Come on man. How does this happen right in front of you but you don't call the travel. Flat out ridiculous!!
This perfectly sums up Stephen A. Smith. He's not fooling anyone.
I was going to avoid this but since HBCUs were mentioned, I'll bite. And I will be completely honest.
I do believe that Stephen A. Smith does care very deeply about HBCUs and he's shown that through his advocacy. I also think that he has more faith in lobbying for HBCU issues directly to Trump and he has faith that that man actually will listen (which I don't think any HBCU advocate that's serious about this work does).
The fact is that who Trump is in private is not the Trump in public. More often than not, when it comes to both policy and his front-facing actions, the Trump in public takes over. What he lobbied for is probably going to get glossed over. For some reason Stephen A. Smith doesn't understand that because he would rather value access to power versus pushing for policies and politicians through which he can enact his vision for the country.
And I think, specifically, Stephen A. believes that serving as an advocate under a Republican administration puts him in a position of power (or more) than supporting the actions of a Democratic administration that already did this, such as the Biden administration. While one can argue that Stephen A. Smith was not as political in the early years of the Biden administration (he only became avowedly political in 2023-2024), there was already significant HBCU advocacy and enrollments that were made in the Biden administration that he largely glossed over
he also never mentions:
- those funding allocation
- the specific grants that were announced by Kamala Harris after the bomb threats in 2022
- Delaware State President Tony Allen being the president's specific HBCU advisors
- President Biden convening a group of HBCU presidents to advise him on economic policy specifically regarding HBCUs
Also where's the mention of Biden's Department of Education pushing state governments to give land-grant HBCUs their proper funding?
I think if HBCU advocacy truly was where Smith wanted to be, he should highlight these specific moves that were made by Democratic administrations that have been more friendly towards HBCUs than Republican administrations and specifically the Trump administration, who does the absolute bare minimum just to say, "I help the blacks".
But again Stephen A. would rather have proximity to power and say that he said something and then watch it not happen (versus either trying to convene those same meetings with Democratic decision makers and highlighting what Democratic and left-leaning politicians have done in regards to their policy, for example, the Futures Act, which was instituted by HBCU alumna Alma Adams)
I'll talk about this more on my show and people probably aren't going to read all of this but we can call Stephen by his name. I've got a lot of heat to put on him but since he wants us to engage critically with this, this is my critical engagement as someone that is doing the work here.
So much for all of the Bron-stans claiming that the Lakers are now irrelevant. I'm a big LeBron fan but his stans are ridiculous.
Lakers, 76ers, Spurs lead NBA in national TV appearances hoopswire.com/lakers-76ers-s…
This is the most accurate thing I've read all year and nothing else is even close.
UPS: “Your package is in your city, on a truck driven by Mike. It will arrive on your doorstep at 6:27pm today.”
FedEx: “Your package is coming. You’ll get it when we get there.”
USPS: “What package?”
Amazon: “We are already inside your apartment. Check the bathroom.”
Facebook: “We know you were thinking about getting a toaster yesterday. Here are 20 ads for toaster ovens.”
Eric W. retweeted
A note to my friends who still back Trump:
I am not here to dunk on you. I am writing because you have a working brain, and this story insults it.
The Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool got a $14 million paint job. Shortly thereafter the water turned green and the new “American flag blue” coating started peeling off the bottom in sheets. Trump says vandals did it. He claims, without evidence, that someone took a knife and cut a 300-foot slit, a number that grew to 350 feet while he was still talking.
Back on May 4, Trump bragged about that same coating and said, if you had a knife, you could not even cut it, so strong, like powerful rubber. He cannot have it both ways.
And the green water?
A George Mason scientist tested it and found ordinary, non-toxic algae, the kind that blooms in any shallow sunny pool. To fight it, crews dumped hydrogen peroxide into the water.
Hydrogen peroxide is also a paint stripper.
That, not sabotage or vandalism, is the obvious reason the paint came off. They wrecked their own paint job, then blamed phantom vandals for it.
The lone "vandal" they paraded is a 67-year-old Olympian who touched a flap of paint already peeling on its own.
Here is the thing. If they will look you in the eye and lie about something this small, something you can see with your own eyes, ask yourself what else they are lying to you about.
Again, you have a working brain. People like Karoline Leavitt are counting on you to stay loyal instead of exercising independent thought.
Prove them wrong.
Leavitt: The vandalism is very real. Despite what Tim Walz wants to say. There have actually been six arrests at the Reflecting Pool where, again, these deranged individuals—many of them longtime donors to the Democratic Party, to Barack Obama, to ActBlue—have been vandalizing and desecrating our federal monument, one of the most beautiful monuments in the world: The Reflecting Pool.
And that’s why President Trump is not going to stop with this effort. They’re not only holding those people accountable, but they’re going to fix the pool and continue to make it beautiful after this despicable vandalism, just in time to celebrate our nation’s 250th birthday next week.
I don't have much faith that Rob will get the job done this summer. I can see him resigning most of our current roster and saying that no opportunities presented themselves so he's going to save our picks for the trade deadline. Just sad.
Eric W. retweeted
To be clear about what this depicts: An immigration officer threw a woman onto the ground. Alex Pretti, a registered nurse on scene as a legal observer, is filming and goes to help the woman up. He is then pepper sprayed and thrown to the ground for no discernible reason. Many officer surround and assault him; one removes his firearm, which police say appears to have been legally registered. They then execute him with a hail of bullets.
They are, objectively speaking, both cowards and criminals, while Pretti is what we teach people an American ought to be.
Eric W. retweeted
Stringer Bell = China
Big player in the game. Makes and supplies a ton of product (goods) to the streets (U.S. market). Runs tight, efficient, profit-first operations.
Marlo Stanfield = Trump
New power trying to shake up the game. Doesn’t like how Stringer been running things. Wants more control and respect. Starts taxing every package Stringer tries to move through his corners.
The Tariffs = “Tax on the Pack”
Marlo says, “If you gon’ sell on my corners, you gotta pay a fee.” So now every time China tries to sell goods to the U.S., they get taxed. This makes the product more expensive for U.S. consumers.
American Businesses = Bodie
Caught in the middle. They gotta deal with the fallout. Product costs go up, profit margins shrink, and they start questioning who they really work for. Bodie just trying to survive while the bosses beef.
Consumers = Bubbles
Just trying to get by. Prices going up. They ain’t in the game but feel every consequence. Now they paying more for TVs, cars, and damn near everything else.
teapaw.org/i/status/1833861379888… This has to be the best thing that came out of last night's debate.
I can guarantee my parents and grandparents mixed some of these together while I was growing up. It's like they were preparing to clean up after a nuclear power plant meltdown. teapaw.org/i/status/1825050847031…