The Super Bowl is supposed to be one of the cultural cornerstones in American life that still belongs to Americans. There are only a handful of days each year when most of the country pauses and gathers around the same screen to participate in something recognizably ours. It’s a shared experience — rooted in common language and culture and tradition. Which is why the Super Bowl half time show this year was a clear display of pure contempt for America.
Football is not a global sport that just ended up in the United States. It was created right here at home in the 1880s by Walter Camp. It was a sport created by Americans, for Americans. The NFL remains overwhelmingly domestic both in its players and its fanbase. In other words, football isn’t some international pastime. It’s one of the last mass cultural institutions that is distinctly American.