the level of integration the military and rightwing forces has in the sports world is unsettling and something that helped radicalize me young, it just never seemed right to me
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this year everyone on the sidelines in the NFL was wearing the same white and gray camouflage-look hoodies for like six weeks with no explanation and it was annoying the hell out of me
Yep, this is partly why my hobbies are reading, cycling, cooking, indie gaming, niche fashion and meditation. All things u can do on your own and not participate in the bullshit. It quite literally is everywhere.
But intelligence battalions were FABULOUSLY woke before the word even existed…with a very high proportion of LGBTQ soldiers.
Being gay meant immediate dishonorable discharge, and even prosecution under the UCMJ.
2/
But unofficially, gay witch hunts within the intelligence community were discouraged, for fear they would lose their best analysts.
Today, the military and the intelligence community are FORTUNATE to have LGBTQ soldiers and spies, 3/
…who as a group perform proportionately higher on aptitude tests for languages and intelligence schools.
So….while the DoD may be full of bigots, until recently it’s been commanded by pragmatists.
4/
In a month, though, that will change.
The military will be gutted by Hegsdeth of much-needed experienced commanding officers and soldiers.
The intelligence community likely will NOT accept a Gabbard nomination.
5/
If she DOES become DNI, I would expect lots of invisible work strikes…..well-disguised slowdowns of the collection and analysis of intel in order to force management changes.
Blew my mind learning about Pat Tillman, an NFL player who joined the military after 9/11, began questioning the war, was assassinated by his own comrades, and then had his murder covered up by the pentagon for months
They used him for propaganda then killed him to keep him quiet. Deeply evil shit
I'm a fan of drifting FD is sponsored by the Air Force, sponsor teenage drivers that are brother & sister, recruitment officer comes & talks to the commentator between setup & start of comp, & the most egregious thing an oath ceremony for teenagers joining the Airforce live after the anthem on track
I'm old enough to remember William "Refrigerator" Perry of the Chicago Bears joining the GI Joe team. As a child it really helped prepare me psychologically for the ensuing 20+ years of conflict with shadowy terrorist organizations.
Yeh, it takes a chunk out of the enjoyment I get from watch NFL & Nascar. Like "Yeah I'm enjoy this game- oh, a fuckin army parade cool." or "This race sure is- oh an army car, cool, like being reminded of the us army."
I went to a college football game when I visited the states (in liberal California no less) and could not get over the amount of military presence that was there, it's really weird. Like, sports and Irish independence are inexorably linked and we do not have that level of it here at all.
Every image I see of American sports events just seems utterly insane to me as a brit. I cannot imagine soldiers getting lined up on the pitch at a Premiere League game.
The right wing issue in football ain't cause the coldstream guards on parade before a match (which would be cringe af), it's the fans being openly biggoted towards players and fans who are minorities.
Tbf we do have it, it’s just mainly crammed into Remembrance Weekend and lots of the No Surrender, Five Day Bender, naval jack away day flag, respect the fallen for killing (not dying) sort of way. Way more common at some clubs but once you see it it’s everywhere
That's absolutely true. When it comes to right wing nuttery, we're usually no better. I'm just used to it being less in your face, though I'm not sure whether that's a good thing or not...
Personally I think it’s worse because in the states it’s controlled and recognised as silly. Here clubs don’t care outside of November and it’s innocent enough on the surface that if they tried to broach it they’d get monstered. The seductive myth of empire and WWII sucks people into darker circles
I don’t think America has definitely sectarian sports rivalries that span a politics eg Rangers v Celtic. One is very much pro Britain, pro Israel, pro conservatism, pro military, and the other is very much the opposite. And seemingly every English fan picks a Scottish side based on that divide
They tell you what job these folks did in the air force or whatever and for every combat veteran there are like 3 dudes who did logistics or recruiting. They want you to applaud even if the greatest threat they suffered was weak internet connectivity
I think everyone should get a go. Anyone who wants to walks out onto the field, they read out your job, and then everyone claps. We're all working out here. We could all die at our jobs. Lets all get applauded.
It's definitely not just Americans (although I'm sure as always they're the best at being weird about it) - Australian footy and rugby league do ANZAC day matches which hit a similar level.
That's true, none of us are free of sin. At least most of the rest of the world keeps the weirdness to a couple of special days usually. Not every random small town game.
The US has captured all the big, popular, profitable ones really completely into the neocon/neoliberal orbit with a few fash outliers to pretend to be diverse and subversive without actually being so, but sports fandom in some places has been a leftwing powerhouse - Turkey, Ireland, Brazil...
Also, we need to de-normalize wearing BDUs outside of combat zones. Put on a service uniform if you want that valor you're worried about people stealing.
I don't care if they are actual soldiers, to me, wearing a camo uniform in public is larping.
I was a teenager when 9/11 happened and I was super into sports. These weird displays were a big reason why I stopped playing and watching both football and baseball.
I quit watching sports a few years ago, after being pissed off at the military & patriotism in games for over a decade should've quit sooner.
Just AEW now.
Just look at the way we talk about sports - we call them warriors, high scoring games are shootouts, "bomb" passes or 3 pointers, calling the OL and DL the trenches, etc. and that's at every level
I remember as a kid asking my dad why they did the national anthem before every sports event. Because I was confused why when they had nothing to do with the government.
A league coordinator asked me to take my hat off. I was there with my 12 year old niece and I was 34 years old then. Asked "is it a law?" and got left alone after that.
The NFL and NCAA know there is a major ethical issue with young men getting CTE in exchange for money, so better to wrap the entire escapade in American culture (which is military culture post 9/11)
Also most NFL teams are owned by right wing freaks and their families
And also, that's the modern spin on it, it doesn't account for why the military and the NFL have been buddy-buddy since World War II. They consolidated teams to support the need for soldiers. By Vietnam, the nation was larger and they had an audience to advertise to.
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https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/3/13/artists-and-speakers-protest-sxsw-festival-over-defence-sponsors-gaza-war
https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/04/18/jimmy-carter-us-most-warlike-nation-history-world
At the dolphin show.
Honestly one of the most surreal things I've attended
In the 80’s,I received over 15k in cash bonuses for my training.
Under Reagan, the military was very bigoted and homophobic.
1/
Being gay meant immediate dishonorable discharge, and even prosecution under the UCMJ.
2/
Today, the military and the intelligence community are FORTUNATE to have LGBTQ soldiers and spies, 3/
So….while the DoD may be full of bigots, until recently it’s been commanded by pragmatists.
4/
The military will be gutted by Hegsdeth of much-needed experienced commanding officers and soldiers.
The intelligence community likely will NOT accept a Gabbard nomination.
5/
They used him for propaganda then killed him to keep him quiet. Deeply evil shit
https://news.formulad.com/2024/fd-news/formula-drift-partners-with-us-air-force-unoh-and-acceler8-for-2024-driven-experience/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N7d4dIeEcCM&t=21s
I don't care if they are actual soldiers, to me, wearing a camo uniform in public is larping.
https://www.si.com/fannation/college/cfb-hq/news/college-football-referee-salutes-usa-military-veterans-game
Just AEW now.
Also most NFL teams are owned by right wing freaks and their families