MONDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 2026
But who won the halftime performance? After a long string of good luck, the NFL got stuck with a stinker of a game at yesterday's Super Bowl
Seattle's Seahawks won the game. By our reckoning, President Donald J. Trump probably won the halftime performance.
By that, we mean his approvals may have bumped up a point or two, though there's no way to measure such changes. We mean that some people who may have been drifting from Red over toward Blue may perhaps have been frozen in place by their reaction to yesterday's 16-minute performance.
Also, we mean that dangerous divisions may have hardened, in a way that's hard to thaw. Or then again, possibly not!
There's no real way to measure momentary blips of that type. But as of this morning, our own Blue America was reading from script, on Morning Joe, regarding this very topic.
At 6:15, the first key exchange occurred. Here's how it went between David Drucker, who's very sharp, and the host of that cable news show:
DRUCKER (2/9/26): It's not a big deal.
SCARBOROUGH: Not a big deal, unless you're a bigot.
They were discussing the halftime show. It wasn't a big deal, Scarborough said, unless you're a bigot.
Of course!
Yes, Scarborough is numbered among us Blues now. Also, he's fully alert—but no, we can't help ourselves when it comes to such pictures of the world and of those who live within it.
(Before the program's first hour was done, the coven was talking about this additional topic, as adumbrated by Drucker: "How do you criticize Republicans without offending Republican voters?"
(Moments later, Katty Kay fashioned the concept a bit more precisely: "How do you go after Donald Trump without insulting Donald Trump's supporters?" Everyone agreed—based upon a recent speech, Jon Ossoff knows how to do it.)
On Morning Joe, everyone agreed with everyone else about the halftime show. Everyone agreed with everyone else about Senator Ossoff's recent speech.
That said, group agreement has been the long-standing rule on two of our three "cable news" channels. Viewers turn to these channels for tribal reassurance—their own tribe is perfectly right.
As the Morning Joe panelists voiced agreement, the Washington Post and the Wall Street Journal had already posted assessments insisting that there had been no imaginable point of concern in yesterday's halftime show.
That may or may not be right. The New York Times hadn't weighed in yet, but the Post and the Journal had already posted these reviews:
The Washington Post
Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl halftime show was expected to provoke. Did it?
So how provocative was it? On a scale of 1 to 10...Bad Bunny’s halftime show was a solid 3. If that.
If you were looking for political commentary, the closest that you got was the moment at the end when he said “God bless America” in English—then proceeded to name all of the countries in the Western Hemisphere in geographical order from south to north.
Weeks before he set foot on the stage, Bad Bunny’s halftime performance had already become a media event. There was rapturous anticipation from his millions of fans worldwide, and there was boycotting and indignation from right-wing figures who objected to hearing Spanish during the Super Bowl or erroneously claimed that Puerto Ricans are not Americans.
[...]
But if haters were hungry for provocation, Bad Bunny didn’t give them much to sink their teeth into...
(For full review, click here)
The Wall Street Journal
Bad Bunny Uses Joy to Put Out Political Firestorm at Super Bowl Halftime
Bad Bunny delivered a pointed message in Spanish to millions of Americans watching the Super Bowl on Sunday night: “We’re still here.”
In a history-making halftime show performed almost entirely in Spanish, the Puerto Rican star paid tribute to his heritage and the many countries—from Brazil to Mexico—whose people have come to shape the modern-day U.S.
Just a week ago, Bad Bunny denounced Immigration and Customs Enforcement while accepting a Grammy award, stoking further political furor from conservatives ahead of the Super Bowl. But on the halftime stage, he offered up a buoyant celebration of Latino culture.
(For full review, click here)
It was a celebration of joy. Unless you're one of the haters!
Obviously, there's nothing "wrong" with paying tribute to a performer's heritage and to some wider culture. But to what extent does some such celebration make sense as part of the Super Bowl?
On cable news, opinions won't differ! As our fellow Blues name-call the bigots and the haters, we'll let our own tentative assessment stand.
(Nor do we admire, as Scarborough does, the NFL's never-ending desire to own the last dollar left on Earth. It's an instinct the NFL shares with President Trump. It strikes us as a major part of the problem.)
For ourselves, we spent a substantial chunk of the weekend marveling at the way the Fox News Channel seemed to use a tragic event in Arizona as a way to avoid discussing the president's recent behavior(s).
As of Saturday morning, chief among those recent behaviors was the president's gruesome Truth Social post regarding the two Obamas.
That very morning, the New York Times had placed its report about that post at the top of the front page of its print editions. With apologies for what we're repeating, this was the dual headline sitting atop that report:
Trump Posts, Then Erases, Racist Video of Obamas
Apes Depiction is Latest Affront in a Pattern of Denigrating Black Americans
Centuries of unspeakable human suffering lie behind that depiction. To read the Times report online, you can just click here.
The sitting president had somehow managed to repost that depiction. He said he didn't know that he had done that. In all honesty, we can't necessarily say that he actually knew that he had.
(More on that to follow.)
On Saturday morning, the gruesome post was the featured topic on the New York Times' front page. But on that morning's Fox & Friends Weekend, the three friends found the perfect way to avoid ever talking about it—and then, the channel continued this act of group avoidance all through a very long weekend.
On Fox, the performers spoke about virtually nothing except Arizona. They spoke about the apparent kidnapping which had apparently happened there, and they spoke about virtually nothing else.
At the start of Saturday morning, the three friends on Fox & Friends Weekend maintained this remarkably tedious pose for their program's full four hours. Other waves of corporate messengers extended this imitation of life.
They managed to keep it up all weekend long.
(Briefly, words of praise: At Mediaite, Sarah Rumpf had already presented this deeply informative analysis of the way this topic was avoided all through the Fox News Channel's Friday daytime programming. We expect to review her piece in more detail at a later point, but you almost never see an American journalist produce such insightful work.)
At Fox, they staged this "imitation of life" all through the weekend's programming. One expert witness after another was dragged out onto the air.
The experts were forced to pretend that they had something to say about the attempt to locate Nancy Guthrie. None of them had much to say, but they pretended all weekend long.
By Sunday morning, it was fairly clear that the friends on Fox & Friends Weekend suspected that Nancy Guthrie was no longer living. It also seemed fairly clear that they had been told that they mustn't actually say that.
Again and again and again and again, the array of experts on the Fox News Channel discussed the need for "proof of life." Now for a minor surprise:
At this site, our young analysts were seeking proof of life too!
Tomorrow: Did the sitting president know what he'd done?
Also, Jamelle Bouie's assessment of President Trump, with which, on balance, we don't exactly agree.
"By our reckoning, President Donald J. Trump probably won the halftime performance."
ReplyDeleteThis is all you need to know about Bob Somerby.
That he retains the ability to understand what repels normal and decent people?
DeleteC'mon. What do you know about normal and decent people?
Delete"The sitting president had somehow managed to repost that depiction. He said he didn't know that he had done that. In all honesty, we can't necessarily say that he actually knew that he had."
ReplyDeleteHmm? You are kidding, right Bob?
"We mean that some people who may have been drifting from Red over toward Blue may perhaps have been frozen in place by their reaction to yesterday's 16-minute performance."
ReplyDeleteThis isn't how it works. People don't change their political identity over a halftime performance. But when they get in the voting booth, they may decide "I just can't vote for that man" or "These Epstein enthusiasts make me sick to my stomach" and vote for the other person on the ballot. I think that is what has been happening in the special elections.
If Somerby doesn't feel moral repulsion himself, he may not understand how voters feel about Trump these days.
If you think people don't change their affiliation over the perpetual stream of rancid garbage that comes from the Democrat party, perverts on the White House lawn at Easter and yesterday's putrid halftime show, you're dumb enough to be a Democrat. No decent and intelligent person wants to be associated with that.
Delete"No decent and intelligent person wants to be associated with that."
DeleteWait, so then you're a Democrat?
Somerby has to be kidding! Bad Bunny recreated the vigor and excitement of a visit to Puerto Rico (much the same as the dance scene in West Side Story). He made it clear that Puerto Ricans are Americans, not just by citizenship but by affiliation. He then pointed out that we in the USA are part of the Americas, which he named from tip to top of our continent. And he emphasized love.
ReplyDeleteIn contrast, Kid Rock is a crud whose career is based on songs about underage girls, calling them hoes, and referring to men as pimps. That isn't going to freeze Red voters unless they like that stuff, and then we don't need them over here, any more than we need any of those Epstein buddies and misogynist pigs:
https://nomoremister.blogspot.com/2026/02/the-gospel-according-to-kid-rock.html
ReplyDelete"Denigrating Black Americans"
Puh-leeze, Bob. A former president (who is, accidentally, just as much "white" as he is "black") and a former first lady have no excuse to whine and complain of being made fun of. No excuse whatsoever.
They are public figures of the first order. Get over yourself, Bob; you and your idiot paper sound like idiots.
This is the "what's the matter, can't you take a joke?" defense used by all bullies.
DeleteLike Trump, I only make fun of white people, like Obama.
DeleteWe get it that you're a proud racist. Are you 12?
DeleteWhat kind of "accident" caused him to be as "much black as white"?
DeleteI'm old enough to the website "The Smirking Chimp" that compared GW Bush to looking like a monkey all the time.
DeleteWhy is doing the same thing to the Obamas racist? After all, aren't we all descended from monkeys? lol
George Bush looked and behaved like a chimp. The Obamas don’t.
DeleteAnon@3:48 -- First of all, you're confusing monkeys and apes. Secondly, no, we didn't descend from monkeys. If you got back far enough, humans and monkeys had the common ancestor. If you go back even further, MAGA and humans had the common ancestor.
Delete"But to what extent does some such celebration make sense as part of the Super Bowl?"
ReplyDeleteJerome Adams (via Digby), Former Trump Surgeon General, reminds us that we have cheered many non-Americans in Super Bowl shows, including: Rihanna, Shakira, Coldplay, The Who, Rolling Stones, Paul McCartney, U2. Bad Bunny is a citizen of the US and Puerto Rican culture is as much American as Hawaiian culture or Southwestern Hispanic culture (Ricky Martin). And we have no hesitation embracing Irish culture on St. Patrick's Day for example. Further, there are large numbers of Puerto Rican heritage people who live in major cities across the USA, including Chicago and NYC. Puerto Rican people in the USA are heavily concentrated in Florida and the Northeast (specifically New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, and Connecticut), with Florida having surpassed New York as the state with the highest population. Major urban centers include Orlando, Tampa, New York City, Philadelphia, and Hartford.
This makes Puerto Ricans in the USA part of the New England Patriot fan base.
This is racism and Somerby is embracing it along with Trump and red America, in response to Trump's xenophobia. Somerby should be ashamed of himself, but like most Republicans, he has no shame.
"He said he didn't know that he had done that. In all honesty, we can't necessarily say that he actually knew that he had."
ReplyDeleteIn contrast, one of truly great past presidents had a sign on his desk reading "The Buck Stops Here". Truman didn't blame his staff for his own actions.
What is Trump doing keeping staff up until all hours of the night reposting nasty Republican memes anyway?
There is no excuse for playing the National Anthem at a football game.
ReplyDeleteSave it for baby showers and funerals, where it belongs.
The Bad Bunny show was ugly diseased people mimicking apes and faggots to the delight of its target audience, mentally ill Democrat women and perverts.
ReplyDeleteGosh, just like the players on the field!
DeleteSomeone give the snowflake at 12:05 his rattle back.
DeleteThank you for your attention to this matter.
"Again and again and again and again, the array of experts on the Fox News Channel discussed the need for "proof of life." Now for a minor surprise:
ReplyDeleteAt this site, our young analysts were seeking proof of life too!"
What kind of asshole uses the possible kidnapping and death of a hapless old lady to make such a joke? This is as tasteless as anything Somerby has ever posted, but it also reveals his unacknowledged hostility toward women, specifically his issues with his own mother. This is unfunny on so many levels that it is shocking Somerby let this be posted. What did this missing 80+ year old woman ever do to Somerby?
Perhaps it is time to put the brakes on the extremely graphic content of male-targeted action-adventure and crime films on cable, if men like Somerby cannot tell the difference between a real life tragedy unfolding and cop shows.
For the ignorant, proof of life is routinely required before negotiating or paying a ransom. But the woman who was kidnapped is suffering, just as the many people captured by ICE agents are suffering in detention centers, while their relatives and friends have no idea where they are and cannot even respond to a ransom demand. Both situations are serious and both are closely similar, to those capable of seeing the victims as human beings. That obviously excludes Somerby. Ha ha, can't you take a joke, he says.
“the initial 25-minute broadcast of the All-American Halftime Show [featuring Kid Rock] was viewed approximately four million times. The New York Times reported slightly higher numbers, noting that the show drew 6.1 million concurrent viewers on YouTube.
ReplyDeleteBad Bunny’s performance is projected to draw around 128 million. This would make the Puerto Rican singer-rapper’s set one of the most-watched halftime shows in history, though a little behind Kendrick Lamar‘s 133.5 million record set last year.”
On our sprawling campus, we usually take this opportunity to go skiing in the mountains, as a lot of people will be home, watching a fundamentally boring sport.
ReplyDeleteIt took a bit of digging, but I gather that the entire half-time show was in Spanish. I am sure that some people were irked by that. I don't think that it'll amount to a blip as far as Trump's support. It's just hard to imagine the needle moving on the account of Bad Bunny.
The stink that Trump is generating -- and I am not talking about him pooping in his diaper during a press conference -- is just overwhelming. From racists posts to supporting ICE killings to threatening to invade our allies, to intimation that he'll take over the '26 election, Trump should scare the shit out of any straight-thinking person.
Not entirely. Lady Gaga sang in English. Bad Bunny and Ricky Martin were charming. The rest was just dancing.
DeleteSounds like I missed a good show.
DeleteThere is a bit more nuance surrounding Ossoff’s speech. Not just that it was “good”, but that it was rather bold for someone running in a state teetering on the brink of red/blue. Particularly since ossoff hasn’t previously been known to speak this way.
ReplyDelete"Viewers turn to these channels for tribal reassurance—their own tribe is perfectly right."
ReplyDeleteYes. Viewers don't want new information, they want confirmation of their priors. And because both blue and red media want to retain their viewers, they shy away from presenting information that might undercut those priors.
If we had a "blue media", we'd be hearing about the efficacy of higher tax rates on the rich and corporations, finally.
Delete
ReplyDeleteHey, Soros-monkeys, remember how unhappy y'all were a year or so ago about Dow Jones not being high enough?
Are you happy now, or have y'all suddenly realized that high Dow Jones means nothing?
Faulty premise, bozo. The Dow was near record highs in Feb 2025 and no one was complaining about it.
DeleteYou're arguing with yourself. And losing.
The American left perfectly represented by the halftime show. A race of mystery meat monkeys grinding & gyrating on each other indiscriminately. Male, female, trans means nothing. All that matters is “can I fuck it?” People say they’re animals but animals are at least ruled by instinct and therefore, follow God’s order.
ReplyDeleteThese people are something worse. They are something between animal and human but somehow worse than either. They’ve overthrown instinct but they haven’t replaced it with consciousness.
This is why the third world never builds anything of value. Their whole existence centers around, “who or what can I fuck?” They never have a thought that isn’t about fulfilling a base pleasure. This is why sexual immorality always leads to the collapse of civilization.
This is who they want to import en masse. It is easy to rule over people who are already slaves.
You forget what it's like to be young. The performance was no different than when Elvis sang about his trannie homies and dozen baby mamas taking it in the shitter.
DeleteIt's not often that I get a glimpse into how incels think. Fascinating.
DeleteIncels don't like to take it up the ass from trannies and hump each other on a football field like apes. They're just not like us. Love is love.
DeleteFascinating insights from a keen-eyed observer.
Delete