Taylor Swift cares more about black people than Kanye West and now I need to lay down because I got a headache just from tweeting that.
— Ragnarok Lobster (@eclecticbrotha) October 8, 2018
I was told Swift’s real profit base is pre-teen and young-teen girls (and their parents), and it’s my impression that those girls are a lot more LGBGTQ-friendly than their Tennessee elders… Per the Tennessean:
… The 28-year-old superstar took to Instagram on Sunday night to weigh in on Tennessee’s closely contested U.S. Senate race, endorsing Democratic former Gov. Phil Bredesen as she offered a harsh rebuke of U.S. Rep. Marsha Blackburn, the Republican nominee.
Her endorsement of Bredesen marks the first time Swift has spoken publicly about politics.
“As much as I have in the past and would like to continue voting for women in office, I cannot support Marsha Blackburn,” Swift wrote, elaborating that “her voting record in Congress appalls and terrifies me.”
Swift specifically noted Blackburn’s vote against reauthorizing the Violence Against Women Act, versions of which Blackburn has opposed in recent years. She also condemned Blackburn’s stance against marriage equality
“These are not MY Tennessee values,” Swift wrote…
In her Instagram post, Swift said she has been “reluctant to publicly voice my political opinions, but due to several events in my life and in the world in the past two years, I feel very differently about that now.”
“I always have and always will cast my vote based on which candidate will protect and fight for the human rights I believe we all deserve in this country,” she wrote. “I believe in the fight for LGBTQ rights, and that any form of discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender is WRONG. I believe that the systemic racism we still see in this country towards people of color is terrifying, sickening and prevalent.”…
And if she’s just broken a few Nazi hearts, well…
“4chan Nazis devastated by Taylor Swift’s TN Senate endorsement” is the energy I needed to carry me into Monday.
— Matt Ford (@fordm) October 8, 2018
It’s worth saying the meme “Taylor Swift is a secret Nazi who worships Odin and voted for Trump” was always clickbait to push articles for years with no basis in reality requiring no work and triggering little public reticence, all capitalizing on hesitancy to push back at all. pic.twitter.com/c4SzFoQj9b
— SwiftOnSecurity (@SwiftOnSecurity) October 8, 2018
I think it says she votes in Tennessee. https://t.co/JcJwzeBisu
— Daniel W. Drezner (@dandrezner) October 8, 2018
Lapassionara
I hope this helps Bredesen. I’ll sit back now and wait for the vituperative comments headed in my direction.
David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch
Tippecanoe and Taylor Swift too
raven
Asshole is going to hold a “ceremonial” swearing in in TV tonite.
David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch
OzarkHillbilly
Her and Trae Crowder.
As for her not talking politics because it might influence people and she didn’t think she knew enough to engage in that…. Obvious horseshit, spoonfed to her by handlers who were scared to death that alienating some people might impact the bottom line and their share of the cut. At the time she was no doubt still too young and unsure of herself to pushback very hard. This latest turn is her gaining confidence in her own belief system and realizing that even if she loses 20% she will still be the highest paid pop/country artist in the country.
raven
@OzarkHillbilly: Hey, the guy that runs this fucking blog was a rwnj, give her some slack.
satby
@OzarkHillbilly: Yeah, I think she’s just getting older and coming into her own in some ways. I got to listen to a lot of Taylor Swift while my exchange daughters were with me, and she’s a pretty sharp cookie judging by some of the lyrics she writes.
raven
@satby: I went to a neuroscience prof’s presentation Friday and she noted that a 25 year old brain is closer to that of a middle schooler than an adult. Takes time.
raven
Two Americans awarded the Nobel Prize in economics for their work on climate change and innovation
William Nordhaus was awarded the prize for integrating climate change into long-run macroeconomic analysis. Paul Romer shared in the honor for integrating technological innovation into long-run macroeconomic analysis.
OzarkHillbilly
@raven: I’m applauding her. She is growing up and becoming surer of who she is as a person, believing in herself, that she has a right to her beliefs and a right to promulgate them.
We all went thru this process to varying degrees and varying results. Some people never do gain the confidence and remain in the shadow of their “betters”.
Kay
@raven:
He has to swear fealty to Donald Trump publicly. Trump does it to all of his high profile, low quality sycophants. It’s to remind that they wouldn’t be there without Donald Trump:
Kiss up and kick down- that’s the Brett we’ve all come to know. Trump owns him now. If he doesn’t follow orders they’ll threaten to release all the dirt they have on him.
OzarkHillbilly
Jeebus:
satby
@raven: oh, I ‘m a parent, so I knew that already. Science is just catching up //?
satby
New morning thread is too upbeat for this, so I’m sharing it here in case anyone missed it: https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1049048025073512448.html
low-tech cyclist
@satby:
This. We each mature at different rates, but in my own life, the difference between 22 (her age for that 2012 interview) and 28 was enormous. I’m gonna give her props for speaking out at the right time, now that she feels she’s capable of it.
Kay
Here’s the kind of rigorous, scholarly completely “independent” analysis we can expect:
We all witnessed it first hand. There was this:
And then this:
A hundred million or so witnesses and a transcript and Brett goes with the lie anyway. Susan Collins would say clearly someone tried to intimidate two federal judges, but it wasn’t Donald Trump. She doesn’t know who wrote those tweets.
Kay
We actually have a lot of research on heavy drinking in adolescents. Synopsis- It’s bad:
I’m a little surprised conservatives are pro-binge drinking in high school and college. The scientific consensus for the last 30 years has been we really don’t want to promote that. It’s really bad for kids. Brett seems to have escaped any legal/societal consequences but that has much more to do with his privileged upbringing and social status than anything else. Most kids won’t be protected like that. The vast majority will pay for it in some way. Any trial judge can tell you that.
I’m certainly not telling my son binge drinking is okay. I probably wouldn’t be able to protect him from the consequences.
low-tech cyclist
Also, she became a star back in 2006; her 10-14 year old fans from 2006 are now in their 20s, and the cohort of 10-14 girls from 2010 can all vote now.
Kay
I thought this was great:
The vast majority of young women couldn’t have sued him- they wouldn’t have the resources- and they sure as hell wouldn;t have gotten blanket media coverage. I wonder if it had an effect on her legions of young fans- that they don’t have to put up with it.
Kay
She also gave us this classic testimony:
Dorothy A. Winsor
I admire Taylor Swift’s business and artistic acumen. She’s not going to let someone else run her life, thank you very much.
debbie
@raven:
Pre-frontal cortex. I’ve read that just as the pre-frontal cortex is becoming fully developed, the rest of the brain begins its descent into decrepitude. The irony of our own nature.
Dorothy A. Winsor
@satby: Holy cow, what a disturbing thread. He’s right, and it’s disturbing.
Ladyraxterinok
Thanks to all for info about Taylor Swift and David Neiwert.
I first heard of Neiwert and TBogg in the late 90s when I read their comments at tabletalk at Salon.
Starfish
@satby: Thanks, satby. This thread and the one on libertarians were both great.
chopper
@satby:
it is depressing but it’s pretty clearly an end result of the last 3 decades of republican party thought. it’s just now they have a guy who actually says all the shit they’ve been thinking out loud. trump represents the republican id that has been there all along.
burnspbesq
Good on Taylor, but I’m still listening to Ashley Monroe.
Enhanced Voting Techniques
@Kay:
That’s the key words “science shows”. These guys are flat eathers in their mentality. Science denial is a litmus test for a TRUE Conservative.
terry chay
@OzarkHillbilly: I believe this and other comments that she has “matured” are unlikely to be completely true. That’s like saying that Obama and Hillary (or their handlers) were personally against gay marriage in 2008 until they had a change of heart or that Nike “matured” when they threw their weight behind Kapernick his year.
There is a lot of evidence hinting on their views before them. In the case of politicians it wasn’t politically possible for those to be expressed until later (on a national stage, whereas others on a more local stage could, remember 2008 was the same year that prop 8 passed in my state, California). In the case of commercial entities and artists, things have changed now so that, especially with millennials and the next generation, NOT expressing a socio-political view is seen as inauthentic and their bottom line hurts.
There are tweets now happening regularly, comments or jokes said today (like on SNL Weekend Update about Kanye or the republican senators) that couldn’t have been said 5 years ago, let alone 12, which is when Taylor Swifts career started. A regular theme on a typical show mentioned in passing would have gotten calls to boycott and a retraction before “million moms” gave up the ghost as fake and their supporters stopped watching the “lamestream media” in favor of alex jones and the alt right youtube.
Trump may have broken down social norms, but he has also created a new one: stand for something, only your supporters are watching. Taylor Swift is very savvy and can read the winds just as well as Nike.
As for others like Trump, Kanye, Kardashian, and the Republicans? They sowed that wind, now they reap the whirlwind.
Neldob
I’m pretty sure she did that fabulous cover of Jolene, and also a great jazz concert on Saturday brought me to out of the cesspool BK threw me into. More music.
J R in WV
Lucinda Williams for me. And Susan Tedeschi, that woman can sing! Wouldn’t recognize Taylor Swift if she sat at the table beside me at the steak sub place.
Mandarama
@Neldob: I think it was Miley Cyrus who covered “Jolene.” I remember being happily surprised by her depth on it.
Good for Swift. I’m really optimistic about Bredesen’s chances here—he was a popular moderate governor, and before that, our mayor here in Nashville. I know he said the dumb stuff about how he’d vote for Kavanaugh, etc. But here, it just might peel him some votes. He certainly took the winds out of the opposition’s sails by saying it. Blackburn is going to suffer at the hands of her own deplorables for being a woman, which serves her patriarchal ass right—a lot of TN Trumpers would rather vote for a rich old white guy, and they remember the good economy with Phil.
Anyway, I’ve lived in her district, and I feel like whatever Bredesen has to do to crush Marsha, he should do. She’s awful.
Citizen Alan
@raven:
I don’t understand that comment as written given the fact that 25 is generally considered to be adult. At what age does the neuro scientist you quoted think someone is an adult? Not knocking you, merely curious.
low-tech cyclist
@satby: That was disturbing as all get out, but it’s essential that we know this shit is happening. So thanks for the link.
Ohio Mom
@Kay: There is also some evidence that youthful binge-drinking makes women more susceptible to breast cancer in middle and late-middle age.
Not that too many 19 year olds are going to worry about their 59 year old selves.
Dan B
@satby: Such a silly article. Boys will be boys! That’s all.
/s in case you couldn’t tell.
The Pinochet t sweatshirts are chilling. I believe the helicopters were especially for university students. Young people pushed out over the ocean.
Yutsano
@Mandarama: Fun fact: Dolly Parton is Miley’s godmother. And yes her cover of “Jolene” is pretty damn good. I mean she’s way overproduced like almost all the pop artists are now but she actually does have a decent alto voice.