ABSTRACT

In this chapter, the author, using US survey data, finds a strong link among three factors in people's lives: watching certain kinds of sports on television, feelings of patriotism, and support for the Iraq War. He argues that George Lakoff's work on the conservative worldview uncovers a system of metaphors that constitutes the schemes of masculinist moral capital that centrally underpin the association between televised masculinist sport and support for imperialist wars. The author believes that Americans' willingness to support the invasion of Iraq demonstrates that as their power position continues to decline it will take a great deal of work to redefine on their democratic ideals. He posits that popular masculinist sports are among the cultural institutions that functioned to buttress support for the Iraqi war and for the broader Bush doctrine that asserts the authority and obligation of America to attack countries and enemies prior to direct threats to the United States.