Wednesday, October 10, 2018

Taylor Swift Now Reflects My Politics More Than Kanye West Does. What Happened?

Wait, I'm not mad at you?
I have to ask, what happened? Kanye West was outspoken and radical, speaking truth-to-power, being a bit over-the-top and full of himself, but still amazing and insightful. Then he let us all down, seemed to get red-pilled, drink the Trump kool-aid, etc. Meanwhile, I was always anti-Taylor Swift. I declared as recently as 2017 how she was bully, loved to play the victim, was the worst kind of white-privilege-having-Becky. Now though, in October of 2018, the whole damn world has gone topsy-turvy.

Taylor Swift posted on Instagram how she supported a number of Democratic candidates in her state of Tennessee. She wrote about how she wanted candidates to be elected who would represent all Americans regardless of race, gender, and sexuality. She discussed her support for making sure women receive equal pay, fighting against businesses denying services to gay couples (e.g. refusals to bake a wedding cake), she even said how the systemic racism sweeping this nation disgusted her. I agree with every damn thing she said in her post, and meanwhile Kanye West is rocking a, "MAGA," hat and otherwise makes me feel immense embarrassment that I once supported him so unquestionably.
This is the picture that accompanies Swift's now-famous post.
Some of Swift's fans were mad about her post, as folk assumed she must be a Republican and for some bizarre reason a chunk of the alt-right on the web thought she was secretly a white supremacist for assorted crazy reasons.  Now, a whole bunch of young people registered to vote while there was still time and it looks like a lot of that can be attributed to Swift. Has the world come to the point where Taylor Swift turns into the shining beacon of hope for the Democratic party as an outspoken supporter who does what so many others have failed to do--get young people to actually go to the polls and vote? Seriously, when did our reality get to a point where I was nodding my head in agreement with Taylor Swift and burying my face in my hands with disgust at Kanye West?

We truly are living in a strange alternate universe. I never thought I'd say this, but thank you, Taylor Swift, I appreciate what you did to further democracy in America and fight injustice. While we're clearing the air, I will also admit my dirty secret that I do like the song, "Blank Space," by Swift. Imagine Dragons actually does a cool cover of it that meshes into, "Stand by Me," that you can find on Spotify, I think.

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