Thumbs UP; Thumbs DOWN

So help me out here, please. Roman visitors today can tour the Colosseum for just under $50 CDN. Described by one reviewer the tour is “very informative. Fascinating history. Very thorough Worth the price, and the Colosseum is awesome to actually be inside and see it.” As they say, when in Rome, do as the Roman tourists do.

Travel with me now to the United States, into the future, to the year 2050, where Washington DC tourists could tour the White House grounds, paying special attention to the South Lawn, where on the occasion of the nation’s 250^th anniversary, emperor Trump sat with his gangster cronies watching the first (of many?) UFC fights. Our tour guide (with thanks to Robert Reich) takes us through the action:

On Sunday, June 14, 2026, Trump [threw] an 80th birthday bash for himself (he says it’s in honor of the 250th birthday of the United States) with a “Freedom250” Ultimate Fighting Championship cage match on the South Lawn of the White House at 8 p.m. ET.

It will be a bloody gladiator fight taking place inside a 600-ton, 154-feet-tall skeletal structure called “the Claw,” painted red, white and blue. Opponents will punch, kick, wrestle, choke, and use jiu-jitsu on each other until one of them is unconscious or verbally concedes, or a referee stops the fight because one is judged too damaged to absorb any more violence.

This is a money-making operation for the UFC (which is offering special-access VIP packages for $1.5 million), for Trump buddy David Ellison’s Paramount (which will livestream it to you if you buy a subscription for $8.99 a month — see here), for Crypto.com and Ram (which are sponsoring it), and for Trump (who’s deciding which of his billionaire friends and CEO buddies will be invited ringside. Last night, Trump held a $1 million-a-person dinner at the Trump National Golf Club at Potomac, Virginia, to benefit his Super PAC, Maga Inc.).

[All this is to say] that Trump and his regime are seeking to project an America that’s like the winner of a cage match. Don’t forget that contestants will enter the cage FROM THE OVAL OFFICE ITSELF.

A brave member of this futuristic tour groups asks: “Did the emperor sit on high, decked in flowing robes with a wannabe crown, giving a signal” —  Thumbs UP, or Thumbs DOWN? Good question, for which this the future guide has no immediate answer.

You may well ask how these 2050 tourists will react. Currently one third of US voters still stick with Trump — Some just don’t understand; others see Trump as their key to political or commercial success and status. Another third just hope the problem will go away, somehow, and at some time. (The Gerrymandered mid-terms ­— And lest I forget, RELEASE THE EPSTEIN FILES, ALL OF THEM.

And a final third struggle to speak truth to power and to all of us. Some are paralyzed by indecision, rendered inactive by a nagging sense of futility. Some days, it’s hard to know where to start. Some such as myself will never set foot in the US again. I continue to resist engaging economically with any US commercial entity. My action however is far less than perfect. I type right now using Microsoft software, relying on Google and Adobe products. Sigh.

This disgusting cage match occurs while people die throughout the Middle East in a war initiated to take attention away from other matters. Cuba is starved in all manner of ways. Don’t forget Venezuela. US racism continues unabated, and the Gordie Howe Bridge connecting Canada with the US remains closed because Trump wants more money.

The above notwithstanding, I am beyond words. What about you, dear reader?

So one final thought, a suggestion actually. If the folks at Walter Reid say the emperor is in such great shape, why doesn’t the emperor go in the cage himself. A thought.

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