Newcastle midfielder Joey Barton is distressed by the state of his home country and expressed his feelings via Twitter on Saturday morning.
Barton, a Merseyside, England, native who was denied a visa to travel to the U.S. for Newcastle's friendly tour, grabbed his Blackberry and fired off a rant criticizing his country and its relationship with the U.S.
"This is a good country but we were once pioneers of the known world, a truly GREAT country, now we pedal the [stufff] the america's tell us to," he tweeted.
He went on to rail against "British troops in conflict zones" that support "fascist regimes," as well as former President George W. Bush.
"'Land of the free, home of the brave' only George Bush and his idiotic subordinates believe that …" Barton tweeted.
Just before going to train — why do athletes feel the need to let everyone know they're going to work out? — Barton threw a bone to his American friends.
"This is not about America people, there's some good America friends of mine, truly great people," he tweeted. "Its their gov and also r gov following them."
Barton is proud of his strong opinions. His Twitter page quotes The Smiths song "Still Ill": I decree today that life is simply taking and not giving, England is mine and it owes me a living.
