Victor and Jack single out the two major takeaways from last week’s New York City mayoral debate: Andrew Cuomo is a shell of his former self and Zohran Mamdani is a “carnivore in sheep’s clothing”. They also discuss how John Bolton’s ego got the best of him, the banning of Israeli fans from attending a forthcoming soccer match in England, and more.
When I was a second lieutenant attending The Basic School, I was one of many dating girls at Mary Washington College in Fredricksburg. Returning home I almost always topped 110 in my Ford Mustang Mach I and sometimes got passed by brothers. Of a class of 250 in Officer’s Basic School 1-72, at least 200 had brand new sports cars. That is the type of man who opts for the Marine Corps. Stationed at Camp Lejeune several years later, I had one Marine with a girlfriend in Montreal who tried to visit her every weekend not on duty. Another had a girlfriend in Florida who did likewise. State Route 24 in the early hours of most Mondays would put many drag tracks to shame.
The Aston Villa vs. Maccabi Tel Aviv game is preceded by another incident involving Maccabi Tel Aviv fans which took place in Amsterdam, NL nearly a year ago. The Israeli fans, being like any other soccer fans, engaged in a bit of yobbish behaviour before the game. Palestinian flags were torn down and there was other mildly provocative behaviour. The reaction from local Islamic thugs was severe and disproportionate. Well organized gangs who were mobilized in taxi cabs randomly attacked Israeli and PERCEIVED Israeli fans.
I’m sure after this ugly incident in which the Israeli fans do deserve limited blame weighed heavily in the decision to exclude them from the Aston Villa game. It’s not fair, as Britain has allowed games to proceed between far worse teams (eg. West Ham vs. Millwall in 2012). But I don’t think anti-Semitism played much of role in this decision.