&#8220;Democracy dies in darkness,&#8221; The Washington Post informed readers in February of 2017 — but the newspaper&#8217;s last-ditch attempt to shade President Donald Trump ahead of the midterm elections is laughable at best.
The Post&#8217;s 11th-hour investigation dug into President Trump&#8217;s proposed new monument celebrating 250 years of American independence — dubbed &#8220;Independence Arch&#8221; — and determined through digital modeling that the structure would, at times, cast a shadow over parts of Arlington National Cemetery.
The outlet ran a digital simulation showing the shadows that would be cast by the monument over the course of a full year, and then <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/interactive/2026/10/27/trumps-arch-would-cast-shadow-arlington-cemetery/">published the findings</a> on Tuesday — one week before Election Day.
<blockquote>
Over the course of a year, the shadow of the triumphal arch would touch burial sites in Arlington National Cemetery on 284 days, The Post found. It would briefly cover Kennedy’s eternal flame on 18 days, and it would shade the former president’s memorial on 50. It would darken the Military Women’s Memorial on 109 days.
The shadow would move across the graves of veterans and their next of kin from the Vietnam War, Korean War, World War II, World War I, Spanish-American War and Civil War, the model shows. It would dim the headstones of formerly enslaved people. In total, The Post found that it would pass over more than 75,000 graves.
</blockquote>
After four paragraphs and a graphic, the Post acknowledged that most of those shadows would disappear from cemetery grounds before visitors arrived.
The Post acknowledged that the arch&#8217;s shadow would remain on cemetery grounds after the 8 a.m. public opening on just 26 days per year.
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The U.S. Department of the Interior described the likely impact of those shadows in a statement: &#8220;That period is less than an hour after sunrise, at which point shadows are very lengthened and distorted, and are mingled with the long shadows of trees.&#8221;
University of Connecticut history professor Micki McElya argued that it did not matter whether the shadow was ever seen — only that it existed.
&#8220;It’s not about people in the cemetery seeing shadows so much as it is about the fact of the shadows themselves,&#8221; she said.
But The Post&#8217;s investigation did not stop there — because shadows at sunset are cast in the opposite direction.
Combining its morning and evening findings, the Post reported that the arch&#8217;s shadow would &#8220;touch&#8221; either the Lincoln Memorial or the gravesite of former President John F. Kennedy on 110 days per year, albeit briefly. It would also shade parts of the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial on more than 30 days, and would occasionally touch the Vietnam War and Korean War memorials.
&#8220;There are a lot of families out there who are going to visit their loved one and just be overwhelmed by the shadow of this vanity project to Trump,&#8221; Paul Eaton, a retired U.S. Army major general who works with the veterans advocacy organization VoteVets, said of the project he deemed a &#8220;sacrilege.&#8221;
The Trump administration pushed back on The Post&#8217;s report, with White House spokesman Davis Ingle responding, &#8220;The Triumphal Arch in Memorial Circle is going to be one of the most iconic landmarks not only in Washington, D.C., but throughout the world.&#8221;
Trump announced plans for the monument on April 10, saying, &#8220;I am pleased to announce that TODAY my Administration officially filed the presentation and plans to the highly respected Commission of Fine Arts for what will be the GREATEST and MOST BEAUTIFUL Triumphal Arch, anywhere in the World. This will be a wonderful addition to the Washington D.C. area for all Americans to enjoy for many decades to come!&#8221;
&#8220;This will be one of the Great Pieces of American Architecture, honoring the history and significance of Arlington Cemetery and befitting the most powerful Capital in the World,&#8221; Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said in a statement in September.
The arch, Trump said, will also provide storage space for military equipment and ammunition so that drones and snipers could be deployed from that location at a moment&#8217;s notice.
In an October 5 <a href="https://thefederalist.com/2026/10/05/trumps-triumphal-arch-completes-a-longstanding-national-aspiration/">Federalist essay,</a> National Capital Planning Commission Chairman Mark Paoletta argued that Trump&#8217;s arch would fulfill the vision of a bridge-and-plaza project Congress authorized in 1925, providing a &#8220;fitting entrance&#8221; to the national cemetery where so many of the nation&#8217;s fallen heroes had been laid to rest. The earlier design called for two monumental columns.
The Post&#8217;s report did not include any information about the long-term plans for the project — which Trump has promised to finish — suggesting that the &#8220;darkness&#8221; where democracy allegedly dies is at least partially self-imposed.

Arlington National Cemetery

Washington Post Ends Election Season With Dumbest Investigation Of All Time

2026 midterm election

arlington national cemetery

donald trump

media bias

politics

washington post

Americans, according to a recent analysis of Google search trends, struggle with pronunciation across a wide range of words.
An annual report, generated by puzzle site <a href="https://www.unscramblerer.com">Unscramblerer.com</a>, revealed the top searches nationwide for help with pronunciation — and then broke down the results by state as well. The results included some that seemed obvious — such as the popular condiment “Worcestershire sauce” — and a few that only made sense once local accents came into play, like “water.”
The <a href="https://nypost.com/2026/10/27/lifestyle/the-most-mispronounced-words-in-the-us-revealed-in-new-report/">analysis</a> looked at Google Trends from January 1, 2026, to October 20, 2026 — and included searches for the terms “pronunciation of” and “how do you pronounce” in all 50 states — and “Worcestershire” (WUUS-ter-sheer) was the clear winner with more than 320,000 searches monthly.
“Gyro” (YEE-roh) took the number two spot with more than 290,000 searches — and also took the top spot in four states: Alabama, Indiana, Mississippi, and Missouri. In third place, with just over 259,000 searches, was “Dachshund” (DAKS-hund) — another entry that took first place across four states: Nebraska, North Dakota, West Virginia, and Wyoming.
Rounding out the top 10 were Niche (NEESH), with 224,500 searches; Porsche (POR-shuh), with 205,200 searches; Qatar (kuh-TAR), with 196,800 searches; GIF (JIF), with 190,700 searches; Curacao (KYUR-uh-sow), with 189,600 searches; Saoirse (SEER-shuh), with 181,200 searches; and Pho (FUH), with 174,000 searches.
By state, “Worcestershire” took the top spot in South Dakota and Idaho, and “Eschatology” (es-kuh-TAH-luh-jee) was the most commonly searched pronunciation in Louisiana. Others that made sense included “Caprese” (kuh-PRAY-zay) in Rhode Island, “Curacao” (KYUR-uh-sow) in Connecticut, and “Paczki” (POONCH-kee) in Wisconsin.
But several of the winners by state defied explanation: “Chicago” (shih-KAH-goh) in Illinois, for example, along with “Colorado” (kah-luh-RAD-oh) in Colorado, “Hawaii” (huh-WY-ee) in Hawaii, “Nevada” (nuh-VAD-uh) in Nevada, and “Massachusetts” (mass-uh-CHOO-sits) in Massachusetts.
Still others only made sense with local accents in mind — like “water” (WAW-ter) in both Pennsylvania and Delaware, where the Philadelphia accent often results in the word coming out more like “wooder.”
The <a href="https://thehill.com/homenews/5601662-people-in-your-state-just-cant-pronounce-this-word-correctly-report-suggests/">2025 study</a> saw a lot of the same words in the top 10 — but “Worcestershire” was the number two word and “gyro” was number one — and “Primeval” (pry-MEE-vul) ranked 10th.
Food and drink terms were big in 2025 as well, as Connecticut struggled with “Sfogliatelle” (sfo-LYA-tel), Illinois couldn’t get “Yuengling” (YING-ling) right, Idaho had to look up “kefir” (KEE-fer), Nebraska’s verbal nemesis was “Bolognese” (boh-luh-NAYZ), New Yorkers struggled to pronounce “Tzatziki” (tsat-SEE-kee), and Oregon had trouble with “Bibimbap” (BEE-bim-bap).

Are Americans Getting Dumber? The Words Making A Strong Case

Most Americans Are Basically Illiterate

english language

google trends

lifestyle

pronunciation

viral trends

Former Vice President Kamala Harris chose Gov. Tim Walz (D-MN) to be her running mate in 2024, but when asked about the Democrat Party&#8217;s future, Walz had someone else in mind.
With just a week to go before the midterm elections, Walz sat for an interview that aired on C-SPAN, and he was prompted to &#8220;give some advice to the national [Democrat] party.&#8221;
The Minnesota governor&#8217;s answer was immediate: &#8220;Pick Pete Buttigieg.&#8221;
Critics immediately noticed that Walz skipped over his former running mate — and some also wondered why anyone was asking Walz for advice, given that he&#8217;d lost his shot at the vice presidency in 2024 and wasn&#8217;t even running for reelection as governor.
&#8220;Besides completely throwing Kamala under the bus &#8211; the fact that this interviewer is asking friggin Tim Walz to give advice to the party … considering he was the worst vice presidential selection of all time…And isn’t even running for reelection in his own state is dumbfounding,&#8221; Joe Concha <a href="https://x.com/JoeConchaTV/status/2115066096243904712">observed</a>.
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In her memoir, Harris described her <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/kamala-says-she-didnt-ditch-mayor-pete-because-hes-gay-she-did-it-because-hes-gay">thought process</a> as she selected a running mate, saying she initially favored Buttigieg but feared voters wouldn&#8217;t elect a black female president and a gay vice president on the same ticket.
She later tried to defend that position during an interview with MS NOW host Rachel Maddow — who is also gay — and effectively claimed that she didn&#8217;t pass over Buttigieg because he was gay, but rather, she argued that President Donald Trump would have used the fact that he was gay to attack the campaign.
&#8220;My point is, as I write in the book, is that I was clear that in 107 days, in one of the most hotly contested elections for president against someone like Trump, who knows no floor,” Harris said at the time, attempting to spin her argument as a move to protect Buttigieg from the obvious onslaught of attacks that would have come. “To be a black woman running for president, and as a vice presidential running mate, a gay man. With the stakes being so high, it made me very sad. But I also realized it would be a real risk.&#8221;
Neither Harris nor Buttigieg — who both ran in 2020 during the Democrat Party primary — has declared outright a plan to run again in 2028, but both have left the door open for future campaigns.

JD Vance And Tim Walz Face Off In Vice Presidential Debate In New York

Kamala Picked Him To Be Her VP. He Tossed Her Under The Bus.

Kamala Picked Him To Be VP. He Tossed Her Under The Bus.

democratic party

kamala harris

pete buttigieg

tim walz

U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltz shouted down Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla on the General Assembly floor on Tuesday—while another member of the Cuban delegation tried to physically stop his spokesman from recording the exchange.
The confrontation began as Waltz laid out <a href="https://x.com/USAmbUN/status/2115135452814422363">evidence of corruption</a> in Cuban leadership over several decades, sharing photos of the late communist dictator Fidel Castro wearing two Rolex watches that would be valued at $40,000 today.
&#8220;According to the regime’s own statistics, that would pay for 55 years of an average Cuban wage,” Waltz said, before showing a photo of current Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel — the first non-Castro to hold the office since the 1959 Cuban revolution. “It didn’t just start with Castro. This is the current Cuban president, also with a Rolex on.&#8221;
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Parrilla moved toward Waltz, then accused him of spreading lies about Cuba—but Waltz did not budge.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
NEW: @USAmbUN Mike Waltz just got into a shouting match on the floor of the general assembly with Cuban Minister of Foreign Affairs Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla
&#8220;He&#8217;s not going to intimidate me in the United States of America, like he tries to intimidate political prisoners,&#8221; Waltz said, raising his voice
&#8220;Back up!&#8221;
— Josh Christenson (@jchristenson_) <a href="https://x.com/jchristenson_/status/2115105814520250576?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 27, 2026</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.x.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
&#8220;Back up!&#8221; he shouted, turning back to the delegates and saying, &#8220;He doesn’t like the substance — he doesn&#8217;t like hard truths. I have asked him to back away from this podium. Mr. President, this individual needs to back away from this podium. He&#8217;s not going to intimidate me in the United States of America — like he tries to intimidate political prisoners.&#8221;
Parrilla shouted something back, at which point Waltz replied, &#8220;And I&#8217;m the representative of the United States of America! Back up! Back up, Ambassador, back away&#8230; You&#8217;re not going to intimidate me. Do you understand who you&#8217;re dealing with? This is America. Back up!&#8221;
While Waltz was speaking, another member of the Cuban delegation tried to stop Waltz spokesman J.P. Freire from recording the confrontation—and was caught on video trying to knock the phone from his hand.

Security Council Meets On Russia Ukraine War During United Nations General Assembly

America Gets Into Shouting Match With Cuba On UN Floor

bruno rodriguez parrilla

cuba

miguel diaz-canel

mike waltz

united nations

world

CBS News&#8217; &#8220;60 Minutes&#8221; aired an episode focused on a man who was deported to Ghana under President Donald Trump&#8217;s deportation efforts, but the Department of Homeland Security says the network cut out quite a bit.
DHS General Counsel James Percival, who was interviewed for the broadcast, shared a series of clips that were ultimately left out of the final cut. He suggested that those particular bits were left out specifically to further a predetermined narrative: that the average illegal immigrant was just like <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/60-minutes-featured-deported-illegals-sob-story-his-asylum-application-adds-a-twist">Moussa Diawara</a>, just a &#8220;Texas father&#8221; who followed the law — with the obvious exception of that visa he overstayed by 25 years.
&#8220;I talked to @60Minutes for nearly an hour. In our conversation, we talked about the vicious killers and rapists we are removing to third countries and the fact that no President before President Trump removed these public safety threats from our community. Unfortunately, as they always do, they selectively edited the video and included none of that. They did promise they would publish the entire interview, so I look forward to my comments being posted in full this week,&#8221; Percival <a href="https://x.com/DHSGenCounsel/status/2114500486997135654">posted</a> on Sunday.
Diawara, 57, described himself as gay and said he feared persecution over both his sexual orientation and his conversion to Christianity if he ever returned to his home country of Mali. He was deported to Ghana over the summer because a judge barred his deportation to Mali. Once in Ghana, however, officials reportedly forced him onto a flight to his home country.
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The first clip from the &#8220;60 Minutes&#8221; interview focused on third country deportations — which take place when the United States moves to deport people when there is a court order or some other barrier to returning them to their countries of origin. Because the third countries are not bound by U.S. court orders, there is no way to guarantee that the third country will not return the individuals to their country of origin once they have left U.S. jurisdiction.
&#8220;60 Minutes&#8221; contributor Gianna Toboni asked Percival to address that particular issue, wondering why the United States would move ahead with such deportations if the third country in question could return someone to a country where their physical safety might be at risk.
&#8220;You can kind of see why @60Minutes left stuff like this on the cutting room floor,&#8221; Percival captioned the clip.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
You can kind of see why @60Minutes left stuff like this on the cutting room floor. https://t.co/w5L4jEbdJl
— James Percival (@DHSGenCounsel) <a href="https://x.com/DHSGenCounsel/status/2114903619237802404?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 27, 2026</a></blockquote>
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&#8220;I guess one thing that I would point out — are you suggesting that when these people went to their home countries that they were persecuted or tortured?&#8221; Percival asked.
&#8220;I&#8217;m not suggesting that, a U.S. judge said that,&#8221; Toboni replied. &#8220;A federal judge said that.&#8221;
&#8220;That they were persecuted or tortured when they went to their home country?&#8221; Percival asked again.
&#8220;That they were more than likely to be tortured or persecuted if they were returned to their home country,&#8221; Toboni clarified.
Percival kept pressing, pointing out the fact that with or without a judge&#8217;s order, if the people in question had not actually been tortured or persecuted when they returned to their home countries, then the actions taken by the third country were not necessarily out of line.
In a second clip, Toboni questioned the number of deportation orders carried out despite the small percentage of those who were being deported based on convictions or charges of &#8220;violent crimes.&#8221; Percival responded by pointing out just how many horrible crimes — from distribution of child pornography to heroin trafficking — that most people would say warranted deportation but would not officially be classified as &#8220;violent.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
More good stuff that @60Minutes did not include. https://t.co/XCwAwXtC3m
— James Percival (@DHSGenCounsel) <a href="https://x.com/DHSGenCounsel/status/2114904136395506109?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 27, 2026</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.x.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Toboni kept at that angle, noting that only 2% of those being deported had murder or rape charges or convictions. Percival asked why the U.S. government would only hold murderers and rapists accountable.
&#8220;Everyone has to follow the law. It&#8217;s not an excuse to say I&#8217;m not going to follow the law because I haven&#8217;t raped or killed anybody,&#8221; Percival continued, also noting that most people who committed petty crimes ultimately committed other crimes — and because all crimes committed by illegal aliens in the United States are preventable crimes, his job was to prevent those crimes by having those people removed from the United States altogether.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
A conversation with @60Minutes on rapists and murderers, which they declined to include. https://t.co/XjUs7uDzj3
— James Percival (@DHSGenCounsel) <a href="https://x.com/DHSGenCounsel/status/2114907283851497927?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 27, 2026</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.x.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
The full interview can be viewed <a href="https://x.com/DHSgov/status/2114889154345738266">here</a>.

Screenshot/CBS News

What Did ’60 Minutes’ Leave Out Of Deportation Sob Story? Turns Out, A Lot.

What Did '60 Minutes' Leave Out Of Deportation Sob Story? Turns Out, A Lot.

60 minutes

cbs news

department of homeland security

deportation

immigration

Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) — whose real name is “Ilhan Nur Said Elmi,” according to the Department of Justice — claimed that conservative media only focused on her because she is naturally pretty.
The Minnesota congresswoman told avowed socialist and Mao Zedong superfan Hasan Piker that she believed the media attention wasn&#8217;t solely the result of investigations into questions about her age, her father&#8217;s background, and ultimately the potential illegality of her United States citizenship. Rather, she argued, outlets wanted a &#8220;natural&#8221; alternative to the &#8220;botox faces&#8221; of women on the Right.
&#8220;I think you just look really good on their screen, that&#8217;s why they like having you,&#8221; she said to Piker. The pair were kicked back on a sofa, clearly relaxed and comfortable, as they discussed the state of media in American politics.
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&#8220;Do you think that&#8217;s why they get you?&#8221; he asked.
&#8220;Maybe a little bit,&#8221; she said, laughing.
&#8220;Yeah, they&#8217;re like she&#8217;s so charismatic —&#8221; Piker said.
&#8220;I think that&#8217;s what it is,&#8221; she agreed.
&#8220;I could see that. 100%, I agree with that,&#8221; Piker added. &#8220;Well, yeah, but it&#8217;s very frustrating,&#8221; Piker said.
&#8220;They get tired of looking at their, you know, botox faces,&#8221; she posited, adding that they then wanted to see if they could &#8220;get some nice, natural-looking faces —&#8221;
&#8220;So you&#8217;re saying if the fascists were hotter, then they would get more —&#8221; Piker prompted.
&#8220;There would be less of us on TV,&#8221; she agreed, not even blinking when Piker referred to conservatives as &#8220;fascists&#8221; and adding, &#8220;That&#8217;s what I think.&#8221;
&#8220;I think &#8230; that&#8217;s a fair assessment,&#8221; Piker said, turning to ask about the investigation briefly. &#8220;How are you holding up with everything going on? You&#8217;re good? You&#8217;re strong as ever, resilient as ever?&#8221;
&#8220;Yeah,&#8221; the congresswoman nodded her head.
&#8220;It&#8217;s been you know, let&#8217;s just say tumultuous past week or so, but —&#8221;
&#8220;It tracks for me,&#8221; she said. &#8220;That&#8217;s kind of most of my weeks. And months.&#8221;
The investigation into Omar actually began during former President Joe Biden&#8217;s term, but the Minnesota congresswoman has not missed an opportunity to accuse President Donald Trump of using it to his political advantage.
Questions have been raised about everything from what her father, a decorated military officer, did during the Somali civil war — and whether or not he could have participated in war crimes under the authoritarian regime of Mohamed Siad Barre — to Omar&#8217;s age at the time that her father became a naturalized citizen in the United States. Further complicating matters is the fact that a 2023 investigation aimed at getting details about that naturalization came up empty — meaning that the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service database had no record of his citizenship anywhere.

House Democrats Hold Capitol Hill Hearing On Ending Violent Immigration Enforcement By Federal Agents

Ilhan Omar Says She’s Only A Target Because Of Her ‘Natural’ Beauty

Ilhan Nur Said Elmi Says She's Only A Target Because She's Beautiful

citizenship fraud investigation

hasan piker

ilhan omar

immigration fraud

somalia

This article was written by Jason Foster and published on <a href="https://sportandstate.com/">Sport &amp; State</a>, a new media company founded by Clay Travis that is built around sports, culture, original voices, and live conversation. 
* * * * *
I didn’t think it would ever happen. I didn’t even think it could happen. I hoped, I literally dreamed, but it just didn’t seem possible. There was no way the Braves would ever be good.
For the entirety of my baseball fandom, this team, my favorite team, was just terrible. The ’80s ended badly, and the next decade appeared ready to carry that lame torch after another last-place finish in 1990. Why would this new year be different? It wasn’t that I was pessimistic — I just had no reason to believe otherwise.
I should mention that I was 15, which means I had been a Braves fan for a total of four years, having discovered them in 1987. As an adult, four years is nothing. Hardly a blip. But as a young teen, it felt like it encompassed the majority of my life.
So, from 1987 to 1990, a young person’s eternity, the Braves let me down a lot. The worst of it came in 1988, when I was 12 and they lost 106 games. This was especially disappointing because I had a dream the night before Opening Day that they won that year’s World Series. I cried more than once that summer.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
I did a lot research on the 1988 Braves tonight for a now-nonexistant column. It shouldn&#8217;t go to waste, so I&#8217;ll share a few sad facts. &#8230;
— Jason Foster (@ByJasonFoster) <a href="https://x.com/ByJasonFoster/status/721187532776595456?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 16, 2016</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.x.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Not even Dale Murphy, a two-time MVP and my favorite player, could make much of a difference on those late ’80s teams. And when the Braves traded him to the Phillies in August 1990, I wondered whether the team would even be worth watching without him.
Little did I know.
There are certain things in baseball that almost everyone agrees will never be matched: Cal Ripken Jr.‘s consecutive games streak, Joe DiMaggio‘s 56-game hitting streak, Ted Williams‘ .406 season, Nolan Ryan‘s seven career no-hitters, etc.
I’ve got another one: the 1991 Atlanta Braves. Some might consider this a dubious claim, but I consider it beyond dispute.
Even though they broke no big records, lost the World Series and aren’t counted among the greatest teams of all time, there will never be another MLB team like them. And I know there are many others around the country who agree. Because if you were there, you know. Even now, 35 years later, the evidence — emotional and statistical — is overwhelming.
This was a team whose thrilling accomplishments on the field — a worst-to-first season, an NL pennant and runner-up in perhaps the greatest World Series of all time — were matched only by the unity they created off it. Their success that season was so unexpected, yet so enthralling, that it became a notable social phenomenon, a glorious and unique collision of timing and circumstance that will never happen again.
The season was so far out of the ordinary that many referred to the Braves’ success as a “miracle.” I’m not sure whether divine influence played into their success that season, but I do have a funny story about it that I’ll get to.
<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="wp-image-6834" src="https://sportandstate.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/1990-1991-NL-West-standings-1024x576.webp" sizes=" (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" srcset="https://sportandstate.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/1990-1991-NL-West-standings-1024x576.webp 1024w, https://sportandstate.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/1990-1991-NL-West-standings-300x169.webp 300w, https://sportandstate.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/1990-1991-NL-West-standings-768x432.webp 768w, https://sportandstate.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/1990-1991-NL-West-standings-1536x864.webp 1536w, https://sportandstate.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/1990-1991-NL-West-standings-1200x675.webp 1200w, https://sportandstate.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/1990-1991-NL-West-standings.webp 1920w" alt="" width="1024" height="576" /></figure>
In any case, whatever word you want to use to describe it, that summer and fall in Atlanta created a real anything is possible moment for millions of people. It was a season that was felt, not just in Atlanta but around the country.
In fact, one could argue that the ’91 Braves were the closest thing the United States has ever had to a truly national baseball team. Outlandish? Maybe, but it sure felt like observable reality at the time.
Of course, context is important.
<h3 class="wp-block-heading">‘America’s Team‘</h3>
The Braves in those days were beamed to around 55 million homes around the country because they were broadcast on owner Ted Turner‘s WTBS superstation. It’s what led Turner to dub them “America’s Team” in the late 1970s, even though the team was mostly terrible. Turner and TBS leaned into the label during the ’80s, even as the team continued to lose a lot more than it won.
But as the ’90s dawned, even through all that losing, which included four last-place finishes from 1986-1990, the Braves had developed an incredibly strong and loyal following. The reason was simple: In the years before MLB.TV and MLB Network, and before ESPN aired several games a week, the Braves were the only nightly baseball option for millions of people. The Cubs aired on WGN, another superstation, but not as many cable systems carried it, making its national reach far less than that of TBS.
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So, for legions of baseball fans, apart from NBC‘s “Game of the Week” on Saturday or ABC’s “Monday Night Baseball,” it was the Braves or nothing for about 15 years. Not only that, but the Braves’ ubiquity made them a convenient secondary interest for many people who were fans of other teams. This meant that Braves fans of all stripes were easy to find. From Georgia and the rest of the Southeast to Texas, Wyoming, Washington state, California and beyond, their appeal was vast — even though the team kept losing.
Their popularity almost didn’t make sense. But give a lot of credit to the banter of announcing mainstays Skip Caray, Pete Van Wieren, Ernie Johnson and, eventually, Don Sutton, who made the broadcast feel like a gathering of friends — part entertainment source, part learning experience, part comfort. It was almost like watching a baseball game broadcast exclusively for you. There was an intimacy to it all, a sense of shared experience that came from watching years of bad baseball.
It was definitely a parasocial relationship, but the point is that it created a lasting connection with millions around the country. It’s a little hard to explain if you weren’t there. But if you know, you know.
Which brings us back to 1991, when TBS’ already-solid ratings for Braves games began to soar as the team — behind eventual NL MVP Terry Pendleton, eventual NL Cy Young winner Tom Glavine, and the nightly heroics of David Justice, Ron Gant and others — made it clear that something special was underway. As the Braves engineered winning streaks, big comebacks and walk-offs, the network saw its ratings <a href="https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-BC/BC-1991/BC-1991-10-28.pdf?utm_source=chatgpt.com" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">more than double</a> in September compared to the previous year.
Around 1.5 million households, on average, tuned in for each Braves game on TBS that month. That’s an insane number, especially by today’s standards. For comparison, ESPN’s “Sunday Night Baseball” averaged 1.8 million viewers <a href="https://www.mlb.com/press-release/press-release-mlb-attendance-reaches-71-4-million-three-straight-years-of-growth-for-first-time-since-2007?utm_source=chatgpt.com" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">in 2025</a>.
Everyone, it seemed, was a Braves fan. There was a vibe as palpable as the cool autumn air, especially around the Southeast.
The tangible evidence went beyond a proliferation of Braves hats and T-shirts at school or around town. It was the PA announcer at a high school football game giving Braves score updates over the loudspeaker on Friday nights. It was the percussion section of the marching band leading an impromptu rendition of the Tomahawk Chop — and the crowd gleefully joining in. It was pastors using the Braves as a sermon illustration.
The vibe traveled well. Even “Saturday Night Live” eventually got involved.
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That “SNL” episode aired during the World Series vs. the Twins, a series that averaged nearly 36 million viewers in the United States. That’s an unheard of number today, when the World Series usually averages fewer than 16 million viewers.
Obviously, media consumption has changed a lot over the past 35 years, and baseball’s place in the overall entertainment landscape has lessened, but that big number certainly speaks to the nation’s investment in the outcome in 1991. And no disrespect to the Twins and their fans, but the investment was driven primarily by a specific, nationwide interest in the Braves. America’s Team, indeed.
<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Living on a prayer</h3>
But weeks before that, as the Braves inched closer to their first division title in nearly a decade, the idea of a World Series in Atlanta — or, more importantly, a World Series win — became the most important thing in the world for me. My young teenage mind couldn’t imagine a greater sense of joy. Nor could it imagine anything more crushing than if they somehow lost or, worse, ended up not making it at all.
That was my mindset on Oct. 1, 1991, the first time I remember lifting an earnest prayer for the Braves to win. I mentioned earlier that I had a funny story about divine intervention. This is it.
The Braves entered that day a game out of first place with five to play. They were playing the Reds in Cincinnati, and things went downhill immediately. After one inning, the Braves were down 6-0. My hope plummeted. A 6-0 lead in those days was like a 14-0 lead today. It just felt impossible. I was sure this would be the game that ended the party.
But the Braves chipped away at that lead, causing my hope to flicker, and went into the ninth inning down 6-5. Reds closer Rob Dibble came on for the save. He was a big deal. He threw 100 mph when that was novel. I was really worried. So I turned off my 13-inch black-and-white TV, an already out-dated device I superstitiously believed held some key to the Braves’ success, and prayed.
This wasn’t a brief, typical sports-fan prayer. It wasn’t a “Dear God, please let them win” prayer that’s said or thought thousands of times by thousands of fans in just about every big game. It was a close-your-eyes, take-a-deep-breath-and-really-lay-it-out kind of prayer. Again, I was 15. There was nothing I wanted more than for the Braves to reach the postseason. To come so close and fall short would be devastating, or so my youthful brain thought. So I said the prayer, then turned the TV back on for the start of the ninth inning.
Mark Lemke led off with a single. Deion Sanders pinch ran and stole second. Pendleton flew out. Up came Justice. On Dibble’s first pitch, Justice crushed a fastball over the right-field wall for a two-run homer. The Braves led 7-6. I couldn’t believe it.
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A few minutes later, the Reds went 1-2-3 in the bottom of the ninth and the Braves escaped. The win kept them one game behind the Dodgers in the NL West. Over the next few days, the tide turned and the Braves finally overtook LA to win the division on the second-to-last day of the season.
Did my prayer actually make a difference against the Reds? I don’t know. I don’t claim to know how God handles such heartfelt but silly requests. All I know is that I prayed for them to win, and they won. So, two weeks later, I tried again during the World Series.
As my hormonal and sleep-deprived teenage body endured a stressful and emotionally exhausting Game 7 — which had been preceded by several other stressful and emotionally exhausting games — I pleaded with God to please let the Braves finally break through against the annoying(ly good) Jack Morris and win it all. The Twins had already won the World Series in 1987. It didn’t seem fair for them to win this one.
Alas, I didn’t get the answer I wanted. The Braves lost 1-0 in the 10th inning on a bases-loaded walk-off single from Twins bench player Gene Larkin. It’s the last time I cried because of sports.
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But America’s Team had put on a good show. Game 7, considered one of the best finales in baseball history, averaged more than 50 million viewers in the United States alone. No domestic World Series audience has matched that number since. For comparison, last season’s Game 7 between the Dodgers and Blue Jays averaged <a href="https://www.mlb.com/press-release/press-release-51-million-average-viewers-watched-world-series-game-seven-in-u-s-canada-and-japan-combined" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener" data-type="link" data-id="https://www.mlb.com/press-release/press-release-51-million-average-viewers-watched-world-series-game-seven-in-u-s-canada-and-japan-combined">51 million viewers</a> across the U.S., Canada and Japan combined.
<h3 class="wp-block-heading">There’s nothing like the first</h3>
It didn’t take long for me and a lot of other Braves fans to move on and appreciate all that 1991 had been. An estimated 7,000 people showed up at the airport at 4:30 a.m. to welcome the team home from Minnesota. Heck, the city of Atlanta threw the team a parade to celebrate the incredible ride. There was no guarantee that the Braves would ever be that good again, so it was reasonable to think it might’ve been a once-in-a-lifetime happening. That uncertainty only enhanced the specialness.
Of course, 1991 was not the only time the Braves were good. They famously turned that success into 14 straight division titles, five NL pennants and the 1995 World Series championship. Not to mention another stretch of excellence that continues today. But in terms of season-long joy and nightly thrills, nothing will ever top 1991. Because there can never be another first time.
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<div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"><iframe loading="lazy" title="91 Atlanta Braves - Here We Are" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/EHbODDjWjDY?start=2&amp;feature=oembed" width="800" height="600" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" data-mce-fragment="1"></iframe></div>
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The 1991 Braves were the first team that got me excited about the future, the first team that made me nervous, the first team that made me truly care about the World Series, the first team that made me seek divine intervention on its behalf, the first team that broke my heart. It was kinda like a first love in that way, and it’s impossible to duplicate your first.
Even for fans who experienced the Braves’ division title in 1982, or even the first one in 1969, the 1991 campaign ascended to an echelon which no other season has ever reached. Not even 1995 or 2021. The ingredients were just different.
For one out-of-nowhere season during one unique point in history, the Braves brought the masses together over a baseball miracle.
That’s why, for me and millions of others, even 35 years later, there’s 1991 and then everything else.

Sport & State illustration

When America Had A Team: There Will Never Be Another Bunch Like The 1991 Braves

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The Department of Justice has charged former FBI Director James Comey with transmitting national defense information and conspiring to do so in connection with an alleged 2016 disclosure to The New York Times, according to court documents unsealed Monday.
Prosecutors <a href="https://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/28834270/comey-information.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">charged Comey</a> on October 5 with a criminal information rather than a grand jury indictment, and his attorneys have moved to dismiss it.
&#8220;Well, they’re back again. It would almost be funny if it weren’t such an appalling abuse of the Department of Justice, one that we cannot become numb to,&#8221; Comey said in a video posted Monday to his <a href="https://jamescomey.substack.com/p/yet-another-case-now?r=16z5v&amp;utm_medium=ios">Substack</a>. &#8220;Nothing’s changed with me. I’m still innocent. I’m still not afraid of these people, and I still believe in the independent federal judiciary.&#8221;
The charges became public the same day a federal judge <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/obama-appointed-judge-weighs-in-on-trump-dojs-move-against-comeys-daughter">ruled</a> that Comey&#8217;s daughter, former federal prosecutor Maurene Comey, had been unlawfully fired from the Justice Department and ordered her reinstatement.
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The case, according to a <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/justice-department/former-fbi-james-comey-charged-third-time-trump-national-security-rcna342963">report</a> from NBC News, stems from a New York Times <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/06/technology/yahoo-email-tech-companies-government-investigations.html">article</a> published on October 5, 2016, about Yahoo&#8217;s assistance with U.S. email surveillance. Prosecutors claim Comey directed staff to give information to Times reporter Charlie Savage to &#8220;correct misinformation&#8221; in a Reuters article published the day before.
&#8220;The United States’ investigation has uncovered evidence that former FBI Director, James B. Comey, sought to correct misinformation which had appeared in the press by way of Reuters the day before. The investigation has uncovered evidence that Mr. Comey directed staff to speak to Mr. Savage about specific accuracy concerns related to the Reuters article, and thereby illegally transferred classified information,&#8221; Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Dustin Farahnak wrote in a filing unsealed Monday, according to NBC.
Comey was still serving as FBI director when the article was published. President Donald Trump <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/breaking-trump-fires-fbi-director-comey-ben-shapiro">fired him</a> from that position several months later in May 2017.
Comey&#8217;s attorneys have argued that the new charges are barred by the 10-year statute of limitations because they &#8220;are based exclusively on the October 5, 2016, alleged disclosure exactly ten years before the government’s filed criminal information.&#8221;
A previous case against Comey — in which he was charged with making a false statement to Congress and obstructing a congressional investigation — has already been <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/federal-judge-tosses-charges-against-james-comey-letitia-james">dismissed</a>. He has also been charged over a beach photo showing seashells arranged as &#8220;<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/damage-control-jim-comey-insists-he-found-trump-threat-on-beach-didnt-know-what-86-meant">86 47</a>.&#8221;
Comey has denied wrongdoing in all three cases.

Former FBI Director James Comey

James Comey Faces New Charges Over How Information Reached The New York Times

James Comey Hit With New Criminal Charges

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CBS News&#8217; &#8220;60 Minutes&#8221; featured the story of a recently deported illegal alien who had been living in the United States for 25 years — interviewing his tearful wife and children for the show — but the Department of Homeland Security says they left out a few key details.
According to DHS — and an asylum application obtained by Fox News — Moussa Diawara, 57, described himself as gay and said he feared persecution over both his sexual orientation and his conversion to Christianity if he ever returned to his home country of Mali.
&#8220;This illegal alien is @60Minutes poster child for what it claims are wrongful deportations. I pulled his file. His claimed reason for fearing Mali was that he is &#8216;gay,&#8217; just in case you’re wondering how bad the immigration fraud problem is,&#8221; DHS General Counsel James Percival posted on X.
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Fox News National Correspondent Brooke Taylor shared the asylum application, in which Diawara said his tribal group and his &#8220;community as a whole&#8221; had already somehow gotten wind of his proclivities and had informed his family — meaning that he did not believe he would be safe even from members of his own family if he returned to Mali.
&#8220;Although I was born as a boy, but things appeared differently for me as I was already having female behaviors and feelings &#8230; I was more comfortable being intimate with boys rather than with girls,&#8221; Diawara wrote.
Describing his life in the United States, he wrote: &#8220;Since I came to the USA I had the possibilities to express my feelings to men without any embarrassment no reserve.&#8221;
The application listed Diawara as single at the time. The pages Taylor shared do not say when he married.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
🚨 #FOXEXCLUSIVE: 60 Minutes featured a deported Malian national whose wife and two children spoke about how much they miss him and want him home.
But we exclusively obtained Moussa Diawara’s asylum application, where he said he was seeking asylum in the U.S. because he was gay and feared being killed if sent back.
Now, DHS is pointing to his case as an example of alleged immigration fraud.
In his own words, Diawara wrote:
“Although I was born as a boy, but things appeared differently for me as I was already having female behaviors and feelings.”
“I was more comfortable being intimate with boys rather than with girls.”
And describing his life after arriving in the United States:
“Since I came to the USA I had the possibilities to express my feelings to men without any embarrassment no reserve.”
Read the asylum application for yourself:
— Brooke Taylor (@Brooketaylortv) <a href="https://x.com/Brooketaylortv/status/2114783244084257165?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 26, 2026</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.x.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Diawara also noted that he had converted to Christianity eight months before the statement.
CBS News, in a <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/moussa-diawara-third-country-deportation-ghana-mali-60-minutes/?ftag=CNM-00-10aab7d&amp;linkId=1027134581">print article</a> that accompanied the &#8220;<a href="https://x.com/60Minutes/status/2114496884786004327">60 Minutes</a>&#8221; broadcast, presented the story in a slightly different light:
<blockquote>Diawara, 57, came to the U.S. on a tourist visa when he was 32. He overstayed that visa, and later applied for refugee protection, arguing he would be persecuted if he were to return to Mali. Diawara had converted to Christianity, and Mali&#8217;s a Muslim-majority nation with an Islamist insurgency. He has no criminal record.</blockquote>
Diawara, who has been portrayed by liberal media outlets as a &#8220;Texas father,&#8221; was deported to Ghana over the summer because a judge barred his deportation to Mali. Once in Ghana, however, officials reportedly forced him onto a flight to his home country.
&#8220;I cannot call my wife, I can&#8217;t contact my lawyer. I can&#8217;t talk to no one. I tell them, &#8216;This is kidnapping. You guys kidnapped us,'&#8221; he told &#8220;60 Minutes.&#8221;
Diawara also said he believed U.S. officials knew he would be returned to Mali once he arrived in Ghana.
Asked whether deportees were voluntarily returning to countries they had fled, Percival offered two possible explanations.
&#8220;Either they would choose to go home, and they might not always be truthful about the fact that they consented, so that&#8217;s one possibility. The other possibility is that the foreign government applied their own procedures and, consistent with international law, determined that it was acceptable to return them home,&#8221; he said.

Screenshot

’60 Minutes’ Featured Deported Illegal’s Sob Story. His Asylum Application Adds A Twist.

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A federal judge appointed by former President Barack Obama ruled on Monday that the Justice Department under President Donald Trump had illegally fired Maurene Comey, former FBI Director James Comey&#8217;s daughter.
Judge Jesse Furman, nominated by Obama in 2011 and confirmed in 2012, declared the Justice Department&#8217;s actions unlawful and that Comey was entitled to back pay. He also concluded that the Trump administration&#8217;s argument, if accepted by the court, would upend the constitutional balance of power, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2026/10/26/nyregion/maurene-comey-firing-doj-trump-epstein.html">according</a> to The New York Times.
&#8220;Defendants’ argument that [Constitution] Article II bars Congress from regulating the removal of AUSAs [assistant U.S. attorneys] flies in the face of nearly two centuries of Supreme Court precedent,&#8221; Furman wrote in response to the administration&#8217;s claim that Article II of the U.S. Constitution gave the Justice Department the authority to remove Comey.
Furman further claimed that allowing that argument to stand would &#8220;unsettle the very equilibrium established by this nation&#8217;s constitutional system&#8221; and &#8220;risk a return to the spoils system that Congress has sought to end since the nineteenth century.&#8221;
Furman ruled that Comey&#8217;s termination was <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2026/10/26/politics/maurene-comey-unjustly-fired-from-doj">unlawful</a>. He argued that while the Justice Department has wide latitude for firing assistant U.S. attorneys — of which Maureen Comey was one — Congress has used the Civil Service Reform Act (CSRA) to limit that latitude. The Justice Department conceded that Comey was not fired for cause or for her job performance. The administration also did not provide her advance notice or allow her to respond.
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&#8220;Yes, the Attorney General is authorized by law to remove an AUSA. But the Attorney General (and anyone to whom the Attorney General delegates that authority) is also limited by law, namely the CSRA, to do so only in a particular manner and only for certain reasons. And Comey’s removal indisputably violated the CSRA,&#8221; he wrote.
A DOJ spokesperson, according to a <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/politics/obama-judge-rules-trump-doj-illegally-fired-james-comeys-daughter-rejects-sweeping-article-ii-claim">report</a> from Fox News Digital, confirmed that the administration plans to appeal Furman&#8217;s decision but has not yet determined when it will do so.
Prior to her dismissal, Comey served as an assistant U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York — the same office where her father, former FBI Director James Comey, had worked years earlier — and had prosecuted a number of high-profile cases, including that of the late convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein.
Comey&#8217;s legal team issued a statement following the ruling, saying, &#8220;This hard-earned victory belongs to Ms. Comey, to all civil servants, and to all fighting for the rule of law.&#8221;

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A professor at the University of California, Berkeley, has completely given up on grading homework for accuracy, saying that rampant student use of artificial intelligence has made the exercise all but pointless.
Renowned mathematician Richard Borcherds told <a href="https://nypost.com/2026/10/25/us-news/uc-berkeley-professor-refuses-to-grade-students-homework-after-spotting-surge-in-ai-usage/">The California Post</a> that so many students are relying on AI to complete regular homework assignments that those doing the work on their own are the ones being penalized.
&#8220;Student use of AI for homework is now widespread. Grading for correctness just adds a huge incentive for them to use AI for homework instead of doing it themselves, and penalizes students for honesty,&#8221; Borcherds explained.
Borcherds said he now grades homework based solely on whether it was completed rather than whether the answers were correct, arguing that paying college-level instructors to grade AI-generated answers wastes time and money.
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Additionally, he said that it was becoming more and more difficult to weed out the AI-generated answers from the students&#8217; work — primarily because the mistakes common to earlier AI tools are rapidly becoming fewer and farther between.
&#8220;There is no easy way to tell the difference between human and AI generated work. Occasionally one could tell it is AI because AI made a few characteristic errors, but AI has now improved so much that it rarely makes obvious mistakes,&#8221; he said.
Online exams are also problematic, he said, adding that he has no way to determine which students are using AI tools to complete them. He has seen an overall improvement in the average grades from such exams.
The solution for him, thus far, has been to base the majority of his students&#8217; grades on in-person exams where electronic devices are not permitted.
<a href="https://news.gallup.com/poll/704090/routine-college-students-despite-campus-limits.aspx">AI use</a> is common among college students, according to a Lumina Foundation-Gallup 2026 State of Higher Education study, conducted online October 2-31, 2025. The survey found that more than half of U.S. college students use AI at least weekly to aid in their studies — and approximately 20% use it daily.
Male students are more likely to use AI than female students, and use is slightly more prevalent in business and technology-related fields than in the natural sciences and humanities.

Mathematics geometry homework essentials

Liberal College Professor Gives Up Grading Homework After Catching On To Student Trend

UC Berkeley Prof Is Refusing To Grade Homework: AI Has Made It Pointless

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Rep. Haley Stevens (D-MI) trashed an openly antisemitic ad promoting her former primary opponent Abdul El Sayed, saying that it would do nothing to help Democrats win in Michigan.
The ad, shared by &#8220;Young Turks&#8221; host Cenk Uygur, featured a couple at a grocery store arguing over which items they would have to put back. They were unable to afford everything they needed, according to the ad, because they were being forced to fund wars on Israel&#8217;s behalf at the expense of feeding their own families.
&#8220;This type of fearmongering about Israel is wrong. It is not a winning strategy for any state. It does nothing to help Michigan Democrats win up and down the ballot in eight days,&#8221; Stevens protested in an X post. &#8220;Do we need to lower costs by building more homes, securing people’s health care, and creating a fairer federal tax code? Yes, we do!! How we do so is not by blaming the high costs of our goods on the only Jewish homeland in the world. I want to see Democrats succeed at every level, and that means keeping our focus on lowering costs for Michigan families and reining in this out-of-control President.&#8221;
Uygur shared the spot — which he claimed was a &#8220;new&#8221; ad made by Rebellion PAC — and then he accused former Rep. Mike Rogers (R-MI) of being &#8220;bought&#8221; by Israel.
&#8220;We have to suffer here at home, so Israel can get all its wars. That’s why they buy politicians like Mike Rogers. He promised to serve Israel &#8216;unconditionally,&#8217; but never made that promise to you,&#8221; he claimed.
The grocery store scene appeared in an ad for Uygur&#8217;s own short-lived and ill-fated 2024 presidential campaign — which he&#8217;d launched in an attempt to challenge then-President Joe Biden in the primary — and has been posted on <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eYs43NasVSY">YouTube</a> for well over two years. Uygur&#8217;s campaign, launched in mid-October of 2023, was suspended just a few months later on March 6, 2024.
Stevens, for her part, gave a rather lukewarm response about her former primary rival to CNN anchor Dana Bash on Sunday&#8217;s &#8220;State of the Union.&#8221;
When asked directly whether she would stand &#8220;fully&#8221; with El Sayed — who bested her in the Michigan Senate primary — all she would say was that she was &#8220;still on the team.&#8221;

U.S. Representative Haley Stevens (D-MI) speaking at

Dem On Dem Violence: El-Sayed’s Defeated Primary Opponent Puts ‘New’ Anti-Israel Ad On Blast

Dem On Dem Violence: El-Sayed's Defeated Primary Opponent Puts New Anti-Israel Ad On Blast

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Virginia Kruta