Thursday, May 28, 2015

Next They Came for FIFA…

No need to provide a link – if you are a football fan (soccer for you Norte-Americanos in the audience), you know the story. (I will set aside the question: is “bribery,” or whatever is ultimately charged, a violation of the NAP?).

There was a time, in the glorious Middle Ages, when law followed the individual: “what is your law?” was the first question asked when the accused was facing a charge; thereafter, with the return of Roman law, law followed jurisdiction: where you lived (or visited) determined the law under-which you lived (suffered); now there is global law as written in Washington, DC: all have sinned and come short of the glory…. (And don’t bring up that “juris-my-diction”…mmm…stuff.)

Until now, perhaps the most blatant example of the empire extending and enforcing its laws on individuals residing in other jurisdictions (after bombing them with drones, if you want to count that) has been in banking and related activities.  Swiss banks for personal tax avoidance, various manipulations of currency markets and the like.

Going after the governing body of football is a big change.  But very shrewd, if the objective is to develop new markets for expansion of American over-reach.

FIFA is shady; depending on your definition, it is corrupt.  True or not, is there a football fan on planet earth that doesn’t hold some version of this view?  Now, don’t try to hide it – what was the first thing that went through your mind when it was announced that Qatar was awarded the 2022 World Cup?  Yeah, me too.

How could anyone complain about American over-reach when the target was so totally deserving?  Where much of the world has grown overly tired of American exceptionalism on almost every case, today football fans around the globe are cheering this decision.

A very shrewd move by the empire.

Next up, the IOC…

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