No one could be more surprised than me that I am writing a column about Taylor Swift. My fangirl days long behind me, I can think of few things less enticing than the prospect of attending one of her mega-shows and being surrounded by thousands of swooning teenagers at a sports arena, barely able to see her from the nosebleed tier, and unable hear her through the ear-splitting shrieks of adulation—unless it would be walking dazedly around the stadium parking lot afterward, trying in vain to locate my vehicle.
Until a few weeks ago, I don’t think I had ever so much as said Taylor Swift’s name aloud. Now, she is plastered all over every news channel and every newspaper for reasons that are breathtakingly stupid.
Apparently, some nincompoop, who has way too much time on his hands, spawned a conspiracy theory that is right up there with the assertion that Hillary Clinton is running a cannibalistic child sex-trafficking ring out of the basement of a Washington, D.C. pizzeria.
Here’s the thing with conspiracy theories: They are frequently absurd on their face, as in the case noted above.
But there is a new conspiracy theory in town, at least for the moment, making the MAGA base—at least temporarily—forget its past obsessions with things like Jewish space lasers and Hillary’s sex trafficking ring.
The new conspiracy theory is as follows:
Taylor Swift is an undercover operative of the deep state who has been masquerading for years as the biggest pop star on the planet. This has nothing to do with her obvious talent and charisma (that part is just a sham); her real mission is to influence her fans to vote for Joe Biden in an attempt to prevent Donald Trump from regaining the presidency.
But wait—there’s more: Taylor’s current boyfriend, Kansas City Chiefs’ tight end Travis Kelce, is also an operative of the deep state.
Honestly, you can’t make this stuff up, except that someone has, and many in the MAGA-verse believe it.
This, in turn, has mushroomed into a variant theory: that the upcoming Superbowl has been rigged to favor the Chiefs. No one has yet made clear how a Chief’s victory could be tied to some secret operation to reelect Joe Biden; nor has anyone mentioned that Travis Kelce and the Chiefs have won two of the past several Superbowls (pre-Taylor), not because of deep state interference, but because they out-played their opponents.
Or perhaps I am wrong. Perhaps there is some secret indoctrination camp to which all of Clinton’s surviving victims are sent when they age out of the sex-trafficking business, there to endure repeated exposure to Jewish space lasers, which soften their brains until they become unable to exercise rational thought. Following that, they morph into operatives of the deep state, are taught how to be hugely talented and successful, and then, at the height of their careers, they unleash the deep state Kraken.
For those of you who regularly consume and subscribe to conspiracy theories, I would like to mention that the above statement is fact-free. It is a load of malarkey that I just made up, here and now, sitting in front of my computer, and I do not want to be responsible for starting another round of this nonsense.
Some on the left have posited that all of this began on the dark web, amongst white nationalists, for whom Taylor was, until recently, the ultimate Aryan goddess. They embraced her as a sleek, blonde, blue-eyed, white nationalist Barbie for the disaffected.
The theory goes on to suggest that the far right became so enraged with her for endorsing and campaigning for assorted Democrats in the last election that they have decided she, too, is working undercover to keep America from becoming great again.
On this basis, I would like to share a different perspective: Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift, both enormously talented and enormously rich, are not agents of the deep state. They are two famous young people who, for the time being, appear to be in love with each other and with American democracy. They see Donald Trump as a threat to everything they love about America—freedom, multiculturalism, inclusion, bodily autonomy, kindness—and, using their platforms as celebrities, intend to get that message out to as many of their fans who will listen.
Nobody accused Kanye West (“Ye”) of being a deep state operative when he used his celebrity status to endorse Donald Trump; nobody accused Kid Rock of being a deep state operative because he played at Trump’s rallies; nobody accused Dennis Quaid or James Woods or Jon Voight of working undercover for the deep state because they endorse Donald Trump. People in this country, even celebrities, have the right to endorse and campaign for whomever they choose. Not liking Donald Trump has nothing to do with celebrity endorsements or deep state conspiracies; it has everything to do with the fact that Mr. “Dictator for a Day” will likely, if reelected, become Mr. “Dictator for Life.”
Here’s what Taylor Swift does really well: singing, dancing, and composing. Her other talent is getting young people to register to vote, so that they, too, can exercise their franchise as citizens. Taylor Swift can no more influence their vote than she can mine, but if she can convince more young Americans to show up and cast a ballot in November, then she will have contributed to a more engaged electorate, and an engaged electorate is good for this country.
With that, there is only one thing left to say:
Go, Chiefs!
