The World Cup got going recently. This is the corrupt world-organization event sponsored by FIFA. The host location was nefariously awarded to Qatar because when you think of soccer, you think of Qatar.
It became clear when the matches started that the strong Islamic rules against drinking and gambling run counter to the culture of soccer, which has a drinking and fist fighting-centric fan base. Budweiser paid $75 million for sponsorship but was not allowed to serve beer. It would be like Joe Biden giving money to Ukraine without Hunter being allowed to peddle his influence there. There is just a certain understanding when money is exchanged.
It is a strictly religious construct in Qatar. If Qatar’s team does not win, heads might roll. Literally. To me, this might actually make soccer interesting to watch. But it is not fair for me to cast the first stone; my religion was founded by King Henry VIII.
The Islamic religion not only bans pork and booze; Islamic governments are totally anti-LGBTQ. In Muslim countries you are not allowed to eat, drink or be Mary.
It was interesting to watch the Qatar team score its first goal. When the players got excited about it and celebrated by hugging each other, it was surprising they were not immediately stoned by authorities.
Karl Marx was not right about much, but he hit the nail on the head when he said, “Religion is the opium of the people.” It works in America, so we do not pay as much attention to leftist politics. Certainly in Muslim countries, crown prince monarchs control their inordinate wealth and power (derived from their countries’ natural resources) by imposing strict, religious-based Sharia Law.
For the kids out there, “Sharia Law” is not a sassy, no-nonsense, black woman judge on daytime TV. It is a non-human rights-based, strict religious order, meant to control a country. But our left plays along with them, and just calls America’s religious right “white supremacists” and “MAGA Republicans.”
German soccer player Manuel Neuer got in trouble during Gay Pride Month for wearing a rainbow armband. To be fair, Germans have worn worse armbands. There is a lesson to be learned here for Putin and Russia: Producing top-notch automobiles and Heidi Klum goes a long way toward mending past war crimes.
Germany has its fiscal act together under strong leadership and discipline. They did lose two World Wars against the United States, Russia and Britain, but they remain top-ranked in the polls based on strength of schedule.
Personified by Megan Rapinoe, U.S. women’s soccer seems to be in perpetual complaint mode about America. Most recently, their lament was centered around feminist cries for equal pay for women in professional sports. Their grievance was that women in sports do not make as much as men, but this is not entirely true. Ask any Hollywood agent. Caitlyn Jenner has made ten times the money Bruce Jenner ever did.
I do wish Megan Rapinoe would be quiet. Her political views have grown tiresome, preachy, sanctimonious and derivative. If I were to place any value on the “social justice” political views of someone whose only skill is frantically chasing a ball, I will ask my dog, Lilly.
I get the international value of soccer, yet the United States does not focus on soccer. We are not as good as Wales, Ghana, Cameroon, Costa Rica and even that island Tom Hanks was shipwrecked on in Cast Away. Based on Biden’s Southern Border policy, we do not even know who our goalies are and what they are supposed to do.
We did beat Iran in an exciting 1-0 match. Iran was like me in high school: a lot of running around and trying, but never scoring. Our victory over Iran caused some of their military leaders and Mullahs to elevate their “Death to America” theme. To quell this, Biden should calm the Iranian people by flying to Beverly Hills to address them directly.
It is fun to watch the culture and the seriousness of other countries in their love of soccer. Once, Nigeria’s national soccer team played so badly that they offered refunds to those who bought tickets to the match. The Nigerians only asked that fans fill out a card with their checking account details, bank routing number and their PIN and mail it in.
A libertarian op-ed humorist and award-winning author, Ron does commentary on radio and TV. He can be contacted at Ron@RonaldHart.com or @RonaldHart on Twitter.
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