Super Bowl 51 Completes the Left's Hyper-Politicization of Absolutely Everything

[Ubiquitous]

A major newspaper demands Patriots' quarterback Tom Brady answer for
his support of President Trump. Lady Gaga will use her halftime show to
sing about "equality" and "inclusion." The insufferable and polarizing
cast of "Hamilton" will sing "America the Beautiful." There will be not
one but two ads hectoring us over the issue of immigration.

All of this is happening, not during the Oscars or the next hour of
CNN, but during that only time of year when Americans of every
political stripe were once allowed to come together for a 5 hour oasis
away from politics and the culture wars … the Super Bowl.

Because, as the saying goes, liberals eventually ruin everything, the
politicization of sports was inevitable. That is not to say sports were
always a politics-free oasis. We have had our share of Muhammad Alis
and Jackie Robinsons and Billie Jean Kings. These transformative
figures were, however, exceptions. They also stood for something that
transcended the game.

Anyone who has watched even a snippet of ESPN over the last few years
knows that there is now a relentless push to politicize everything
about almost every sporting event. Whereas a Muhammad Ali strode into
the spotlight, bringing with him an outsized personality (and talent)
that overshadowed the sport of boxing and disrupted America at-large,
today's social justice warriors (SJWs) transcend nothing. From crybaby
Colin Kaepernick to the brutalization of practicing-Christian Tim
Tebow, it is only about obnoxious, partisan point-scoring. Or as Ben
Domenech articulates so well in his New York Times op-ed:

...lessen[ing] something important entertainment provides: a
break from the ardent and all-encompassing politics that have
left Americans feeling divided, anxious and angry.

When you “stick to sports,” you are doing more than confining
yourself to the field and the court. You are providing a way
for people who may have diametrically opposed politics to
share a beer at a bar discussing quarterbacks instead of
executive orders.

Domenech also points out, quite correctly, that Fox News is not
helping. With the network's now-regular feature of having Bill O'Reilly
host a pre-game interview with the sitting American president (Trump is
set to appear), the entire event is launched in a way that clear-cuts
the oasis.

Way back in 2002, the writing was on the wall for the politicization of
football, most especially the Super Bowl. Thankfully I inherited my
father's total and complete disinterest in sports, so I have no real
skin in this game, but when I saw how patriotic that year's Super Bowl
was, I remember telling my wife (an avid Green Bay Packers fan) that
the Left will not allow this to stand.

The Super Bowl is by far our country's biggest annual cultural event
(the Oscars don't even come close), and it reeks of thematic (not
partisan) conservatism. Masculinity, patriotism, the reading of the
Declaration of Independence, a winner and a loser, the pursuit of
excellence, men of all races competing in an environment where skin
color isn't an issue… There was just no way the Left could allow this
to go on. Better than anyone, they understand how important it is to
hijack the culture.

I'm not sure, though, that this is as effective as it once was. In the
parlance of the modern-day SJW, throughout the awful Obama-era, Middle
America got "woke." Thanks to alternative news outlets and social
media, the Left's long-held tactic of manufacturing an alternate
reality, of using their news media and cultural monopolies as a means
to make the rest of us feel isolated and alone, as a means to wear us
down, no longer -- look at all that red! -- appears to work.

In fact, if you add up the collapse of the Democrat Party with the
television ratings for post-SJW ESPN and the post-Kaepernick NFL, this
tactic appears to be backfiring. The obnoxious and boorish
politicization of absolutely everything no longer results in converts
to the cause, but rather brand damage and our mass media no longer
being so mass.

This _extremely_ healthy balkanization of our culture (and news media)
is possible now that we live in a world filled with so many
alternatives. What a blessing that we are no longer held captive to the
Left's programming.

Nevertheless, that reality won't stop the Left.

If they can no longer convert us to the cause, they have belligerently
decided that intruding into, childishly stomping on, and just plain
ruining everything that once meant relaxation and coming together as a
country, is a perfectly fine second place prize.

--
At halftime, Lady Gaga plans to shock us again, but at this point, the
only thing left is if she announces she's a pro-life Republican.