We have some good news to report. The Federal Army is pulling out of NASCAR. In addition to this welcome news, two Congressmen are pushing a bill to prohibit the Federal military from sponsoring a sports event. While the congressional bill has almost no chance of passing (the Neo-con wing of the Republican Party will surely fight hard against it), this is still good news. The more the Feds are sidelined in our society, the better. The less they have to do with things such as NASCAR, which comes from Southern culture and enjoys most of its audience in Dixie, the better. Our sporting and cultural events should not be used as recruiting opportunities by the Feds to prey upon our young people. Jenna Fryer has the story for the Associate Press:
The U.S. Army will not return to Stewart-Haas Racing next season, citing a reallocation of its marketing budget that does not include a presence in NASCAR.
SHR says it is pursuing a new sponsor to partner with the many companies that help fund the race team. The U.S. Army has been a longtime sponsor in NASCAR, and has been with Ryan Newman at SHR since 2009 when the team was formed.
The decision comes as Minnesota Congresswoman Betty McCollum and Republican Rep. Jackson Kingston of Georgia are pushing an amendment that would prohibit military sponsorship of sports.
The bill has made it through the House Appropriations Committee.
McCollum lost a House vote a year ago to cut the approximate $80 million in sports sponsorship from the defense budget.
Don’t get too excited. Still expect for other symbols of Federal power (e.g. super sized Federal rag, Federal “honor guard”, Federal war plane flyover) to bring tears of joy to the eyes of Southerners during NASCAR events. In July 4th I attended an Atlanta Braves baseball game. Between innings they would show images of fans on the Jumbotron. You should have seen the reaction of the fans when the camera was on any person who is a Federal warrior. There were wild cheers and standing ovations.
The advances of “public-private” sorts of arrangements have grown by leaps and bounds in only the past few years. The “military” once meant a kind of patriotism (even after the war). Now, it is all about “allocating” it’s tax-created “marketing plans,” and making trades, like if you join them you “get citizenship.”
The Military Cultism is alien, even to most yankees—
How could you tell when the person in the camera shot was a soldier?, just curious.
I was able to tell because they were in military uniform. When they panned over to a person in military garbs, there wild and loud cheers for the person(s).