Somewhere in this vast universe there are beings who are laughing at us here in this country. Oh, before going further, they also have a great time every four years with most of the rest of the world. But here in the U S of A we respectfully (mostly) set aside certain days for religious celebrations.  Yes, most of the world does this and it seems to work fairly well. But here we have created a religious day that has nothing to do with a Supreme Being but most ‚ÄúAmericans" celebrate this day as if it were a truly religious day.
Millions upon millions of dollars are poured into the treasury of the high priests who are already very wealthy. Homage is paid to the participants of this elongated ceremony and all national attention is diverted to all the attendant activities. Newspapers are full of information, TV shows can hardly talk of anything else, news programs (so-called) give this as much space as the Russian invasion of Ukraine. OK, OK, many times more space than that immoral action. And for a couple of weeks we, as a society, do not have to worry about real life.
We are consumed by all the propaganda, events, parties and social stimuli of the SUPER BOWL.
It takes precedent over almost everything that is happening in the USA and this could be a good thing. For a short period of time, beginning in September or October and not ending until mid-March, we are distracted by the hype of the Super Bowl. The possibility of our favorite team playing in this athletic event starts chatter very early. Many times, if not always, so called sports experts start their prognostications in July. Fortunately, now that Halloween is an adult celebration instead of wasting it on kids, we get a small break for that day and Thanksgiving. Then Black Friday has a big splash and that other day, uh, err, oh yes, Christmas gets some publicity.
But things are heating up for the big day and much time, effort and planning go into getting ready for the big event. Again, this may be a good thing in some ways. There are so many problems in the world and in our country that we cannot touch. There are so many issues everywhere that we have no control over that it is a relief to have something to distract us that we can talk about without bad consequences. Think about it.
Living here in the reddest state in the USA, it would not be good for my health to publicly express great admiration for the current president. If I lived in Boston I probably would not talk aloud of what a great leader John Boehner is. But, even though I am a medium auto drive from Dallas I can cheer for the Green Bay Packers who are a figurative world away. A person who I know quite well is a Packer fan while I am almost a Dallas Cowboy fan. There are people around here who openly wear Tee shirts and seat shirts of almost any team without being castigated except in a fun way.
The current national legislative body left 2014 with a 15% approval rating. That means 85% of the US did not approve of our national legislature. Our national spirit is at its lowest ebb since the great depression. We have our military strung out about as far as it can stretch. Citizens of countries in Africa are being slaughtered by the thousands, IS (or ISIS) is killing thousands and hates the U. S. As mentioned, Russia is trying to take over our Eastern European friend by stealth, immoral and deadly tactics. The people of the U S are looking at the wealthiest in our society getting obscenely rich while more people sink into poverty. It has become obvious even to the deniers that the climate is changing and not for the better. As the musical song says, “We got trouble, we got trouble right here in River City."
Yessir, things look dark and grim but throughout our history the American people have maintained their optimism. We look ahead with a determination to fix the problems and to see that our children, and their children, have a better life. Despite what the “nay-sayers" say, most Americans are hard working people who are trying for a good life. The national deficit is at its lowest peak in several years and most industries are booming. The biggest problem as I see it is the number of high profile people who keep preaching horrid doom and gloom. That attitude affects us all.
But we have a solution to this negativity. For about four hours the problems fade and the bad world doesn't exist. We take a deep breath, turn on the TV and watch the Super Bowl.