The Super Bowl featured great defense (Seattle Seahawks), the worst game of their year (New England Patriots) and a gob-smacking half time, show (Bad Bunny).
The halftime show was incredible from its complicated setup of the field, to its music (all, except for Lady Gaga in Spanish) to its message. It was fast-paced, a well put together production (from setup to story line to music to camera work) and a true story of a proud American – Benito Antonio Martinez Ocasio (Bad Bunny).
It also apparently featured, unseen, the President of the United States, Donald J. Trump, as a viewer and who tweeted as the show ended:
“The Super Bowl Halftime Show is absolutely terrible, one of the worst EVER! It makes no sense, is an affront to the Greatness of America, and doesn’t represent our standards of Success, Creativity or Excellence. Nobody understands a word this guy is saying...”
In fact, the halftime showcased the greatness of America, its opportunity for success and our standards, creativity and excellence. The President just chooses not to get it.
Earlier yesterday Trump “Truthed” that American Olympian freestyle skier Hunter Hess, who said he had mixed emotions because he doesn’t agree with everything going on in his home country, “Just because I’m wearing the flag doesn’t mean I represent everything that’s going on in the U.S.”
Okay, as they say on TV let’s “unpack” that a bit.
We have a Puerto Rican producing a halftime show at the biggest athletic event in the country that talks proudly about his heritage, how hard Puerto Ricans work and contribute to the USA, points out the uniquely Puerto Rican and festive culture of the Puerto Rican people and delivers a message about not just this but that “the only thing more powerful than hate is love.”
Hess, who worked his life to reach his Olympic dream and represent his country – with all the personal and family sacrifices that go with that – answered a question, honestly, that, as an American, he doesn’t agree with everything his government is doing and the President of the United States criticizes him for speaking truth in a country founded and respected globally as the place where you have freedom of speech and expression.
So, what’s wrong with this picture? These two young men – proud of their homeland and their huge accomplishments – and Trump, leader of their country, criticizes them because he’s offended they love their country but not him and have the audacity to use their right of free expression to say so.
Pointedly, neither attacked Trump in their comments.
Pointedly, Trump chose to attack them, by name.
Hess, who crashed a few months before the 2022 Olympic qualifiers and failed to qualify came back and made the 2026 team, carefully spoke his (free speech protected) mind at this year’s Games.
Bad Bunny, a name he adopted because of the way he looked in a bunny outfit and a grumpy expression on his face when he was a child, just 10 years ago was working at an Econo supermarket in Puerto Rico. Today he is pop music’s most popular performer – worldwide.
Seems to most of us (I hope all of us) that they achieved their dreams thanks to the culture and values and freedoms our country was founded on and is admired for.
Congratulations to them both!
The halftime show was incredible from its complicated setup of the field, to its music (all, except for Lady Gaga in Spanish) to its message. It was fast-paced, a well put together production (from setup to story line to music to camera work) and a true story of a proud American – Benito Antonio Martinez Ocasio (Bad Bunny).
It also apparently featured, unseen, the President of the United States, Donald J. Trump, as a viewer and who tweeted as the show ended:
“The Super Bowl Halftime Show is absolutely terrible, one of the worst EVER! It makes no sense, is an affront to the Greatness of America, and doesn’t represent our standards of Success, Creativity or Excellence. Nobody understands a word this guy is saying...”
In fact, the halftime showcased the greatness of America, its opportunity for success and our standards, creativity and excellence. The President just chooses not to get it.
Earlier yesterday Trump “Truthed” that American Olympian freestyle skier Hunter Hess, who said he had mixed emotions because he doesn’t agree with everything going on in his home country, “Just because I’m wearing the flag doesn’t mean I represent everything that’s going on in the U.S.”
Okay, as they say on TV let’s “unpack” that a bit.
We have a Puerto Rican producing a halftime show at the biggest athletic event in the country that talks proudly about his heritage, how hard Puerto Ricans work and contribute to the USA, points out the uniquely Puerto Rican and festive culture of the Puerto Rican people and delivers a message about not just this but that “the only thing more powerful than hate is love.”
Hess, who worked his life to reach his Olympic dream and represent his country – with all the personal and family sacrifices that go with that – answered a question, honestly, that, as an American, he doesn’t agree with everything his government is doing and the President of the United States criticizes him for speaking truth in a country founded and respected globally as the place where you have freedom of speech and expression.
So, what’s wrong with this picture? These two young men – proud of their homeland and their huge accomplishments – and Trump, leader of their country, criticizes them because he’s offended they love their country but not him and have the audacity to use their right of free expression to say so.
Pointedly, neither attacked Trump in their comments.
Pointedly, Trump chose to attack them, by name.
Hess, who crashed a few months before the 2022 Olympic qualifiers and failed to qualify came back and made the 2026 team, carefully spoke his (free speech protected) mind at this year’s Games.
Bad Bunny, a name he adopted because of the way he looked in a bunny outfit and a grumpy expression on his face when he was a child, just 10 years ago was working at an Econo supermarket in Puerto Rico. Today he is pop music’s most popular performer – worldwide.
Seems to most of us (I hope all of us) that they achieved their dreams thanks to the culture and values and freedoms our country was founded on and is admired for.
Congratulations to them both!
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