16 June 2010

The Republican War on Soccer

The Center for American Progress shows that there is no subject beyond politicization. Seriously.
. . . as soccer has grabbed the spotlight, it has also attracted the scorn of nativists on the right, who see the growing attention being paid to it as a byproduct of some conspiratorial leftist plot or the result of insidious foreign influences. Fox News host Glenn Beck ranted, "I hate it so much, probably because the rest of the world likes it so much." Whether one is a fan of the world's game or not, the notion that soccer's growth is part of some plot is reflective of a conspiratorial nativism all too prevalent among the right wing.
Who cares what Glenn Beck thinks about soccer (or anything, really)? I am sure he would feel right at home with some Hansa Rostock supporters;-) In the US there is no "right wing war on soccer" -- it is as wrongheaded an idea as the "war on science." Politicizing science for partisan gain is one thing, but soccer? Heresy!