Taylor Swift Gets 'Political'

When are entertainers going to realize we don’t give a hoot about their political opinions, in fact are repelled by them? We only care if they can dance, sing, and act. Years ago Laura Ingraham wrote a book titled Shut Up and Sing. She had it about right.

Since then it’s only gotten worse. Most of us want to run the other way when Robert De Niro says he wants to punch Trump in the nose or Kathy Griffin sprays Twitter with more f-bombs than you could fit in the sprinkler system at Versailles. Such in-depth analysis!

Of course, there are those who are somewhat more thoughtful, but in all my years as a Hollywood screenwriter, for most of which I was on the left, I rarely heard anything from anybody that made me think about or change an opinion. Maybe that’s my fault, but I doubt it. They were too busy talking about their deals — cinematic and pharmaceutical.

The truth is, these days, entertainers are for the most part the biggest conformists around. The fragility of their occupations, the fear of audience fickleness, promotes group think. Very few wander off the reservation. This is exacerbated by the fact that they deal largely in emotion for their work, not so much in rational thought.

The latest entertainer to signal her political correctness is the formerly discreet Taylor Swift, who posted her support for Democrat Phil Bredesen in the Tennessee senatorial race on — where else — Instagram. Apparently, Bredesen’s opponent, Republican Congresswoman Marsha Blackburn, “appalls and terrifies” her. Say what? Perhaps Taylor has Marsha confused with Bashar Assad. (As I said, these entertainers tend to get emotional. Charlie Kirk claims she didn’t even write the post herself — he could be right. It certainly doesn’t sound like her, more like the words of a political pro.)

Tennessee blogger Webutante catches the drift:

She’s a teeny bopper globalist with New York Times’ talking points. Who’s next to endorse Phil? Cardi B?

Taylor’s undoubtedly joined the Bloomberg Billionaire Brigade for Phil in Blue Manhattan while assuring she gets invited back to guest host SNL.

No surprises here except the damage it will do to her career. Think she’ll be going to Michael Bloomberg’s Tuesday fund raising bash for Phil in Manhattan? I do and bet she’ll even sing a ditty or two for liberal Dem elites and grandees.

And make no mistake, senate hopeful Bredesen is a eastern elite who wants to cram blue values and agendas down Tennesseans throats cause we’re not smart enough to know what’s good for us.

What’s interesting about Bredesen’s embrace of Bloomberg (and vice versa) is that Bredesen lost some of his liberal financial support over a (last minute, of course) endorsement of Kavanaugh, driving him into the arms of the New York billionaire. This too will not impress Tennessee voters, many of whom already see Bredesen as a kind of carpetbagger, and will only enhance the aura of expediency surrounding his completely symbolic and essentially worthless Kavanaugh pronouncement.

The real question for Tennessee is whether they will side with Marsha and support Trump’s increasingly successful agenda or take a flyer with Bredesen, who promises not to be a servant of Chuck Schumer. I wouldn’t bet on any Democrat being able to avoid that in the present atmosphere.

MORE: I realize my recent support for Kanye West, obviously also an entertainer, makes me seem a bit hypocritical here. I acknowledge that. But Kanye is not part of a pack — far from it — and in that sense is the exception that proves the rule. Anyone willing to go on SNL and espouse support for Trump deserves plaudits for fearlessness alone. Swift is just another sing along to get along, more famous than the (who are they anyway?) wannabe celebs that make those endless one-line videos telling us how to think in twelve words or less, but she amounts to the same thing. To quote Ingraham, she should shut up and sing.

Apropos, the Real Clear Politics average is showing Blackburn up 2, but in the more recent polls she seems to be sprinting ahead, up 8 in the latest from CBS/YouGov. No wonder Bredesen opted for Kavanaugh. But don’t ask Taylor what she thinks about that.