Television Tuesday: People Claim They're Gonna Boycott the Super Bowl Due to Kansas City. They Aren't Going to Do That, Though

If you are a fan of the Kansas City Chiefs then you probably had a good Sunday. They're heading to the Super Bowl for the third time in a row having won their last two previous appearances at the big ol' game. They'll be going up against the Philadelphia Eagles and I personally don't care about who is playing as I don't follow football. Still, I am excited Kendrick Lamar is headlining the half-time show. That said, people invested in the sport (who don't like the KC Chiefs) have made it clear over the months that they feel the sport is somehow, "Rigged," in their favor. 

The fact the Chiefs have won many games and there have at times been questionable calls by referees has resulted in social media being all loud and angry. The idea that other teams would go along with some kind of, "Rigging," is silly as is the idea there is some massive secret conspiracy within the NFL to ensure the Chiefs win three Super Bowls in a row. I mean, if it were a 100% sure thing then all the people taking advantage of legalized gambling better put all their money they have on KC to win this February--disclaimer--don't do that, you need to have enough money for bills. Still, the internet loves a good conspiracy theory and complaining so the idea everything is rigged for the Chiefs is appealing to most folks outside of Missouri. I guess come February 9th of this year we'll see what happens (unless you, in fact, boycott the game). Regardless of who wins, the halftime show will at least be a presumably great time.

20 Years Ago Today

20 years ago today I was in a Junior High English class where we read popular short stories and discussed them. The class ended at 9AM and a teacher came into the room and told our teacher how something had happened at the World Trade Center. There had been a plane accident, or a bomb, or something. It had just happened but it seemed it was being addressed. 

We headed into our math class and were getting started with a lesson when it was announced that another plane had hit the other World Trade tower. Clearly, this was no accident and America was under attack. After that, we didn't really do any of our classes the rest of the day, instead, any televisions in the classrooms were broadcasting the news about what was happening as we all tried to make sense of it. The news came in about the Pentagon as well as a crash in Pennsylvania. I was just dumbstruck by it all and the true gravity of what had happened didn't really hit me until the next day as the deaths were continuously being tallied up and the faces of those killed or still missing filled our screens. It made me feel sick.

There was of course a surge in patriotism and unity, people these days still say they miss how wonderful it was on 9/12 that everyone came together. This of course is using rose-tinted glasses as plenty of people were not included in the loving embrace of nationalism, with Muslim individuals still facing persecution in the U.S. to this day. There was some sense of hope that we were going to go to Afghanistan and get revenge. Then for some reason, the war started to encompass Iraq for no (truthful) reason. 

Eventually, we killed the mastermind behind 9/11, Osama Bin Laden, but we still found ourselves wrapped up in Afghanistan until recently when we essentially abandoned it back to the Taliban, fleeing a country that any other government has consistently failed to adequately, "Help," such as previously in 1919 (the British gave up), 1989 (The Soviets gave up) and now in 2021 (we gave up). The failure in Afghanistan does not have a sole President to blame as much as those of us who hate Trump (or others who like to throw shade at Biden) would like. This mess encompasses Bush, Obama, Trump, and Biden, with everyone taking some blame, although I'd say Bush deserves most of the scorn for the attacks even happening and Obama gets out with the least of this stink upon him. We didn't know everything that would be to come 20 years ago today though. We were just hurting, so badly, as a Nation. In some ways, the surge of patriotism and jingoism wasn't a surprise even if some of it is incredibly cringe-inducing today.

Now we have children learning about 9/11 in history classes as something that happened before they were born. It must be weird for them to hear about this major event that for them seems so distant yet for many of us feels so fresh in our minds--the only other comparison I can really make when it comes to a National tragedy is much older Americans who recall Pearl Harbor or when JFK was killed. I remember that day though, 20 years ago. I couldn't have predicted all it would have led to and 20 years out we sure do have a lot more clarity and understanding than we did before, for better or worse. I wish 9/11 hadn't happened, that it could have been stopped, and that our World could be a lot different (I would hope in a better way) than it is when it comes to the global politics of having a, "War on terror," or such. It all did happen though (despite what conspiracy theorists might tell you) and the best thing we can do on this day is look back and remember.

We Are At a Point Where People Don't Believe Snow is Real

The World--and it seems America in particular--has gotten to a point where now people don't even believe snow is real and must be a government conspiracy. I'm not joking. The idea that maybe a bunch of snow could come down in a region that doesn't usually get snow for some reason upsets people. It must somehow be the fault of President Biden, or Bill Gates, or some kind of conspiracy to rain, "Chemical snow," down. Why do people believe this stupidity? Because it's 2021 and now even the fact that it snows sometimes is something conspiracy theorists have to question. I really think Deltron 3030 said it best when he rapped years ago--and I paraphrase--"Aliens came and said we weren't even worth invading," because we were too stupid to be of use if conquered.

"The Department of Truth," Sounds Like a Wild Read

I myself don't really believe in conspiracy theories, but I enjoy reading about them. Some zany ones make me laugh and others just make me mad because of how uninformed and dangerous they are. Well, James Tynion IV will be writing a comic all about conspiracies with Martin Simmonds on the artwork. Titled, "The Department of Truth," it is apparently going to be like a cross between, "The X-Files," and my beloved, "The Black Monday Murders," which is published by the company putting-out this series, Image Comics.

This new ongoing series involves one man discovering that every conspiracy theory is somehow true, even ones that contradict themselves, I suppose. Yes, everything. The Earth is flat, politicians are reptiles who shapeshift, JFK's death was apart of an intricate plot--everything is for some reason covered-up by the titular, "The Department of Truth." It sounds pretty crazy and I look forward to reading it this September 30th when it is tentatively due in comic shops and online.

B.o.B. Thinks the Earth is Flat AKA Just When I Think People Couldn't Be Any More Ignorant...

Seriously, I mean Seriously?

I really am sad people can be so ignorant. I understand why some conspiracy theories appeal to folk, I honestly do. It is easier to think the Government/New World Order/Etc. is behind a mass-shooting and staged the whole thing than to face the terrible fact that sometimes people are pointlessly horrible. Pretending that, "They," hired crisis actors and nobody actually got hurt is less scary than how a deranged individual can randomly go shoot-up a school, government building, etc. That said, some conspiracy theories are so absurd and so foolish, who could believe them? I guess B.o.B. does.

You may know B.o.B. from hits songs he appeared on such as, "Paper Planes," and...yeah, "Paper Planes." Well, B.o.B. is a believer in the idea that the Earth is flat, you know, like people centuries ago thought before we used knowledge to prove the planet is round. Plenty of folk have tried to correct how B.o.B. is horribly wrong, with Neil deGrasse Tyson even chiming in on Twitter, but I doubt B.o.B. will be easily swayed at this point--I mean the man also denies we landed on the Moon and thinks people steal and clone celebrities, because why not?

Hoo boy, where do we start with this one?

I guess this all boils down to how people want to be able to think they know something nobody else does, and that makes them special--that or the desire to think the world has some secret order to it. It is easier to throw away logic and sense for the comfort of a grand delusion.. As Alan Moore put it so well some years ago, "The main thing that I learned about conspiracy theory is that conspiracy theorists actually believe in a conspiracy because that is more comforting. The truth of the world is that it is chaotic. The truth is, that it is not the Jewish banking conspiracy or the grey aliens or the 12 foot reptiloids from another dimension that are in control. The truth is more frightening, nobody is in control. The world is rudderless." I would argue that is more terrifying than any conspiracy theory.

Who knows, maybe B.o.B isn't actually this dumb, and it is all part of some weird viral-marketing stunt for a new album he'll give a name like, "Conspiracy Theories." I would like to hope that's the case, but at this point I honestly am just sad.