Let's begin today with a story that features two of America's longstanding pastimes: baseball and racism. And since the latter of those seems to be, once again, at the forefront of an American election, we'll set our story in a place that embodies the demagoguery that often divides us: Florida. "Xavier Medina, an assistant coach for Estero, watched from across the diamond. In all his years coaching youth sports, he had never seen a team abandon its own players. As the bizarre scene unfolded, he was witnessing the antithesis of what sports were supposed to be about. The cliches of teamwork and togetherness were collapsing in real time. Players wearing the same uniform were not united against Estero. They were divided against themselves. His second conclusion was even worse: The walkout did not appear to be a reckless act concocted by teenagers, but rather orchestrated and blessed by coaches and parents. The kids were taking the lead from the grown-ups." Howard Bryant in ESPN: A racial slur and a Fort Myers High baseball team torn apart. "While many team issues fell under the common soap opera of high school sports -- a nationwide epidemic of meddling parents and overbearing coaches, the unending battle between fair participation and winning at all costs -- virtually the entirety of the grievances that destroyed the 2023 baseball team can be traced to two specific areas: the internecine racial history of Fort Myers, and, more urgently, the enforcement of conservative mandates playing out in education in Florida and around the nation." 2It's Good to Be the KingIf the Supreme Court majority thinks a president should have total immunity, maybe Biden should arrest, imprison, and replace the Supreme Court majority. What's he got to lose? That sounds crazy. In other words, it has something very much in common with the sad, worrisome Supreme Court hearing on presidential immunity. Something absurd (presidents as kings) was made to seem serious, and something remarkably serious (the actual coup and insurrection) was turned into a triviality. Slate: The Last Thing This Supreme Court Could Do to Shock Us. "Justice Samuel Alito best captured the spirit of arguments when he asked gravely “what is required for the functioning of a stable democratic society” (good start!), then answered his own question: total immunity for criminal presidents (oh, dear). Indeed, anything but immunity would, he suggested, encourage presidents to commit more crimes to stay in office: 'Now, if an incumbent who loses a very close, hotly contested election knows that a real possibility after leaving office is not that the president is going to be able to go off into a peaceful retirement but that the president may be criminally prosecuted by a bitter political opponent, will that not lead us into a cycle that destabilizes the functioning of our country as a democracy?' Never mind that the president in question did not leave office peacefully and is not sitting quietly in retirement but is instead running for presidential office once again. No, if we want criminal presidents to leave office when they lose, we have to let them commit crimes scot-free. If ever a better articulation of the legal principle 'Don’t make me hit you again' has been proffered at an oral argument, it’s hard to imagine it." 3Reef Madness"The Philippines in 1999 deliberately ran aground a World War II-era landing ship on a half-submerged shoal, establishing the vessel as an outpost of the Philippine navy. The BRP Sierra Madre, which has remained on Second Thomas Shoal ever since, has now become the epicenter of escalating tensions between the Philippines and China — and a singular trip wire that could draw the United States into an armed conflict in the Pacific, say officials and security analysts." WaPo(Gift Article): Asia’s next war could be triggered by a rusting warship on a disputed reef. 4Weekend WhatsWhat to Watch: Netflix describes its new black and white, slow rolling, film noir series Ripley as a psychological thriller in which a con artist assumes the identity of wealthy man. I know, I know, that sounds like the show you've been watching for the last eight years. But this one is really good (and there's not a drop of orange).
5Extra, ExtraBig Scan on Campus: "Inflation, Healthcare, Housing, Gun Violence, and Jobs ranked as the top five most important issues – in that order. 'The only issue time that inflation did not win its individual match-up was when it was paired with women’s reproductive rights. Women’s reproductive rights was considered the more important issue, 57% to 43%.'" Harvard Kennedy School’s Institute of Politics recently released its Spring 2024 poll of young voters (taken about a month ago) and there was at least one result that will probably surprise you. Of the 16 issues polled, “Israel/Palestine” ranked as the 15th most important compared to the others – only viewed as more important than student debt. 6Feel Good FridayArea Man Buys Newspaper: "The world needs laughter; it needs satirical criticism more than ever ... And that’s why we think this is the right time and the right way to help The Onion continue to grow, continue to flourish, and frankly I’m concerned if we hadn’t done this, I don’t know what would have happened." The Onion is going from an uncertain future with a PE firm to a more hopeful one with new owners that love it. The Onion Is Sold by G/O Media.
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