5.13.2015

Why Tom Brady is the ideal American

Whether it’s winning wars or winning Super Bowls – a primary component of the American ethos is doing ‘whatever it takes’ to win.

Dick Nixon embodied this admirable trait when he did whatever it took to win the Presidency (though it subsequently cost him – but that’s politics I suppose). He also refused to give up during the Vietnam War and bombed the hell out of Cambodia and Laos just to prove a point.

A more modern example would be the Global War on Terror and George W. Bush’s vow to do ‘whatever it takes’ to win – even shitting upon the very tenants of what makes America America through the now exposed NSA surveillance program and a number of other draconian measures.

Extending this even further, we’ve rationalized torture, drone strikes on American citizens, and a whole host of other dystopian projects that would make even Goebbels feel uneasy.

But back to Tom Brady. I don’t know what the truth is – whether he had a hand in deflating footballs for an unfair advantage or not – but if he did, then that would make him a prime example of what it means to be an ideal American by embodying the urge to commit to do ‘whatever it takes’ to be a winner. Except in his case – it has seemed to work.