Well, Hello Dolly! Let’s Talk About Halftime.

Hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

We are in Texas and as good Texans, our special day included watching “The Boys” play football. On TV. Not in the yard. Well, actually both.

 

Did y’all catch that Dallas Cowboys game? And if you did, did y’all catch that half time performance?

 

Hello, Dolly! I don’t know if that’s what seventy-seven is supposed to look like, but it looks good on you, girl!

 

I personally love Dolly Parton. And I have been loving her since way before “Nashville cool” became a style or Dolly’s face started showing up on T-shirts.

 

I am old-school country music. I am a fan of old-school feminists like Tammy Wynette, The Mandrells, and Loretta Lynn. In 1983, my Christmas wish list included a belt with my name on it, a cowboy hat with feathers on the front, a guitar, and a microphone so I could launch my music career before I started first grade. I wanted to be a coal miner’s daughter so bad I would pretend cough so the “black lung” would give me credibility.

 

What I wouldn’t give to see girl power, 1965 Lo-retta encounter the trans-inclusive country music industry of today. I bet there would be a follow up song to “Fist City.” Psshh. How did “you ain’t woman enough to take my man” become “you are woman enough to be a man?”

 

I say all of this to say, “I am not a hater.” But I am an objective observer and as such…let’s talk about halftime.

 

That outfit. Dolly wore a skin-tight flesh-colored, rhinestone, jumpsuit that looked like the Dallas Cowboys cheerleader outfits. More power to her. Dolly is grown. She can wear whatever she wants. There’s no need to fuss over modesty because there wasn’t that much skin actually showing. It was an illusion. Sort of. The signature Dolly “girls” were out and proud. But who cares? It’s Dolly.

 

So why did it feel a little off? I think because there was a perceived frailty as Dolly seemed stuck in front of the star and whether it was stagecraft or a balance issue, seemed to rely on the edge to walk around. It seemed off because whether it was a joke or she really was uncomfortable, Dolly seemed to acknowledge the strange juxtaposition of her age and attire when she sang the Queen line, “…bad mistakes, I’ve made a few,” and motioned to her hotpants.

 

But the vocals were great! Never sounded better! Entirely lip-synced but great!

 

The perfomance was great! Though if you take away the tracks, the bodysuit…in fact, any fake thing…the wig, the nails… what is left?

 

A woman we love, an icon.

 

And that’s ok, that’s plenty. But say that. We didn’t love Dolly’s halftime performance because it was really that good. We loved it because we love Dolly. We love who she is and what she has done, her story, her legacy, her music. And because of all of those things we give grace. Because of all of those things we want to see her shine, be comfortable, confident, and regarded highly.

 

Because of all those things I wouldn’t want Dolly standing in drizzle on a football sideline doing herkies for four quarters, I would want her in a luxury box being treated and tended like a queen.

 

If anyone else that wasn’t Dolly came out and gave the same “performance,” or if you had bought tickets to that show, we would be having a totally different conversation now.  And we all know it. Or we should if we are being honest. But we don’t know it or we won’t say it.

 

Pretense or sentiment can be a dangerous things. Especially when substituted for other things in leaders.

 

Y’all. Joe Biden is no Dolly Parton. But we have done the same gracious (or willful) overlooking of his job performance for far too long. And it is to the detriment of an entire nation. He is not who he once was and who he once was wasn’t all that great to start with. It’s a con job. But they continue to play along with the charade. Why is that? Man is self-serving to the core. So, what is the gain in this long-game?

 

“He is so powerful, so energetic…He is clearer than ever…Mission minded…The economy is so great…he is so respected by other leaders…”

Horse hockey. It’s enough to drive you crazy if you let it. It’s all bottle jobs, lycra, and a lotta work to fake it.

 

Friend, they aren’t saying he’s so great because they love and revere him the way we do Dolly. They don’t care about him. They are entirely fine for him to tumble out of bed and stumble to the kitchen…and then wander on camera muttering. No one is preserving Joe out of kindness. No one is honoring this elder. They are using and abusing him.

It’s actually quite sinister. They dislike the nation enough to pretend to love Puddin’ Pops, enough to pretend everything in the country, the world, nay the galaxy is just grand!

 

This should tell you something. The democratic party is entirely fine with useful idiots. They have the stomach for fakes, phonies, theatrics, and puppets. Because they place such importance on the goal. Whatever nefarious goals they have. All are means to an end. Our end. Cut the cameras, clear the fog, banish the “yes-men,” and what is left? Fools. And Joe Biden.

 

Age is excellent if accompanied by wisdom or grace. But absent those things? Yikes.

Youth that is humble and teachable? A gift to the ages. But absent those things? Yeesh.

You end up with pro-Hamas student rallies and Jewish teachers barricaded in high school bathrooms.

Where is the next generation of trusted leaders in our government? Are we so insecure in our abilities to lead we must exhaust others to their graves? Are we so needy we will not acknowledge when the emperor’s clothes are entirely made of spandex or when they have no clothes at all?

 

Grow up, y’all.