OPINION:
Puerto Rican musical artist Bad Bunny has been chosen to headline this coming year’s Super Bowl halftime show — and his selection is sparking backlash from those who wonder if this is still America.
That is: The guy performs his songs in Spanish. So why is he singing at the halftime event of one of America’s most American sporting events?
Maybe it’s his anti-ICE activism.
Maybe it’s his open dislike of President Trump and MAGA-like law and order.
Or maybe it’s because he likes to wear a dress on occasion.
Whatever the reason, California Gov. Gavin Newsom is loving the pick. Outside liberal circles — not so much.
“Bad Bunny has long championed his Puerto Rican roots in his music and has frequently criticized the Trump administration over its immigration policies,” Forbes wrote. “In the lead-up to the 2024 election, Bad Bunny endorsed former Vice President Kamala Harris after comedian Tony Hinchcliffe called Puerto Rico a ‘floating island of garbage’ at Trump’s Madison Square Garden rally. … On Independence Day, Bad Bunny released a music video for his song ’NEUVAYoL,’ which features a faux Trump voice apologizing for his stance on immigration.”
Truly, Bad Bunny is a pick for the left.
But oh for the days when sports weren’t so much about politics as about, well, umm, sports.
Democrats have ruined sports. They’re the ones who cheered pig socks and “Hands Up, Don’t Shoot” displays on the sidelines, and take-a-knee-for-the-anthem athletes, and even earlier, self-esteem trophies and no-score athletic competitions and “no child left behind”-like ceremonies to recognize losers as much as winners; to recognize losers almost more than the winners, actually.
‘Cause nothing says award-winning home-run hitter like a hurt feeling.
The Super Bowl halftime shows haven’t been worth watching for years now — since maybe the Janet Jackson-Justin Timberlake days when the latter tore off the top of the former and the former, whose career at that point was beyond lagging, feigned shock and surprise at her exposed nipple. The flash was to football what “Basic Instinct” was to Hollywood; only Jackson was the Sharon Stone — you know, the actress who feigned shock and surprise for forgetting to wear underwear during her leg-crossing scene.
The point is this: Super Bowl shows suck.
They’re good for popping in the pizza and watching the cheese melt. But the shows themselves are hardly G-rated; hardly family-friendly; hardly entertainment; hardly even showcases of true talent.
They’ve turned into concessions for the liberal-activist crowd of Perennially Disgruntled who look for every opportunity to press their woke agendas into culture. The powers-who-be have decided that American athletics should not just be about athletics, but rather about political agendas, with a sports component playing in the background — and as such, the powers-who-be have pretty much ruined professional competition in this country. The politics first is not just dividing; it’s destroying. It’s why men don lady colors on the football field and how come NHL ice is dyed pink in October. It’s why there’s not just a national anthem, but a Black national anthem. It’s why some players refuse to pledge allegiance, stand in somber silence for “The Star Spangled Banner” — or stand at all for these once-unifying, basic gameday field activities.
America used to be a land where fierce competition was valued, and athletic prowess admired. But it’s turned into a country where fierceness — outside of the brick-throwing, Molotov-cocktail-tossing Democrat protest movement — is frowned upon and athletic ability is only respected so long as it’s part and parcel of a checklist of acceptable other qualities: i.e., minority, Democrat supporter, illegal citizen, transgender.
From such mindset brings a Spanish-speaking, Trump-hating, open-border advocating halftime show performer.
“Bad Bunny as the Super Bowl halftime performer is an obvious — and subversive — choice,” CNN wrote.
Quite right.
Next time, let’s have Christian gospel singers associated with the MAGA movement — and watch the left explode.
• Cheryl Chumley can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com or on Twitter, @ckchumley. Listen to her podcast “Bold and Blunt” by clicking HERE. And never miss her column; subscribe to her newsletter and podcast by clicking HERE. Her latest book, “God-Given Or Bust: Defeating Marxism and Saving America With Biblical Truths,” is available by clicking HERE.
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