Three items:
1. The winner of this year’s Indy 500 is named Will Power. That’s pretty much a mic drop right there. But I guess you could also throw in a line about what if his middle name was To. Maybe it’s best just to linger on his actual name, now that I think of it.
2. Under the current administration, everything feels like a metaphor for the administration. Or, if not a metaphor, then everything somehow has a certain . . . resonance. If I’m reading about the nature of autocracy under Nicholas II (administrative chaos, chronic infighting and backstabbing, everyone trying to anticipate the whims of the Tsar), I’m thinking, “Hmm–this sounds so . . . familiar.” Or if (here comes the sports reference) I’m listening to an ESPN podcast about the founder of Bikram yoga, Bikram Choudhury–a self-mythologizing charlatan who created a cult of personality, abused his power in dozens of ways, and reveled in Vegas-style displays of wealth–it feels rather pointed. Oh, and it just so happens that Bikram is prone to rambling, hours-long monologues about his genius, his fame, his enemies, whatever–in other words, he’s a guy whose character, whose humanity, whose feeling for the lives of others has been burned away, leaving only the white flame of pure ego. So, you know: make of that what you will!
3. Another example of item 2: the Stanley Cup–the championship series of the country’s whitest sport–will be played between teams from D.C. and Vegas. Which is perfect, since we’re living in a moment when D.C. has become Vegas. See how this works?