Turning Point USA’s alternative halftime show is a microcosm of the binary society that America has become. As a response to Bad Bunny, a Spanish speaking artist getting to headline the Superbowl this conservative think tank decided to throw a tantrum and host their own “All American performance.” It is true that everything in one way or another must deal with politics but objectively speaking Bad Bunny’s performance wasn’t all that political. Benito (Bad Bunny) himself throughout the performance doesn’t pick any sides. He doesn’t speak about any issues that Americans are dealing with today. He didn’t speak about ICE, the Epstein files, racism, Democrats or Republicans, the high cost of living, markets crashing or affordable healthcare. Just signs that said, “Together We Are America” and “The only thing more powerful than hate is Love.” He even shouts out “God Bless America.” Pretty basic and broad terms that on the surface don’t mean much and aren’t politically charged, in the sense they don’t send a signal to either side liberals or conservatives. He literally opened up with “Titi Me Pregunto” which isn’t a politically charged song at all. So why does Benito getting selected for the Superbowl strike a chord for so many people? Why did a large portion of Americans throw a tantrum? Why does Bad Bunny performing anger the average right winger and make them feel oppressed while simultaneously creating an artificial sense of community for a large number of left wingers because they see their political rivals upset? Because The United States is deeply and viciously divided at its core and because of this division our moral compass has been sabotaged and compromised. We are living in the midst of social civil war that most citizens can’t even grasp because the elites have pit us against each other and deflected all blame from themselves. The super rich want us fighting and divided in left vs right. The real divide happens to be in rich vs poor and everything else is a deflection.
The irony about turning point USA’s halftime show was how idiotic and hyper politically charged it was. Even though the masterminds of the show, try to gaslight us and say that it wasn’t aimed to be, that is exactly what happened. Why else would Kid Rock be on stage yelling “Trump! Trump! Trump!” like a rapper trying to get the crowd hype. I could be wrong but nowhere in Bad Bunny’s performance did he name drop a politician or political party in a good or bad way. Besides the fact Kid Rock is a known Trump supporter and even has diss songs towards former President Joe Biden such as “We the People”, the idea of choosing him to headline your Superbowl halftime show, reeks of political programming. He has spent the last 10 years being an avid Trump and MAGA supporter. So the idea of having an event that’s not politically charged and then inviting him is laughable. After all the performances they held a Charlie Kirk memorial even though he was killed about 6 months ago and has had many many many memorials and basically concerts celebrating him I felt this was politically charged. Granted, he is the original founder of Turning Point USA, but since he was a staunch conservative, they had to add his memorial to be the political icing on the cake.
Ironically, Charlie Kirk has said “The Halftime show should be a reflection of the virtue that you want society to embody.” Although I don’t agree because its just art and not every song performed at the Superbowl has been age appropriate, I do understand the idea behind having a kid/family friendly show. But what becomes ironic is TPUSA choosing Kid Rock to headline the show. Kid Rock has a plethora of distasteful lyrics that should have disqualified him from being a performer. “Young ladies, young ladies, I like ’em underage/ See, some say that’s statutory/ But I say it’s mandatory.”- Kid rock in a 2001 song called “Cool, Daddy Cool.” Also in 2001 Kid Rock said this about the Olsen Twins who were currently 14 at the time “Why is every guy in America waiting on these chicks to turn 18? If there’s grass on the field, play ball.” I wish Charlie were here so we could ask him if those types of quotes reflect the virtue, he wants society to embody. The Irony here is screaming at us because in this polarized society, division has cost us our ability to critically think.
Megyn Kelly, a conservative media superstar, says the Superbowl Halftime show shouldn’t be politically critical. Many on both the left and right feel this way. But politically critical was the entire basis of TPUSA alternative halftime show, and Megyn Kelly loved every minute of it. Because it fits her agenda of what SHE agrees with politically. The fact is she doesn’t not want people to talk about politics; she just doesn’t want people to speak when it doesn’t fit her agenda. That’s not a democracy at all. Megyn Kelly says that middle of America citizens who don’t speak Spanish were left out of representation in the Superbowl. But that is the exact opposite of Bad Bunny’s performance, whose goal was to make the show all inclusive, even if it wasn’t. What I find compelling is that many Americans go to Opera performances where they cant understand what the person is saying or have danced to the macarena at a club or bar before. Music isn’t just about lyrics, its about the beat , the rhythm or harmonies. To me it just seems, the critics of the Superbowl halftime show made a conscious decision to find themselves upset at a 15 minute performance that they were NOT FORCED to watch. Many whites are now complaining that there was no white representation in his performance. Could be true, but I would say that there were no NON-whites at Turning Point USA’s performance. Now isn’t that the pot calling the kettle black? If TPUSA was serious about having an “All American” performance than they would have all people from all demographics perform because that is what America looks like. A land of whites, blacks, and browns. Not just whites. In America, it currently feels like we are slowly slipping back into a Jim Crow adjacent way of thinking with separatism being at the forefront. And I find it hard to believe that these same people throwing tantrums about who is the Superbowl performer wouldn’t be the same people advocating for whites and blacks to have their own water fountains like previous times in American history.
Seeing the reactions from the Bad Bunny performance left me realizing that whether it is true or not, many middle of the road white Americans from what we call “Fly over America” feel abandoned politically by Jay-z and Rocnation for choosing Bad Bunny to be the performer. These same people also felt empowered by Kid Rocks’ performance. And there lies the problem. Kid Rock being on stage and jumping around does nothing for Americans having a better quality of life. Bad Bunny performing on that Super Bowl Stage also did nothing for Americans having a better quality of life. But us Americans are so politically programmed to believe so. Kid Rock and Bad Bunny are not heroes. They are entertainers. Kid Rock has become some phony rockstar for conservatism the same way Bad Bunny has been thrown into the spotlight of being an advocate for human and civil rights now. Which is unfair to both Bad Bunny and Kid Rock. That is too much responsibility for them, and they are not equipped at all to be in these positions because they are pawns on one big chess board themselves. After both of these performances Americans will still be in debt, the country will still be in a deficit economically, crime is still ramped throughout the country, the Epstein perpetrators are still free and the country is at the crossroads of a civil and psychological war because of political counterprogramming everywhere we look. But this is not by coincidence. These are calculated measures by the powers that be on both sides. Both liberals and conservatives, democrats and republicans are responsible for the culture that we find ourselves struggling with. And those who don’t want to participate in the culture war are unjustly held to the fire and co-erced into choosing sides. (Example Bad bunny). In order to Power the People we must overcome this phony symbolism forced upon us and recognize that the status quo is created and maintained by us citizens and not the elites that pit us against each other at every turn.
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