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Hello and welcome to the DSR Daily. I'm David Rothkopf. I'm joined by Riley Fessler and Minna Stein, and we're here to help you ease into another week, a week of February, a cold week that may actually warm up a little bit here in the East. We can only hope there's only so much furniture we can burn to stay warm. Minna, why don't you kick us off? All right. Bad Bunny delivered a high-energy, fully Spanish Super Bowl halftime show that celebrated Puerto Rican culture through a fast-paced mix of reggaeton, bomba, hip-hop, and pop, packing 14 songs into 13 minutes. Surprise appearances by Lady Gaga, Ricky Martin, Cardi B, and Pedro Pascal added star power, while the performance leaned heavily into cultural symbolism, pride, and joy rather than translation or explanation. Despite controversy and criticism, especially from political opponents, Bad Bunny framed the moment as an invitation for viewers to simply dance and embrace authenticity, reinforcing his global success without compromising his roots. Yeah, I think it was a little more complicated than that. I think it was a little better than that. I thought he did a great job. One sign of the fact that he did a great job was that Donald Trump immediately responded with a long, true social post saying it was terrible and that no one could understand this. Donald Trump doesn't seem to know that 60 million Americans actually speak Spanish. But it did really get to the core point here, which is Trump's message, when you boil it down, is racism. um uh Jen Rubin in a comment this morning I saw referred to what they're trying to do with immigration but also with their attitudes more broadly um is ethnic cleansing they don't want anybody except white Christians in this country and they are going to fight to make life harder for anybody who doesn't meet those criteria bad bunny on the other hand who did a great performance was full of energy. He's an incredibly charming performer. Made his points more subtle. But that's not to say he wasn't making them directly. I mean, when he was saying, love is more powerful than hate, it's not that he didn't have haters in mind. When he said, we are all America together, it's not that he wasn't making a point in direct contrast that of the white Christian nationalists out there, when he said, I'm proud to be an American, and then listed every country in the Americas to point out that, you know, we are all here together. You know, he was making a point. And, you know, I think the fact that he felt that he could stick to his message of culture and of love, his celebration of who he was, I think also, you know, sent a powerful message. You know, there was this countervailing kid rock program that people were screening for Mega World that had technical difficulties before it started out that reached maybe 6 million, you know, extremists, but that involved Kid Rock in a T-shirt lip syncing. There was nothing redeeming about it. It stands in contrast to the 120 million or so people that saw Bad Bunny. And I think this was another victory and a string of victories for the people who are standing up and saying, fuck ICE and ICE out and no, we can't go in this direction, America. And we are going to resist the efforts of the federal government to undermine the thing that makes America great, which is diversity and inclusion. I would point out that, Donald Trump, who speaks contemptuously of Bad Bunny, and the MAGAs who talk about Bad Bunny as if he were a foreigner, neglect a couple of things, one of which is we've had plenty of foreigners do halftime shows, but Bad Bunny isn't one of them. Puerto Rico is part of the United States. In fact, Puerto Rico has been part of the United States, and Bad Bunny's relatives have been Americans far longer than Donald Trump's immigrant relatives who came over in the early part of the 20th century. So, you know, everywhere you look, there was fail for Trump, ugliness for MAGA, and just a beautifully powerful message from, you know, Bad Bunny and those who joined Bad Bunny that had in it, in the most subtle way, at least, you know, I'm from New Jersey. This is how I see things. You know an unmistakable fuck you to the president and his policies Do you guys agree with me I sorry I go on and on there I mean did you both watch it Yeah, I watched it. Yeah, I mean, I agree. It was clearly a kind of dig at Trump. But what's sad is, I mean, unless you have really hateful politics, there was nothing to find offensive about the show. Like it was literally just, we should all, you know, accept one another and get along, which of course pisses off a big contingent of the right in this country, which is more of an indictment of them than anything. But yeah, I mean, I thought the show was great. But yeah, I mean, it's overt messaging and undertones were pretty unmistakable. It's interesting that the white Christian nationalists are most offended by messages the closer they get to sounding like Jesus. you know yep pretty much what about you minute did you go for it or I thought it was expertly done I thought it was beautiful and it's the only Super Bowl moment Super Bowl halftime show that's ever moved me to tears when they brought out all of the flags and they were carrying the American flag and all the other flags from around Central and South America. I was just so moved by that portion and that message that I started like openly weeping at my Super Bowl party that I was at. I just, yeah, the moment that we're in just really. You were at a Super Bowl party? I was with my family. So not there to celebrate Super Bowl, but there to watch the halftime show, there to hang out with my family. And they're apparently to cry at this incredible, incredible, beautiful message of we're all Americans. We're all in this together. All we have is each other. All we have is love. And at the end of the day, we're all fans of Lady Gaga. Yeah. OK. Finally, we've come to something we disagree on. You know, I think Lady Gaga is okay. I don't think she belonged in that program. If I had to guess, this is a conspiracy theory, but the song she sang is a song she co-wrote with Bruno Mars, who is Puerto Rican. My guess is they were supposed to be there together and something happened and he couldn't be there and she did it without him. That would be my guess. That's a conspiracy theory that I can't remember. I just don't think they needed, you know, the interlude in English. And I, you know, he almost gave the first halftime show that was entirely in Spanish. It would have been fine with me if he did. I don't think she added that much. I thought, by the way, the surprise to me was Ricky Martin was so good. You know, it was like, I haven't thought about Ricky Martin in a long time, but it was like, wow, that was a good performance. And looking incredible, almost unrecognizable. The group that I was with was like, wait, is that Ricky Martin? He's had some tasteful work done. He looks great. Oh, oh my God. Tasteful work done. He's, you know. Anyway, the point is, I thought it was great. By the way, the Super Bowl sucked. I mean, it was unbelievably boring Super Bowl. And, And, you know, it's a kind of the best advertisement you could possibly have for watching, I don't know, the World Cup later this year or the Olympics. It was just blech. By the way, just to continue on our theme here, Trump also lashed out at members of the U.S. Olympic ski team and others on the Olympic team who dared to suggest that it was uncomfortable being out there representing the U.S. when the U.S. was doing all this horrible stuff, who dared to actually use their right as American citizens to express themselves. And Trump was like, well, if you're going to be critical, you know, you shouldn't be on the team. Critical of what, Don? Of America? No, they want America to be better. They were being critical of you, Don. And he, of course, hated that. And I think Trump is feeling it right now. I mean, I don't know, but I think Trump is feeling every single day that the choices they're making aren't working. At least I hope that. I hope he is. This is what gets me up in the morning. Okay, what else do we have? Well, a complete pivot because British Prime Minister Keir Starmer is facing an intensifying leadership crisis following the back-to-back resignations of key aides Morgan McSweeney and Tim Allen. Not that one. These departures were triggered by the fall. That would be the end of the British Labour Party if MAGA Tim Allen were in their midst. But yeah, go ahead. These departures were triggered by the fallout from Starmer's controversial decision to appoint Peter Mandelson as U.S. Ambassador, a move now under fire due to Mandelson's ties to Jeffrey Epstein and allegations of official misconduct. Despite mounting pressure from the conservative opposition and rising government borrowing costs, Starmer rallied his staff on Monday, expressing regret for the appointment while firmly signaling his refusal to step down. The prime minister now prepares for a high-stakes meeting with labor lawmakers in an attempt to stabilize his government and refocus on his economic agenda. Yeah, he'd be a lot better off if he didn't suck as prime minister, right? I mean, his problem is that he's been a lousy prime minister, and so people weren't feeling that well-disposed towards him to begin with. But of course, he did appoint this guy. There would be a very dark and unfortunate, I don't know if it's quite an irony, but a commentary on the United States if because a UK prime minister appointed somebody associated with Epstein, he was forced out of office. And we here in this country have the person most associated with Epstein as our president and no sign of any movement against him on that front, despite what some, Chris Murphy and others suggest are 38,000 mentions of Trump in the Epstein files. But more importantly, the fact that, you know, the accusations against Trump and what Trump did with Epstein, and the whole idea of what Georgia senatorial, well, Georgia senator and now also senatorial candidate John Ossoff yesterday referred to, I think very smartly, as the Epstein class. You know I think defining the people around Trump and Epstein the billionaires the broligarchy as the Epstein class sends the message that these are not only people who had impunity or believe they had impunity but they were also people who then abused that in the most revolting ways possible Anyway we see if Starmer goes We also by the way had another story over the weekend which I don't think is on our list but deserves noting, which is that a Trump supporter, one somebody Trump's kind of a fan of, the Japanese prime minister won a big landslide victory in Japan, and her party looks much stronger than it did before. And undoubtedly, at some point today, if it hasn't happened already, Trump will claim credit for that, even though he shouldn't. But he's desperate. So he will undoubtedly say, well, see, I supported her and look what happened there. Anyway, on to the next. Starting a business can be overwhelming. You're juggling multiple roles, designer, marketer, logistics manager, all while bringing your vision to life. Shopify helps millions of business sell online. Build fast with templates and AI descriptions and photos, inventory and shipping. Sign up for your one euro per month trial and start selling today at shopify.nl. That's shopify.nl. It's time to see what you can accomplish with Shopify by your side. Starting a business can be overwhelming. You're juggling multiple roles, designer, marketer, logistics manager, all while bringing your vision to life. Shopify helps millions of business sell online. Build fast with templates and AI descriptions and photos, inventory and shipping. Sign up for your one euro per month trial and start selling today at shopify.nl. That's shopify.nl. It's time to see what you can accomplish with Shopify by your side. Starting a business can be overwhelming. You're juggling multiple roles, designer, marketer, logistics manager, all while bringing your vision to life. Shopify helps millions of business sell online. Build fast with templates and AI descriptions and photos, inventory and shipping. Sign up for your one euro per month trial and start selling today at Shopify.nl. That's Shopify.nl. It's time to see what you can accomplish with Shopify by your side. President Trump plans to exclude Democrats from a traditionally bipartisan White House meeting with governors during the National Governors Association Summit and revoke invitations to Democratic governors Wes Moore of Maryland and Jared Polis of Colorado for a related governor's dinner. Moore and Polis criticized the decision as disrespectful and partisan, with Moore saying he was confused and hurt by the move, especially given his recent bipartisan work with Trump and his status as the nation's only black governor. The NGA expressed disappointment, saying the decision undermines a longstanding tradition of bipartisan federal-state collaboration and unity. Look, you know, it's so in character of Trump. He doesn't care anymore. And, you know, pay attention to that. He is behaving like a man who knows he is not running for re-election again. And he is injecting his own pettiness and vitriol and fear of opposing ideas into everything he does. I mean, I'm looking at it that way, folks. He's afraid to have Wes Moore, who's a legitimate Democratic presidential candidate in 2028, but who is also the only black governor in the United States, have dinner with him in a big room full of a lot of people. Jared Polis, more than any other Democrat I could think of, has been bending over to deal with Trump and is getting penalized for it. But it's because there is a kind of bunker mentality in the White House. And I say that as they're actually building a bunker under the White House, a new, improved, luxury bunker that Trump can live in, you know, when people come at him with torches and pitchforks, as they probably should. the pentagon has announced it will sever all ties with harvard university starting in the 2026 to 27 academic year terminating all military training fellowships and certificate programs defense secretary pete hegseth justified the decision by stating the institution instills quote globalist and radical ideologies that are incompatible with the military's warrior class this move escalates a prolonged standoff between the trump administration and harvard which has already seen billions in research funding cut and a recent demand for $1 billion payment to restore federal support. While Harvard maintains the administration is engaging in illegal retaliation, the Pentagon has indicated that similar programs at other Ivy League universities will be evaluated for potential cuts in the coming weeks. Yeah, because why not go after the best universities in the country and stop sending our military leaders there? because I think anything that we can do to dumb down the military is bound to help us in the long run, right? I mean, it's bound to make the military stupider like Pete Hexeth. Where did Pete Hexeth go to college, guys? Does anybody remember? No. I actually don't remember. Okay, well, let me help refresh your memory, and this is incredibly embarrassing to the place he did. Pete Hexeth went to Princeton. that hotbed of, you know, anti-Ivy League thinking. You know, I mean, obviously he resents his time there where he must have been viewed as, you know, a mistaken entry because he's such a frat boy moron. Although I've met my share of frat boy morons who went to Princeton. We'll leave that for another day. But, you know, I know these programs. I've done a lot. My wife is affiliated with the Harvard Kennedy School, where a lot of these people go. I have a lot of my friends teach there. These are very smart people who you want to have getting good education. I'm also a little bit confused by this idea that we don't want our military exposed to globalist views. We have the most far-flung military in the world. We have military bases in every corner of the planet. Our whole point behind our military is the ability to project force in every direction around the planet at once. But how is that not the most extraordinary manifestation of globalist views that you can imagine? But of course if you looking for intellectual consistency from Pete Hegseth you gone to the wrong place And this is just about politics small short and bad decisions And it a bad decision you know, and should get pushback and probably should be challenged in the courts because it is clearly political penalization for not bending the knee to the president of the United States. last story for today, Mina? Yep, we're going to finish out our stories today the way we started. Actually, it was something that you mentioned earlier, but big sports weekend, so important to talk about all the acts of resistance happening during those sports. President Trump criticized U.S. Olympic freestyle skier Hunter Hess on Truth Social, calling him, quote, a real loser, after Hess said he had mixed emotions about representing the United States amid current political issues, has explained that while wearing the flag, he feels he represents his personal values, loved ones, and positive aspects of the country rather than all actions of the U.S. government. Other athletes, including teammate Chris Lillis, echoed similar concerns, expressing heartbreak over domestic issues and emphasizing respect, rights, and unity as the values they hope to represent at the Olympics. And more power to them. And what is more American than expressing your views as we have said. You know, Trump, of course, doesn't like the idea that, you know, the Olympic team might represent diverse views. He probably would like an all-mega Olympic team, which would guarantee our failure across the board in many of these sports. This team has got Americans of every sort on it, and that's why it's, you know, kind of inspiring to watch. But having said that, I don't know how you guys feel. I feel uncomfortable watching the Olympics this time. When the Americans came in, when J.D. Vance got booed at the opening ceremony, you know, I'm proud to be an American for what I think America stands for. I'm proud to be an American for who my neighbors are. but I could not be more embarrassed or disgusted with our government. And when you think of how that government has treated the rest of the world, the contempt it has shown for our allies and our friends, the embrace it has made to enemies and criminals around the world, the values it is demonstrating, The fact that it has shown the opposite of hospitality to international visitors, the fact that we are making it a place that no one wants to go to anymore. I don't know. I really think it's colored how I view the Olympics because the Olympics is so tied up in this idea of I'm winning for my country. and it really puts the athletes in a bad position. I don't know if you guys agree with me, but it's affected me. I don't disagree with you that it's a complicated feeling because I'm a really big Olympics fan. Obviously, I don't like sports. I don't follow sports, but you could put any sport on the Olympics and I'm watching it and I'm pretending like I know exactly how the game is played and what is supposed to happen to win. I'm a big fan, and I agree with you that it's complicated to root for the United States. That being said, I do feel proud to be an American when people like Hunter Hess or Chris Lillis or Bad Bunny or any of these people stand up and do the right thing. And I feel proud to be associated with people who are who continue to be brave, continue to do the right thing, even when it's hard or dangerous. I'm proud to be associated with those people. I'm with you. Riley, have you been watching the Olympics? I watched part of the opening ceremony, but I haven't actually watched any of the events yet. Go on, go on. I'm weird because I historically don't watch any of the Olympics at all, and I've been judged harshly for that. Well, you know, I bring between each his own. But I have to say, as an aside, that has nothing to do with this. and then we will wrap up this podcast. You know, when I was a kid, you'd go watch the Olympics, you'd turn it on at night, you'd watch the whole thing. If it was happening on the other side of the world, you probably didn't hear what was happening. So you were like, I'm going to wait and see who wins and all this stuff. Then there was a period where there would be five Olympic channels and you'd watch the Olympics as you wanted to and you could go, even as today, you know, NBC has the gold zone. You could just watch people win if that was your thing. But we now live in an era where so much of the information we get is streamed and in fairly real time. That if you're just going through your Instagram feed or your TikTok feed or your Blue Sky feed or, you know, God forbid, you know, some of the other feeds, you're going to get all the highlights in video in real time. And so I don't watch it the same way as I did before. There's no urgency for me to turn on NBC. you know because I'm getting so much of it in my social media feed and I think that it changes the whole vibe of the Olympics to me it once was a this kind of big thing that for two weeks every four years you'd kind of zoom in on and it was you'd talk to people about it and everybody was watching it and now it's you know I watched Lindsey Vonn get airlifted out on a little clip and then I watch the American skating team win a gold medal or Breezy Johnson win a gold medal. I feel sorry for her because her whole story was overshadowed by the Lindsey Vaughn story. But net it took up six minutes of my day. You know what I mean? I was not watching all the time. Anyway, the Olympics is going on this week. Maybe something interesting will happen there. Donald Trump will remain our president throughout the week. You know, at least that has to be the betting position. You know, will Keir Starmer remain the prime minister of the UK? What's going to happen elsewhere in the world? Who knows? But we'll be here and we will follow these things. And we have a great schedule of all of our other podcasts coming at you this week. So join us. We're even doing a couple later today. So maybe they'll be up sooner. Join us and until then, welcome to a new week. Thanks, Riley. Thanks, Bennett. Thanks, everybody.
