By Alex Garrett (6/8/25)
Full disclosure, I’m very happy that trainer Bill Mott has won the 2025 Kentucky Derby and Belmont Stakes , since I’ve gotten to meet over the years through NYRA!
This week truly felt like a battle between journalism and sovereignty, and not just on the race track in Saratoga Springs!
On June 5th, the Elon Musk-Donald Trump fallout was all the networks and journalists could cover! Was the Musk-Trump break-up a good thing for our sovereign nation or for journalism fodder? Personally, I don’t think it was a great story for either our country or our media outlets , at all! Yet, it truly pit sovereignty against Journalism coverage!
On June 6th it was the 81st anniversary of D-Day. Sovereignty won out for sure. The many veterans and 4,414 soldiers that sacrificed their lives on June 6, 1944 made that day a MONUMENTAL day in American and global history. The storming of Normandy’s beaches made it so we can have our beach days in 2025, because that storming kept us FREE from Nazi Germany’s tyranny! D-Day kept the United States a sovereign nation, and we should always REMEMBER THAT! I’ve urged President Trump on X to make D-Day a federal day of remembrance! Let’s see what happens. Interestingly enough, the papers and the networks were always in support of those WWII efforts so D-Day actually brought Sovereignty and Journalism together!
On June 7th, even before the Belmont Stakes was run, there were riots in LA due to ICE raids which were pre-planned 30 days out (https://nypost.com/2025/06/08/us-news/trump-admin-warned-la-to-prepare-for-30-days-of-ice-raids-california-rep-says/?utm_campaign=iphone_nyp&utm_source=pasteboard_app) . From what I can see on X, as the footage of real violence towards law enforcement and the clashes were underway, media outlets and JOURNALISM took to downplaying how bad it really was. It has felt like this riot is about law enforcement and yes the National Guard protecting our SOVEREIGNTY , and Journalism siding with the rioters . In these instances I always want to feel like our homeland is protected , so of course I want sovereignty to win out here!
Let me be very clear on this, journalists don’t have to agree with the administration and of course should question when necessary . But to gaslight us and say the protesters have done nothing wrong this weekend is NOT JOURNALISM! It is the media lying!
The next piece of this whole parallel is that as Journalism and Sovereignty faced off in the Belmont Stakes, George Clooney ‘s Good and Good Luck had just begun LIVE on CNN from NYC. Of course, that is the stage adaptation of the movie in which Clooney depicts acclaimed journalist Edward R. Murrow ! I believe Murrow believed in the sovereignty and protecting the sovereignty of America through his journalistic instincts ! He also held EVERYONE accountable!
When Sovereignty won, to me it felt like a bigger metaphor. For goodness sakes, the White House had to step in over Gavin Newsom to protect the streets of Los Angeles and deploy the National Guard! Instead JOURNALISM ate up and reported on every word Newsom was saying instead of trying to solve the much bigger issue of violent through their reporting!
If the legacy media continues to mislead us and gaslight us, I want SOVEREIGNTY to win out every time in the battle of Sovereignty vs. Journalism. And not just on the racetrack!
OneLegUpAlex 