I love analogies as a way of understanding more complex issues. Who can forget the Detroit Wheels, the Birmingham Americans, the Florida Blazers, or the Chicago Fire? For those who didn’t follow sports in the early 70s, the World Football League (WFL) was a short-lived usurper of the real American pastime, professional football. They were founded in 1973 and folded in 1975.
The WFL was formed with many players from the NFL. For Miami Dolphin fans, we lost Larry Csonka, Jim Kiick, and Paul Warfield after winning back-to-back Super Bowls. They, as with many others, were enticed to “follow the money.” Like the WFL, MAGA was formed from the Republican Party who, also followed the money. In this case, their fortunes were tied to television reality show star and real estate mogul, Donald Trump. The cult was formed in his likeness but with a sinister plan and purpose as its foundation.
In this analogy, I won’t equate Donald Trump to a talented quarterback as he is more like a team mascot. You know, those loveable big-headed characters who run along the sidelines in costumes to the delight of the crowd creating excitement and commotion. In football, mascots engage the fans, build brand identity, generate revenue through merchandising, and act as lively, costumed representatives. They entertain with stunts and create emotional connections and loyalty. They energize crowds with antics, acrobatics, and keep energy levels high to create a unique fan experience and foster a sense of community. Likewise, Donald Trump is the larger-than-life mascot of Team MAGA. His antics are legendary and he can double-speak and triple entendre with the best of them.
Yes, the real players in this new political league, are Stephen Miller, Russell Vought, Marco Rubio, Ric Grenell, Pete Hegseth, Howard Lutnick, Steve Witkoff, Lara Trump, Laura Loomer, Tom Homan, Kash Patel, Dan Scavino, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., and Dana White. There are also some other players on the injured reserve squad like Paul Manafort, Michael Flynn, Jeffrey Clark, George Santos, Roger Stone, and Rudy Giuliani. We also need to acknowledge team owners like Peter Thiel, Rebekah Mercer, Elon Musk, Jeff Yass, and Miriam Adelson.
There are also policy directors in the form of The Claremont Institute with its “Claremonsters,” Michael Anton and John Eastman. We can add to this mix the Conservative Partner Institute with its lobbying and advocacy group working with the House Freedom Caucus as the nerve center of the far-right MAGA ideology. We can't overlook the folks over at the Heritage Foundation who wrote the MAGA Bible (not to be confused with the Trump Bible) like Kevin Roberts, Eric Korsvall, Robert Greenway, and Edwin J. Feulner. Finally, there is the America First Policy Institute with its think tank promoting “America First” headed by Linda McMahon.
Yes, the MAGA bobblehead known as Donald Trump is but the team mascot and when he fades into the sunset there will certainly be others to fill the void. Perhaps we will learn a valuable lesson from this experiment in anarchy and mayhem we call MAGA. We have for far too long relied on unenforceable “protocols” and checks and balances without teeth. While we are at it, maybe we can slap some sense into this Supreme Court which seems bent on following some personal ideology rather than the law.
The World Football League, founded in 1973, folded in 1975 after one season. MAGA was founded in 2016 with Trump’s first presidential campaign. It lost the next election and was forced to regroup for 2024. Like the WFL, the MAGA movement has lately shown signs of disillusionment amongst some of its most ardent supporters. If national approval ratings mean anything, they are a movement on life support hoping for a distraction. The team mascot, after a “police action” in Venezuela, has tried to raise their hopes with proposed invasions of Columbia, Canada, Greenland, Cuba, Iran, and Mexico.
Postscript: One of the first major sponsors of the WFL was Chevrolet. I was involved in that decision during my brief tenure with General Motors. I once drove a very drunk head of marketing, Harry Heathman, in a golf cart to the Boca Raton Hotel and Club Pro Shop for his sponsorship decision. On the pro shop phone in a call with Detroit he turned and asked me, “What is the World Football League?” I briefly described that it was to be a new competitor to the NFL. He went back to his call and then turned and asked, “Should Chevrolet sponsor this thing?” I told Harry that its ultimate success was doubtful but that it would probably have a large audience at first. I advised him that any sponsorship should have an escape clause if viewership should diminish. Harry turned and slurred almost verbatim what I had just said. The Arab oil embargo hit and I left Chevrolet. I later saw my first WFL game “brought to you by, Chevrolet.”
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