As I write it is, of course, the twentieth anniversary of the terrorist attacks of September 11th, 2001.
It would be easy to talk about how militarism exploits nationalist sentiment to justify arms spending and bombing campaigns, or how it uses sports to perpetuate such jingoism, but instead, as WWE launch their own self-hosted in-house documentary about their televised response to the attacks, it’s worth making a quick note to acknowledge Stephanie McMahon’s bold decision to stand up for both patriotism and patriarchy by using WWE’s SmackDown show barely more than 48 hours after the atrocities to speak for her father, Vince McMahon, and the impact his steroid trial supposedly had on the millionaire McMahons.
While WWE’s own documentary, appropriately entitled Never Forget (since that was the slogan utilised in an attempt to justify the subsequent “War on Terror” against the “Axis of Evil” in a seemingly never-ending attack on an ever-changing elusive enemy) includes Vince’s own in-ring tough-guy promo condemning the attack on the United States, it’s worth highlighting the utterly narcissistic and shockingly tasteless piece-to-camera delivered on that same episode by his daughter Stephanie, who takes the opportunity to actually compare the federal government’s investigation to the horrific terrorist attacks that murdered more than three thousand people.
Yes, you read that right. Stephanie McMahon’s first public reaction to the 9/11 attacks was to compare it to her father being put on trial:
The video speaks for itself.
And the McMahons aren’t the only megalomaniacal, egotistical Donald Trump supporters to trivialise atrocities.
Recently, UFC promoter Dana White, when asked about the Black Lives Matter movement, had this to say:
This might be a stupid example, but it’s the best example I can give you: I believed in the UFC. I believed in the sport of mixed-martial arts. I got together with a couple buddies of mine, and we bought the UFC, and we started to build this thing. We went out, and we hit the bricks. We went to every sports editor. Every network. You name it. We shared our vision and grew our movement.
With the current protests, there needs to be somebody to lead the charge. Somebody who can go in and make real change. By that I mean changing laws. Getting in and figuring out ‘how do we train the police department better?’ There’s so many things like that.
It’s like when I wanted to come back and have fights in the pandemic. I could have gotten all 350 of my employees, and we could have walked up and down the street and chanted ‘we wanna fight!’ That’s not what we did. We got out and told our story in the media and worked with politicians. That’s how you make real change.
Yes, Dana White compared his work as an MMA promoter to the Black Lives Matter movement, who he feels really just require a lecture from another rich white man.
If you ever thought these rich promoters who exploit their workers were out-of-touch with ordinary people and the struggles they face, now you have proof of it. Share this.
-Jay Baker 🤜