Scars & stripes
AMERICA is in its darkest place for decades.
Not since the turmoil of the 1960s — race riots, Vietnam and the twin assassinations of John and Robert Kennedy — has the US endured such dangerous times.
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It says it all that the attempted murder of Donald Trump by a lone wolf gunman is not really a surprise.
The country is hopelessly split.
Trump has thrived on that division.
He won one presidency on the back of support from a huge chunk of Americans who felt abandoned and let down by Washington’s political elite.
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His screams of “Fight!” to his supporters having survived being shot in the ear now look even more likely to propel his return to the White House.
Will a second Trump presidency return a sense of order and calm?
It seems unlikely.
Such fevered, chaotic moments demand reassuringly strong leadership.
Yet President Joe Biden’s mental frailty means he remains incapable of delivering it.
It is now more urgent than ever that Biden steps down in favour of another Democrat candidate to take on Trump.
Americans are frightened for the future of their country.
They deserve a proper choice come the election in November.
Lion hurt
SO Gareth Southgate’s England fell agonisingly short again.
Those glorious ghosts of our 1966 heroes are still not laid to rest and the burden of expectation continues for at least another two years.
We will have to see if Southgate will stay on as manager.
And Harry Kane — England’s greatest striker — still awaits the trophy his record-breaking career deserves.
But the Three Lions still gave us reasons to cheer during this damp squib of a summer.
As did England’s travelling army of thousands who partied, celebrated — and largely stayed out of trouble in Germany.
The path to the final wasn’t easy or straightforward.
With England, it never is.
Our boys took us to the brink and back several times.
But even as fans bemoaned the last minute heart-stoppers, they secretly loved them, too.
Through Jude Bellingham’s bicycle kick to Bukayo Saka’s penalty shootout redemption and Ollie Watkins’ last-gasp heroics, we all believed right to the end.
It may be the hope that kills. But it remains the hope that never dies.
England will be back and so will we.
Dreaming of World Cup glory in 2026, and praying for an end to what by then will be 60 years of hurt.
