Countdown To Imperial Bread And Circus Day

Now that elimination is over and two teams remain for Super Bowl XLI, let the games begin. I wonder if Fatherland Security will announce Feb 4 as a "National Special Security Event" and drag out the biological sensors and radiation detectors. In any event Dolphin Stadium and the surrounding area will be locked down tight and swarming with all sorts of security, cops and agents. Last year at the Big Show in Detroit they banned parking and all mailboxes were removed from around the stadium while there were dive teams at the waterfront.

Anyone remember that utterly bizarre halftime show in 2000 at the Georgia Dome? Walt Disney did the extravaganza I guess and imported some Y2K show from Walt Disney World. They used spooky theatrical lighting to create this dark, foreboding mood. It came across as a giant cult ceremony with weird lurching puppets venerating some huge pagan god while Edward James Olmos intoned "Behold the Great Millenium Walk!" as Toni Braxton fellated her microphone. I think our overlords wanted to get some point across about their new world order but it just was a confused orgiastic befuddlement to me.



The grotesque spectacle which fast grew into an icon of Imperial America has sure turned into a communal myth with something for everybody. If you look real close there's actually a football contest in there. Since I couldn't care less about phony professional sports I record the game and play it back, zipping through the on field action to get to the Stuff of real importance - the commercials. I want to take a look at what the manipulators want us to see, and from that try to guess their intentions, what they might have in store for us. Along the way there's also some fun ads:

With this kind of spectacle that's viewed by half the country you know there's a lot of manipulation going on and it isn't just to make us want to buy a certain brand of car. They subject the participants and the viewers to a shameless creeping militarization, especially since 9/11. You can't have jet flyovers without close cooperation between the pentagon and the NFL. Last year Norad was even part of the security arrangements, and celebrities read parts of the Declaration of Independence. Of course they're going to have a big show of police state force with pat downs, metal detectors and gun toting goons, and some have suggested the area will be circled by global hawk surveillance drones. Remember the PSAs from the drug czar's office during the first SB after 9/11? They equated recreational drug use with aiding and abetting terrorists. Like I said, shameless.

"Writing about the previous ads, LA Weekly media critic Judith Lewis reported that their message plays well into Bush's anti-terror campaign because it keeps ordinary citizens under siege and the war on terror central in their minds."

They want to wrap it all up into one big warm bundle - adoration of all things military, patriotism, adrenaline, acceptance of a police state, all that heavy machismo and ogling those writhing cheerleaders . (When they cut away from the endless shots of men in uniform) What you won't see, and I'll guarantee this, is any sign of Bush or Cheney or even a video or picture on the big screen. It would be too hard for the manipulators to drown out the thundering boos and catcalls. The last time a Bush was at a game it didn't go so well and needed to be tweaked:

"It started with right winger Mike Tirico announcing George Bush Sr. to the crowd. Instantaneously you could hear an echo of cheers and not a single boo from the audio. But if you listen carefully to the audio, that audio was not live. ESPN shut off the sound of the Superdome crowd for a few seconds and played this audio of fake cheers."

That was Bush Sr., can you imagine reactions to Dim Son?

But that doesn't matter to our overlords even if he sank into negative polling numbers. They'll equate support for their glorious war of conquest and march to fascism at home with loud spectacle and emotion, coupled with rampant consumerism. America's colossal narcissistic jamboree is now one long dazzling paean to nascent fascism in general, and just like they co opted support for the troops with supporting Bush, when you're cheering for your team you're also cheering on the Empire.

Life used to be a lot simpler, like when the last time the Bears appeared at the Hoopla and the Superbowl Shuffle climbed the charts: