American football, unlike European football, is a violent, militaristic game. The gist: Two teams of eleven muscular men in plastic armor pummel each other into oblivion as they march up and down the field capturing territory while trying to penetrate each others’ “end zone.”

The game rose with the military-industrial society it represents. American football surpassed the gentler sport of baseball as America’s national pastime during the post-World War II years of US imperial expansion.

Normally, the Super Bowl – with its ritual militarized violence and crass, tasteless, often downright perverse advertisements – represents American culture at its worst. But this year’s Super Bowl, scheduled for February 2nd, will have one redeeming feature: It will put the national spotlight on the rise of the 9/11 truth movement.