January 12, 2005
TOTALITARIAN GAME, TOTALITARIAN GESTURES:
Soccer: What does this warrior's salute really mean? (Rob Hughes, January 12, 2005, International Herald Tribune)
Do the cameras tell us lies? Italian police, magistrates and soccer officials are examining images to determine whether Paolo Di Canio should face criminal charges for stirring old fascist leanings with his celebration of a victory for SS Lazio over AS Roma in the febrile Roman "derby" contest last Thursday.Posted by Orrin Judd at January 12, 2005 10:20 AMThe so-called Roman salute - stiff right arm and flat palm - that this appears to be was not, according to Di Canio and his agents, at all a political gesture, and certainly not intended as incitement to the known neo-fascist faction of hard-core Lazio fanatics in the north stand of the Olimpico Stadium.
"Paolo just wanted to celebrate with the fans," Moreno Roggi, the player's agent, insisted as the debate continued this week.
This is hard to understand. We are very blessed with the First Amendment: Americans may make such political statements as we choose.
Posted by: Lou Gots at January 12, 2005 10:26 AMLou Gots:
My thoughts exactly. They've made making a simple although disgusting hand gesture illegal -- in the name of stopping fascism?
Posted by: Matt Murphy at January 12, 2005 10:52 AMI can't imagine a soccer player making a political gesture except perhaps in support of gay marriage.
Posted by: Bart at January 12, 2005 11:22 AMHe would have been better off just to run behind the visiting goal and then pretend to drop his drawers and moon the crowd.
Posted by: John at January 12, 2005 11:34 AMHow do you guys feel about the legality of burning the Stars and Stripes?
Posted by: Brit at January 12, 2005 11:46 AMIt should be illegal, but better yet the bystanders should light the perpetrators on fire.
Posted by: oj at January 12, 2005 11:57 AMRandy Moss gave the Green Bay fans the British naval salute just this past week.
Posted by: h-man at January 12, 2005 12:16 PMOops sorry I didn't see John's post.
Posted by: h-man at January 12, 2005 12:18 PMWell, in answer to the rhetorical question, sure cameras can tell lies. They isolate one moment in time and leave any context that might aid interpretation out, leaving the meaning of what you see up to the person viewing that one moment.
Yes, that was a good representation. No, it is probably not the meaning that you think.
Posted by: Arnold Williams at January 12, 2005 12:56 PMHe does play for SS Lazio.
Posted by: carter at January 12, 2005 5:19 PMLet us go back, back, back to when shoes were on other feet and other oxen were being gored. When pinkoes, peace creeps and racial separatists were wearing armbands, waving enemy battle flags, and giving clenched-fist Commie salutes, we thought we knew what the First Amendment meant. But when the "context" is different. . ..
Posted by: Lou Gots at January 12, 2005 9:36 PM