We owe him some respect as the player, the artist, whose talents were the most hypnotic a generation of soccer watchers have seen. Carlos Menem, the former Argentina president, admitted the country failed Maradona. When he was head of state, Menem put on boots and shorts and played Walter Mitty to Maradona's genius. Menem bestowed on the idol a spurious ambassadorship. When Maradona was in intensive care in Uruguay this month, ex-president Menem flew to him.
Survival there is a feat.
Worse, the crooks who offered themselves as Maradona guides were the first to share his money, to procure his drugs, to feed his every whim. It is difficult. He did the same to Belgium. Maradona, for better, for worse, could delight or deceive in the grand manner. Frankly, he was so darned good, we don't need to pay intellectual copyright.