Super Bowl LX was a real clunker¹—say it with us now: FAAAKE MAAAYE!—but at least we got some sizzle from Bad Bunny’s halftime show, which featured Ricky Martin and Lady Gaga, an (apparently actual?) wedding, dancers dressed as bushes and electrical linemen, and an appeal to hemispheric unity featuring the flags of every American country, and a football inscribed with the slogan “Together, We Are America.”

Not everybody was impressed, however. “The Super Bowl Halftime Show is absolutely terrible, one of the worst, EVER!” Donald Trump raged on Truth Social. “It makes no sense, is an affront to the Greatness of America, and doesn’t represent our standards of Success, Creativity, or Excellence.” He went on like that for a while, but you get the idea.

Programming note: No Triad today; back tomorrow. Happy Monday.

Be Like Bad Bunny

by William Kristol

Tbh, the big sports weekend was a bit of a letdown.

Did anyone really watch Super Bowl LX to the end? And when you turned on Winter Olympics XXV, more often than not what you saw was . . . curling!?!

What’s up with that?

Actually, what is up with that? Why is curling an Olympic sport? It’s true that curling was part of the first-ever Winter Olympics in Chamonix, France, in 1924. On the other hand, it was promptly—and, if I might add, understandably—dropped, and only reappeared in the 1998 games three quarters of a century later. (No offense to curlers everywhere, but maybe it’s time for another curling Olympic time out?)

Anyway, last weekend’s sports may not have been super thrilling, but the culture war aspects were entertaining. Bad Bunny’s Spanish-language halftime show led Donald Trump to denounce him. And when some of the American Olympians said a few words distinguishing their love of their country from support for the Trump administration, MAGA-types attacked them (more on this below). Samuel Johnson, call your office: Patriotism has become the first refuge of scoundrels.

Speaking of scoundrels, I’ll note that back here in Washington, D.C., Congress doesn’t seem close to a deal on the 2026 funding legislation for the Department of Homeland Security.

Which is good news. Senate Democrats are actually pretty well positioned for the fight this week. A couple weeks ago, they were able to prevail on separating out the $64 billion DHS appropriations bill from the rest of a large 2026 funding package. They should now take the next step and make clear that they have no problem with funding the non-problematic parts of DHS—the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the Coast Guard, the Secret Service, the Transportation Security Administration, and so on. They should propose separating those out and funding them now. Such legislation could be passed before Friday, when the continuing resolution expires. And if Republicans balk, shutting down the respectable parts of DHS would be on them.

That would leave only the proposed $10 billion of 2026 funding for ICE and $6 billion for the Border Patrol unappropriated.

Good. There’s no reason to appropriate any of it. The less new funding that goes to Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Border Patrol, the better.

The Democrats, being Democrats, seem unwilling or unable to articulate this simple and obvious position. They’re against the mass deportation of immigrants without due process. They’re against the mass incarceration of those seized on our streets without trial. They’re against the mass intimidation of Americans who disagree with the Trump administration. They’re against the administration’s interference with the 2026 elections. And they’re right to be against all these things. Congress can reduce the ability of ICE and the Border Patrol to do these things. The simplest and most effective way to do so is to reduce these organizations’ funding—or at least to reduce the increase in their funding—as much as possible.

Unfortunately, ICE and the Border Patrol have plenty of money stashed aside already. Last year’s reconciliation bill allocated ICE $75 billion and Customs and Border Protection $65 billion to be spent through 2029. Clawing back as much of that money as possible should be a priority for September 30, when the next appropriations fights happen, and especially for the next Congress, in which Democrats are likely to control the House and maybe the Senate. But for now the best Congress can do is deny Trump’s paramilitary forces an additional $16 billion. This would at least put a dent in their already built-in growth.

Democrats have demanded a host of new restrictions on immigration enforcement operations. Many of these are desirable. But it will be hard to enforce these restrictions on an administration that’s shown a remarkable willingness to ignore inconvenient laws. More important, none of the restrictions is nearly as important as simply depriving ICE and the Border Patrol of funds. The money matters most. It will be much harder for the Trump administration to spend money it doesn’t have than to evade restrictions it doesn’t like.

The people of Minneapolis have been courageously confronting the Trump administration’s bullies in the streets. The least Democratic elected officials could do is confront the administration seriously in Congress. That means doing what they can to starve the Trumpist authoritarian beast.

This won’t be easy. But my advice to Democrats would start with this: Politics in the age of Trump isn’t like curling. Don’t spend all your time sweeping and maneuvering. Speak out and fight. Be like Bad Bunny.