There’s nothing new about the theory (propounded frequently on the Left, notably by Noam Chomsky) that professional sports are part of a modern “bread and circuses” strategy by the ruling class to divert the masses from matters of real importance.
But I had never heard that theory (or a version of it) proffered by someone on the Right– until Fox News’s resident psychiatrist (yes, really) Dr. Keith Ablow and Fox Business’s Stuart Varney did so this week.
“Why, Stuart, are we seeing soccer suddenly skyrocket? Why are people so ready to be entertained?” asked Ablow.
Varney explained that it’s because all the news about the United State is “overwhelmingly negative” and people need an escape. “Here’s the World Cup — how convenient,” said Varney.
Ablow responded, “It’s a little too convenient when we have a president who, I contend, has it in for Americans, and we elected him because we were fearful at the time — we better elect someone who’s not very patriotic because, God, we could have terrorists attack us for being Americans. OK, so, we did that.”
So a majority of American voters elected and reelected Obama because of his lack of patriotism, which they believed would protect them from terrorists? One of the tragic consequences of Obama Derangement Syndrome is that it tends to turn people into babbling idiots.
And I won’t even get started on Ann Coulter, who long ago (and for professional reasons, I suspect) turned into a self-parody