Charlie Angus: WEIMAR AND THE SUPER BOWL

[Dennis Donovan]

Charlie Angus - WEIMAR AND THE SUPER BOWL

How We Got Here - And How We Get Out

Charlie Angus / The Resistance
Feb 07, 2025



Super Bowl is where big statements are made - those brash and bold halftime performances - it's where they release the most provocative ads.

It was Super Bowl 1984 when we were first sold the big lie that Silicon Valley would deliver us from the threat of state repression. That same year, Apple launched its iconic Orwell ad, which played on the fears of 1984. The ad, produced by Ridley Scott, smashed through the totalitarian nightmare with the offer of the MacIntosh computer. And then came the tagline:

"You'll see why 1984 won't be like 1984."

Buy the gadget, become empowered and free. It wasn't until Trump 2.0 that 1984 finally arrived, and it was delivered ironically by toxic tech bros and extremist gazillionaires.

So leave it to the Super Bowl 2025 to give us a defining moment to herald the American autocracy. Ahead of Sunday's big game, they've begun ripping up the end field grass that stated, "End Racism."

/snip

[sop]

1. They're ripping up the end field grass that stated, "End Racism."

Black players should take a knee while all the militaristic, super-patriotic pre-game circus is going on.

[sarisataka]

2. "You'll see why 1984 won't be like 1984."

They forgot to mention it was not canceled, just postponed.

[MagickMuffin]

3. NFL Slave Trade, On FULL Display

If the NFL bends the knee to fascism then it won’t be long before they quit playing the players big bucks. Then only white people can attend to watch the spectacle.

No more black QBs, only white men know how to throw the ball.

No more black coaches, only white men know how to call plays.

I’ve already cut back on watching especially the Super Bowl.

[Solly Mack]

4. To fight oppression, people have to accept, at the very least, being inconvenienced.

That does mean refusing to participate in the oppression.

'Natch, the NFL is trying to play down the significance. But Trump is attending the game and, like so many other American institutions, the NFL wants to be in his good books.

The NFL gets it: why piss off white dude nation with a statement that questions their ascendancy?

This gesture says so much about this moment in history. How did we get to a point where loud and stupid assholism had to be treated with deference while America's progressive tradition is in shell-shocked retreat?

Don't be shellshocked. Fight against white supremacy. Fight against what is happening in America.