“Bad” Halftime

by Ted Flint

The cultural divide in our nation was on full display Super Bowl Sunday – two halftime shows for two Americas. The main event featured someone named “Bad Bunny,” a Puerto Rican-born rapper, who just a decade ago was bagging groceries. Bunny holds all the requisite political views one would expect a rapper to hold: he supports LGBTQ rights and the “drag culture,” he’s a big “I.C.E. out” guy and of course, he despises President Trump. In recent years the counterculture has used Super Bowl halftime performances to advertise its brand of entertainment which normally flaunts open sexuality.

Maybe it satisfies mainstream tastes, but not mine or my family’s. We, along with six million other Americans, chose to tune in to Turning Point USA’s alternative show. I’m not a big fan of Kid Rock, TPUSA’s headliner, nor of the country music stars who followed, but at least we didn’t have to shut off the TV or turn the channel for fear of hearing the base lyrical creations of reprobate rappers or witness the kind of “wardrobe malfunction” Janet Jackson allegedly suffered during one famous halftime show. If Super Bowl viewers would just turn off their TVs for 20 minutes and visit with family and friends, we could send a message that this type of “entertainment” is not acceptable. Sadly, 35 million Americans chose not to do that. The price of freedom.

The president evidently caught Bad Bunny’s performance.  Clips circulating on social media showed the official halftime show playing at President Trump’s Mar-a-Lago Super Bowl party. Trump later panned the show on Truth Social as “absolutely terrible, one of the worst, EVER!” Of course, CNN tried to spin it that Trump was highly critical of Bunny’s celebration of Puerto Rican culture.

No right-thinking person should have an issue with Bunny’s homage to Puerto Rican culture. He’s proud of it, fine. I’m proud of my Irish heritage. But if I had gone out and performed the entire halftime show in Gaelic (if I knew any Gaelic) do you think the culture warriors would have had an issue with that? Instead of subjecting American viewers to, what is still for most, a foreign language, Bunny should make it a priority to learn English.

There are signs that there may be some light at the end of the tunnel. Apple Music, after 11 years, has reportedly fired Jay-Z as a producer of its halftime shows. Apple Vice President of Music Management Art Tubolls says, “Now we’re looking at fines in the tens of millions of dollars.” Tubolls says Apple had no idea Bad Bunny was planning to sing such vulgar lyrics. Ultimately, it’s Jay-Z who will pay the price. The move will cost him $25 million a year. 

The bottom line? It’s the bottom line. When networks begin to see their revenues decline due to programming that offends a large chunk of their audience, changes will be made.

As for the game itself, unless you’re a rabid Seattle Seahawks fan, many football fans may rate Bad Bunny’s performance as the most exciting part of Super Bowl LX.

The End of the Clinton Dynasty 

There was a time not too long ago when the Clintons were a force within the Democrat Party. Those days are over. Many of today’s young progressives weren’t around when “The Comeback Kid” and the former First Lady were a formidable pair in Washington.

Florida Representative Maxwell Frost, at 28, is the youngest member of Congress and is among the many democrats who voted to hold the former president in contempt. He told Politico;" I think it has less to do with Bill and Hillary Clinton themselves and their legacy, and more to do with the way the Party has shifted itself over the last 20 years. We want to be more aggressive and find the truth, and it’s less about allegiances to, you know, individuals, and more about what’s best for our party and what’s best for our country.”  Notice how he put party before country?

The Clintons have claimed all along the subpoenas are politically motivated, which render them invalid. The former First Couple is complying because if they didn’t they would have gotten a visit from the Department of Justice the way Steve Bannan and Peter Navarro did when they ignored congress and were charged with contempt. They each served four months in prison.

Bill Clinton has said he was on Epstein’s plane three or four times; he was on that plane 26 times. It’s high time the Clintons and anyone else connected to the late child sex predator face justice.