It's Game Playing in America!

Kelce brothers - 1 Chief, 1 Eagle.

I do not watch the Stupid Bowl. 

I do not watch the ads.

I do not care who wins or loses. Not even the Vikings...

Okay, I would care about a Vikings Super Bowl because Ziggy would've cared. 

Okay, I admit I liked the Kelce brothers playing against each other. Had to be hard on their mom. 

But the bottom line is, to be truthful, I think football does more harm than good. 

Escaping from the hype around the ads is kinda hard, but I pretty much don't give a flying fart in space who's manning the Dunkin' Donuts drive through. 

I did, however, give a flying fart over Bruce Springsteen's Jeep ad in 2021 telling America that Christianity is the middle of our country. And we should all strive to be in that middle. I resented the implication that unless you were moved to be in the chapel with the big cross, you were not a part of the "common ground." 

And while I didn't watch the M&Ms debacle, or even Rihanna's half-time show,  I did manage to see all of this year's contribution to America Isn't For Everyone courtesy of YouTube. 

HE GETS US brand campaign is all over the country. The link will take you to the overview of the campaign. Hey, take a look-see. Jesus is just like you. You're an immigrant? No prob; he was an immigrant. You have radical social ideas? Whoa, so did he. The government is trying to marginalize you? Wow, he was so marginalized he ended up in jail for his beliefs. See? Something for everyone. According to the folks running the ads, they are trying to "rebrand Jesus Christ in America" as Everyman...someone we can all relate to. 

Excuse me? Rebranding Jesus? Uh, you mean to tell me his brand isn't good enough? I guess their original plan wasn't bringing in the customers, so they're adjusting. 

While the idea of the campaign might look/sound great on the surface, the reality is that the movement is funded by people and organizations who do NOT support anything but their own narrow agenda...and it's about as far from civil rights and respect for the other as you can get. Hobby Lobby, the same people who refuse to cover drug insurance for women's reproductive health, is a big donor here. They are the same guys who fight against stuff like sane gun laws and expanded health care for all. Can you even imagine Jesus, whether or not you're a Christian, being against those things? The ads shout out all sorts of lovely acceptance tropes, but behind the scenes that same money is not helping the needy, not helping the country, and definitely not helping civil rights. 

Yeah, I can see Jesus saying to Lazarus, "Hey, dude, not much I can do if you don't have insurance." Just like I can see the board of Hobby Lobby saying, "Sure, we can cover Plan B."

The supporters of the campaign are praised, extolled, and admired by the same folks who support Feckless Loser and insurrection. They are the same folks who think George Santos and Anna Luna, another veracity-challenged pol, are qualified to sit in Congress. The same folks who think lying on your resume is as minor a deal as sex trafficking minors. They are the same folks who heckled and shouted down POTUS when he cited irrefutable facts about health insurance during SOTU. How are any of them qualified to speak on behalf of Americans, much less a guy they call their messiah? 

The people backing this thing are the living, breathing, examples of hypocrisy. They carry on about the sanctity of life while they block ANY and ALL legislation to remove automatic weapons from store shelves while trying to do away with background checks. Not exactly pro-life, people. The kids from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School made that real clear to America. And what did you folks do? You called them names. Yup; I can sure see Jesus doing that, too.

And for the record, Jesus was one of us....not US as in Americans...us as in Jews. So the next time you wanna practice your not-so-clandestine version of antisemitism, just remember, your buddy woulda been one of the beneficiaries of your hatred. 

Here's the thing, all you purveyors of greed and gilded religiosity: there is a difference between trying to sell the public your squeaky clean, compassionate fantasy of Jesus and the incredibly anti-Christian behavior you exhibit on a daily basis. You may think that young people are gonna buy this hipster rebranding effort because they're too dumb or too lazy to look behind the curtain, but let me assure you, this Wizard-of-Oz-look-behind-the-curtain generation is not. They know how to Google real well, and most of them don't buy into the "if you see it on the internet...." kind of thinking us oldsters are supposed to do. They see what you actually do in Congress and in state government, and they know politically obscene when they see it.The bottom line? They're not gonna make a beeline back to church because of some hotline. They are way more sophisticated than that. 

Do not underestimate the coming generation. I listen to Little Miss dissect a podcast and I know these kids are way ahead of wherever we ever were. They are smart and they are savvy. Much smarter and much more savvy than any of you who are pushing this pseudo-agenda. 

Jesus the guy might get the full spectrum of what America is supposed to be...but it's pretty clear that you do not. 

As that next generation goes looking for someone who gets it, they're gonna find Jeff Jackson because he's walking the walk, talking the talk, and posting it. That's what we all should be looking for: someone who puts his face and his mouth on the line. 

I want you all to listen to North Caroline Congressman Jeff Jackson. He is doing what every congress clown should be doing: he's posting regular updates about what he's doing now that he's on Capitol Hill. Some of it is terribly funny, some will make you mad because that's the only thing you can be. But Representative Jackson is that rare bird in the House: he's the adult in the room. Please listen to what he has to say about Congress:

Jeff Jackson: The Outrage Olympics

Watch more of his stuff. It's great. He's what I always imagined a Congressman should be like: American first, party guy last. I hope he stays this way. 

The Wifely Person's Tip o'the Week

In all likelihood, you're reading this on Tuesday

February 14th.

Hug someone today.

You never know when that won't be an option.  

Hey, Ziggy! Whaddya mean we, Kemosabe?