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Taylor Swift on Trump

Like so many others, I was delighted by Taylor Swift's "Tweet to Donald Trump" last week:

"After stoking the fires of white supremacy and racism your entire presidency, you have the nerve to feign moral superiority before threatening violence? 'When the looting starts the shooting starts'??? We will vote you out in November."

I just want to point out how closely Trump matches Ms. Swift's famous Lex Luthor, Jake Gyllenhaal. (Yes, of course Trump's offenses are on their own plane; there is an orders-of-magnitude distinction here. Still, I see rhetorical patterns in Swift's work.)

Swift--notably savvy about language and subtext--likes to "make the implicit explicit." In Swift's various attacks on Gyllenhaal, the writer highlighted semi-covertly-nasty remarks that Gyllenhaal would make: "Find your peace of mind with some indie record that's much cooler than mine." "He didn't like it when I wore high heels, but I do." Swift understands that a remark about high heels or musical taste is often a missile-in-disguise; more is at play than the height of the heels. So, leave it to Swift to observe that Trump's blithe "Charlottesville Nazis are very fine people" comment is a way of "stoking big fires."

Even after his bad behavior, Gyllenhaal still presents himself as a chance worth taking: "He calls me up and he's like....I still love you....." But--give him time--and he'll disappear for a month again, then claim he "needs more space." ("You feign moral superiority....before threatening violence?")

One area where Swift sometimes struggles is: writing an ending. The ending occasionally feels overly simple. Lovers go out and have a fight in the rain--then they reconcile. And that's really all there is to say? There is nothing more? "We will vote you out in November." A clear-eyed person might justifiably wonder if racism and police brutality will quickly disappear--via fairy-tale ending--in the years of a Biden presidency.

But, then, how much can you convey in a single Tweet?

In any case, I liked this little sound bite, and I'm giving it a higher rating than "Christmas Tree Farm." Keep going, Tay Tay!
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