May 08, 2003
NORMAN MAILER thinks one of
NORMAN MAILER thinks one of the reasons George W. Bush committed to war was that white US males were failing at sport:
"With their dominance in sport, at work and at home eroded, Bush thought white American men needed to know they were still good at something. That's where Iraq came in ... "
I wonder how Norman will explain Australia's involvement, then.
UPDATE. Eric Jablow makes an excellent point:
Posted by Tim Blair at May 8, 2003 11:34 AMI would sooner believe that France's behavior during the 11 September 2001 aftermath, the Battle of Afghanistan, and the Battle of Iraq are based on her sorry sporting performances and her self-image. Consider:
The second greatest cheating scandal in Olympic history involved a corrupt French ice skating judge. [I consider the greatest cheating scandal to be the 1972 US-USSR men's basketball game. After all, I am an American.]
No Frenchman has won the Tour de France for many years. Lance Armstrong, an American, has won the last four, only a few years after nearly dying of cancer. Furthermore, he has not resorted to illegal drugs, the way many French riders have.
No defending World Cup champion has ever performed worse than the 2002 French team. They could not even tally a goal in their three games, even playing for a 0-0 draw in their second. They did not even try to win. Meanwhile, the US team reached the quarterfinals, and the South Korean team reached the semifinals.
Can anyone doubt that this has caused the French to become even more sullen over time?