></div><h3><strong>MORE LINKS</strong></h3><p><strong><a href="https://dailycaller.com/2026/06/15/democrats-rival-programming-trump-freedom-250-ufc-views-critics/">You May Have Missed It (Like Everyone Else): Democrats&#8217; Rival Event To Trump&#8217;s UFC Bombs</a></strong></p><p>In case you want to see more, if you&#8217;re into that kind of stuff.</p><p>&#8212;</p><p><strong><a href="https://dailycaller.com/2026/06/16/do-no-harm-university-texas-admission-data-racial-preference-supreme-court/">New Report Says Major School System Hid Admissions Data Defying Supreme Court</a></strong></p><p>Shut &#8216;em down, take &#8216;em over.</p><p>&#8212;</p><p><strong><a href="https://dailycaller.com/2026/06/15/democrats-control-virginia-backfire/">Why Democrats&#8217; Total Control In One State Is Starting To Backfire</a></strong></p><p><strong><a href="https://dailycaller.com/2026/06/15/virginia-louise-lucas-spanberger-data-centers/">&#8216;She&#8217;s A Diva&#8217; &#8212; State Democratic Party Power Broker Escalates Feud With Governor</a></strong></p><p>New leader already reeling, more stormy waters ahead.</p><div><hr></div><p><em>Like what you&#8217;re reading? If so, please consider subscribing to State of the Day or sharing this with a friend. You&#8217;d be supporting this newsletter and helping keep independent journalism alive.</em></p><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://stateoftheday.us/subscribe?&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Subscribe now&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://stateoftheday.us/subscribe?"><span>Subscribe now</span></a></p><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://stateoftheday.us/p/state-of-tuesday-fake-gay-and-weak?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email&utm_content=share&action=share&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Share&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://stateoftheday.us/p/state-of-tuesday-fake-gay-and-weak?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email&utm_content=share&action=share"><span>Share</span></a></p><p><em>If you are already a paid subscriber, make sure to join the conversation in our subscribers-only chat below.</em></p><div class="community-chat" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://open.substack.com/pub/stateoftheday/chat?utm_source=chat_embed&quot;,&quot;subdomain&quot;:&quot;stateoftheday&quot;,&quot;pub&quot;:{&quot;id&quot;:6361003,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;State of the Day&quot;,&quot;author_name&quot;:&quot;State of the Day&quot;,&quot;author_photo_url&quot;:&quot;https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!_bUL!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F9134fb16-1032-4282-9207-956db1874f73_1201x1201.png&quot;}}" data-component-name="CommunityChatRenderPlaceholder"></div><div><hr></div><h3><strong>MORE FROM STATE OF THE DAY</strong></h3><div class="digest-post-embed" data-attrs="{&quot;nodeId&quot;:&quot;ead54f3b-142b-458f-afba-151cca3732a4&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;cta&quot;:null,&quot;showBylines&quot;:true,&quot;showDescription&quot;:true,&quot;showImage&quot;:true,&quot;size&quot;:&quot;lg&quot;,&quot;isEditorNode&quot;:true,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;State of Monday: 'AND LASTLY ... 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Day&quot;,&quot;publication_logo_url&quot;:&quot;https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!WpLm!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fcadc6152-0913-4e8b-8d5d-96faf5f7825a_801x801.png&quot;,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:true,&quot;youtube_url&quot;:null,&quot;show_links&quot;:null,&quot;feed_url&quot;:null}"></div>]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[Unfit to Print: WORLD CUP'S DARK WARNING]]></title><description><![CDATA[The seedy underbelly of mass tourism]]></description><link>https://stateoftheday.us/p/unfit-to-print-world-cups-dark-warning</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://stateoftheday.us/p/unfit-to-print-world-cups-dark-warning</guid><dc:creator><![CDATA[Amber Duke]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Tue, 16 Jun 2026 10:03:45 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!xBPT!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F6c038774-81ef-4cc8-a44c-e5f9b5b0716b_2400x1600.png" length="0" type="image/jpeg"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!xBPT!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F6c038774-81ef-4cc8-a44c-e5f9b5b0716b_2400x1600.png" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!xBPT!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F6c038774-81ef-4cc8-a44c-e5f9b5b0716b_2400x1600.png 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!xBPT!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F6c038774-81ef-4cc8-a44c-e5f9b5b0716b_2400x1600.png 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!xBPT!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F6c038774-81ef-4cc8-a44c-e5f9b5b0716b_2400x1600.png 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!xBPT!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F6c038774-81ef-4cc8-a44c-e5f9b5b0716b_2400x1600.png 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!xBPT!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F6c038774-81ef-4cc8-a44c-e5f9b5b0716b_2400x1600.png" width="1456" height="971" data-attrs="{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/6c038774-81ef-4cc8-a44c-e5f9b5b0716b_2400x1600.png&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:null,&quot;height&quot;:971,&quot;width&quot;:1456,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:null,&quot;bytes&quot;:10626420,&quot;alt&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;image/png&quot;,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:false,&quot;topImage&quot;:true,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:&quot;https://stateoftheday.us/i/202212519?img=https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F6c038774-81ef-4cc8-a44c-e5f9b5b0716b_2400x1600.png&quot;,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}" class="sizing-normal" alt="" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!xBPT!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F6c038774-81ef-4cc8-a44c-e5f9b5b0716b_2400x1600.png 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!xBPT!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F6c038774-81ef-4cc8-a44c-e5f9b5b0716b_2400x1600.png 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!xBPT!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F6c038774-81ef-4cc8-a44c-e5f9b5b0716b_2400x1600.png 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!xBPT!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F6c038774-81ef-4cc8-a44c-e5f9b5b0716b_2400x1600.png 1456w" sizes="100vw" fetchpriority="high"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg role="img" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><title></title><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a><figcaption class="image-caption">Miami-Dade Corrections Inmate Search; Photo by JOSH EDELSON / AFP via Getty Images</figcaption></figure></div><div><hr></div><p><em>Hey y&#8217;all, welcome back to Unfit to Print.</em></p><p><em>Today we&#8217;re covering the seedy underbelly of the World Cup.</em></p><div><hr></div><h3><strong>WORLD CUP&#8217;S DARK WARNING</strong></h3><p>One of the genuinely fun things about the World Cup is watching foreigners fall in love with America in real time.</p><p>My social media timeline is filled with fans from around the world marveling at how big everything is in Texas, discovering tailgates and the portion sizes at local diners and admiring how friendly everyone is.</p><p>But the wholesome travel videos should not blind anyone to the dark underbelly of mass migration events.</p><div><hr></div><p><em>To continue reading this newsletter, please become a paid subscriber.</em></p>
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   ]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[Pledge Allegiance To The Rainbow Flag]]></title><description><![CDATA[A masterclass in millennial snot.]]></description><link>https://stateoftheday.us/p/pledge-allegiance-to-the-rainbow</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://stateoftheday.us/p/pledge-allegiance-to-the-rainbow</guid><dc:creator><![CDATA[Natalie Sandoval]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Mon, 15 Jun 2026 20:57:54 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!fz79!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F594ff1e3-1447-45be-897a-f3703ec02546_4800x3300.jpeg" length="0" type="image/jpeg"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!fz79!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F594ff1e3-1447-45be-897a-f3703ec02546_4800x3300.jpeg" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!fz79!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F594ff1e3-1447-45be-897a-f3703ec02546_4800x3300.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!fz79!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F594ff1e3-1447-45be-897a-f3703ec02546_4800x3300.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!fz79!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F594ff1e3-1447-45be-897a-f3703ec02546_4800x3300.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!fz79!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F594ff1e3-1447-45be-897a-f3703ec02546_4800x3300.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!fz79!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F594ff1e3-1447-45be-897a-f3703ec02546_4800x3300.jpeg" width="1456" height="1001" data-attrs="{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/594ff1e3-1447-45be-897a-f3703ec02546_4800x3300.jpeg&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:null,&quot;height&quot;:1001,&quot;width&quot;:1456,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:null,&quot;bytes&quot;:3133762,&quot;alt&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;image/jpeg&quot;,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:false,&quot;topImage&quot;:true,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:&quot;https://stateoftheday.us/i/202189160?img=https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F594ff1e3-1447-45be-897a-f3703ec02546_4800x3300.jpeg&quot;,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}" class="sizing-normal" alt="" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!fz79!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F594ff1e3-1447-45be-897a-f3703ec02546_4800x3300.jpeg 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!fz79!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F594ff1e3-1447-45be-897a-f3703ec02546_4800x3300.jpeg 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!fz79!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F594ff1e3-1447-45be-897a-f3703ec02546_4800x3300.jpeg 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!fz79!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F594ff1e3-1447-45be-897a-f3703ec02546_4800x3300.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw" fetchpriority="high"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg role="img" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><title></title><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a><figcaption class="image-caption">Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images</figcaption></figure></div><div><hr></div><p>The San Francisco Giants &#8220;missed the point&#8221; of &#8220;Pride Night,&#8221; says The Athletic&#8217;s Grant Brisbee.</p><p>Giants players were given hats featuring a Giants logo striped in the colors of the &#8220;<strong><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Progress_flag">progress</a></strong>&#8220; pride flag (the one that includes the black and brown stripes for black and brown gays, respectively).</p><p>Several players wrote bible verses on their caps. Landen Roupp wrote &#8220;Gen 9:12-16,&#8221; JT Brubaker wrote &#8220;Gen 9:13-15&#8221; and Sam Hentges declined to wear the hat altogether.</p><p>Brisbee <strong><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/7358121/2026/06/13/sf-giants-pride-night-bible-verses-caps/?smid=tw-nytimes&amp;smtyp=cur">refers</a></strong> to such dissent as a &#8220;tone-deaf response to what should have been a moment for community unity.&#8221; Brisbee alleges players like Roupp and Brubaker &#8220;made the night about &#8216;us versus them.&#8217;&#8221;</p><p>Brisbee is unable or unwilling to conceive of a reasonable theory of mind for these players. These players obviously do not see the &#8220;pride&#8221; hat as a symbol of unity. I would argue the hat is not intended to be a symbol of &#8220;unity&#8221; for Giants fans. It is intended to broadcast to the public that the Giants, as a team, are on the &#8220;right side of history.&#8221;</p><p>Being asked to wear the &#8220;pride&#8221; hat is akin to being asked to fly the flag of a conquering nation. Or, at least, I imagine that&#8217;s what some Giants players may have felt.</p><div class="twitter-embed" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://x.com/SohrabAhmari/status/2066337395532767537?s=20&quot;,&quot;full_text&quot;:&quot;Cool time capsule back to 2020. No one gives a shit anymore.&quot;,&quot;username&quot;:&quot;SohrabAhmari&quot;,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;Sohrab Ahmari&quot;,&quot;profile_image_url&quot;:&quot;https://pbs.substack.com/profile_images/1920561349379104768/1xzHcPpQ_normal.jpg&quot;,&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2026-06-15T01:50:00.000Z&quot;,&quot;photos&quot;:[],&quot;quoted_tweet&quot;:{&quot;full_text&quot;:&quot;From @TheAthletic: On Pride Night, which was supposed to be dedicated to support and belonging, several San Francisco Giants players chose a different focus, writing Bible verses on their caps. https://t.co/qG1G1YKk4J&quot;,&quot;username&quot;:&quot;nytimes&quot;,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;The New York Times&quot;,&quot;profile_image_url&quot;:&quot;https://pbs.substack.com/profile_images/1098244578472280064/gjkVMelR_normal.png&quot;},&quot;reply_count&quot;:4,&quot;retweet_count&quot;:13,&quot;like_count&quot;:277,&quot;impression_count&quot;:23226,&quot;expanded_url&quot;:null,&quot;video_url&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:false}" data-component-name="Twitter2ToDOM"></div><p>Brisbee then launches into a tirade about the significance of &#8220;Pride Night.&#8221;</p><p>He writes: &#8220;Without the support of their community at large, LGBTQIA+ individuals are much more likely to be told that they are without value. They are likelier to be abused, to self-harm, to get kicked out of their homes, to be bullied, to be assaulted. They are at risk because of a society that still doesn&#8217;t always accept them, even after decades of progress. Some of that progress was made when events like Pride Night became commonplace, reminding the world of a community&#8217;s existence, strength and humanity. Events like Pride Night reduce suffering in a very real way. To suggest they don&#8217;t is to ignore the humanity of the individuals involved.&#8221;</p><p>Brisbee takes the same tack as trans activists who suggest that if a mentally ill man kills himself because you refused to call him &#8220;Lilith,&#8221; then you are to blame. It&#8217;s a form of moral blackmail which should be rejected in its entirety.</p><p>Even if we accept that &#8220;Pride Night reduce[s] suffering in a very real way,&#8221; so what? Is &#8216;reducing suffering&#8217; the ultimate good? If so, we might as well hook everyone up to a drip feed of morphine and pop music and candy, turning them on their sides every few hours to avoid bedsores.</p>
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   ]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[State of Monday: 'AND LASTLY ... MICHELLE OBAMA IS A MAN!']]></title><description><![CDATA[It wasn&#8217;t just Trump who dodged a bullet in &#8216;24.]]></description><link>https://stateoftheday.us/p/state-of-monday-and-lastly-michelle</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://stateoftheday.us/p/state-of-monday-and-lastly-michelle</guid><dc:creator><![CDATA[Geoffrey Ingersoll]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Mon, 15 Jun 2026 13:51:10 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!10se!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ffe9cc198-dfb2-4525-b107-cd860ece0488_2048x1084.png" length="0" type="image/jpeg"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!10se!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ffe9cc198-dfb2-4525-b107-cd860ece0488_2048x1084.png" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!10se!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ffe9cc198-dfb2-4525-b107-cd860ece0488_2048x1084.png 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!10se!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ffe9cc198-dfb2-4525-b107-cd860ece0488_2048x1084.png 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!10se!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ffe9cc198-dfb2-4525-b107-cd860ece0488_2048x1084.png 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!10se!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ffe9cc198-dfb2-4525-b107-cd860ece0488_2048x1084.png 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!10se!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ffe9cc198-dfb2-4525-b107-cd860ece0488_2048x1084.png" width="1456" height="771" data-attrs="{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/fe9cc198-dfb2-4525-b107-cd860ece0488_2048x1084.png&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:null,&quot;height&quot;:771,&quot;width&quot;:1456,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:null,&quot;bytes&quot;:null,&quot;alt&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:null,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:false,&quot;topImage&quot;:true,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:null,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}" class="sizing-normal" alt="" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!10se!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ffe9cc198-dfb2-4525-b107-cd860ece0488_2048x1084.png 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!10se!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ffe9cc198-dfb2-4525-b107-cd860ece0488_2048x1084.png 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!10se!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ffe9cc198-dfb2-4525-b107-cd860ece0488_2048x1084.png 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!10se!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ffe9cc198-dfb2-4525-b107-cd860ece0488_2048x1084.png 1456w" sizes="100vw" fetchpriority="high"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg role="img" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><title></title><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a></figure></div><div><hr></div><p><em>Greetings, Dear Reader,</em></p><p><em>It took until this very moment to appreciate something many others had been pointing out for months.</em></p><p><em>Let&#8217;s get after it &#8230;</em></p><div><hr></div><h3><strong>&#8216;AND LASTLY &#8230; MICHELLE OBAMA IS A MAN!&#8217;</strong></h3><p>After last night, it&#8217;s abundantly clear that it wasn&#8217;t just Trump, but America that dodged a bullet in 2024.</p><p>Just three years ago almost exactly, June 10, 2023, Joe Biden hosted dozens of sexual deviants on the South Lawn of the White House. It was a &#8220;pride event.&#8221; The gay little party even featured confused tranny men showing off their fake breasts, live and in color, from the official White House property.</p><p>It was gross sexual perversion on full display dressed up as an &#8220;inclusive&#8221; event.</p><p>Now, three years later, all I have to say is this: Thank God Trump is in the White House for America&#8217;s 250th birthday.</p><p>Trump&#8217;s approach to the celebration has been completely over the top. In expectation of guests from all over the country and the world, he &#8220;beautified&#8221; elements of DC. The historic Union Station, where many visitors will first see DC, has seen its fountains totally restored.</p><p>Then you have the White House&#8217;s South Lawn, which was turned into a UFC stage overnight. Dana White and the fighting league reportedly lost $30 million putting on the show. Fully half the event&#8217;s 4,000 seats went to active members of the armed forces, free of charge.</p><p>Main card fighters did their walkouts through the White House and out onto the lawn. A well-placed admin source tells me American fighter and unabashed Christian Justin Gaethje spent four solid minutes <strong><a href="https://x.com/passcoderonald/status/2066403971472699592">in the Oval</a></strong> &#8220;shadow boxing&#8221; and &#8220;doing the sign of the cross&#8221; before walking out to fight the undefeated Spanish phenom Ilia Topuria.</p><p>Topuria was heavily favored, but by the fourth round his face <strong><a href="https://x.com/PolymarketSport/status/2066395421161795774">was absolute hamburger</a></strong>. In case Topuria didn&#8217;t know, he does now: Americans love hamburgers on July 4.</p><p>He ultimately threw in the towel.</p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!JYNz!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F822ca839-1b0b-4186-be38-fd40b9091629_2048x1001.png" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!JYNz!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F822ca839-1b0b-4186-be38-fd40b9091629_2048x1001.png 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!JYNz!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F822ca839-1b0b-4186-be38-fd40b9091629_2048x1001.png 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!JYNz!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F822ca839-1b0b-4186-be38-fd40b9091629_2048x1001.png 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!JYNz!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F822ca839-1b0b-4186-be38-fd40b9091629_2048x1001.png 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!JYNz!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F822ca839-1b0b-4186-be38-fd40b9091629_2048x1001.png" width="1456" height="712" data-attrs="{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/822ca839-1b0b-4186-be38-fd40b9091629_2048x1001.png&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:null,&quot;height&quot;:712,&quot;width&quot;:1456,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:null,&quot;bytes&quot;:null,&quot;alt&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:null,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:true,&quot;topImage&quot;:false,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:null,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}" class="sizing-normal" alt="" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!JYNz!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F822ca839-1b0b-4186-be38-fd40b9091629_2048x1001.png 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!JYNz!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F822ca839-1b0b-4186-be38-fd40b9091629_2048x1001.png 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!JYNz!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F822ca839-1b0b-4186-be38-fd40b9091629_2048x1001.png 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!JYNz!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F822ca839-1b0b-4186-be38-fd40b9091629_2048x1001.png 1456w" sizes="100vw" loading="lazy"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg role="img" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><title></title><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a></figure></div><p>&#8220;Ladies and gentlemen, I am here with the winner and new UFC Lightweight Champion of the World, Justin Gaethje,&#8221; said Joe Rogan in the post-fight interview from the center of the octagon. &#8220;Justin, you have been waiting for this moment your entire career and to win it in such a spectacular fashion in a fight where you were in some points six to one underdog. How good does this feel?&#8221;</p><div class="subscription-widget-wrap-editor" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://stateoftheday.us/subscribe?&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Subscribe&quot;,&quot;language&quot;:&quot;en&quot;}" data-component-name="SubscribeWidgetToDOM"><div class="subscription-widget show-subscribe"><div class="preamble"><p class="cta-caption">This Substack is reader-supported. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.</p></div><form class="subscription-widget-subscribe"><input type="email" class="email-input" name="email" placeholder="Type your email&#8230;" tabindex="-1"><input type="submit" class="button primary" value="Subscribe"><div class="fake-input-wrapper"><div class="fake-input"></div><div class="fake-button"></div></div></form></div></div><p><strong>&#8220;</strong>Hey, I&#8217;m from America; 250 years ago, we were way bigger than 6 to 1 dogs. And look at this thriving now,&#8221; Gaethje started off. &#8220;To all the current, former, and future military service members, thank you so much. Thank you so much to all the first responders, the police officers, firefighters, ambulance, EMTs. You guys have no idea how grateful I am. And for as long as I&#8217;m able to, I will use my name to make money and support you guys first and foremost. Thank you. And all glory to God. I prayed so much for this opportunity to do something legendary. And I know that was absolutely legendary cause I cannot even believe it.&#8221;</p><p>Absolutely legendary indeed.</p><p>The beauty of that statement from Gaethje is how much it reflects the beauty of what the Trump Admin is trying to do for America&#8217;s 250th. It&#8217;s accessible to anyone. It&#8217;s motivating for everyone, not even just Americans. It encourages service and sacrifice. It encourages belief in a higher power. It demonstrated humility and optimism in the face of adversity.</p><p>All of these concepts are available to anyone. Yes, even trannies. Liberals, conservatives, blue-haired baristas with crushing college debt. Foreigners in the third world, American allies in Europe.</p><p>Without even trying, it&#8217;s truly inclusive.</p><p>Trump&#8217;s plan for the 250th is likewise. They&#8217;re doing frickin motocross jumps in front of the people&#8217;s house! Nitro Circus, baby!</p><p>You really have to try to hate that.</p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!0T-P!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F5a7a44b3-52f0-4254-a4cf-b0e812a7097a_1224x1400.png" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!0T-P!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F5a7a44b3-52f0-4254-a4cf-b0e812a7097a_1224x1400.png 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!0T-P!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F5a7a44b3-52f0-4254-a4cf-b0e812a7097a_1224x1400.png 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!0T-P!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F5a7a44b3-52f0-4254-a4cf-b0e812a7097a_1224x1400.png 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!0T-P!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F5a7a44b3-52f0-4254-a4cf-b0e812a7097a_1224x1400.png 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!0T-P!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F5a7a44b3-52f0-4254-a4cf-b0e812a7097a_1224x1400.png" width="1224" height="1400" data-attrs="{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/5a7a44b3-52f0-4254-a4cf-b0e812a7097a_1224x1400.png&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:null,&quot;height&quot;:1400,&quot;width&quot;:1224,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:null,&quot;bytes&quot;:null,&quot;alt&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:null,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:true,&quot;topImage&quot;:false,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:null,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}" class="sizing-normal" alt="" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!0T-P!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F5a7a44b3-52f0-4254-a4cf-b0e812a7097a_1224x1400.png 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!0T-P!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F5a7a44b3-52f0-4254-a4cf-b0e812a7097a_1224x1400.png 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!0T-P!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F5a7a44b3-52f0-4254-a4cf-b0e812a7097a_1224x1400.png 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!0T-P!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F5a7a44b3-52f0-4254-a4cf-b0e812a7097a_1224x1400.png 1456w" sizes="100vw" loading="lazy"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg role="img" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><title></title><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a></figure></div><p>Next up we&#8217;re going to <strong><a href="https://x.com/Freedom250/status/2066303602264547837">get two solid weeks of rodeo</a> </strong>on the National Mall for the Great American State Fair.</p><p>The messaging designed for the 250th was just as over the top as the public displays. We got a long vignette about how Teddy Roosevelt used to stage boxing and wrestling matches (for himself!) from inside the White House. We got another about the writing of the National Anthem. Another about Washington crossing the Delaware to slaughter Hessians.</p><p>None of these prepared presentations contained overtly partisan messaging. They are all our shared history. Accessible to anyone of any stripe or belief. Even gay people and Muslims!</p><p>And what would all this look like if Joe Biden had won again?</p><p>Well, we&#8217;d undoubtedly be getting bashed over the head nonstop about diversity. We&#8217;d hear endless soliloquies about how unchecked immigration is good actually. And slavery, my god, I&#8217;m sure if any celebration were organized on the White House lawn, it would be to further castrate ourselves over the American slave trade. They built the White House, didnyaknow?</p><p>America&#8217;s 250th under Biden would have put the grotesque Medieval Flagellants to shame (but hey, at least they were Christians). How could the left have celebrated the country without gross helpings of shame? They couldn&#8217;t.</p><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://stateoftheday.us/subscribe?&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Subscribe now&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://stateoftheday.us/subscribe?"><span>Subscribe now</span></a></p><p>That&#8217;s why, among other reasons, I&#8217;m thanking God. Now is a time for good old fashioned Americana. And the beauty of Americana is it is by its nature inclusive. In its unabashed celebration of itself, it denies entry to nobody. All are welcome to celebrate America, especially those dorks in Europe, and yes, even the Brits.</p><p>And while the whole thing oozed class, I would like to give one brief shout out to my man Josh Hokit, who leaned hard into the mic after his TKO win and shouted:</p><p>&#8220;One last thing &#8230; MICHELLE OBAMA IS A MAN!&#8221;</p><p>It was, by my measure, the only overtly partisan attack all night. Off color, but heck, at least it was funny.</p><div><hr></div><h3><strong>MORE LINKS</strong></h3><p><strong><a href="https://dailycaller.com/2026/06/14/steve-kornacki-breaks-down-poll-declining-trend-feeling-proud-american-nbc-news-meet-press/">Data Guru Breaks Down Poll Showing Declining Trend Of Feeling Proud To Be American</a></strong></p><p>Sad.</p><p> &#8212;</p><p><strong><a href="https://dailycaller.com/2026/06/14/college-professor-stacey-patton-blames-austin-metcalfs-father-sons-murder/">&#8216;Black Children Have Boundaries&#8217;: College Professor Blames Austin Metcalf&#8217;s Father For Son&#8217;s Murder</a></strong></p><p>This is who is teaching America&#8217;s youth.</p><p>&#8212;</p><p><strong><a href="https://dailycaller.com/2026/06/12/katie-arnold-ratliff-new-york-magazine-intelligencer-children-gifted-concept/">There&#8217;s Nothing The Left Hates More Than Talent</a></strong></p><p>We need a total reset on this country&#8217;s education system.</p><div><hr></div><p><em>Like what you&#8217;re reading? If so, please consider subscribing to State of the Day or sharing this with a friend. You&#8217;d be supporting this newsletter and helping keep independent journalism alive.</em></p><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://stateoftheday.us/subscribe?&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Subscribe now&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://stateoftheday.us/subscribe?"><span>Subscribe now</span></a></p><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://stateoftheday.us/p/state-of-monday-and-lastly-michelle?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email&utm_content=share&action=share&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Share&quot;,&quot;action&quot;:null,&quot;class&quot;:null}" data-component-name="ButtonCreateButton"><a class="button primary" href="https://stateoftheday.us/p/state-of-monday-and-lastly-michelle?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email&utm_content=share&action=share"><span>Share</span></a></p><p><em>If you are already a paid subscriber, make sure to join the conversation in our subscribers-only chat below.</em></p><div class="community-chat" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://open.substack.com/pub/stateoftheday/chat?utm_source=chat_embed&quot;,&quot;subdomain&quot;:&quot;stateoftheday&quot;,&quot;pub&quot;:{&quot;id&quot;:6361003,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;State of the Day&quot;,&quot;author_name&quot;:&quot;State of the Day&quot;,&quot;author_photo_url&quot;:&quot;https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!_bUL!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F9134fb16-1032-4282-9207-956db1874f73_1201x1201.png&quot;}}" data-component-name="CommunityChatRenderPlaceholder"></div>]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[All Girls Need A Sister]]></title><description><![CDATA[I guess there&#8217;s always the nunnery.]]></description><link>https://stateoftheday.us/p/all-girls-need-a-sister</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://stateoftheday.us/p/all-girls-need-a-sister</guid><dc:creator><![CDATA[Mary Rooke]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Sat, 13 Jun 2026 12:02:17 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!oWyk!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F5ac27ea4-899d-41e1-9359-d4e465531c59_2400x1600.png" length="0" type="image/jpeg"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!oWyk!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F5ac27ea4-899d-41e1-9359-d4e465531c59_2400x1600.png" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!oWyk!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F5ac27ea4-899d-41e1-9359-d4e465531c59_2400x1600.png 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!oWyk!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F5ac27ea4-899d-41e1-9359-d4e465531c59_2400x1600.png 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!oWyk!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F5ac27ea4-899d-41e1-9359-d4e465531c59_2400x1600.png 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!oWyk!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F5ac27ea4-899d-41e1-9359-d4e465531c59_2400x1600.png 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!oWyk!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F5ac27ea4-899d-41e1-9359-d4e465531c59_2400x1600.png" width="1456" height="971" data-attrs="{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/5ac27ea4-899d-41e1-9359-d4e465531c59_2400x1600.png&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:null,&quot;height&quot;:971,&quot;width&quot;:1456,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:null,&quot;bytes&quot;:9751738,&quot;alt&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;image/png&quot;,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:false,&quot;topImage&quot;:true,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:&quot;https://stateoftheday.us/i/201808854?img=https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F5ac27ea4-899d-41e1-9359-d4e465531c59_2400x1600.png&quot;,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}" class="sizing-normal" alt="" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!oWyk!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F5ac27ea4-899d-41e1-9359-d4e465531c59_2400x1600.png 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!oWyk!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F5ac27ea4-899d-41e1-9359-d4e465531c59_2400x1600.png 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!oWyk!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F5ac27ea4-899d-41e1-9359-d4e465531c59_2400x1600.png 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!oWyk!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F5ac27ea4-899d-41e1-9359-d4e465531c59_2400x1600.png 1456w" sizes="100vw" fetchpriority="high"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg role="img" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><title></title><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a><figcaption class="image-caption">Photo by Three Lions/Hulton Archive/Getty Images</figcaption></figure></div><div><hr></div><p><em>Welcome back to Good Life, a newsletter about navigating our modern culture and staying sane in the process. This week, we discuss how some girls are combating high rent and loneliness in the city that never sleeps.</em></p><p><em>Enjoying this newsletter? Share it with your friends and family! And if you&#8217;re one of those friends or family members, you can sign up to get your own copy every week right <strong><a href="https://stateoftheday.us/s/good-life">here</a></strong>.</em></p><div><hr></div><p>We are starting to look at colleges for our oldest daughter. While we still have years before she leaves the house, getting into a good college is becoming increasingly difficult for regular Americans. Now, if she were in a protected class &#8212; black, Hispanic, immigrant, gay &#8212; I wouldn&#8217;t be so worried. But alas, she&#8217;s just a regular American who can trace her lineage back to before the American Revolution, so figuring out her future has to start a bit early.</p><p>And if it&#8217;s not enough to stress about whether or not she&#8217;ll get into her top school, I wonder what will happen to her after she gets there. Ideally, I want her to attend a Catholic college where she&#8217;ll be among faith-filled students who share similar morals and values. But there is really only one such college in Texas that fits the bill, and more than anything, I don&#8217;t want her moving out of state.</p><p>So what happens to her if she goes to a &#8230; state college? Well, I&#8217;ve thought about it, meaning I&#8217;ve had a lot of sleepless nights and nightmares about it, and decided to table the worrying for when I get closer to that moment. That was until one of my friends sent <strong><a href="https://www.wsj.com/lifestyle/rent-is-so-high-new-yorkers-are-living-with-nuns-00dac324?mod=hp_lista_pos1">a recent</a></strong> Wall Street Journal piece about what women are doing to combat the sky-high rent in New York City. And it got me thinking.</p>
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   ]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[I Got Access To The White House UFC Arena. Here's What I Saw.]]></title><description><![CDATA[A massive Freedom 250 sign greeted us on the South Lawn.]]></description><link>https://stateoftheday.us/p/i-got-access-to-the-white-house-ufc</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://stateoftheday.us/p/i-got-access-to-the-white-house-ufc</guid><dc:creator><![CDATA[Reagan Reese]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Fri, 12 Jun 2026 20:06:34 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!ASCb!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F29772ce1-738e-4a14-84e3-75e73aaf2238_2400x1600.png" length="0" type="image/jpeg"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" target="_blank" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!ASCb!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F29772ce1-738e-4a14-84e3-75e73aaf2238_2400x1600.png" data-component-name="Image2ToDOM"><div class="image2-inset"><picture><source type="image/webp" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!ASCb!,w_424,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F29772ce1-738e-4a14-84e3-75e73aaf2238_2400x1600.png 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!ASCb!,w_848,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F29772ce1-738e-4a14-84e3-75e73aaf2238_2400x1600.png 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!ASCb!,w_1272,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F29772ce1-738e-4a14-84e3-75e73aaf2238_2400x1600.png 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!ASCb!,w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F29772ce1-738e-4a14-84e3-75e73aaf2238_2400x1600.png 1456w" sizes="100vw"><img src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!ASCb!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F29772ce1-738e-4a14-84e3-75e73aaf2238_2400x1600.png" width="1456" height="971" data-attrs="{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https://substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/29772ce1-738e-4a14-84e3-75e73aaf2238_2400x1600.png&quot;,&quot;srcNoWatermark&quot;:null,&quot;fullscreen&quot;:null,&quot;imageSize&quot;:null,&quot;height&quot;:971,&quot;width&quot;:1456,&quot;resizeWidth&quot;:null,&quot;bytes&quot;:6981210,&quot;alt&quot;:null,&quot;title&quot;:null,&quot;type&quot;:&quot;image/png&quot;,&quot;href&quot;:null,&quot;belowTheFold&quot;:false,&quot;topImage&quot;:true,&quot;internalRedirect&quot;:&quot;https://stateoftheday.us/i/201779682?img=https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F29772ce1-738e-4a14-84e3-75e73aaf2238_2400x1600.png&quot;,&quot;isProcessing&quot;:false,&quot;align&quot;:null,&quot;offset&quot;:false}" class="sizing-normal" alt="" srcset="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!ASCb!,w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F29772ce1-738e-4a14-84e3-75e73aaf2238_2400x1600.png 424w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!ASCb!,w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F29772ce1-738e-4a14-84e3-75e73aaf2238_2400x1600.png 848w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!ASCb!,w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F29772ce1-738e-4a14-84e3-75e73aaf2238_2400x1600.png 1272w, https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!ASCb!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F29772ce1-738e-4a14-84e3-75e73aaf2238_2400x1600.png 1456w" sizes="100vw" fetchpriority="high"></picture><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image"><svg role="img" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="none" stroke-width="1.5" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><title></title><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button tabindex="0" type="button" class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20" height="20" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a></figure></div><p>When you&#8217;re on White House pool duty, you don&#8217;t leave until the president&#8217;s staff dismisses you. On a quiet evening, usually around 6 p.m., someone gets on the overhead speaker, calls a &#8220;lid&#8221; (that&#8217;s White House-speak for <em>the president is done for the day, you&#8217;re free</em>), and we scatter.</p><p>Last Monday was one of those rare, achingly quiet days. Nothing on the schedule. No movement. So, when 6 p.m. came and went, I expected the lid call any second.</p><p>But 6 p.m. became 6:30. Then 7 p.m.</p><p>One by one, we started filing into the press office to gently request a lid. This is standard practice, because sometimes the aides just need a little encouragement to pester their supervisors into letting us leave. But nothing came.</p><p>We all started pacing the White House driveway, feeling a bit stir crazy and hangry. One reporter spotted Dana White walking into the White House.</p><p>Every head turned toward the West Wing, where the giant UFC &#8220;claw&#8221; peeked over the roofline. We had watched it go up over the past few weeks but never got close enough for a real look. Only on walks through the Rose Garden, at the president&#8217;s invitation, had any of us seen it up close. Even then, we were still a good distance away.</p><p>Now the press started to whisper.</p><div class="subscription-widget-wrap-editor" data-attrs="{&quot;url&quot;:&quot;https://stateoftheday.us/subscribe?&quot;,&quot;text&quot;:&quot;Subscribe&quot;,&quot;language&quot;:&quot;en&quot;}" data-component-name="SubscribeWidgetToDOM"><div class="subscription-widget show-subscribe"><div class="preamble"><p class="cta-caption">This Substack is reader-supported. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.</p></div><form class="subscription-widget-subscribe"><input type="email" class="email-input" name="email" placeholder="Type your email&#8230;" tabindex="-1"><input type="submit" class="button primary" value="Subscribe"><div class="fake-input-wrapper"><div class="fake-input"></div><div class="fake-button"></div></div></form></div></div><p>&#8220;I bet they&#8217;re holding us here because they&#8217;re going to give us a sneak peek.&#8221;</p><p>&#8220;That&#8217;s totally it. They&#8217;re probably waiting till the sun goes down so we can see the lights better.&#8221;</p><p>I told a few aides I was excited to see the arena and that I hoped the president might bring us out there that night. They shuffled uncomfortably.</p><p>I took that as confirmation.</p><p>We were drafting questions, charging phones, speculating out loud. And then my inbox lit up with an email from a White House aide.</p><p>&#8220;Lid.&#8221;</p><p>I stopped. It was 8:30 p.m. The sun had just dipped below the horizon.</p><p>&#8220;Guys&#8230;. We have a lid.&#8221;</p><p>The air went out of the driveway. A long day of nothing, capped off with a near-miss that wasn&#8217;t even a near-miss. We packed our bags and left.</p><p>A week later, we received another email &#8212; press credentials for a media walkthrough of the UFC Arena. Thursday, 7:30 a.m.</p><p>By 7 a.m., the press was already in line.</p><p>A White House official gave me a preview of what to expect inside. &#8220;It&#8217;s so big,&#8221; she said, &#8220;it makes your phone look small.&#8221;</p><p>She wasn&#8217;t wrong.</p>
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   ]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[Dear Haters: Leave Your Anti-Trump BS Out Of This World Cup ]]></title><description><![CDATA[Sincerely, normal Americans]]></description><link>https://stateoftheday.us/p/dear-haters-leave-your-anti-trump</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://stateoftheday.us/p/dear-haters-leave-your-anti-trump</guid><dc:creator><![CDATA[John Loftus]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Fri, 12 Jun 2026 17:42:32 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!-doT!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fa9303d53-0f91-4477-9619-bf96c2cbca10_2048x1385.jpeg" length="0" type="image/jpeg"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[
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          </a>
      </p>
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