America's new reality is setting in
Zander's Weekend Facts #153 - Sunday, January 19, 2025
Whatever your feelings may be pushed aside, Monday will mark a distinctly new era in the history of the United States of America. As President Joe Biden steps away from the political landscape after a half-century in the field, and Vice President Kamala Harris departs Washington after failing to achieve the only promotion possible in her position, they will be replaced by figures signifying a much different chapter in America.
President-elect Donald Trump will, once again, become President Donald Trump around noon ET on Monday in an inaugural ceremony pushed inside the Capitol rotunda due to historically cold weather. With the outgoing president in attendance, a break from four years prior, the event will certainly be a moment of triumph for those who have bought what Trump has been selling for the last decade.
For his supporters, the 47th president’s return to power heralds a resurgence of populist nationalism, a promise to prioritize American interests above all else, and a rejection of the “establishment” that are blamed for their disillusionment and struggles. For what will once again be classified as the “resistance”, it marks a dangerous step toward authoritarianism, a blatant dismissal of democratic ideals, and an unsettling embrace of divisive rhetoric and policies that threaten to undo decades of social and political progress. This juxtaposition underscores the precarious position of the United States at this juncture. The Capitol Rotunda, a space steeped in historical significance and a symbol of the nation's most comforting ideals, now serves as the stage for a leader who has repeatedly challenged the very institutions it represents.
To be blunt, liberalism currently sits at its most precarious point in quite some time. It was nearly one century ago that the rise of those all-too-familiar ideals in the likes of Germany and Italy came to power. The Second World War, seen as America’s crowning achievement on the global stage for quite some time, resulted in the severe punishment of those ideals for reasons incredibly comprehensible. Yet, there now exists a significant movement in the Western world seeking to whitewash the efforts of Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy in favor of an advancement of their populist worldview in the modern day. Repackaged for the 21st century, this movement has been fueled by a combination of misinformation, economic insecurity, and cultural anxiety.
In the United Kingdom, on the back of anti-immigration sentiment, Nigel Farage continues to expand the support of Reform UK. In Italy, Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has deep ties to groups that have espoused the same principles that Benito Mussolini championed at one point. In Germany, the AfD party, condemned by the government as a “suspected extremist” organization, is becoming a major contender in the country’s political system.
Whether they intended to or not, the American people have now allowed this movement to grow to its greatest heights since the fall of Berlin. Donald Trump, through either his own personal beliefs or those of his most significant allies, represents the culmination of this global trend: the resurgence of right-wing populism and its slide toward authoritarianism. Trump’s first term flirted with these principles, using divisive rhetoric, undermining democratic institutions, and questioning the integrity of elections (2020 and beyond) to consolidate power.
His second term will bring with it the most forceful attacks that the liberal institutions of America and the West have witnessed in our lifetimes. Starting with the president-elect’s new portrait that draws striking resemblances to the poses taken by past strongmen willing to sacrifice the rights of their people for unified power. With immigration raids set to begin in mere hours, the position of a free Ukraine more and more precarious, and those seeking a society powered solely by white Anglo-Saxons now emboldened to attack human differences, what will the response be?
This is a new era in American politics, founded by those willing to bend the rules to get their way and assisted by those all too happy to simply clutch their pearls when even the tiniest of infractions is committed. For it is not just the inspiration of Trump and his allies that have allowed his return to power, but also the failure of his opponents to nail down his anti-American tendencies in the minds of the American people. It is not a victory for Trump that people voted for him with the intention to make life more affordable, it is a defeat for the Democratic Party. It’s now full steam ahead for Trump and that Project 2025 booklet you’ve probably heard so much about. If there is to be a competent resistance, it has yet to uncover itself.
For more information on this week’s top story, here’s an article from CBS News - Trump inauguration ceremony moving inside the Capitol due to freezing temperatures
College Football Playoff National Championship
The longest college football season in history comes to its conclusion tomorrow night with the College Football Playoff National Championship Game. The game to determine the champion of the top tier of college football is being played the latest into January it ever has, a side effect of the recent expansion to a 12-team College Football Playoff.
So perhaps it’s fitting that neither of the two teams that will play in Monday night’s class would have made it this far without the addition of eight teams to the playoff format. Under the previous four-team playoff, #7 Notre Dame and #8 Ohio State would have been left sitting at home. Instead, they are both 60 minutes away from being crowned the kings of college football.
Notre Dame, the sole program in college football that has resisted efforts to join a power conference, has reached the final game of the college football season for the first time since 2012. The Irish are certainly hoping to have a better outcome than that 42-14 thumping at the hands of Alabama. That season was the third for head coach Brian Kelly, who has moved on to LSU. Coincidentally, this season is the third for current Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman. Freeman is seeking to become the first African American head coach to win a college football national championship.
The Irish opened the season with a statement win on the road against Texas A&M, before coming home to what would previously have derailed a season. In the very next game, Notre Dame lost to Northern Illinois out of the Mid-American Conference 16-14. For their part, the Fighting Irish ran through the remaining 10 games on their regular season schedule, beating every opponent they faced with a margin of victory of more than 10 points for all but one of those games.
Backed by transfer quarterback Riley Leonard, Notre Dame took care of a firey Indiana team in the First Round of the Playoff and settled down the Dawgs of Georgia to reach the Semifinals. Against Penn State, the Irish hit a field goal with seven seconds remaining to advance to the National Championship. In the three games that Notre Dame has won in this Playoff, neither have been blowouts. Yet, the Irish defense managed to force their opponents into quandaries that they had rarely experienced all season. A 98-yard run to open the scoring against Indiana by Jeremiah Love, and gutting out 10 points in the final five minutes to beat Penn State, illustrates that the offense can also hang.
Notre Dame made the Playoff back in the four-team era twice, in 2018 and 2020. But when it came time to shine, the Irish put up some stinkers, losing by 27 and 17 points in the two Semifinals they played in. This current makeup of the Fighting Irish has a unique feel in the modern era; one that will not bow down to opponents with superior talent. With Brian Kelly gone, Notre Dame has suddenly gone from one of the sport’s unlikable villains to a team that is fun to watch, even if you aren’t catholic.
Maybe some of Notre Dame’s likability in this game can also be thanks to their opponents, who do not exude the same amiable attributes in the eyes of a neutral fan.
Nevertheless, the story of Ohio State in the current college football season is nothing short of remarkable. The Buckeyes scarcely looked like a team with detrimental characteristics in their play throughout the regular season. In their first 11 games, their only loss was on the road to Oregon, at the time ranked #2, by just one point. The Buckeyes were well on their way to another top-tier season and an appearance in the Big Ten Conference Championship game… until they met their rivals in the final game of the regular season.
Michigan, the defending national champions, were a much different team from a season ago. The Wolverines had their head coach, Jim Harbaugh, move on to the NFL after winning a championship with his alma mater, and had struggled to retain even glimpses of that glory. Michigan came into Ohio Stadium for “The Game” with a middling 6-5 record, barely having qualified for a bowl game. For Ohio State Head Coach Ryan Day, who in his four previous attempts had beaten Michigan just once, this was likely to be the Buckeyes’ best chance at a victory in the sport’s biggest rivalry since the year Day took over from Urban Meyer, who never lost to Michigan in seven seasons.
The result? A stunner. Ohio State’s offense failed to convert in the red zone numerous times as the Buckeyes fell 13-10 for their fourth straight loss to Michigan. Not only had the Buckeyes suffered their second loss of the season, but it also knocked them out of the Big Ten Championship. In the prior four-team playoff era, the loss would have been a death sentence. Instead, in this new era of the college football postseason, Ohio State was given another chance. The CFP Committee gave the Buckeyes the #8 seed and a home game in the First Round of the Playoff with Tennessee. With the visitors hailing from the almighty Southeastern Conference, the conference chosen by god himself, there were serious questions even as OSU was favored by a touchdown. Instead, the Buckeyes offense stormed out of the gates with 21 first-quarter points on their way to a 42-17 rout of the Volunteers.
The rematch with Oregon in the Rose Bowl began in a similar fashion. The Buckeyes opened the game on a 34-point spree before the Ducks finally put points on the board at the end of the first half. Ohio State ended up rolling to a 20-point victory, setting up a Semifinal matchup against another SEC foe, Texas. With Texas driving and the Longhorns down by just seven points, defensive end Jack Sawyer stripped Texas quarterback Quinn Ewers and ran all the way back 83 yards to cap a 28-14 Ohio State dub. For Columbus, Ohio-born Sawyer and all scarlet and gray fans, it was a quintessential Ohio State moment.
That sets up this moment. Ryan Day was a dead man walking just a few weeks ago. It’s hard to think that in the six years he’s coached Ohio State, he’s won at least 11 games in every season (barring the Covid year) and because he seemingly cannot find a way to beat Michigan, his job was in serious jeopardy. The turnaround since that Michigan loss has put those murmurs to bed and has brought the Buckeyes into this game as eight-point favorites to win their first National Championship since 2014, the first year of the Playoff.
Notre Dame, however, is an underdog to be reckoned with. Their defense will likely put up the toughest test that the Buckeyes have seen this postseason. And with an offense that is featuring several key injuries, the Irish will rely on their defense to stop a high-powered offense led by transfer quarterback Will Howard and standout freshman receiver Jeremiah Smith. Ohio State has more talent, and they’re likely the only team in the country that can match Notre Dame’s emotional momentum at the moment. The Irish will keep it close, but in the end, Ohio State will prove that they are this season’s most dominant college football squad.
Zander’s pick: Ohio State wins 24-20.
The 2025 College Football Playoff National Championship kicks off on Monday night at 7:30 pm ET and will air on ESPN.
Check out a preview of the National Championship game in Yahoo Sports - College Football Playoff national championship players to watch, keys to the game, prediction: Ohio State vs. Notre Dame
Rapid-fire Facts
Here’s a recap of the top news headlines from the past week:
TikTok Ban: The social media app TikTok suspended its operations in the U.S. on Saturday night. TikTok was facing a potential ban beginning on Sunday due to a federal law passed earlier this year. However, President Joe Biden announced he would not enforce the law, leaving regulation to President-elect Donald Trump, who enters office on Monday. Trump, who began a push to ban TikTok during his first term in 2020, said on Saturday he would likely give the Chinese owners of TikTok, ByteDance, a 90-day extension to be sold or face enforcement of the ban.
California Wildfires: As wildfires continue to burn in Southern California, at least 27 people have died since the fires began. While several fires were 100% contained as of Saturday, the Palisades and Eaton fires are still ablaze. Weather forecasts indicate that favorable conditions for wildfires will return on Monday and Tuesday. Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, who has been under fire for the city’s response to the fires, named former Los Angeles police commission president Steve Soboroff as the city’s chief recovery officer.
Israel-Hamas: A ceasefire between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas was set to go into effect on Sunday morning. The agreement, reached earlier this week, requires Hamas to release dozens of hostages held in Gaza while Israel will release Palestinians held in Israeli prisons. The deal, which went into effect at 8:30 am local time, paused fighting in the 15-month war. Negotiators from Qatar and the United States were reportedly key to brokering the deal.
South Korea: The saga surrounding impeached South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol continued last week as he was arrested on Saturday. Yoon, who briefly declared martial law last year, is accused of leading an insurrection and abusing his power. Yoon’s presidential powers have been stripped since last month’s impeachment. Yoon will be held at the Seoul Detention Center for a maximum of 20 days. The country’s Constitutional Court is currently deciding whether Yoon’s presidential powers will be restored or if he will be removed from office.
Special Counsel: A portion of the final report completed by Jack Smith, the special counsel appointed to investigate President-elect Donald Trump, was released last week. The report stated that had Trump not been elected president in November, he would have been convicted of charges seeking to retain power in the aftermath of the 2020 presidential election. The 137-page document, approximately half of the final report, details the evidence against Trump as he now returns to the White House.
Zander’s Facts Sporting Club
Here are the latest headlines from the sports world in the Sporting Club:
NFL Playoffs: The Divisional Round of the NFL Playoffs continues later today as the #2 Eagles host the #4 Vikings at 3:00 pm ET on NBC. The winner will host the #6 Commanders, who won their game against the #1 Lions last night 45-31, in next Sunday’s NFC Championship Game. In the AFC, the #1 Chiefs took down the #4 Texans 23-14 on Saturday. In the AFC Championship Game, the Chiefs will host the winner of today’s matchup between the #3 Ravens and #2 Bills. The game in Buffalo will kick off at 6:30 pm ET and air on CBS.
UEFA Champions League: The league phase of the UEFA Champions League enters its second-to-last matchday of the season this week. Matchday 7 begins on Tuesday with matches including Monaco-Aston Villa, Atletico Madrid-Bayer Leverkusen, and Liverpool-Lille. Nine more matches take place on Wednesday with Paris Saint-Germain hosting Manchester City and Salzburg visiting Real Madrid. With two matches left in the league phase, Liverpool currently tops the table with 18 points, followed by Barcelona, Arsenal, Bayer Leverkusen, and Aston Villa. Inter Milan, Brest, and Lille round out the top eight places, which will automatically advance to the knockout rounds.
College Basketball: The college basketball season is heating up with Saturday bringing multiple upsets. Two-time defending national champions #14 UConn had their 28-game home winning streak snapped with a 68-63 loss to Creighton, while #7 Marquette was also upset at home, losing to Xavier 59-57. In the SEC, Vanderbilt took down #6 Tennessee 76-75, #1 Auburn survived a test against #23 Georgia 70-68, and #4 Alabama got a massive road win against #8 Kentucky 102-97. Elsewhere, #2 Iowa State lost at West Virginia 64-57, while a Big Ten top 25 showdown will take place later today as #12 Michigan State hosts #19 Illinois at 12:00 pm ET on CBS.
Jimmy Butler: Miami Heat star Jimmy Butler returned from a seven-game suspension on Friday as he has continued to demand a trade from the team. Butler had been suspended for conduct detrimental to the team after reports surfaced that Butler was seeking an exit. In a statement, the Heat confirmed that they would be listening to trade offers ahead of the NBA trade deadline on February 6. Butler has been a member of the Heat since 2019, leading the team to two NBA Finals appearances in 2020 and 2023.
That’s a wrap on this week’s edition of Zander’s Weekend Facts. The Facts in Print return next Sunday, January 26, 2025.