This article originally appeared on https://unamericanactivities.substack.com
By: Jeffrey Winograd
OPINION
Gerard Piqué, an FC Barcelona icon, by example and presentation, has delivered a master class in how to take leave from a beloved profession with charm, humility, integrity and consideration of the greater good.
Before almost 93,000 adoring Barcelona fans, the 35-year-old world class soccer player expressed his feelings about departing the playing field after a career spanning 25 years.
The world of professional soccer was caught by total surprise when Piqué announced his decision to permanently remove his boots on November 3 and several days later took to the pitch for what turned out to be his 616th and final appearance for Barcelona. Along the way, he won 30 trophies for Barça.
Not inconsequentially, according to the BBC, he had 18 months remaining on his contract and his early departure will boost the club’s critical efforts to reduce their wage bill.
Afterwards, Piqué, with a microphone at the ready while standing at the center spot of the field, made a heartfelt speech and near the end was overcome with tears:
“In life, as you grow older, sometimes to love is to let go. It was a relationship with so much love and passion between Barça and me. I’ve always said there won’t be any other team after Barça. And that’s how it will be. I have to organize myself a little. Now it is time to enjoy my friends and family. As my grandfather says – I was born here and will die here. Long live Barça”
Democrat’s Roster of So-Called Elites
Now substitute the United States for Barça and decide whether love-of-country or self-interest is the name of the game for the following Democratic “elite”:
- President Joseph Biden (soon to be age 80) who as a presidential candidate hid in his basement during the campaign, and now constantly forgets his rehearsed lines, spews falsehoods and claims that inflation is a transitory affair.
- Vice President Kamala Harris (only age 58) who is prone to repeat nonsense during her public remarks and is Biden’s designated Border Czarina who has deemed the southern border safe and secure.
- House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (age 82) who spearheaded, behind a false face, the misnomered Inflation Reduction Act and refused to green-light the presence of National Guard troops offered by President Trump days before the January 6th affair because she feared bad political optics.
- Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (soon to be age 72) who at the drop of a hat spews forth his staunch support for Israeli security but fast-tracked President Obama’s Iran nuclear deal which constitutionally was a treaty requiring Senate approval.
- Rep. Bennie Thompson (age 75) who chairs the House Homeland Security Committee with oversight of border security matters and also heads the House Select Committee on the January 6 Attack, a panel which only has GOP members approved by Pelosi.
- Pennsylvania Lt. Governor John Fetterman (age 53), the senator-elect whose campaign emulated Biden’s by his avoidance of a debate with his opponent until after the bulk of mail-in ballots were submitted leaving an electorate generally unaware that the effects of a stroke impede his ability to answer questions in an understandable and thoughtful manner.
The Piqué Way
It may seem a stretch to suggest professional politicians take to heart and follow the Gerard Piqué model of integrity, responsibility and loyalty to something far greater than himself.
The FC Barcelona motto, in Catalan, is “Més que un club.” [More than a club]
The honorific for Gerard Piqué should be “Més que un home.” [More than a man]
It is highly doubtful that any known Democratic party bigwig, man or woman, could achieve such venerated heights.
That’s America’s loss since our faltering nation is “Més que un país.” [More than a country]
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Un-American Activities 