tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5730822.post6493758697565271918..comments2024-03-28T19:45:50.194-07:00Comments on the joy of sox: Guest Post: military propaganda at sports events reaches new extremes: continuous recruitment ads at baseball gamesallanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04673233312198832937noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5730822.post-37941560707351449912014-04-15T06:34:18.285-07:002014-04-15T06:34:18.285-07:00wmtc is cited in Dave Zirin's latest column: &...wmtc is cited in Dave Zirin's latest column: "<a href="http://www.thenation.com/blog/179318/pat-tillman-boston-marathon-and-tale-two-anniversaries" rel="nofollow">Pat Tillman, the Boston Marathon and the Tale of Two Anniversaries</a>"allanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04673233312198832937noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5730822.post-13416510057052593692014-04-14T17:21:09.124-07:002014-04-14T17:21:09.124-07:00The US military is protecting our way of life if o...The US military is protecting our way of life if one understands that our way of life includes "bombing their homes, subjecting them to chemical weapons, and torturing them in prison...." These actions are what we do, what we like, what we need, and what we protect.<br /><br />Pious, self-congratulatory sadism <i>is</i> the American Way. johngoldfinehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09322562737172405323noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5730822.post-45855549677173039452014-04-14T11:56:03.010-07:002014-04-14T11:56:03.010-07:00A brilliant comment by Maxwell Horse, deserving of...A brilliant comment by Maxwell Horse, deserving of its own post on a blog or in a magazine somewhere. <br /><br /><i>The soldiers fought for freedom in WWII, so logically, that must mean that every single military action ever taken place is equally necessary and something to be championed.</i><br /><br />Exactly. And always linked to "protecting our way of life". As if the citizens of Iraq and Afghanistan were in any way, in any possible stretch of the imagination, threatening "our way of life". And as if bombing their homes, subjecting them to chemical weapons, and torturing them in prison, in any way protects and enhances our lives. <br /><br />But this "protecting our way of life" trope goes unquestioned in the mainstream.<br /><br />laura khttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05524593142290489958noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5730822.post-73212306038328650292014-04-14T08:39:22.145-07:002014-04-14T08:39:22.145-07:00At the end of the home half of the fourth inning o...At the end of the home half of the fourth inning of every home game, the Red Sox always highlight a specific veteran. It's called "Hats Off To Heroes" and it salutes those "who protect our way of life". At one of the three games, the announcer mentioned various tours of duty, including Egypt. (Why Egypt, you might ask? What is Egypt doing to threaten "our way of life"? ... Don't ask.) Needless to say, fans fairly leap out of their seats to cheer.<br /><br /><i> knowing the Red Sox owners political bent this sort of surprises me</i><br /><br />But this is the military and honouring the men and women who fight our wars. It's not political at all. However, if you criticize it, THEN you are making it a political issue. Simply condoning it is normal.allanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04673233312198832937noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5730822.post-23762124178157113642014-04-14T08:18:49.209-07:002014-04-14T08:18:49.209-07:00I don't watch any sports aside from baseball, ...I don't watch any sports aside from baseball, but I can't help notice the blatant jingoism (at least in the broadcasts) of ALL the games, including ones not covered by NESN. (Like when FOX does the playoffs.)<br /><br />Of course it's not just stuff in the form of ads or videos. There's outright propaganda in the form of staged events that are intertwined within the games themselves:<br /><br />Heartwarming reunions where family members are surprised by a returning soldier in front of the thousands in attendance at the stadium and the millions watching at home (so we associate warm and fuzzy feelings with military occupations), like the ending of "1984" had it starred Drew Barrymore. <br /><br />Fighter jet flyovers to mark every special game. It's an unquestioned given. If it's an important game--military flyover. It's never jugglers. It's never the visiting cast of a hit Broadway play invited to perform. It's always military fly-overs. (And if those alternate suggestions I gave sound silly, I'd like to point out that they have about as much to do with baseball as military jets do.) <br /><br />I think I've mentioned before the pre-show interviews with people "visiting" the game who happen to be in the military, and who always happen to be in their military uniform. I think I've made the joke that they must've been fighting a battle minutes before buying a ticket at the window, because otherwise it's hard to understand a reason for someone to show up at a game that way. (How about doctors showing up at games with latex gloves on and one of those headbands with the circular mirrors? Like they had to rush to the ballpark immediately after performing a vasectomy.)<br /><br />Some of that can be dismissed as simply paid-for propaganda. But what is harder to slough off is that whenever anyone (be it media figure or a player or anyone else you encounter in life) is asked to comment on the soldiers fighting in Afghanistan and Iraq, they always, always, always say that these people are heroes because if it weren't for them killing Iraqis, "we wouldn't have our freedoms."<br /><br />This is an answer given so consistently that I genuinely believe this isn't part of some conscious paid-for campaign, but that people actually believe this. (Although one could make the argument that the paid-for propaganda is the reason this is the accepted truth.) <br /><br />It's like people can't make any distinction between various actions by the military. The soldiers fought for freedom in WWII, so logically, that must mean that every single military action ever taken place is equally necessary and something to be championed. It reminds me of when George W. ran for president (the second time) and his speech-writers actually had the balls to have Bush remind people during a debate that Abraham Lincoln was a Republican. (Because apparently that means that every Republican since then has mimicked Lincoln's exact same political platform. That's what Bush is best known for, I guess, his amazing relationship with black people.)Maxwell Horsehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11954012317296896642noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5730822.post-73474859917841055112014-04-14T07:20:10.979-07:002014-04-14T07:20:10.979-07:00Nicely put, knowing the Red Sox owners political b...Nicely put, knowing the Red Sox owners political bent this sort of surprises me. In the end money triumphs over all, capitalism at its finest?<br />John Frizzellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15202124346744392551noreply@blogger.com