It may have looked “awesome” to some people, but to me last night’s garish Superbowl extravaganza between the Green Bay Packers and the Pittsburgh Steelers seemed to underline the gap that exists between reality and the way Americans perceive themselves.
It’s all been said before, but to the outsider virtually immune to hype and hip hop, the crass commercialisation of the event and the built-in, stop-start nature of the game itself simply masked the shallowness of what this really was: men in tights and helmets hurling a ball - but mostly themselves - at each other in fitful bursts that seemed to exhaust them, because after a 20-yard run they would always stop for a rest.
At half time, the spectacular, glittering choreography accompanying the Black Eyed Peas (this was obviously designed to shock and awe even the Chinese) almost saved the Peas from the embarrassment of a woeful performance, but it didn’t.
This event had Mission Accomplished written all over it: Look what we’ve done! Well, what exactly?
Outside, in what is supposed to be the real world, the Obama administration seems to be engaging in fantasy diplomacy, designed to hide its ineptitude over its handling of the Egyptian uprising. It is thinking aloud, sending mixed messages, with Obama telling the world (or Fox News at least) that Egypt has changed forever because the people want freedom, while Hillary Clinton warned Egyptians to beware of what they wish for, because while a transition to democracy is desirable, Hosni Mubarak has been a pretty good guy, hasn’t he, and maybe he shouldn’t step down just yet?
From Washington’s perspective, Mubarak has had his uses in maintaining relative stability in the Middle East by acting as an Arab friend to Israel. And if he is persuaded out of office, who might be next? The Saudi royal family? Azerbaijan’s Ilham Aliyev (remember that oil)? When does the Good Muslim, Bad Muslim game end?
Hence the confusion. Like the Black Eyed Peas and those guys in helmets, however, the Obama administration looks tired and jaded already. Forget the sound bites and the razzmatazz: where’s the substance?
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