‘Bad Bunny’s all-American Super Bowl halftime show’
Kelefa Sanneh at The New Yorker
Bad Bunny has “spent the past decade creating one of the most irresistible bodies of work in all of popular music,” and “put on what might have been the best halftime performance in Super Bowl history,” says Kelefa Sanneh. He is “just about as popular as it is possible for a musician to be.” People “could think of Bad Bunny’s triumphant set as a tribute to the power and capaciousness of American popular music — or as a pointed critique of it.”
‘Depoliticize the National Guard’
Adam Kinzinger at Newsweek
The “military and National Guard are trusted precisely because they are professional, nonpartisan and committed to service — not political agendas. But today, that norm is under strain,” says former Rep. Adam Kinzinger. The Guard has been “redirected away from their communities for reasons that have little to do with public safety and everything to do with politics.” Politicizing the military “erodes public trust, undermines civilian control, dishonors service members and weakens one of America’s most respected institutions.”
‘Wine against the New Prohibitionism’
N.C. Stevens at Slate
An “increasing push toward sobriety has flooded the market with nonalcoholic alternatives to traditional tipples,” and “some in the beverage alcohol industry have begun decrying what they view as a dastardly neo-temperance — even neo-Prohibitionist — movement,” says N.C. Stevens. But “where beer and spirits have largely opted for diversification into nonalcoholic renditions of their traditional offerings as a hedge against the surge in sobriety, wine is relying on its smooth and rounded voice to push back.”
‘Is nixing aid to Israel a poison chalice?’
Kelley Beaucar Vlahos at The American Conservative
There is a “lot of talk about getting rid of the massive agreement that guarantees Israel billions of dollars in military aid each year,” says Kelley Beaucar Vlahos. But “while a debate over the annual package would be a most welcome one given the enormous sums of American taxpayer money that has flowed to Israel’s wars in recent years, it is important to keep an eye on what might be a bait and switch.”
Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
