High life
Respecting tradition
Taki
The impromptu coalition of profession- al lesbians, gays and leftist scum that hurled obscenities at the Pope last Sunday in Berlin should have been baton-charged, if not machine-gunned, by the fuzz. Most of them were sponging leeches, squatters and welfare cheats who spout socialist slo- gans and are treated as heroes by the media. It is an intolerable situation when the dregs of society can insult the spiritual leader of the Catholic church and not even get kneecapped for it. This is where I love the Muslims. Salman Rushdie made lotsa moolah by insulting the Prophet, but came the day when he embraced Islam and begged the ayatoilets to forgive him. (Now he's turned defiant again, at our expense, of course.) At least Rushdie rushed to hide. This scum prances in front of television cam- eras, their defiling of the Pope being seen as a respected and accepted civil disobedi- ence. Like most modern horrors, civil dis- obedience became chic during the ghastly Sixties and the grotesque anti Vietnam war movement.
What I don't understand is why Catholics turn the other cheek. If they had lynched one of those militant Noo Yawk gays who annually invade St Patrick's Cathedral and throw condoms at Cardinal O'Connor, per- haps the leftists in Berlin would have got the message. Civilised people are obliged to defend their symbols and traditions. When greedy Hollywood types make films depicting Christ in the act of making love, Christians should burn their studio down. I know Muslims would, as would Orthodox Jews. The burning-down of a film studio or the beating of leftist scum who have insult- ed the Pope is what protecting our respect- ed traditions is all about.
And speaking of respect, the day before the Berlin outrage I witnessed the exact opposite. On the occasion of his 50th birth- day, William Shawcross paid homage to his 94-year-old father during a wonderful sum- mer lunch at Friston Place, East Sussex. As always, Olga Shawcross's organisation was impeccable. Buses ferried the guests from the train and wine flowed like vodka in the Kremlin. Lord Shawcross stood up and in a strong voice thanked William and called him his 'beloved son'. I found it very mov- ing because, being Greek, I do not under- stand the emotional distancing practised by the English towards their children, and each other, for that matter. It was a magi- cal afternoon spent among many friends in an old Tudor house garden close to the sea.
Two days later Wimbledon started with a bang, which meant good news. The Spartan Sampras survived, the Iranian Agassi did not. The second-round opponent of Sam- pras is also Greek, Mark Philippoussis, the parents of both players having migrated in the Fifties. Greek friends of mine have speculated on the powerhouse Davis Cup team Greece would have had, had they not left for America and Australia respectively. We'd be just as bad as we are, I tell them. Neither player would have persevered in the poisoned by envy Greek sporting scene. The state would have given them too much too soon, and there would have been no incentive. Greeks make it big outside Greece, both in business and sport.
And while I'm on sport, I find it quaint that Martin Amis writes about tennis. I would have thought hypocrisy would be a more suitable subject. He has bored us to tears about nukes and his children and what a responsible father he is in the past, and I only hope he doesn't write too much about tennis in the future. I've only read one article of his on the game, and it was like everything he and his buddy Christo- pher Hitchens write. Lots of style, no sub- stance. Amis thinks he knows the game because he plays a bit. I was told he picked Agassi to win. Well, maybe next time.
In the meantime, the best match so far was Henman-Kafelnikov a crowd enthraller if there ever was one. In fact, it was like the good old days of wooden rackets. Kafel- nikov's ground strokes are of sheer beauty, and the match was full of glorious hitting from side to side. I thought the Russian got a terrible call on match point — in fact he stopped playing — but such are the joys of sport. Personally, I'd love to see Boris Becker win, even over Sampras, because he's a gent and because he's German. If I was betting with my head rather than my heart I'd pick Ivanisevic, despite the fact the greatest tennis authority since Teddy Tinling picked Agassi.
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