rhubroma said:Then you are a blockhead.
The entire motion was politically based from the outset. It's about fascism and money vs. decency. Nothing more. If there were any dignity to the sport and the riders and organizations that make it up, which there blatantly is not, then such an event would have been boycotted. End of story.
If you can't discern the issues then you are too taken in by the sporting aspect of it, which is where the problem began.
I can only repeat what I have already reported before in another thread:
"Qui la politica non c'entra, siamo venuti per correre." ("Here politics counts for nothing, we have only come to race.") So spoke Ivan Basso, the number one Italian cyclist and the most illustrious participant of the so called Giro di Padania. But as even any Italian child can understand, a manifestation that is called "Giro di Padania" and which has been financed and publicized by exponents of the Northern League is political in the purest state.
To be able to say "Qui la politica non c'entra" one needs a strong dose of hypocrisy, or else has to know nothing, absolutely nothing, about the country in which he lives. Ivan Basso will have to decide for himself in which category he prefers to belong: that of the hypocrites, or that of the imbeciles.
For Ivan Basso the Giro d'Italia and the Giro di Padania are evidently the exact same thing in terms of what the sport glorifies and promotes, even if one symbolically celebrates national unity and solidarity, the other racism and separation. Though for Basso it's only a question of pedaling your bike with bowed head without ever raising it to comprehend where one is going, and why.
Don't discount a third possibility vis a vis Basso: that of sympathizer. Not saying he is, but one must avoid the pigpen for fear of being mistaken for swine. Unless of course one is swine.
Zoncolan said:Nicely summed up.
Indeed. I'm especially fond of the bolded part.
Zinoviev Letter said:Hopefully every stage of this vile race will be disrupted, although I also hope that this is done without some idiot hitting a cyclist. It is grotesque that the UCI have sanctioned a propaganda event for a bunch of bigots.
Agreed. I have to say, "Padania" is new to me. After looking it up I tried to imagine an analogous situation here in the U.S.
A neo-Nazi group, such as the Aryan Nations, decides to claim the Pacific Northwest as their own. Let's say they lay claim to Washington state and Oregon, and have designs on British Columbia (in Canada) as well. On the very thinnest of historical pretexts they decide to call their fantasy country New Albion. (I'm making this up off the top of my head, based on the above links, but that name is appropriate, and appropriately absurd.) They plan to exclude or enslave (or kill) every nationality and religious minority they don't approve of. A very few well-off business people in the region support them, as well as an alarming (minority) number of the long-term unemployed. Most everyone else regards them as nut cases.
To promote and facilitate the legitimacy of their claim, they organize a bicycle race in its name - Tour of New Albion. (Though, in truth, here in the US it would be a pro American football team.) In order for this race to be taken seriously, it requires the inprimatur of the UCI. (Perhaps this is where the wealthy backers come in, for such approval isn't given lightly or without cause.) A substantial sum is paid (under the table) to Pat McQuaid and other concerned persons, and they have themselves a bicycle race!
With the stamp of the UCI behind it, the race is able to attract real teams and real talent. For a fee, even Lance Armstrong makes an appearance. (Grey Manrod throws excrement at him from the sidelines.) At some point, anti-fascist protesters confront the racers and Lance ends up getting slapped in the face. Do I have it about right? Perhaps not a perfect analogy, but the salient points are there.
It seems to me the real culprit in this fiasco has to be, once again, the UCI. At such a political juncture as this, their role goes from that of amoral businessmen making money wherever they can, to real threat (albeit minor) to society and the rule of law, such as it is. The sooner that organization is investigated and abolished, the better!