Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Do not shrug your shoulders and accept the normalization of untruths.

Optimism opens the door to great things.

Impressively dumb. Congratulations.

Something needs to be done about our bogus SCOTUS.

Perhaps you mistook them for somebody who gives a damn.

Wow, you are pre-disappointed. How surprising.

They were going to turn on one another at some point. It was inevitable.

If America since Jan 2025 hasn’t broken your heart, you haven’t loved her enough.

Republicans: slavery is when you own me. freedom is when I own you.

Jack Smith: “Why did you start campaigning in the middle of my investigation?!”

At some point, the ability to learn is a factor of character, not IQ.

Let there be snark.

When you’re in more danger from the IDF than from Russian shelling, that’s really bad.

Marge, god is saying you’re stupid.

It’s easy to sit in safety and prescribe what other people should be doing.

T R E 4 5 O N

“The defense has a certain level of trust in defendant that the government does not.”

One lie, alone, tears the fabric of reality.

They don’t have outfits that big. nor codpieces that small.

Let’s not be the monsters we hate.

Do we throw up our hands or do we roll up our sleeves? (hint, door #2)

I like political parties that aren’t owned by foreign adversaries.

When your entire life is steeped in white supremacy, equality feels like discrimination.

I’m starting to think Jesus may have made a mistake saving people with no questions asked.

You are here: Home / Music / Tuesday Evening Open Thread: The Not-So-Swifties

Tuesday Evening Open Thread: The Not-So-Swifties

by | 257 Comments

This post is in: , , ,

Tuesday Evening Open Thread: The Not-So-Swifties

(Clay Jones via GoComics.com)

The word has gone out, and every good little Trump-humper hastens to obey. Per Rolling Stone, “Trump Allies Pledge ‘Holy War’ Against Taylor Swift”:

Singer-songwriter Taylor Swift hasn’t even endorsed President Joe Biden for reelection yet. That hasn’t stopped members of MAGAland’s upper crust from plotting to declare — as one source close to Donald Trump calls it — a “holy war” on the pop mega-star, especially if she ends up publicly backing the Democrats in the 2024 election.

According to three people familiar with the matter, Trump loyalists working on or close to the former president’s campaign, longtime Trump allies in right-wing media, and an array of outside advisers to the ex-president have long taken it as a given that Swift will eventually endorse Biden (as she did in 2020). Indeed, several of these Republicans and conservative media figures have discussed the matter with Trump over the past few months, the sources say…

Last month, the source close to Trump adds, the ex-president commented to some confidants that it “obviously” made no sense that he was not named Time magazine’s 2023 Person of the Year — an honor that went to none other than Swift in December…

Meanwhile, as Trump has been having a popularity contest with Swift in his own head, others close to him —including GOP operatives, some of his 2024 staff, and Trumpy media figures — have been brainstorming different ways to go after Swift. Since late last year, these Trump allies have repeatedly discussed how to turn the culture-warrior dial up to 11, if she re-endorses Biden this year, the sources recount.

“It would be more fuel thrown on to the culture-war fires,” says an official working on the Trump reelection efforts. “Another left-wing celebrity who is part of the Democrat elite telling you what to think.”

Publicly, members of Trump’s inner sanctum and social circle are already signaling Swift’s prominent position atop their enemies list — a situation that has reached fever pitch now that Swift’s boyfriend will once again be playing in the Super Bowl.

On Monday, Trump’s lawyer Alina Habba shared a post on social media that includes the caption: “Who thinks this country needs a lot more women like Alina Habba, and a lot less like Taylor Swift?” (Habba has represented Trump in the E. Jean Carroll defamation case, where he was ordered to pay $83 million.) …

Reader Interactions

257Comments

  2. 2.

    Elizabelle

    That Sgt Joker tweet is chilling.

    Team Taylor, all the way.  Smiling at thinking of all the 17 year olds registering to vote this year.  (If you will be 18 on election day, you can vote in your state primaries.)

  3. 3.

    gratuitous

    It’s gotta drive Needy Amin crazy seeing Time’s person of the year (an accolade he desperately wants for himself) dunking on him.

  4. 4.

    moonbat

    Keep it up, rightwing nutjobs. Pretty soon the GOP operatives and the incels tweeting from their parents’ basements will be indistinguishable to the vast majority of the American people and it will be time for a newer, saner party.

  5. 5.

    Soprano2

    Man, TFG is crazy to want to run into that buzz saw. He is definitely not more popular than Taylor.  😂😂🤣🤣😂😂

  8. 8.

    geg6

    This is so idiotic.  But hilarious.  The tweet about telling some time traveler from 2000 that the liberals now own sports, beer, etc. perfectly highlights the absurdity of it all.  That said, I’m cheering for KC and certainly hope Taylor decides to give that endorsement at halftime just to fuck with them.

  9. 9.

    David 🏈 Mahomes! 🏈 Koch

    I was driving Sunday nite and I had on sports talk radio and the clown was bitching and moaning over Taylor saying its so hard for men because women get special treatment. The example he kept repeating was Eminem was only shown once during the Detroit game, while Taylor was repeatedly on camera during the Kansas City game.

    Incels are such losers.

    The obvious difference is Taylor is dating one of the game’s Hall of Fame players who was having a monster performance. If Eminem was dating one of sports’ biggest stars (Serena Williams, Alex Morgan, Caitlin Clark) he would be getting beaucoup airtime.

  10. 10.

    Jackie

    Have MSNBC on as background, and boy oh boy the top news on the RWNJ networks is Taylor, Taylor, Taylor and Travis. It’s green M&Ms, Potato Heads, and gas stoves on steroids! The MSNBC programs are having as much fun laughing at Faux, Newsmax, et al as we are!😁

  12. 12.

    Elizabelle

    And now, we are told, Swifties are watching football with their dads.

    The horror.

    PS:  Taylor looks fab in those sparkly boots.  They are custom made Laboutins Christian Louboutins; she’s got a few pairs.  Thinking they must be engineered well for her to be able to be dancing in them.

  13. 13.

    geg6

    @David 🏈 Mahomes! 🏈 Koch:

    They’re so pissed that their fantasy Aryan goddess turns out to be woke.  What do you want to bet that they’d turn on Eminem if he ever gave a hint of having any liberal political proclivities.  My own guess is he is not a MAGA ninny based on his background.

  17. 17.

    Jackie

    The RW can’t even bitch about the correct Kelse brother! The shirtless dude in the photo up top is Jason – NOT Travis. Travis is wearing a Chiefs uni playing the game his brother and girlfriend are cheering on! 🤦🏼‍♀️

  18. 18.

    JPL

    @Baud: and I wanted the Chiefs to win the
    Super Bowl and invite Taylor to go with them to the White House., but you have to top that.

  20. 20.

    MattF

    Well, Taylor is popular with vagina-havers, and the haters are ignorant about that type. And also there’s a whole set of mysteries about ‘feelings’.

  25. 25.

    Tony Jay

    That last picture is everything that pleases me.

    Lords of Al’Saud – “No one make eye contact with the increasingly elderly T-shirt goblin or the metrosexual prostitute. If you have your phone pretend to live-stream this half-time performance of their national anthem by a woman in oversized leisure wear, if not just gaze with fake interest at video montages of violent sports injuries of the season. Except for you, Hassan, you are designated ‘funny drunk’ this evening.”

    Jared –  “Allah, I pray thee, make me a friend to those guys’ billions.”

    Musk – “If Uber send another fucking Tesla to pick me up I swear I will lose my shit.”

    Just happy, happy people.

  28. 28.

    scav

    A benevolent scriptwriter (one with memory) might even be so OTT as to give us a Swifty-The Chicks anthem. . .

  29. 29.

    kindness

    Oddly the rightwingers who now can’t bare to support Missouri’s Kansas City Chiefs are going to be cheering the San Francisco 49ers?  Do I have that right or do they really want both teams to lose?  I’m confused.

    Except for Go Niners!!!

  32. 32.

    Scout211

    @Old School: Why are “nuts” labeled in the cartoon?

    I think the cartoonist needed us to be clear that they were nuts and not little brown blobs of . . .other things.

  34. 34.

    Formerly disgruntled in Oregon

    It’s pretty funny that so many wingers are like… whatabout [random music performer]?

    They don’t get it. Taylor Swift is one of the biggest music industry phenoms of all time. More akin to The Beatles or Michael Jackson than to anyone currently performing.

    Not anywhere in the same league as [random musician].

    Also, this football boyfriend of hers? He’s also not in the same league as Taylor.

    She’s at the pinnacle of professional musical achievement. No one else compares.

  39. 39.

    PST

    Some guy named Matt Glassman tweeted a comment that sums the situation up for me:

    I’d be very surprised if Taylor Swift resentment is good electoral politics, but I strongly suspect it is *very* good conservative media politics aimed at the right wing grievance base.

    And, in a nutshell, that misalignment is one of the Gordian knots in GOP politics right now.

    That isn’t just about Taylor Swift, and Glassman has more to say on the general subject. The underlying problem for our enemies is that the objectives of the right-wing media, its safe office holders, and its hope for actual control of the federal government are not in alignment. That’s a big reason we will win.

  40. 40.

    Dan B

    A 20 year old White Lives Matter from Ohio was sentenced to eighttn years in Federal prison for attempting to burn down a small church that was hosting two drag shows.  There’s no parole in Federal prison until 85% of the sentence has been served.

  44. 44.

    David 🏈 Mahomes! 🏈 Koch

     You might not like it, but this is the coalition that will elect Biden in November.
    [blue collar sports fans + sports girlz

    Why wouldn’t I like it. I come from a blue collar family and my SO watches Sportscenter more than I do.

  45. 45.

    Chetan Murthy

    @Dan B: My first instantaneous reaction is “85% of 18yr at age 20?  Whoa, rough.”  But then I think for a few secs about “tried to burn down churches hosting drag shows” and I think: “Good.  More of this, please.”

  46. 46.

    Geminid

    @Formerly disgruntled in Oregon: Beyoncé may be in the same top-artist league as Swift. Beyoncé’s live perrformances are ssid to be very impressive, her albums too.

    But I don’t listen to either of these woman’s music, and comparisons tend to be invidious anyway.

  47. 47.

    Elizabelle

    Good point also, in the Dana Houle Terry Schiavo reference.

    The Supreme Court caught the car, with the Dobbs decision, which has been seismic (and not in the way that the wretched Samuel Alito thought it would play out).

  49. 49.

    Scout211

    @kindness:

    Oddly the rightwingers who now can’t bare to support Missouri’s Kansas City Chiefs are going to be cheering the San Francisco 49ers?  Do I have that right or do they really want both teams to lose?  I’m confused.

    Oh no, they will still cheer for the Chiefs because they deserve to be Chiefs fans and deserve to root for their team, as opposed to Taylor Swift, who does not. They aren’t dissing Travis Kelce, they are just trying to delegitimize Taylor Swift because she doesn’t deserve all the attention at the NFL games, for reasons.

    Except for Go Niners!!!

    Seconded!

  51. 51.

    Harrison Wesley

    TFG is undone that Taylor Swift took Person of the Year?  Somehow I have a hard time envisioning him rocking one of her on-stage outfits.  Now, Sassy-Boots DeSantis, on the other hand……..

  53. 53.

    dmsilev

    Last month, the source close to Trump adds, the ex-president commented to some confidants that it “obviously” made no sense that he was not named Time magazine’s 2023 Person of the Year — an honor that went to none other than Swift in December…

    Meanwhile, as Trump has been having a popularity contest with Swift in his own head, others close to him —including GOP operatives, some of his 2024 staff, and Trumpy media figures — have been brainstorming different ways to go after Swift.

    I should be used to it by now, but I continue to be absolutely amazed at how mind-blowingly insecure Donald Trump is. He was, God help us all, President of the United States. He, may God help us all, be so again. Even if he’s eyeballs deep in debt, he at least presents to the world as a billionaire. He’s got this huge cult following that attend his rallies like some Lovecraftian version of the Grateful Dead. And yet, he can’t stand it when someone, anyone, else gets attention.

  57. 57.

    Dan B

    @Chetan Murthy: It was 18 years for pleading guilty.  But he also declared he had no remorse as he was doing God’s work and he wished the church had burned to the ground.  He’s a skinny little guy so might have a rough time in prison.

  59. 59.

    Annie

    Trump thinking he’s more popular than Taylor Swift is impressive evidence that he’s totally nuts.

  61. 61.

    laura

    “Who thinks this country needs a lot more women like Alina Habba, and a lot less like Taylor Swift?”

    Man, I’m an old gal, so think I can say with a modicum of confidence that the war over the high school girl’s bathroom is unlikely to be won by the gal at the back of the line of those willing to juggle the sad sagging ball sack for time on the shows. Just my uninformed opinion.

  62. 62.

    Harrison Wesley

    I think I’ve watched about 15 minutes of any kind of sports since I move to Florida.  I’m definitely watching the Super Bowl, even if I have to fall off the wagon and catch it in a bar.

  65. 65.

    scav

    @kindness: Actually, blessings be upon whatever is preventing rightwingers from “bare”ing to support Missouri’s Kansas City Chiefs.  Or, any team actually.  They’re not sending their finest (or worse, they are).

  68. 68.

    Jay

    @Dan B:

    He’s in Ohio, and a member of two White Supremacy Gangs, so, if he keeps his nose clean, stays away from “crimeing in prison”, he should do sort of okay, physical health wise.

  69. 69.

    David 🏈 Mahomes! 🏈 Koch

    @geg6: ​
      Eminem is hard core anti-GOP. They don’t know cuz it’s “not their music”

    Hardest hitting ad against Dubya was from EMINEM (video)

    Eminem is no fan of Donald Trump, and he let everyone know about it with a dynamite rap cypher that went out during Tuesday night’s BET Hip-Hop Awards. (link)

  81. 81.

    Formerly disgruntled in Oregon

    @WaterGirl: From the original quote:

    I strongly suspect it is *very* good conservative media politics aimed at the right wing grievance base.

    ”They” are the bad guys.

    Personally, I’m not sure if explicitly associating a very popular pop star (even in rural areas, I imagine) with Biden and the Democrats is the smart move they think it is…

  82. 82.

    WaterGirl

    @Formerly disgruntled in Oregon: So at #67, he is suggesting that this ridiculous anti-Taylor stuff is actually going to work and increase R margins in the rural areas?  That makes no sense to me

    edit:

    Personally, I’m not sure if explicitly associating a very popular pop star (even in rural areas, I imagine) with Biden and the Democrats is the smart move they think it is…

    Even in your comment, it’s not clear who they is referring to.  Because it sounds to me like you’re suggesting that it might actually help the Dems?

  83. 83.

    TBone

    Karma

    You’re talking shit for the hell of it
    Addicted to betrayal, but you’re relevant
    You’re terrified to look down
    ‘Cause if you dare, you’ll see the glare
    Of everyone you burned just to get there
    It’s coming back around

    And I keep my side of the street clean
    You wouldn’t know what I mean

    ‘Cause karma is my boyfriend
    Karma is a god
    Karma is the breeze in my hair on the weekend
    Karma’s a relaxing thought
    Aren’t you envious that for you it’s not?
    Sweet like honey, karma is a cat
    Purring in my lap ’cause it loves me

    Flexing like a goddamn acrobat
    Me and karma vibe like that

    Ask me what I learned from all those years
    Ask me what I earned from all those tears
    Ask me why so many fade, but I’m still here
    (I’m still, I’m still here)

    ‘Cause karma is the thunder
    Rattling your ground
    Karma’s on your scent like a bounty hunter
    Karma’s gonna track you down
    Step by step from town to town
    Sweet like justice, karma is a queen
    Karma takes all my friends to the summit
    Karma is the guy on the screen
    Coming straight home to me

    ‘Cause karma is my boyfriend (karma is my boyfriend)
    Karma is a god
    Karma is the breeze in my hair on the weekend (weekend)
    Karma’s a relaxing thought
    Aren’t you envious that for you it’s not?
    Sweet like honey, karma is a cat
    Purring in my lap ’cause it loves me
    Flexing like a goddamn acrobat
    Me and karma vibe like that

    Karma is my boyfriend
    Karma is a god

    Karma’s a relaxing thought

  87. 87.

    Redshift

    “Who thinks this country needs a lot more women like Alina Habba, and a lot less like Taylor Swift?”

    Habba once again proves that no, she cannot fake being smart.

  88. 88.

    Splitting Image

    @JoyceH:

    In that list of all the Americana the right ceded to the left, how did they forget Mickey Mouse?

    Well, Mickey is black, so I suppose the MAGAts were always a little suspicious of him.

    Woke Donald Duck will remove whatever hold on sanity their obsession with Taylor Swift has been leaving them.

  92. 92.

    Soprano2

    An hour later I’m still laughing at the idea of TFG “going to war” with Taylor Swift. So they understand how ludicrous they sound?

  94. 94.

    WaterGirl

    @Soprano2: Apparently the Rs have never heard the old adage “if you come at the queen, you best not miss” .

    They are ridiculous.  They are clueless.  They are idiots.

    Democracy may be saved, in spite of their evil intentions, in part because they are clueless idiots.

  101. 101.

    Another Scott

    @dmsilev:

    He’s got this huge cult following that attend his rallies like some Lovecraftian version of the Grateful Dead.

    I’m not so sure about that. He’s never been as popular as he wants everyone to believe (remember all the white plastic on the Mall at his 2017 inauguration). He has trouble selling out arenas, and there have been lots and lots of stories about people being excited before he starts speaking, then getting bored and wanting to leave after hearing him drone on a while.

    GoErie.com (from August 3):

    […]

    “Trump draws another massive crowd in Erie, Pa.,” the headline from the Gateway Pundit read.

    […]

    Erie Events Executive Director Gus Pine said the Trump campaign had control over event registration and entry security and therefore it was “difficult” for Erie Events, which manages the venue, “to verify an exact count.” Pine, however, agreed with two Erie Insurance Arena ushers who provided a rough estimate of the crowd size, putting it at 4,500.

    The Trump campaign did not immediately respond when asked if it had an attendance figure of its own.

    The capacity of the arena

    That 4,500 figure is about half of what the arena holds when its capacity is maximized. For concerts, where there can be reserved seating or general admission floor tickets, the venue can hold about 9,000 spectators.

    Erie, PA has a population of 94,000 and is roughly equidistant from Cleveland/Akron, Buffalo, and Pittsburg (maybe a 90 minute drive to any one of them).

    FWIW.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  104. 104.

    Quinerly

    @Chetan Murthy:

    I think that was the rally during Covid Times where the Godfather Pizza guy caught Covid and died. The people who were actually there were all piled on top of one another, yet there was space to spread out

    Edited to add: “In her 2023 book, Cassidy Hutchinson noted that, upon hearing of Cain’s passing, Mark Meadows remarked that “we killed Herman Cain” in reference to the 2020 Tulsa rally.”

  107. 107.

    Chetan Murthy

    @Quinerly: a-yup.  I remember reading that TFG’s handlers do that on purpose: to give the impression to viewers that the things are more crowded than they really are.  Same reason why he started booking smaller arenas: so that they’d appear fuller.

  110. 110.

    cain

    @Anoniminous:

    Picking a fight with Taylor Swift has got to be one of the stupidest things.

    Imagine all these churches attacking her or other stupid things. They’d probably destroy kids going to church.

  114. 114.

    smith

    @Quinerly: And Barbie. I guess Taylor Swift can be considered the embodiment of what Barbie supposedly promised little girls they could be?

  116. 116.

    Chetan Murthy

    Re: Habba, https://www.rawstory.com/alina-habba-backs-off-claim/
    Alina Habba backs down from claims that E. Jean Carroll judge had conflict of interest

    However, Habba followed up on Tuesday with another letter that struck a very different tone. “The purpose of the letter was simply to inquire as to whether there is any merit to a recently published New York Post story which reported on the alleged existence of such a relationship,” she said. “Since Ms. Kaplan has now denied that there was ever a mentor-mentee relationship between herself and Your Honor, this issue has seemingly been resolved.”

    Weak.

  117. 117.

    Quinerly

    @smith: I’m so old I remember when Rush Limbaugh, Jerry Falwell,  and Pat Buchanan were losing their shit over Telletubbies.

  118. 118.

    Sister Golden Bear

    Trump has been having a popularity contest with Swift in his own head, others close to him —including GOP operatives, some of his 2024 staff, and Trumpy media figures — have been brainstorming different ways to go after Swift.

    There are certain fanbases, Herr Drumpf, that I wouldn’t advise you to try to antagonize.

  120. 120.

    Elizabelle

    This is interesting, because remember when Joni Ernst, several electoral cycles ago, suggested her opponents “shake it off?”   (Ernst had a teenaged daughter at the time. I remember it because I was kind of irritated she was co-opting Taylor Swift.)

    Anyway:  in 2024:  Dissing Taylor Swift?  Not a good look, or a good strategy.

    And:  red voters may have Swifties in the family, whom they love.  Plus, think how Kansas and Wisconsin have turned out for abortion rights, and for defeating the right’s hold on Wisconsin’s supreme court, respectively.

    I am not gonna be quaking in my boots.  (Sparkly Louboutins, if I had them.)

  122. 122.

    M31

    talking about Eminem’s diss track about Trump reminded of something really funny I saw on Shitter, the original has been deleted but after Kanye said “I will never make a diss record” a woman named “allegedlymiri” responded “I didn’t know Kanye was Italian”

    hahahahaha

    also, fuck Trump, what a loser, and his MAGA incel douchebag followers, they’re like loser squared, losers following a loser

  125. 125.

    smith

    @Chetan Murthy: I am guessing neither Judge Kaplan nor Robbie Kaplan is going to consider it resolved. From what I’m seeing lawyers saying, that original letter was a HUGE breach of legal ethics.

    Habba had already skated to the brink of getting jailed for contempt during the trial. This followup likely will do nothing to cool the Judge down.

  126. 126.

    RaflW

    @Chetan Murthy: Ahh, yes, Tulsa.

    Daily Mail headline: ‘We killed Herman Cain’: Trump staffers blamed themselves for COVID death of ally, 74, at disastrous Tulsa rally where eight aides tested positive after partying maskless

    Good times.

    I don’t really mean to dance on that man’s grave. It’s actually tragic that Covid killed him and a metric f’ton of other people. But we shouldn’t memory hole it, either.

  128. 128.

    Quinerly

    @cain:

    That’s a great idea….1992/Clinton….Fleetwood Mac’s “Don’t Stop Thinking About Tomorrow.”

    So why not a Taylor song in 2024?

  133. 133.

    Chetan Murthy

    @RaflW:

    I don’t really mean to dance on that man’s grave.

    For two years, I lived in fear that I might kill my mother, or my relatives, or die myself, for having breathed in a gulp of air in the wrong place.  I took extreme precautions (not hugging my mother for 1.5yr even though she was literally a couple of miles away, standing literally 6ft away regularly and not hugging her) to save lives: ours and others’.  Seeing assholes like Cain and all the MAGAts spreading the KKKristian Flu like it was nuthin’ really burned me up, and I’m not sorry to say I did (metaphorically) dance on his grave.  Reading the Herman Cain Awards reddit was one of the few sources of levity during those long months.

    I’m glad those times are past, though the mask is not, and I continue to wear it daily in public transit and at the gym.

  139. 139.

    Scout211

    Taylor Swift is a money machine for the NFL and the sports networks.  They will not be dissing TSwift

    It’s impossible to deny the impact Swift continues to have on the league. Due to her in-person game day attendance alone, NFL viewership has skyrocketed — the playoff game between the Chiefs and the Buffalo Bills was the most-watched divisional playoff game in history according to CBS, raking in a whopping 50 million viewers. In total, this year’s NFL divisional playoff round averaged 40 million viewers, the highest since 1988, and Swift has brought in the highest regular-season viewership among women since tracking began in 2000.
    Now that the Chiefs are headed to the Super Bowl for the second-straight year in a row, sports experts are predicting the game will be the most watched live-event in human history.

    In addition, ticket sales and NFL merchandise —most notably Kelce jerseys—have increased exponentially. In September, when the Chiefs took on the Chicago Bears, StubHub representatives saw a nearly 3x increase in ticket sales in just 24 hours. In the same month, Kelce jersey sales increased 400% and the tight end had one of the NFL’s top-five selling jerseys. Tickets to this year’s Super Bowl are now the most expensive in NFL history, according to SeatGeek and CBS reporting: the cheapest available at $9,858.
    . . .
    Perhaps even more important is the new generation of Swift fans, many of them girls and young women, who are now turning their attention to football. Parents — especially so-called girl dads — have shared how Swift’s attendance has brought them closer to their young daughters. Prior to Swift’s relationship and NFL attendance, their tween or teen could not have cared less about third-down conversions and pass completions. Now, those same young women are fully invested in what is happening on the football field, one Kelce touchdown, Isiah Pacheco run, and adorable Andy Reid moment at a time. “I’m rooting for Taylor Swift’s boyfriend” is a common refrain.

    The right wingers and the right wing media are way out of step here. But what else is new.

  140. 140.

    NotMax

    @Quinerly

    Goes back at least as far as Fredric Wertham’s Seduction of the Innocent (1954).

    According to a 2012 study by Carol L. Tilley, Wertham “manipulated, overstated, compromised, and fabricated evidence” in support of the contentions expressed in Seduction of the Innocent.… Source

  141. 141.

    geg6

    @Betty Cracker:

    One of my favorite photos of her.  Love how she just looks like a regular person, baking cookies.  Except the little smile that says a lot.  Regular people generally cannot communicate that well with just a look, no matter how down home they look.

  142. 142.

    different-church-lady

    “Who thinks this country needs a lot more women like Alina Habba, and a lot less like Taylor Swift?”

    That would be absolutely no one, Alina.

  148. 148.

    smith

    @TBone: From what I’ve heard the likely consequence will be a referral to the bar for possible discipline and perhaps disbarment.

  149. 149.

    Quinerly

    @Scout211:

    CNN is telling me that she has a concert in Tokyo the day before the Super Bowl. There’s a guy working the math re flight times, time zones and that it will be hard but she can make it to Vegas in time.

    I’m getting a kick out of all this attention she is getting.

  150. 150.

    Barbara

    It just makes me depressed to realize how many men really hate women.  Nothing else explains how so many people could lose their shit because a pop star is dating a football player.

  152. 152.

    Quinerly

    @smith: oh, I definitely think there will be a Bar referral for her behavior in court and towards the judge. The judge can actually make it.

    As for her incompetence re the rules of evidence, civil procedure, and failure to preserve issues for appeal….Trump has a malpractice claim. Rooting for injuries.

  154. 154.

    Quinerly

    @Barbara: the crazy thing about this…and I just tuned in on this today….the new conspiracy theory is they aren’t really dating. It’s some sort of psyops thing or a publicity stunt. Supposedly they really don’t even know each other.

  155. 155.

    RaflW

    @Scout211: Fox News primetime averages 1.7M viewers. It’s kind of delicious to think that the whole GOP ecosystem seems to be digging in to diss a woman (and her BF) who manage to pull an extra 10M sets of eyeballs to a game, while Fox crows about their peak viewership being one half of 1% of Americans. Hah!

    They are so totally out of sync with ordinary people. I am very hopeful it bites them in the ass very very biggly this November.

  156. 156.

    cckids

    @TS:

    Above all they hate successful women, shows them up for who they are and what they are not.

    What makes them insane about Ms. Swift is that she’s their ideal-white, pretty, blonde, “country”; from Tennessee, very sweet demeanor. They all just assumed she was team R all the way.

    And she’s not. They HATE being so wrong.

  160. 160.

    Jackie

    @Quinerly: I switched over to CNN and Erick Erickson was on – as a confessed Swifty dad who has taken his daughter to four Taylor concerts and one Beyoncé concert. He was shaking his head over the over the top vitriol hate for MAGA hatred of Taylor Swift and by extension Travis Kelse. He said it was QAnon Pizza Gate worthy and basically said they were nuts.

    If I hadn’t seen it myself, I would never believe Erickson was a Swifty by default! 😳

  163. 163.

    Ken

    @RaflW: You have me thinking that next time Fox has a special one-on-one interview with Trump, Taylor Swift should book an interview on CNN — or anywhere, really. I bet she’d get ten times the viewers.

  164. 164.

    p.a.

    Re: conservatives: they forget that if you want to be in a bubble you still need a source of fresh air.  Oxygen deprivation as a political strategerity is not optimal.

  166. 166.

    RaflW

    @Jackie: Erick is still a rank piece of rotting GOP flotsam. It’s fine that he’s a Swiftie, but his views on nearly everything else are atrocious.

  169. 169.

    Jeffro

    I have been dipping in and out of news all day (gotta do some work, some time!) and…I can’t believe this is a real thing.

    I cannot imagine being crazy, paranoid, or Republican enough to get wound up about a pop star’s relationship with a football player, much less thinking it was some sort of a plot to take down my orange idol.

    But whatever.  Let their insanity about this be on full display for the next 9 months.  Nothing else seems to register with the public at large about their choices in November, so if it has to be the Swifties vs the tinfoil hat crowd, BRING IT!

  170. 170.

    Jackie

    @RaflW: Oh, I agree. I was just flummoxed to see him mocking his own Party regarding Swift! of all things!

    ETA: Can you imagine the GQP/MAGA cult being ripped in half because of Taylor Swift!?😂

  171. 171.

    geg6

    @cckids:

    Actually, she’s from PA and, sometimes, lives in TN, which is her current main residence for voting, etc.  she still spends time in PA and has residences in several other cities.  She spends a LOT of time in NYC.  My niece, at 22, is the world’s biggest Swiftie and has been since she was just 9.  She’s seen her four times through various Eras and knows these things.  She’s who got me into her music, especially her most recent works.

  173. 173.

    Brachiator

    NEW: Trump aides pledge a “holy war” on Taylor Swift as the former president privately grouses that he’s “more popular” than her.

    Trump is going to go after the women and young girls who like Taylor Swift? This will not end well for Trump.

     

    ETA. I imagine that some Trump supporters like Swift. Trump and the haters are just being incredibly foolish.

  174. 174.

    waspuppet

    A holy war against an unmarried woman who makes her own money (lots of it) and goes around in public with a guy she’s not married or related to.

    Remember how mad everyone got when Markos Moulitsas wrote American Taliban?

  175. 175.

    Scout211

    This is cool. Link

    Kristin Juszczyk, mastermind designer of Taylor Swift’s viral, custom-made puffer jacket, has reached a licensing deal with the NFL.

    The new deal will allow Juszczyk, who is married to 49ers fullback Kyle Juszczyk, to use official NFL logos on her future designs, according to Sportico. Financial terms of the deal have not been released.

    Juszczyk’s work first went viral when Swift wore a jacket inspired by boyfriend – and Chiefs tight end – Travis Kelce’s jersey to Kansas City’s first playoff game this year against the Dolphins. She has also designed custom jackets for Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes‘ wife, Brittany, and Olympics gymnast Simone Biles, who is married to Packers safety Jonathan Owens.

    The designer’s husband will square off against Swift’s boyfriend in Super Bowl 58 on Feb. 11.

    Again, Taylor Swift is a money making machine and spreading the wealth.

  176. 176.

    Geminid

    @Quinerly: That Tokyo concert should be spectacular. It will be like the overture to an epic journey.

    If some screenwriter pitched this script to a Hollywood studio, they would reject it as being too good to be true. But it’s happening in real life, and we’re all watching.

  179. 179.

    TBone

    @smith: I wonder if Robbie Kaplan will let it go at that.  If I were her, and some skank like Habbit wrote to the judge with baseless innuendo in the New York Post of all places, claiming it was evidence, I’d sue her right out of her tacky little mind.

  180. 180.

    Brachiator

    @RaflW:

    I don’t really mean to dance on that man’s grave.

    This reminds me. When I was a kid, we lived in a neighborhood with a cemetery across the street. Some of the area had woods and fun areas where you could run around and play. The official childhood rule was that you could play anywhere, but never step on a grave, or else a ghost might come and get you at night.

    Also, you could not play in the cemetery after dark. Or if there was a funeral taking place.

  182. 182.

    Jackie

    This sadly, is not surprising:

    Syphilis rates have continued to surge, reaching levels the nation hasn’t seen since 1950, according to new federal data released Tuesday.

    According to the report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), syphilis cases increased 17 percent in the past year and 80 percent in the past five years. With Congress set to cut the funding for workers who fight sexually transmitted infections, experts warn the record-setting epidemic isn’t likely to abate.

    https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/4438453-us-record-syphilis-cases/

    If you click on the link, take a moment to check the trending topics at the top of the article. I laughed!*

    *NOT to take away from the seriousness of the article, itself.

  183. 183.

    japa21

    @Quinerly: I see it now.  Ten minutes before kick-off.  No Swift in sight.  Reports her plane is just now getting close to Las Vegas.  Then everybody looks up and sees her parachuting into the stadium with a Biden-Harris banner.​
    ​
    ​
     

    ETA I know its an enclosed stadium, but Swift is a miracle worker.

  184. 184.

    TBone

    @waspuppet: she has been accused of witchcraft.  SMDH. These stupid, old fucks just can’t get enough Puritan bloodlust pumped into their veins.

  185. 185.

    Jeffro

    @Scout211: it’s VERY cool!  Kristin J’s husband, Kyle, has been extremely (and publicly) supportive of her success.

    Great couples lift each other up.  OR…they’re a “psyop”(!)

  187. 187.

    Jeffro

    @japa21:Ten minutes before kick-off.  No Swift in sight.  Reports her plane is just now getting close to Las Vegas.  Then everybody looks up and sees her parachuting into the stadium with a Biden-Harris banner.

    This is just about literally what the MAGA nuts think is going to happen.

    Which is funny, b/c the reality of it is so much more mundane and probably even more lethal to their cause: she’s. going. to. ask. her. fans. to register. to vote.  And then…they’ll vote.

  191. 191.

    Sister Golden Bear

    @Scout211:

    Again, Taylor Swift is a money making machine and spreading the wealth.

    Swift is the rare example of trickle down economics actually working — albeit much of it is through her personal generosity, such as the hefty bonuses she paid to her tour crew.

  193. 193.

    Barbara

    @Quinerly: Well, Taylor has had a lot of BFs. The joke is that she needs a good break up to write another song cycle. I think she’s moved beyond that but I really don’t think too deeply about it. It’s their life not mine!

  198. 198.

    SpaceUnit

    What do you call a circle jerk that’s just a bunch of incels holding their limp pee-pees and crying?

  200. 200.

    rekoob

    A tip of the tam o’shanter to Suzanne, who, among others, suggested viewing the 2020 Netflix documentary about Taylor Swift, Miss Americana. There was a section in it about the 2018 Tennessee Senate race, in which Swift presses strongly for supporting Bredesen, the Democrat, and her parents expressing some concern about alienating some of her fans. She did it anyway:

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miss_Americana#Politics

    She made her song “Only the Young” available to the 2020 Biden-Harris campaign free-of-cost.

  201. 201.

    Leto

    Don’t know if this was mentioned today: SCOTUS to Hear Anti-Abortion Case Brought by Right-Wing Legal Movement in March

    The Supreme Court today announced that it will hear FDA v. Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine in March, a case that will deliver a definitive decision on federal approval of the safe and effective abortion pill mifepristone. The case was brought by known hate group Alliance Defending Freedom, with backing from longtime anti-abortion activist Leonard Leo.

    Just one more thing that we can/should campaign on.

  205. 205.

    Odie Hugh Manatee

    So these leaders of the Charlatan Christian faith are declaring a jihad on Taytay? Really?! A bunch of male religious charlatans are declaring war on one woman in support of a serial liar who has cheated on his wives, lied about his income, raped and slandered a woman and… fuck, waaaayyyyy too many crimes, slanders, slurs and any other evil, selfish things to list. Really.

    My neighbor agreed with my description of the average Sunday Christian hate rally as the minister performing for the crowd and then passing the plate around to see how well he performed that day. My neighbor told me of a church he went to as a kid where the plate would be passed around a second time if the performance didn’t generate enough $$$. Like Republican politicians saying more outrageous things to rev up the basest of their base for votes and $$$ at election time, too many preachers have turned their pulpit into an outrage generator for the extra cash from outraged rubes in their midst.

    As usual, it’s all about the Benjamins and not really having to work for a living but rather to sponge off the stupidity of others.

  207. 207.

    Jackie

    @HumboldtBlue: Did he forget who his audience is? They were all nodding in agreement until Hannity said it was all a lie. In unison, they all said Huh??? in bewilderment.

  208. 208.

    jonas

    Hey, MAGAt’s — Swift is low-hanging fruit. What you *really* want to do is take down K-Pop! Really! Fuck BTS! That will pwn the libs!

    #pleasenotthebriarpatch

  210. 210.

    RaflW

    @Jackie: Hill: “GOP moderates send warning shot to Johnson over tax deal”

    Ohhh. So that’s like 5 Republicans? I don’t think Mike can hear their little cork popgun

    eta: It’s actually four Republicans. Oh, ouch!! (Then again, Johnson has a majority size that only Nancy Smash could whip. Mikey? Pffft.)

  211. 211.

    catclub

    CNN headline:

    $500 million Harvard megadonor halts donations, says elite schools produce ‘whiny snowflakes’

    So I figure he is an alum and would know.

  212. 212.

    jonas

    @Leto: This will be an interesting case. On one hand, it could end all medical abortions, which the 6-3 majority would fucking *love*. On the other hand, the implications are that approval of virtually all pharmaceuticals gets taken away from the FDA and tossed into the courts. Scientology, for example, could sue to ban all SSRI drugs because it violates their deeply-held religious principles or whatever. That would make the drug regulation system in the US, well, completely insane and impossible to regulate and Big Pharma has, well, “influence” as we say. Are Thomas’s luxury vacations at stake? Perhaps!

  213. 213.

    Suzanne

    Side note: had something really scary happen today. I went running at lunchtime with the puppy. Mr. Suzanne had bought this new leash on Amazon that supposedly doesn’t get tangled or twisted. It’s like a thick rope. Anyway, I was running alongside one of the main roads in our neighborhood, and the metal clasp part of the leash broke. Pupper suddenly realized she could run faster, and she turned and ran across the street. Fortunately, the driver of the oncoming car saw her and was able to stop. I was seeing the whole thing happen and just screaming at the top of my lungs. I caught her on the other side of the street and had to, like, loop the busted leash through her harness all strangely and take her straight back home.

    That POS is getting returned. A leash clasp is not complicated technology!

  214. 214.

    RaflW

    @catclub: Imagine what $500M would do for HBCUs. Not that very many people with the means to give that much even know what an HBCU is, but I just get infuriated at how the money (usually) just keeps rolling up hill.

    We need at least a 50% tax bracket. And all these people need to be in it, and have their skeevy deductions audited to hell and back.

  215. 215.

    jonas

    @geg6: Eminem is definitely *not* MAGA. Even back in the 00’s, he put out a pretty brutal video (“Mosh”) blasting W and the Iraq War. I don’t know if he’s openly endorsing Biden these days, but he’s no Kid Rock, for sure.

  216. 216.

    Jackie

    @Suzanne: Oh, Suzanne! I’m so happy pup and YOU are both safe!

    Did hubby read the reviews before ordering? I assume you’ll post your opinion/review!

  217. 217.

    jonas

    @RaflW: Imagine what $500M would do for HBCUs.

    I believe Mackenzie Scott (Bezos’s ex-wife) has given around $400 million to HBCUs to date.

  218. 218.

    RaflW

    @jonas: My wild guess, a 5-4 decision if they ban it. Roberts I suspect knows that women and their allies will burn the GOP to the ground (and maybe SCOTUS, too) if they go that far.

    Having him play ‘moderate’ won’t save the right from the blowback, but it’ll be his wan little attempt to try to keep some legitimacy (cough cough) for his precious Court.

  219. 219.

    Lyrebird

    @jonas: Mosh was excellent.  First Eminem piece I liked, and I was so glad he made it.  Bummed we lost anyhow, but thanks for getting the history set out here.

  222. 222.

    Another Scott

    @Suzanne: I had something similar happen with our Ellie with an old leash.  We were walking through the neighborhood after sunset, and she saw 3 deer in a yard up ahead and lunged forward.  The leash went slack, and she ran off after them.  Fortunately, she stopped when I called her, and I was able to get the other end of the leash tied to her collar.

    In our case, the pot-metal where the clasp attached to the leash broke.

    After that, I got a few stainless gizmos like these and these to serve as extra attachments in case something breaks.

    Good luck!

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  225. 225.

    RaflW

    @jonas: She’s a very unusual rich person. And that’s great. We need a few dozen more MacKenzies. At least.

    And even she could afford a higher tax bracket anyway.

  226. 226.

    Dan B

    @Delk: Yep.  The Seattle Police Guild has been run by Neo Nazi’s for years and the mayor is a former officer.  Dan Savage and Terry are going to raise hell.  Why, when there is an officer shortage, are they wasting time on one visible nipple (on a male bartender)  and a couple jock straps?  In addition the police had to cough up ten million dollars to pay to demonstrators who were brutalized.  Bad timing or revenge?

  228. 228.

    Boris Rasputin (the evil twin)

    @dmsilev:

    He’s got this huge cult following that attend his rallies like some Lovecraftian version of the Grateful Dead. And yet, he can’t stand it when someone, anyone, else gets attention.

    Too long for a rotating, tag but DAMN you hit it.

  229. 229.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    Meanwhile, as Trump has been having a popularity contest with Swift in his own head,

    So, in other words Trump propositioned Swift and she said no.  This is Donny Dumbass who thinks with his dick after all.

  231. 231.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    Back in the day Landover Baptist would go on about Doris Day as the thespian harbinger of the pink sweater Slut-apocalypse out to corrupt our nation’s daughters. This Taylor Swift nonsense is just that done straight.

  232. 232.

    wjca

    Trump aides pledge a “holy war” on Taylor Swift as the former president privately grouses that he’s “more popular” than her.

    Holy war???  Holy war?!?!?

    How lost to reality are these people?  (Never mind.  We all know.)

  233. 233.

    Anotherlurker

    @Suzanne:  I am so glad that everything worked out and your pup is safe. There is nothing worse than feeling totally out of control when your fur baby’s is in danger.

    Definitely let the seller and manufacturer know that their product nearly cost your fur baby’s life.

  234. 234.

    Sister Golden Bear

    @RaflW:

    Fox crows about their peak viewership being one half of 1% of Americans. Hah!

    Or about the same number of trans/non-binary Americans. Although when you factor in, trans kids under 18, there’s actually more Americans who are trans/non-binary.

  235. 235.

    Sister Golden Bear

    @Odie Hugh Manatee:

    My neighbor told me of a church he went to as a kid where the plate would be passed around a second time if the performance didn’t generate enough $$$. Like Republican politicians saying more outrageous things to rev up the basest of their base for votes and $$$ at election time, too many preachers have turned their pulpit into an outrage generator for the extra cash from outraged rubes in their midst.

    I’m told that in a number of Evangelical churches the preacher’s pay (in full) is paid by a percentage of the collection plate. So yeah, there’s incentives to rile up the cash machine congregations.

  237. 237.

    Jackie

    @Sister Golden Bear: “Way back when,” when I used to attend church – Lutheran in the ‘70s – if the collection plate came around a second time, we just passed it on by without a second thought lol

  239. 239.

    mrmoshpotato

    NEW: Trump aides pledge a “holy war” on Taylor Swift as the former president privately grouses that he’s “more popular” than her

    What a sad, sad, orange fascist horse’s ass.

  242. 242.

    RaflW

    @Jackie: Trump’s multiple slush funds, er I mean PACs, spent $50,000,000 on legal fees in just one year. Nearly a million dollars a week.

    Just a bonkers amount of money going to all these scheisters. Maybe not Alina any more, but someone gonna get paid. For no good effect on that appeal, I hope.

  245. 245.

    Odie Hugh Manatee

    A post is up over at the Great Orange Satan about a Justin Mohn beheading his father, a federal worker, and calling on all patriots to kill all federal workers. Oh, and he’s in control of the military and police now. Hates LGTBQ+ and sounds like his MAGA went supernova.

    Stochastic terrorism. The Republican party is a terrorist organization.

  246. 246.

    sab

    10 + years ago I listened to Taylor Swift and thought she had a true little voice and a good sense of rhythym. Not much but good for dancing.

    Many years later I think she is same but much better. Her voice has matured. So have her lyrics. The voice is more important. She now has a good rich singing voice, not the thin little true voice she had at age twenty.  She will never be an opera star, but neither she nor opera even want that

    ETA But her lyrics are special. And she wrote them.

  248. 248.

    TBone

    @Quinerly: JFC these fucking monsters.  My morning check in brought me here to this thread and now I’m sick to my stomach 🤮🤢 for my Commonwealth

  251. 251.

    Paul in KY

    @JoyceH: Someone should do a cartoon of Mickey with his sleeves rolled up as he pummels DeSatanis. On his arm is a tattoo of Dark Brandon!

  252. 252.

    Paul in KY

    @UncleEbeneezer: I saw a set by GEazy back in 2019 (New Orleans Voodoofest) where he had a giant video display behind him with ‘FUCK TRUMP’ in 20 foot tall letters. Have a soft spot for him…

  256. 256.

    Splitting Image

    @Enhanced Voting Techniques:

    Back in the day Landover Baptist would go on about Doris Day as the thespian harbinger of the pink sweater Slut-apocalypse out to corrupt our nation’s daughters. This Taylor Swift nonsense is just that done straight.

    I miss the days when Landover Baptist seemed like over the top parody. The site helped launch Betty Bowers’ career.

Comments are closed.