Welcome back to the Jeep Dive. It is Monday,
February 9, 2026. And I have to say, if you are
feeling a massive case of whiplash today, you're
definitely not alone. Oh, for sure. It feels
like we're waking up in a world where the Super
Bowl confetti is like still on the floor. But
the political news cycle is already at Mach 10.
It really is. I mean, usually the Monday after
the Super Bowl is for, you know, over analyzing
commercials or arguing about past interference.
We're just recovering from too many nachos. Exactly.
But looking at the stack of reports we have today,
mostly from Electoral -Vote .com, the football
game was, well, arguably the calmest part of
the weekend. And that is saying something considering
what actually happened during halftime. We have
a massive amount to unpack. So the mission for
this deep dives is to connect some very strange
docs. Right. We're going to talk about that halftime
show, obviously, but we're connecting Bad Bunny
to a much bigger picture. We're talking DOJ,
the national map, the federal budget, all of
it. It's all connected. We've got the executive
branch basically declaring economic war on certain
states. We have this fascinating and incredibly
expensive twist to America's upcoming 250th birthday.
Oh, yeah. And we finally have movement on the
Epstein files. Plus, we have to talk about the
cartography of power. I mean, how lines are being
drawn in Virginia and Kentucky that will decide
who controls the house. So grab your coffee.
We are going to go from the spectacle to the
structural. Let's dive in. Let's do it. OK, we
have to start with the cultural flash point.
The Super Bowl halftime show. Bad Bunny. I don't
know about you, but strictly as a production,
I thought the visuals were just incredible. It
was certainly a massive production. And it wasn't
just a concert. It was, you know, a statement.
I mean, they transformed the stage into a sugar
cane field. They had elderly men playing dominoes.
And then the part everyone is talking about,
an actual wedding. A real couple. A real couple
got married lies in front of a hundred million
people. And they got a free kick out of it, which
considering the price of weddings these days
is probably the biggest win of the night. Right.
Even J .J. Watt tweeted about it. He said something
like, did I understand a single word of it? No.
Was it a vibe? It was. Which I think captures
how a lot of people felt. Just on a pure vibes
level, it worked. It felt like a party. But this
is where we have to put on our political lenses
because nothing at this level is just an accident.
On the surface, the message was unity. Right.
Together we are America. He spiked a football
that said that. He did. But beneath that, there
was a very sharp subtext. There's always subtext.
Did you notice the dancers on the electric poles?
I did. I just thought it was cool choreography,
maybe a street scene. It was much more than that.
That was a direct visual reference to the power
outages in Puerto Rico during Trump's first term.
You're kidding. The grid failures after Hurricane
Maria, it was a subtle but incredibly sharp critique
of infrastructure neglect wrapped inside a huge
reggaeton performance. Wow. OK, so he's critiquing
the federal response to a disaster on the biggest
stage in the world. And naturally, that didn't
go unnoticed. Not at all. Trump took to social
media almost immediately and just went ballistic.
He called it disgusting, a slap in the face.
And his main complaint was what? That quote,
nobody understands a word this guy is saying.
Which is a bit ironic, isn't it? I mean, Despacito,
Gangnam Style. They've had massive non -English
hits. Of course. But this reaction highlights
the core tension. The source argues this is Trump
acting definitively as the president of the red
states, not the United States. He's signaling
to his base that this culture is not our culture.
And speaking of our culture, the sources point
out there was actually a counter -programming
attempt. Yes. For those who didn't want to watch
Bad Bunny, there was a mag -raw alternative halftime
show streamed online. It was headlined by Kid
Rock. Oh boy. How did that go? Well, let's just
say the production values were slightly different.
Kid Rock was performing and at one point he dropped
the mic to his waist to hype the crowd, but the
vocals kept singing. The classic lip -sync error.
Ouch. It is, but that contrast is the key. You
have one America watching a global superstar
and another America watching a glitchy stream
to avoid hearing Spanish. It really sets the
stage for everything else. That's a perfect transition.
Because if the culture war is about rhetoric,
the policy war is about money, and that red state
president mindset is now moving from tweets to
actual budgets. Exactly. This is where it stops
being entertainment. We're seeing a coordinated
effort by the executive branch to claw back federal
funds specifically from states that didn't vote
for him. This is what they're calling governing
by grudge. Let's look at the numbers here. The
Office of Management and Budget ordered the CDC
to pull back $600 million. And this isn't, you
know, for unused office supplies or something.
No. These are targeted community -level programs.
We're talking about funds for HIV prior AP medication
for black women in Illinois, funds for evaluating
sexual violence laws in California. So real health
and safety programs. Correct. And it's not just
health. The Department of Transportation is clawing
back $940 million for things like EV chargers
and green buses. The padding is just undeniable.
It's California, Colorado, Illinois, Minnesota.
But hold on. How is that legal? Congress appropriates
this money. Can the president just say, nope,
I'm taking it back? That is the billion dollar
question. The Impoundment Control Act of 1974
was supposed to stop exactly this, but the administration
is using a loophole, claiming these funds weren't
obligated fast enough or finding some other technicality.
But the pettiness, and I have to call it that,
reached a new level with the Hudson River Tunnel
Project. Oh, this is something else. This is
the most critical infrastructure project in the
Northeast. Trump froze the funding, but he offered
a condition to restore it. He did. You really
can't make this up. He said he'd unfreeze the
money if they renamed Penn Station to Trump Station
and Dulles Airport to Trump Airport. Wait, Trump
State and Dulles isn't even in New York or New
Jersey. Exactly. It's in Virginia. The governors
of New York and New Jersey have zero jurisdiction
over an airport in Virginia. It was an impossible
demand. It was a troll disguised as a negotiation.
So what happened? Well, the judicial branch stepped
in. Federal Judge Janet Vargas ruled that the
president can't just freeze appropriated funds
to secure naming rights. She basically said the
Constitution doesn't work that way. So the rule
of law held up, at least there. But this theme
of you aren't in the club continued, right? Even
at the winter governor's meeting. Traditionally,
yes, all 50 governors are invited. It's a moment
of federal cohesion. But this year, two governors
were left off the list. Wes Moore of Maryland
and Jared Polis of Colorado. And the source points
out a specific detail there that likely isn't
a coincidence. They did. Westmore is black and
Jared Polis is gay. And when you look at that
in the context of clawing back funds for HIV
programs and minority health, their exclusion
sends a very specific, very ugly signal. It signals
the government is picking winners and losers
based on identity and loyalty. And speaking of
exclusive clubs, let's talk about the 250th birthday
of the United States. 2026 is the big year. The
semi -quincentennial. That's a mouthful. I practiced.
But usually we'd have a bipartisan commission
planning this. But this year, we have something
called Freedom 250. Right. Congress created a
nonprofit called America 250 years ago to handle
this. But Trump has pushed that official body
aside for a private LLC called Freedom 250 run
by a guy named Keith Cratch. And because it's
a private LLC, they're selling packages and the
prices. I mean, my jaw hit the floor. It is the
total monetization of the presidency. For $1
million, you get a thank you reception and a
photo op. $1 million for a photo. And that's
just the entry level. If you really want to play,
you drop $2 .5 million. That gets you a speaking
role at a July 4th event. Who has that kind of
money just lying around? What are these events?
I saw something about a race. An indie -style
car race through DC. And maybe most symbolically,
a proposed Arc de Trump. An Arc de Trump. Please
tell me you're joking. I wish I were. Yes, patterned
after the one in Paris, and the intention is
for it to overshadow the Lincoln Memorial. So
it's not about celebrating the country, it's
about glorifying the leader. The source argues
it's a grift, plain and simple, diverting attention
and funds to a private group with much less transparency.
It really feels like everything is for sale.
Let's pivot from what's for sale to what's been
hidden. The Epstein files. This has been a conspiracy
engine for a decade. It has. And finally, the
DOJ announced they will let Congress view the
unredacted files. But of course, there are several
catches. Several. You have to give 24 -hour notice,
view them in a secure room, a SCIF, and absolutely
no electronic devices. Which makes it pretty
hard to leak anything. But the source found a
hilarious loophole. They did. The rule specifically
bans electronic devices. Technically, a disposable
mechanical film camera like a Kodak FunSaver
from the 90s is not electronic. I would love
to see a congressman walking into the DOJ winding
up a Kodak. Just taking some tourist photos?
I suspect security would ban it on the spot,
but strictly speaking, it follows the rule. Jokes
aside, we did get a list of names published by
the Wall Street Journal. And it's a who's who.
Clinton, Trump, Musk, Bill Gates. It is, but...
And this is so crucial, we have to apply some
serious media literacy here. The source emphasizes
that appearing on this list does not automatically
imply guilt. Right, explain that distinction
because the internet tends to treat on the list
as... guilty. The FBI seized everything. So if
Jeffrey Epstein signed up for a daily newsletter
from some tech website, the writers of that newsletter
are technically in the Epstein files. That's
a very important distinction. It could just mean
you were on a mailing list. Exactly. But the
political battle is heating up. Rip Jamie Raskin
is arguing the DOJ is still withholding documents
and Trump seems to be opposing full transparency.
Which raises the question, if it's all innocent.
Weigh the secrecy. Precisely. OK, let's move
from files to maps. The battle for the House
of Representatives. It is getting brutal. It
really is. And before we even get to the lines,
we have to talk about who gets to stand in line.
Republicans are pushing the Save America Act.
Which would require a passport or birth certificate
to register to vote. Right. And the nuance is
in the proof. Millions of Americans, particularly
poorer voters, students, elderly voters, demographics
that lean Democratic, don't have easy access
to those specific documents. It adds a friction
point. A filter. But the real action is in the
redistricting, the gerrymandering. Let's talk
about Virginia. They are playing hardball. Currently,
the Virginia delegation is split six Democrats
to five Republicans. The new map they've proposed
would shift that split to 10 Democrats and one
Republican. Wow. From 6 to 5 to 10 -1, that is
a massive swing. It is. They're targeting three
specific Republicans, Kiggins, Whitman, and McGuire.
They've redrawn the district lines to just dilute
the Republican voters, making them unwinnable
for the GOP. And Maryland is the same story.
Maryland is described as the mother of all gerrymanders.
But here's the reality check from the data. The
Axios model shows that even with these aggressive
maps, Democrats have a huge hill to climb. Break
down those numbers for us. Well, you'd think
that would be enough. But the model predicts
that if Democratic candidates just match Kamala
Harris's performance from 2024, they still lose
the House. The prediction is 207 to 228 Republican
majority. So just holding the line isn't enough.
Not even close. To get a razor thin one seat
majority, Democrats need to overperform Harris
by three percentage points nationwide. Shifting
the national average by three points is a Herculean
task. Speaking of polarization. There's a primary
in Kentucky that captures the state of the Republican
Party perfectly, Kentucky's fourth district.
Oh, this is one of the most interesting races
in the country. You have the incumbent, Thomas
Massey. He's an MIT -educated engineer, very
libertarian leaning. He defies Trump constantly.
And we know Trump doesn't like that. He hates
it. So he has endorsed a challenger, Ed Galrain,
a former Navy SEAL. And he runs a petting zoo.
He does. A farm with a petting zoo and you pick
strawberries? You have to love local politics.
So you have the MIT engineer versus the Navy
SEAL petting zoo owner. But it's really a proxy
war. Massey is popular locally, but he's ideological.
Trump is throwing everything behind Galrain to
prove he still controls the party. It's a test.
Can a conservative survive without being fully
Magier? And that's a bellwether for the soul
of the GOP. Finally, let's look at someone on
the other side who has transformed completely.
Alexandria Ocasio -Cortez. This is a remarkable
evolution. A few years ago she was the insurgent.
Now she has gone mainstream. The report says
she's actually advising moderates now. She is.
Candidates in red districts are coming to her
for messaging advice. She's figured out how to
frame economic populism in a way that resonates
with working class voters beyond the deep blue
base. And she's stepping onto the world stage.
Right. She's scheduled to speak at the Munich
Security Conference. That is a serious establishment
foreign policy venue. She's presenting a worldview
that contrasts directly with Trump's might makes
right. The source speculates this is all a setup.
It looks that way. The speculation is a Senate
run in 2028, maybe challenging Chuck Schumer.
She's only 36, and she's moving from protester
to power broker. It's a long way from bartending,
that's for sure. It shows that while Republicans
are fighting over loyalty to Trump, the Democrats
are quietly undergoing a generational shift.
Indeed. So let's wrap this up. We've covered
so much ground. A culture war at the Super Bowl,
a president actively withholding funds from states
based on voting history. Treating them like foreign
adversaries. Right. And the privatization of
the nation's birthday for profit and a map being
redrawn street by street to secure power. When
you put it all together, the theme is the fragmentation
of the union. It feels less like a single country
and more like two factions just sharing a landmass.
And for you listening to this, it matters because
this isn't GC gossip. If your state loses funding
for EV chargers or HIV medication because of
how your neighbors voted, that impacts your daily
life. Absolutely. It makes your citizenship conditional.
So here's the final thought I want to leave you
with today. We're used to the idea of a federal
union where the government serves everyone, regardless
of who they voted for. But if the executive branch
can successfully treat specific states as enemies
by clawing back funds, are we still a federal
union? Or have we quietly moved to a system of
subscription -based governance where your tax
dollars only come back if you show enough loyalty
to the brand in charge? That is the big question
for 2026. Thanks for listening to The Deep Dive.
We'll see you next time.