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Gerry Patterson. The world's most humble blogger |
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Trump Puts The "Mokkers" On 'Em All |
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Date: Tue, 07 Jul 2026 14:00:23 +1000The Commander In Cheat Has Jinxed US Soccer. |
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Trump is one of the world's foremost cheaters. He is possibly most famous as an election cheat. He also cheats on his taxes, wives, business partners and he cheats at golf. As well as being an accomplished cheat, he now claims to have expertise in the rules of football and boasted that he used to be a great athlete, who understands the rules better than referees. When he heard that the striker Folarin Balogun had been given a red card during the USA's match with Bosnia-Herzegovina on July 1st, Trump made public pronouncements that, in his opinion, the incident had not been "a foul", and he criticised the referee. Being an expert on football and an outstanding athlete, he called FIFA President Gianni Infantino, several times, demanding a review of the decision. FIFA then announced they would rescind the suspension of the player.
This unprecedented interference in the procedures of FIFA raised more concerns about the integrity and independence of the organisation. The irony of Folarin Balogun being a birth-right citizen appeared to be lost on Trump. His behaviour in this matter cast a shadow over FIFA in general and the US team and their supporters in particular. It seems to have jinxed them. They delivered one of their poorest performances so far, not to take anything away from Belgium, who seemed revved up by the attempted corruption, and won a convincing four-one victory. No doubt Trump will now lose interest in soccer, at least until the Grand Final, because Gianni Infantino has invited Trump to be there and present the cup to the winner, presuming he can be persuaded to part with it. However it is all over for the US team, easily one of the best they have ever put together for a World Cup. They are out and it will be four years before the USA gets another chance at a World Cup.
In Australia and New Zealand, sports fans would be less likely to talk about Trump jinxing the US team, instead we would say "he put the mokkers on 'em". If you ask Google about that expression, dear reader, she will probably tell you that mokkers is spelt mockers ... But fun fact here ... That's how we pronounce it down under.
And it's not the first time this year that he has put the mokkers on a sports team. Although three other sitting presidents have attended NBA games, Trump became the first sitting president to attend an NBA Finals Game. Just as he attempted to bask in the reflected glory of a successful US soccer team, he earlier tried to bask in the glory of an NBA team, the New York Knicks, who had experienced a dramatic turnaround in their fortunes in the past few years. This generated considerable enthusiasm amongst their large fan base, especially in their home state. So Trump decided to put in an appearance at a recent match between the Knicks and the San Antonio Spurs. The airport style security, including restrictions on what fans could carry, perimeter fencing, long queues and a large presidential entourage did not engender much goodwill amongst the fans. When Trump's image appeared on the large screens at Madison Square Garden, there were loud boos and chants of "Go Knicks, fuck Trump". Trump responded to the jeers by falling asleep. The Knicks lost the game ... After which, fortunately for them, Trump lost interest and has not attended subsequent games. So the New York Knicks have recovered from having the mokkers put on 'em. It remains to be seen whether the Republican party can make a similar recovery. It seems unlikely, since even if they can distract Trump with projects like re-decorating the White House with gold trim or renovating the Lincoln Memorial Algal Pool, the reflection from these will put the mokkers on all the Republicans in the upcoming mid-term elections.
Across the Pacific, it seems that the mokkers have been put upon Pauline Hanson who, a few weeks earlier, had given her first address to the National Press Club. Wishing to capitalise on her remarkable rise in polls, she was at first cautious not to appear too extreme. But as she settled into it, threw caution to the winds, and called for a number of remarkable changes to our society.
- She wished to put an end to multiculturalism. She stated that 51.5 per cent of Australian residents were either born overseas or had at least one overseas-born parent. She said that this state of affiars was not acceptable. We should remedy it by becoming a "monoculture", like Japan.
- She wished to get rid of SBS.
- She wished to make the ABC a subscription service, but when pressed said she might make it free in the regions but would make it a subscription service in the metropolitan areas (where the majority of Australians live)
- She wished to put an end to Paid Parental Leave, claiming it contributed to the gender pay gap. She stated that Small businesses can't afford it ... And furthermore "Why should people get paid when they are not working?"
- She wished to slow down pay-rises ... And singled out child-care workers.
- She demanded new industrial relations laws because the current regulations are anti-business ... She said "Workers are always on their phones and they're lazy. ... And small businesses can't sack anyone anymore".
She also responded to some journalists with ad hominem hostility, rather than addressing the questions.
Since this address, polling for One Nation, which had shown a significant surge for the past year or so, has fallen from its peak, which according to Roy Morgan reached 31.5% in mid-June. As her comments were digested by voters her popularity crashed to 22.5%, and then started to climb slowly. It may now be in the mid twenties.
Pauline Hanson later told Channel 7's Sunrise team that her comments about Paid Parental Leave (PPL) had been taken out of context. She asserted that she really supports government-funded PPL. Her approach was one that is often employed by right-wing populists. Simply deny that you said it, or meant it and blame it on the fake news. However in this case we have the receipts. The entire unedited address is available online. Any interested party can view it and listen to the words leaving her mouth and judge the context for themselves. When the obvious contradiction between her claims and the evidence of our own eyes was drawn to her attention, the response was weak and unconvincing. The don't believe your lying eyes approach has worked well for Trump, because large sections of US media have been captured by wealthy allies or intimidated by threats and there is a significant right wing echo chamber amplifying his bullshit, which allows him to assert that black is white, up is down, war is peace ... etc, and to encounter very little pushback.
Fortunately in Australia, the firewall is holding, so far. Gina Rhinehart is many billions short of the money required to take over Channels 7, 9 and 10. And SBS and the ABC are not susceptible to a corporate takeover. So for the time being there is a chance that Hanson will experience closer scrutiny now that polls indicate that One Nation is a major or at least a significant minor party.
One thing this highlighted was the policy-vacuum in the Liberal party. When asked about multiculturalism and whether or not he endorsed a monoculture, Angus Taylor was incapable of simply affirming his unequivocal commitment to the ideals, benefits and the bleeding obvious reality of Australia's multicultural identity, at a time when a huge number of Australians from across the political and cultural spectrum were watching the world cup on SBS. Australians had gathered in public squares and pubs and were cheering on an ethnically diverse team of players, two of whom had formerly been in refugee camps. And all Angus Taylor could do was gulp and flap around like a fish out of water struggling with the excess of oxygen. All he had to do was say "Of course I support multiculturalism" ... And move on. But he couldn't bring himself to do it.
Not long after that, the socceroos went down to Egypt in a penalty shoot-out. So the World Cup dream is over for Australia, for now. There will still be plenty of Aussie viewers watching the remaining games. Fortunately for England, Trump is not interested in English football, so he won't put the mokkers on them. Although speaking of fish, the mokkers have been upon Trump-lite candidate, Nigel Farage, the third wheel of the Anglosphere triumvirate. He has recently been complaining that he was being victimised by the media, who finally began to subject him to scrutiny. His denials and obfuscation had failed to fend off investigation by the Parliament's standards watchdog into undeclared donations of five million pounds from crypto-billionaire Christopher Harborne. Further undeclared donations and "gifts" from the shady financier, George Cottrell also came to light and journalists soon started circling around him like sharks that smell blood in the water. His hail-fellow-well-met bonhomie, and shit-eating grin has been replaced with, a look of concern, aggravation and a hint of panic.