World Cup visitors discover the real America

In 1959, Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev visited the United States.  He was awed at what he saw — capitalism at work in food abundance, huge grocery store selections, self-service cafeterias, agricultural efficiency, infrastructure (roads and highways), and our entertainment.  Khrushchev never sang praises of America (after all, he was a communist), but he was deeply impressed by what he saw.  He was impressed because what he saw was not what he had been told — that America was as a “stratified society” with an oppressed working class on the brink of collapse.  (Apparently, he had no self-awareness of oppression under communism.)  He believed what he’d been told, but seeing America firsthand forced his beliefs to change.  He witnessed America’s exceptionalism.

Read more Can our republic endure a gynocracy?

Fast forward 67 years, to when hundreds of thousands of World Cup visitors are just as awed by America as was Khrushchev.  Their social media postings are allowing the entire world to witness the real United States, exactly as it is — not the version long-portrayed by the leftist, Euro-America media (LEAM).  The LEAM had convinced the world that the United States is a racist country, populated by foreigner-hating, gun-toting bigots who seek to destroy the planet, one gas-guzzling pickup at a time.  Like Khrushchev, most of these tourists are visiting for the first time and can’t believe what they’re seeing.  They are experiencing America’s exceptionalism.  They’re loving on America more than our Dems (which isn’t hard to do.)  For that reason alone, I’m loving the World Cup.

Hopefully, you’ve read some of the social media posts made by World Cup (WC) visitors.  They are as enthusiastic about the United States as children on Christmas morning.  They aren’t praising our big cities and world-class museums; no, they’re praising middle America, every day working-class Americans, and the America one finds in central Georgia and Alabama.  Basically, they are pumped about the very things that our coastal elites find repulsive about the country.

Perhaps the best example comes from “Freddy,” a German tourist road-tripping across the Southeast, stopping in small towns and posting about what he’s discovering.  His journey began in Atlanta where he said, “Atlanta is so green it’s crazy.  It feels like you’re in a forest the whole time.”  He called Taco Bell the “holy land.”  (Freddy, please don’t confuse TB with Mexican or Tex-Mex food.)  Freddy loves Walmart, was in awe of the sizes of homes in “a town called Gainesville, [GA]” and had a late-night Waffle House experience.  “Just had our first Waffle House experience at 1am.  Great food, great prices, and friendly staff, 10/10, we will be coming back.”  Then, he visited Helen, GA for the alpine roller coaster, tubing on the Chattahoochee, and Wendy’s for burgers and unlimited soft drinks.

Next, he went to Alabama and was so blown away at Jordan-Hare Stadium (home of the Auburn Tigers) that he called it the “craziest stadium I’ve ever been to,” where he took in a practice game between Iceland vs. Argentina.  Of that game experience, he said, “This is the most ‘The European mind can’t comprehend this’ moment of my life.”  And then Freddy went to Buc-ee’s where he posted, “DUDE LMAO THIS IS A GAS STATION.”  (In fairness to Freddy, almost every first-time Buc-ee’s visitor is blown away with similar comments.)

Other towns/businesses/individuals that Freddy commented on included Bass Pro (“They had a shooting range in the store.”); Fairhope, AL (“I could live here.”); New Orleans and Bourbon Street (“Why are people throwing beads at each other everywhere?”); the swamps of Louisiana; LSU Tigers training facilities; Houston, where J.J. Watts set he and his friends up in a swanky hotel with plenty of gifts; an Astros vs. Detroit baseball game; Houston’s mayor; Houston police headquarters; NASA’s Houston facilities; the WC game between Germany and Curacao; and Texas BBQ (brisket of course).  He found every one of these experiences to be unique, positive, and couldn’t say enough good about them or the people. (Freddy is posting to his X account @FreddyLA7.)

Read more Intern summer: Finding a bed in the Big City

It’s not just Freddy; every WC visitor is having similar experiences and is raving about America, especially the warmth and friendliness of everyone they meet.  Also, they are going absolutely googoo-gaga over the food — the portion sizes, biscuits and gravy, Chick-fil-A sauce (yes, the sauce), ranch dressing, Tex-Mex, barbecue, etc.  (I think they’re learning why average Americans are sooo large.)

The difference between today and 1994, the last time the United States hosted the WC, is social media.  Back then (and with the Soviets), journalists controlled what was written, reported, and what we saw.  As much as the LEAM wants to control the “narrative,” Facebook, Tik Tok, X, etc. have changed everything.  Freddy and all the others just showed up, travel where they want, and, are using social media, telling the truth about what they’re seeing.  And the truth they are seeing is America’s greatness, its exceptionalism.

Visitors from Europe, Africa, Australia, and Asia are seeing exactly what we middle-America, country bumpkins have been bragging about our entire lives.  Everything our guests are experiencing was set in motion 250 years ago when our Founding Fathers declared, “We hold these truths to self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.  That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.”

The Declaration of Independence was followed by the Constitution (written in 1787, ratified in 1788) and the Bill of Rights (ratified in 1791) which together have created the greatest, strongest, and most prosperous country the world has ever known.  Hundreds of thousands of foreigners are discovering this fact, and, thanks to the internet, tens of millions across the globe are as well.  I pray that our fellow Americans recognize this as well.

Read more The COVID Conspiracy Continues

Image generated by ChatGPT.