Title: Bad Bunny, Epstein Files, and more!
Show: DeProgram Show with Ted Rall and Jamarl Thomas
Date: 2026-02-11
URL: https://youtu.be/pfFvuCYmaXs
Duration: 10:00

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[00:00] Did we see Pink Lady Apples wants to know. Did you see or did you enjoy Bad Bunny on Sunday? Bad Bunny, I watched it after the fact. Oh, I watched it. And you know, John, we haven't had this we haven't talked about this. I understand some of the right-wing pushback, not all of it because look, he is American. I mean, Puerto Rico is American. But I will say my only my critique really was there should have been subtitles. Absolutely true. I don't speak a lick of

[00:32] Spanish. I I will say and don't mock me, but until 2 weeks ago, I never heard of Bad Bunny. Never heard of the man. Mhm. Um tell you the truth, when I first heard of him, I thought he I just assumed he was a black rapper. Yeah, me too. I didn't know anything about it. So anyway, I watched it live cuz I thought, well, people are going to be talking about it cuz it's already controversial, so I should watch it just so I know what the heck I'm talking about. Didn't understand a single word. I did enjoy the creativity. I did. Mhm.

[01:04] And then the next day when the Washington Post, the New York Times translated the lyrics, Mhm. I was like, "Oh, I get it." Yeah. So now I can say, "Yes, I enjoyed it." Now that I understand it. >> You when you And the thing is I I've had this argument with several people about the you know, the subtitles. And I'm like, "Look, when you go to the opera, which is usually in Italian, they give you a translation." That's right, they

[01:35] do. And and I mean, because you miss out a lot. Yes. So, you know, I mean, to me it's exactly the same thing. Um to me, Puerto Rico is as American as apple pie. That's not the issue. Um it's like you know, like if there was a zydeco you know, performance, that doesn't exist in France, right? That's only American. Um that should have a translation. Yeah. You know, just because it's I mean, you >> we're in America. Um, exactly. Folk style scrub, maybe I'm I'm unschooled,

[02:05] but it seemed disrespectful to have a Puerto Rican independence flag at an American event. And for people who are unaware of what that reference is to, uh, Bad Bunny was carrying a Puerto Rican flag around. If you look carefully, the the blue field is lighter than the, uh, than the normal Puerto Rican flag that doesn't dark blue. And that's the, uh, independence. Now, I will say I do I did feel like I that that was a contra- a contradiction, right? It's an internal conflict between the message that like,

[02:38] you know, uh, Spanish and Puerto Rican and Latino culture are part of the United States, all to be celebrated, and at the same time we want to be independent. Those two things politically don't go together, John. No, you're you're you're right. Yeah, I think you and I've talked about this the the last time I went to Puerto Rico, um, I was talking with a, um, with a guy, he's kind of mid-level Puerto Rican government official. And I asked him to explain to me what people's

[03:09] positions were on, um, on independence. And he said, "Oh, we are very evenly divided." He said, "Fully a third of Puerto Ricans want independence. A third of Puerto Ricans want statehood. Uh, to be to be a member of the United States as a state. And a third of Puerto Ricans want to just leave things exactly the way they are right now." And he said, "And because of that, nothing's ever going to change." Yeah, that's my understanding as well

[03:39] when I went to Puerto Rico. Um, I mean, yeah, uh, personally, if I were Puerto Rican, I think I'd want independence, but, you know, >> I I would agree. Uh, I mean, I never understood why the Scots voted not to be independent from from the Brits. >> I was shocked by that outcome. I was stunned. I really believed that was going to be it. It was going to be I thought it wasn't even going to be close. Uh agreed. Yes. >> not like the Scots couldn't handle themselves economically. They have a

[04:09] viable economy. They could Yeah. I don't know. Yes. Uh John, what are your thoughts about Ghislaine Maxwell potentially getting a pardon from Trump based on her silence and testimony to try to absolve him? Well, she didn't testify. She went She She She took the fifth on everything. Why do you think she I mean, my take on that is I thought I assumed she didn't take the fifth because basically they didn't offer her anything and therefore why should she say anything? At the very least they would normally have offered limited immunity. At the most they would have

[04:40] let her just speak her peace and and she couldn't be prosecuted for anything. That's how Oliver North ended up never going to prison. Because he was offered immunity, he testified, the Justice Department then tried to charge him, and the Supreme Court said, "You can't charge him because Congress gave him immunity, so nothing he said can be used against him." He ended up not seeing a day in jail. Um with Ghislaine Maxwell, I think they just didn't offer her anything. They just subpoenaed her at the prison said, "Come and testify." And she said, "Not a chance."

[05:10] Right. I don't know what what they thought would happen. >> And the more the more important point is this notion of a pardon or a commutation. Um like deep down I can't imagine any president commuting the sentence of or pardoning a convicted child trafficker. Especially at that scale. But I'm I'm genuinely worried. Uh Katie Catastrophe is asking, "Elon said he would pay the legal fees of any Epstein survivor if they get sued for speaking out." Although Elon's promises

[05:41] online prove not to always to be uh you know, bankable. Think he's just trying to get ahead of it showing he's a changed man. I think it's just Elon trolling. Yeah. Um Question from Jessica Davidson. Lately the media is starting to promote promote the idea that Epstein was working for Israel all along. Who was it who suggested that several months back, John? >> Exactly right. True. Exactly right. I'm very proud to say and Alan Dershowitz and I went to the mat over this

[06:11] on the Piers Morgan show. I'm proud to say I stood up to him. Um but uh yeah, I maintain from the very beginning this had all the hallmarks of a of a uh an Israeli access agent operation. I stand by that and I believe I've been proven correct. It it it appears so. Okay, uh question for John from Desert Fox. What's your opinion on recent settler agitation about Al-Aqsa in coordination with the looming Iran war? Many extremists see this as a biblical

[06:42] end-time battle of Gog and Magog. That is exactly right. I am I am actually frightened by all of this. You know, the religious Jews believe that that they need to reclaim uh the the mount, right? And build the third temple. The first temple, of course, was BC. The second temple was destroyed, I don't know, 30 years or so after the crucifixion.

[07:13] And this is where the third temple will come. As soon as the third temple is built, the Messiah is going to come down and take everybody to heaven. It's it's apocalyptic. It's exceedingly dangerous. And honest to God, if something happens to the Al-Aqsa mosque, it's going to be the start of World War III. Uh well, that's good. >> It is. It's going to be the start of World War III. Um Alex, John, did uh did you vaccinate before going overseas deployments? From what I heard, the

[07:44] rules are very strict. Yeah, all of us Oh my god, you know when I first joined the CIA all the way up until like 2000. So, for that whole decade for yellow fever, you had to get a gamma globulin shot. And it was like injecting maple syrup in your butt, and it would make this knot the size of a tennis ball. So, they would give you dispensation to walk around the compound for an hour and stretch out your glutes so you didn't get that giant ball. It

[08:16] was like an hour of administrative time to work out that ball of gamma globulin that's pooling in your butt. But, yeah, we got Uh, and another thing too is you'd get all these shots the same day, and the next day you're sick as a dog. And so, we would get that day off without it counting against your sick leave. Um, but yeah, and I only went to not only, but I almost exclusively went to um, the countries as Donald Trump called them. And so, uh, so I was

[08:48] getting shots right right, left, and center every time I'd go. God, that sounds horrible. I only >> add Let me add one thing if I could. >> [clears throat] >> I caught typhoid fever in Bangkok in 2002. And it's the sickest I've ever been in my life. And when it was finally diagnosed as typhoid fever, I said, "But I said it can't be typhoid fever because I got the I got the shots. I got the typhoid shots." >> Yeah.

[09:18] And the doctor said, "The typhoid shots don't prevent you from getting typhoid fever. The typhoid shots make the typhoid fever slightly less virulent when you catch it." Gotcha. That It was like the worst case of the flu I've ever had in my my I had to go to the hospital twice. Wow. It was bad. I have not I I only have I I remember when you that you you I had a flashback to those big needles. Um I had the first time I went to Central Asia, I had to get hepatitis shot your ass like sort of

[09:50] like in It was It felt like the needle was still in there like a month afterwards. Yes. And the needle's huge and it's thick. Yeah, it's bad. It's bad. >> [music]
