Naturally a nation puts its "best foot" forward when the entire world
is watching.
So as our football warriors take to the field of battle, the planet is
treated to a show of power by the Earth's Mightiest War Machine ever.
Did anyone even suggest that we might have featured the bright,
hopeful faces of our nation's children, the hope of our future?
We certainly can no longer feature the hard working men and women of
our once great Working Class. Featuring them would expose the growing
slums and street people begging for some crumbs to survive. We cannot
feature our once mighty labor unions. They now are in tatters.
Showing off our once mighty infrastructure, our super highways and
gleaming bridges and fast running railroad trains can't happen,
either. They are all in shambles. Even an attempt to feature our
nation as in the song, America the Beautiful:
Oh beautiful for spacious skies,
for amber waves of grain,
For purple mountain majesties
Above the fruited plain!
America! America!
God shed his grace on thee
And crown thy good with brotherhood
From sea to shining sea!
That land is fast disappearing under heavy layers of human pollution.
So all we have left to show the world is the military might that is
murdering millions around the dying globe.
Carl Jarvis
On 2/9/16, S. Kashdan <skashdan@scn.org> wrote:
> The Might of the American Empire Was on Full Display at Super Bowl 50: A
> Bizarre War Spectacle Extraordinaire
>
>
>
> By Sarah Lazare [1]
>
>
>
> AlterNet [2], February 8, 2016
>
>
>
> http://www.alternet.org/print/civil-liberties/might-american-empire-was-full-display-super-bowl-50-bizarre-war-spectacle
>
>
>
> From the fighter jets soaring overhead to the armed troops patrolling Levi
> Stadium, Super Bowl 50 was a highly militarized event, its 70,000 spectators
>
> and millions of television viewers subject to a showcase of war propaganda
> and heavy security crackdown.
>
>
>
> To much fanfare, the Armed Forces Chorus, comprised of 50 men and women from
>
> the Army, Navy, Marines, Coast Guard, and Air Force, kicked off the massive
>
> sports event by singing "America the Beautiful" from the field. CBS'
> broadcast of the song cut away to footage of uniformed troops standing at
> attention, with text on the screen reading, "United States Forces
> Afghanistan." The clip was a nod to a brutal war and occupation, now
> stretching into its 15th year, as top generals press [3] for an even slower
>
> withdrawal.
>
>
>
> Following the national anthem, the U.S. Navy flew its signature Blue Angels
>
> Delta formation over the cheering stadium, located in Santa Clara, Calif.
> The Navy is open about the propaganda purposes of such flights, stating in a
>
> press release they are intended to demonstrate "pride" in the military. In a
>
> country that dropped [4] 23,144 bombs on Muslim-majority countries in 2015
> alone, the war planes are not just symbolic.
>
>
>
> The heavy-handed display follows revelations [5] that some NFL teams have
> long been accepting payment from the Department of Defense to honor and
> celebrate the military and its service members.
>
>
>
> Some were open about their profiteering aims. Military weaponry was also
> displayed off the field on Sunday, when the arms giant Northrop Grumman
> released [6] a 30-second television advertisement for a terrifying and
> futuristic fighter jet complete with lasers.
>
>
>
> Meanwhile, at the stadium and in surrounding communities, a real crackdown
> took place. The Super Bowl was determined by Homeland Security to be a
> "level one" security event, prompting a massive deployment of police and
> troops. Service members in uniform carried automatic rifles as they
> patrolled the stadium, and camouflaged Humvee vehicles with roof gun mounts
>
> were seen throughout the area.
>
>
>
> According to [7] SF Gate writer Al Saracevic, "At one point, near the media
>
> entrance to the event, a column of military personnel could be seen marching
>
> into the interior of the stadium security zone, boots clomping, weapons in
> hand."
>
>
>
> The crackdown extended far beyond the event itself. In the leadup to the
> Super Bowl, authorities in nearby San Francisco began clearing homeless
> encampments in anticipation of a large influx of tourists, prompting
> protests [8]. In a city already beset with dramatic inequality and
> displacement, the sweeps prompted the campaign Not So Super SF, demanding a
>
> moratorium on the criminalization of homeless people.
>
>
>
> The buildup to the event saw a heavy surveillance and law enforcement
> crackdown, in a city with powerful movements demanding an end to police
> killings and recognition that Black Lives Matter.
>
>
>
> "In the leadup to the Super Bowl, we've seen high-tech surveillance cameras
>
> go up with zero public input or protections [9], a black protestor arrested
>
> just for taking photos [10], and homeless people harassed, displaced, and
> saddled with unpayable citations [11]," Abdi Soltani, the executive director
>
> of the ACLU of Northern California, warned [12] days ahead of the Super
> Bowl.
>
>
>
> Amid the militarized spectacle of the Super Bowl, there was some recognition
>
> from the field of the issues nearby communities are struggling with. In a
> powerful homage to the ongoing legacies of women in the Black Panthers
> movement, dancers accompanying Beyonce's halftime performance of "Formation
>
> [13]" held a sign [14] demanding "Justice for Mario Woods." African-American
>
> man Woods, 26, was killed [15] by San Francisco police on December 2.
>
>
>
> Sarah Lazare is a staff writer for AlterNet. A former staff writer for
> Common Dreams, Sarah co-edited the book About Face: Military Resisters Turn
>
> Against War. Follow her on Twitter at @sarahlazare [16].
>
>
>
> Share on Facebook Share
>
>
>
> Share on Twitter Tweet
>
>
>
> mailto:corrections@alternet.org?Subject=Typo on The Might of the American
> Empire Was on Full Display at Super Bowl 50: A Bizarre War Spectacle
> Extraordinaire [17]
>
>
>
> [18]
>
>
>
> Source URL:
> http://www.alternet.org/civil-liberties/might-american-empire-was-full-display-super-bowl-50-bizarre-war-spectacle
>
>
>
> Links:
>
>
>
> [1] http://www.alternet.org/authors/sarah-lazare-0
>
>
>
> [2] http://alternet.org
>
>
>
> [3]
> http://www.defense.gov/News-Article-View/Article/650370/campbell-to-sasc-afghanistan-not-a-short-term-problem
>
>
>
> [4]
> http://www.alternet.org/news-amp-politics/us-dropped-23144-bombs-muslim-majority-countries-2015
>
>
>
> [5]
> http://www.nj.com/politics/index.ssf/2015/05/taxpayers_pony_up_for_jets_salutes_to_nj_national.html
>
>
>
> [6]
> https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/checkpoint/wp/2016/02/06/this-futuristic-fighter-jet-will-likely-be-unveiled-to-america-during-the-super-bowl/
>
>
>
> [7]
> http://www.sfgate.com/sports/article/Huge-military-presence-at-Super-Bowl-50-6813940.php
>
>
>
> [8] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cSgY3CKC3n4&feature=youtu.be
>
>
>
> [9]
> http://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/local/ACLU-Critical-of-New-Muni-Cameras-Along-the-Embarcadero-366163331.html
>
>
>
> [10] http://sfist.com/2016/02/04/black_protester_detained_and_cited.php
>
>
>
> [11]
> http://abc7news.com/sports/i-team-super-bowl-puts-strain-on-homeless-in-san-francisco/1184577/
>
>
>
> [12]
> https://www.aclunc.org/blog/super-bowl-city-and-beyond-sf-must-affirm-blacklivesmatter
>
>
>
> [13] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LrCHz1gwzTo
>
>
>
> [14]
> https://twitter.com/BLMBAYAREA/status/696519908050362368?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
>
>
>
> [15]
> http://www.sfgate.com/crime/article/Family-of-man-shot-by-SF-police-to-file-federal-6691945.php
>
>
>
> [16] https://twitter.com/sarahlazare
>
>
>
> [17] mailto:corrections@alternet.org?Subject=Typo on The Might of the
> American Empire Was on Full Display at Super Bowl 50: A Bizarre War
> Spectacle Extraordinaire
>
>
>
> [18] http://www.alternet.org/
>
>
>
> [19] http://www.alternet.org/%2Bnew_src%2B
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
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