Joe Klein’s latest offering is replete with material for others to dissect. But the following passage reveals, if there were any doubt, that his venom for Jews (or Jews who hold certain views) has clouded his political analysis. He declares:
McCain hasn’t said he was for regime change, but he has rattled sabers noisily, joked about bomb-bomb-bombing Iran and surrounded himself with, and been funded by, Jewish neoconservatives who believe Iran is a threat to Israel’s existence.
Aside from the entire lack of factual support for the notion that McCain is funded by or “surrounded” by Jews, this is rank anti-Semitism of the worst kind, the type of conspiracy theory used for centuries to portray Jews as controlling levers of power behind the scenes. The notion that McCain is surrounded or funded by Jews is preposterous on its face and belies the same conspiratorial paranoia that has motivated the proponents of the Jewish Lobby myth for years.
Let me be clear. Despite the fact he intends, one supposes, to bolster Barack Obama’s candidacy with these statements, I in no way attribute Klein’s views to Obama or to many other Obama supporters. While I take strong exception to many of Obama’s views I do not for a moment believe he adopts or condones this rancor from his supporter in the media. One does, however, wonder why Time permits this line of attack against Jews to continue and why the entire MSM turns a blind eye to such venal bigotry, which if directed against any other minority, would be grounds for professional ostracism.
Soccer is the big multicultural dream, and there is a whole literature devoted to “Why Americans Don’t Like Soccer.”
Why do you need a whole literature on this? The answer’s easy: soccer sucks.
But on the other hand, Abe, there are the English soccer hooligans.
I’m a homegrown American citizen who was never even exposed to soccer until I was 30 and hated the first few exposures because it seemed dull. Then my kids started playing it as kindergartners 15 years ago and now I’ve come to love the game even more than ‘American’ sports. English Premier Club soccer at the club level is hard to beat for non-stop action and excitement.
So I understand the point you’re trying to make, but I hope (and actually believe) there’s a ‘tongue-in-cheek’ quality about this post. Soccer is a wonderful game where it is just as much possible to identify at the club level as the national level. Go Arsenal!!
Marlin helps prove Abe’s point: if you take the chauvinism (benign or otherwise) out of soccer, you’re left with a mediocre product. The whole point is the colors, the wigged-out fans, the fights, Adidas v. Nike v. Puma over jerseys, etc.
Take all of the latter away and you’ve got, well, MLS.
And that would different from American football or basketball in what way, SteelyTom?
It’s a game. Interesting that you should bring it up right after the Super Bowl. The U.S. sports fan is just nutty in a different way.
“but I hope (and actually believe) there’s a ‘tongue-in-cheek’ quality about this post.” –Marlin
Actually, it’s a “head-up-arse” quality, which is characteristic of those suffering Obama Derangement Syndrome. The world, including America, hates Bush and loves Obama, and it just eats these sore losers alive. So much so that this sort of post is what passes for political commentary on the right.
Right, Abe. We love the Constitution. That’s why we don’t love soccer. Next time Israel wants to bomb a soccer field, we should give them flyover rights. Wackjob.
I’ll join the Abe Greenfield Fan Club as soon as our nation can pay its bills without printing more funny money.
#7
Correct, this is political commentary from Abe…ignorant, idiotic, and funny at the same time. Only Abe can provide us with such a commentary.
Soccer is the world’s game, but i forgot, we aren’t part of the world, we are better. Being arrogant and egotistical has really helped other nations and empires in the past, so we are following their lead.
Im sure the rest of the world will have pity for us when we need their help.
“In America, national pride isn’t tied to men in cleats and striped shirts…”
No indeed, it’s tied to men in helmets and pads who put more into preparing for 60 minutes of shoving each other up and down a 100-yard field than Napoleon put into preparing for Austerlitz and Jena.
Now, THAT’s a national game. I understand President Obama believes that there is a team called the “Nittally Lions” playing it. (How he managed to win Pennsylvania remains an interesting topic for academic study.)
Marlin, I’ll take an ordinary game of basketball, say, over an ordinary soccer game any time. A generic Penn-Brown roundball matchup provides passable entertainment. A dull nil-nil match of two uninspired teams is deadly.
Like you, I’ve recently gotten interested in soccer– in my case, Liga Mexicana bridges the wintry football-baseball gap. Last weekend’s Santos 0-0 Puebla featured a single corner kick that hit the post– that was as close to scoring as occurred in 90 minutes, with ‘dog Puebla, especially, playing not to lose.
Matches excite when the teams play all-out. But so what? I’d watch checkers if a million bucks were at stake.
My son has two shirts.
The first reads: “IN REAL FOOTBALL – We Acutally Do Use Our Feet to Play, We Don’t Stop Play Every Six Seconds, We’re Not Covered Head To Toe In Pads, We Don’t Suck Oxygen On The Sidelines, We Play More Than One Game A Week and Have A Real World Championship. So If You Can’t Handle That Go Play That Sorry Excluse For A Sport They Call Football, You WIMP!”
And the second reads:”IN SOCCER There Are No Timeouts There Are No Helmets No Shoulder Pads No Commercial Breaks No Halftime Extravaganza So If That’s What You Need Go Play Football YOU BIG WUSS!”
There’s a lot of truth in those shirts.
It’s not a multicultural dream, it’s a helluva game. If you don’t like it, don’t watch it. I’m still trying to find out why millions of baseball afficionados can watch a 13 inning pitcher’s duel but think a 1-0 soccer game is boring.
That said, it’s still a great thing to do on a slow news day to discuss soccer and Obambi and do it with a chuckle in our keyboards.
But for the U.S., it’s still different. We’ve stood out on our own, without a proxy playing field. There is, after all, a real competition among nations. In America, national pride isn’t tied to men in cleats and striped shirts; it’s based in the knowledge that we are freer, more dynamic, and more democratic than any nation in history.
I think that America has a lot of nationalism when it comes to sport – why do people watch the olympics – to see the medal count and to chant USA about sports we dont care about. Why is the miracle on ice still rated one of the greatest American acheivements of all times? Sports dominates our culture, however the sports we have taken to, do not happen to have huge international followings, although basketball is fast becoming the second of the world sports – with soccer being number one.
Of course the reasons why soccer is so popular throughout the world is easy to see. It is a simple game, with little entry barriers to start playing. Even kids in the third world can kick a soccer ball around a dirt field. Soccer is a culture thing in most countries, where is America it is still just a second tier sport. It is a good sport in many ways, but it cannot supplant our attachments to football, baseball and basketball.
Though soccer is undoubtedly the most popular spectator sport in the world, there are NUMEROUS countries around the world where most people prefer other sports.
But does anyone in Europe get angry at, say, Canada’s refusal to get with the program and embrace “the world’s sport”? Does anyone accuse Cubans of arrogance for preferring baseball?
No! Americans are the only ones insulted for clinging to other sports.
American entrepreneurs have tried, from time to time, to introduce American sports overseas, with mixed success. But Americans, as a whole, don’t get upset that Europeans didn’t care for our brand of football. If Dutchmen didn’t want to watch the Amsterdam Admirals, well, it’s no skin off our noses, right? Most Americans want to shrug and say, “Hey, you have your favorite silly games, and we have ours. To each his own.”
But for some reason, foreign soccer lovers are never content to leave it at that!
Baseball is the American game.
All the other games are about two sides, two wild hordes, chasing a ball in order to inflict a wound on the other side. That is what soccer comes down to also.
In baseball on the other hand, every player has his own base or a position in the outfield. Each is a yeomen with his own turf, an expert with a special job. There is dignity and individuality instead of a wild chasing, with everyone trying to kick the poor ball.
In the offensive part of the game, no one is singled out, there are no strikers to whom the others have to serve ball. In baseball the lowliest player gets the same chance at bat, the same spot in the limelight as the biggest player. Everyone gets to bat and every batter has the same chance of hitting the winning run, of becoming the star of that game.
Baseball encapsulates the idea of everyone an individual and special, and everyone a potential champion, and everyone getting the same chance. No special favors, no hierarchy, but also no mob. Nothing expresses the American spirit better.
Sadly American sailors help spread soccer throughout the world. Anyway soccer can be enjoyable when there is nothing else on tv. Add an element of international rivalryand even curling can seem interesting.
The most difficult accomplishment in sports is hitting a baseball with a bat. The second most difficult is throwing a ball past a batter. The athletic talent required to be a major league baseball player dwarfs all other sports.
All games are wars made civilized. That said, I’m taking a soccer swan dive outta here, for which the East-German ref will probably red-card me. I know, I know, East-Germany no longer exists, but I’m being metaphorical here while at the same time trying to allude to the communistic nature of silent refs holding up RED cards when they should be giving out Oscars.
@astorian: I didn’t notice anyone attacking the US for not liking soccer. Bemusement, perhaps.
Other than a handful of former British colonies, where isn’t soccer the number one sport? Not that popularity is an indication of quality, of course. Otherwise it would be foolish to assert that rugby union and cricket are, in fact, the best sports. (chuck martel – try scoring off a Shane Warne delivery…)
As usual, soccer geeks have ignored the actual subject of an article they deem to be critical against the world’s most boring game and have used it as an opportunity to compare football to soccer unfavorably. How very European. Americans traveling in Europe are subjected to the same asinine comparisons on a daily basis. It’s even more asinine for Americans to regurgitate them.
Grantman spews the usual bilge about soccer players being tougher than football players. This argument is also popular with rugby fans, who are probably responsible for originating it. Footbal players wear helmets and pads to prevent fatalities. Pro football is full of 300 lb monsters who run faster than any soccer player and hit as hard as charging bulls. Soccer is a non-contact sport that does not inflict the injuries on its players that are inflicted on those pad and helmet wearing “sissies” in football. That’s why so many American parents have their kids play soccer: Because it’s safe. Girls can play with boys without any appreciable risk.
Rugby is definitely a rough sport, but it isn’t any rougher than football. Full contact is reserved for the ball carrier, not opposing lines. Comparisons between rugby and football make sense however, unlike comparisons between soccer and football.
There is definitely a wide streak of anti-Americanism running through soccer fandom. Astorian makes this point succinctly and definitively: Where is the hatred directed at Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Cuba, etc. for preferring other games to soccer? Why is all the vitriol reserved for America? Inconsistent criticism reveals consistent antipathy. It’s no coincidence that this article has attracted a slew of anti-American commentators, even those who don’t care about soccer.
Nacl is right about baseball defining the American spirit better than any other sport. It stresses individual exceptionalism and teamwork over prima donna antics and collectivism. Chuck Martel may be right about it being the most difficult. Using a narrow bat to Hit a little ball weaving in at 90 mph is incredibly difficult.
Most Americans prefer the dubious excitement of watching a round of golf to a game where typical scores run from 0-0 to 1-0.
Greenwald is right. Americans are content to play the sports they prefer without foisting them on other nations. Our national pride is based on our position as the world’s premiere country, not a game we largely reserve for our daughters. The international community wants to foist soccer on America because it wants the opportunity to beat a country it cant beat in the real world. It’s no surprise that Obama is so popular with the backbiting international “community.”