America the pariah
Last week I made a decision and broke it to my travel buddy, the Gaybrarian: I wouldn't be traveling abroad this year as we had planned.
Part of the reason was that I didn't want to leave my wife stuck with the responsibility of watching over our Old Man Stewie. I would never forgive myself if I were out of the country and something happened the goodest boy ever.
But equally, I just didn't think that being an American overseas was quite a smart move given the current climate.
It seems that I was correct in my decision.
This report from Roya News details football fans from around the world canceling their World Cup tickets:
Calls to boycott FIFA World Cup 2026 have intensified, with reports that around 16,800 people cancelled their tickets overnight. The surge in cancellations has amplified pressure on the football governing body as fans cite safety fears, political protests, and wider human rights concerns linked to the host country’s policies.
In response to the growing backlash, FIFA has scheduled an emergency meeting next week to discuss the situation. The agenda is expected to focus on ticket cancellations, fan safety worries, and reputational issues as tensions mount ahead of the tournament set to run from June 11 to July 19, 2026, across the United States, Canada, and Mexico.
Americans on Twitter are urging fans to not come to the US.
Far from the world laughing at us, which in the eyes of Donald Trump is the ultimate sin, it is instead reeling in horror from us. Certainly, the United States has always been both admired and reviled, in somewhat equal measure. Such is the burden of any empire. But the actions of this regime, especially after the murder of Renee Good, and the accumulation of the crimes being perpetrated by the ICE Gestapo, are making this nation a pariah to be avoided at all costs. When random tourists are detained by the American secret police while trying to leave the country, this is not a safe place for anyone.
There is every chance that this upcoming World Cup will be a disaster of cataclysmic proportions for FIFA, the most corrupt sporting organization in the world. FIFA head Gianni Infantino's sycophancy towards Trump is not paying the dividends he had hoped. It is, in fact, pulling down the entire rotten edifice of corruption which has been FIFA's defining feature for decades. The World Cup is the organization's major money-maker, by far; no other competition it sponsors comes close. And if the punters don't feel safe going to it, their absence will not be made up by American fans, where football is still a niche passtime. There is every possibility that teams will be playing to nearly-empty stadia. And if the boycott extends to television viewing? FIFA may as well roll itself up and place its headquarters up for sale. Infantino made a gamble by cleaving to Trump; it's about to destroy him.
I often make reference to what I consider to be the best science fiction program to ever grace our television airwaves, Babylon 5. In its final season, the Centauri Republic's ambassador to the station, Londo Mollari, ascends to the throne. But there is a price. Allies of the series' main alien villains have taken over, and Londo will only be allowed to rule if he submits to having a creature attached to him which will control him. He was instrumental in defeating the Shadows, and their allies want revenge. Part of this revenge is to make the Republic a pariah, isolated from the rest of the galaxy. That is where we are now. Except no one is making Trump do this. He is much more like Hitler: if the world refuses to recognize his genius and bow to him, he will burn it to the ground, beginning with his how country. This is where we are now: Under a mad emperor, seeking to exact his revenge upon a country which laughs at him. And unlike Londo Mollari, who is a tragic figure, Trump is purely evil, with no redeeming qualities. He revels in destruction for its own sake.
This regime is undoing 250 years of history because the world is slowly moving beyond the rule of mediocre white men. Like the ICE murderer of Renee Good, they scream FUCKING BITCH as they destroy the country. All the poisons are bubbling to the surface and rotting the commonwealth. Those who chose this path will be damned in the eyes of the world and their countrymen. May they rot in hell.