When I was growing up, it was said that baseball was America’s favorite sport. But after watching a little bit of this year’s World Series, I think it is evident that the war system has replaced that game. Military honor guards marching in with the flags before the game; soldiers honored for their “service” at home plate; televised pictures of men and women from each of the military franchises standing in their full-dress uniforms throughout the game; and a person from the military brought in to sing the National Anthem during the seventh-inning stretch (isn’t it enough that the game was also preceded with this song?).
If war has, indeed, become the “national pastime,” let us give it the full attention it deserves. Don’t just bring the troops out for a superficial appearance: bring the glory of war into the homes of Americans who have thus far settled for flag-waving and patriotic music. What about bringing a Pakistani family – children included – into center field during the seventh-inning stretch, and have them obliterated by a drone bomber? If the practice is worthwhile enough to shower Army drone operators with medals and certificates for their accomplishments, why not let everyone see what “American exceptionalism” is all about? The ancient Romans were able to pack their coliseum with people eager to witness humans butchering one another for the “glory of Rome.” Isn’t America at least as good as Rome?
12:40 pm on October 28, 2013
