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My thoughts on the WHCD: bsky.app/profile/mike...

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My take on what's going on here: bsky.app/profile/did:...

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I think you are right. My take: bsky.app/profile/did:...

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My thoughts on this debacle: bsky.app/profile/did:...

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The takeaway: when the stewards of democracy or culture try to manage hostility by turning it into a lighthearted social ritual, the applause doesn't disarm the threat. It normalizes it. /9

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In Cabaret, the Emcee mocks the powerful, but his comedy changes nothing about the political reality. By the film's end, satire hasn't dismantled the threat. It's merely provided the soundtrack to its acceptance. /8

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3. The illusion of satire's power. The WHCD runs on the premise that roasting the powerful keeps them in check. But when a leader who challenges democratic norms takes the stage, the joke loses its bite. The watchdogs become an audience, providing applause. /7

In Cabaret, the willingness to keep drinking, laughing, and applauding lets extreme elements blend into the background. The performance normalizes the unacceptable, until the audience is seamlessly surrounded by the very forces threatening their freedom. /6

2. Complicity through bypassing the threat. Applauding a leader who calls you "the enemy of the people" signals that access and tradition matter more than adversarial accountability. It suggests existential threats can be smoothed over with dinner rolls and punchlines. /5

In the Kit Kat Klub, patrons laugh and applaud the Emcee's biting commentary as safe, insulated fun, while the political atmosphere outside decays into intimidation. The club sells a false sense that life is carrying on as normal. /4

1. The room as a "sanctuary of normalcy." Inside the ballroom, polite applause and black-tie banter continue as if this were a standard playful rivalry. The applause performs a message: "Everything's fine. We're all part of the same civil institution." /3

The image of the press corps laughing along with a figure who's threatened prosecution, revoked credentials, and vilified their profession maps almost exactly onto what Cabaret critiques: elite escapism, performative normalization, and authoritarian pressure. /2

Mike Morgan @mikeohope.bsky.social · 21/07/2026

🧵 Last week's White House Correspondents' Dinner kept reminding me of Bob Fosse's Cabaret. Journalists in tuxedos, applauding and breaking bread with a leader who calls them "the enemy of the people." So I dug into the parallels. /1

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This level of dum-b really, seriously hurts my head.

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Reposted by Mike Morgan

65yearcitizen @usa24freedom.bsky.social · 21/07/2026

Take 20 seconds , read the whole thing.

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Love how people kneejerk assume I was suggesting USA would have won. Take a breath folks. ETTD. He fucked any chance of an upset. Just look at the debate here. Imagine being a player?

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I'd like to think a choice was made. Even if it was unspoken.

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Probably not. And that was my original point.

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Totally agree. Including the purges in defence, intelligence and science.

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I think it was way beyond saving face. It would have put the entire team in jeopardy. How would Fox News cover it? How soon before the death threats started? This is the USA under Trump.

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Probably true. But imagine the repercussions from Trump and maga. You know how this works?

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Imagine being one of the players. You have trained your whole life for this moment. You are at the peak of your game. Then this happens. A powerful idiot ruins it all.

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I get it. And I can only imagine what it must be like to be a caring, empathetic American watching all the brutality, greed and ugliness.

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Interesting that you assume I am American. Or that I have any sense of "me" when it comes to the world cup. Our team was probably the lowest rated team in the cup. We were privileged to be there. We were bottom of our pool. But we lost 5 - 1 to Belgium so I guess we are almost as good as the USA?

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No doubt about that. My comment was not about which was the better team. It was about the almost certain hit to morale. From what I could see, many Americans were backing Belgium after Trump's ridiculous interference. How would that make you feel as a player representing your country?

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Reposted by Mike Morgan

As if the FIFA peace prize wasn't bad enough. The red card debacle meant that the USA team had little enthusiasm to win. If they won, they would be branded cheats and their success would always be called into question. Imagine that psychological pressure? ETTD.

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Do you think so? The problem I think is that Trump assumes that everyone is as dishonest, corrupt and transactional as he is. And all it would take is a couple of key team members being uncomfortable with how this played out to shift team morale. This is a team sport and every player matters.

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