Taylor/Travis Fountains/Drains and Conservatives

I have to be honest, I am one of the millions following the Taylor/Travis romance. I know, I am as completely surprised as anyone.

For the record, I have been a KC Chiefs fan for sometime starting when Alex Smith was the quarterback. Now of course it is Coach Reid, QB Mahones, TE Kelce and many more.

I have watched Kelce play many times including three SBs. He is and has been one of the if not the best tight-ends in the NFl for some. But I did not know his journey until the past few months. He was suspended from the University of Cincinnati football team and did not play in the 2010 season.

He was suspended for testing positive for marijuana. At the time, his coach told him “everyone you meet is either a fountain or drain…Your’re a drain“. Kelce listened and has worked to be a fountain ever since.

Since reaching stardom, Kelce has used his fame and fortune to benefit others. One example, during the pandemic, he donated 12,000 meals to a KC food back. Another, in 2022, his foundation announced a Health and Wellness endowment for student athletes at the U of Cincinnati where he attended college. His foundation, Eighty-Seven and Running provides resources for underserved youth in his hometown of Cleveland Heights.

Though I have known about Taylor Swifts talent as a singer, songwriter and actress for a long time, I have not listed to her music. That is because my primary genre is classic rock and the songs to which I listen on multiple playlists were made before she was born.

Swift makes a lot of money from her concerts. She also has a very large fan base called Swifties. What many may not know is she makes significant donations to food banks in cities where she has performed. In Arizona for example, Swift’s donation enabled over 40,000 pounds of fresh produce to be shipped to various food banks in the state. One act of kindness that really stands out to me is her surprising a WWII war veteran on his 96th birthday at his home and signing “Shake It Off” for him. She also mentioned her grandfather was also a WWII veteran. [You can watch on YouTube.]. She did it for no other reason than to make a someone happy. It went public because of one of the family members in attendance filmed it.

From the outside looking in both Kelce and Swift appear to be very good people. Fountains, not drains.

I was not surprised when I started see articles on how the Conservative Right were critical of Swift/Kelce. In September, 2023 Sean Davis, co-founder of the online magazine The Federalist posted “Taylor Swift is dumb and her music sucks.” This was followed by a link to an article about her which among other things said she was “a sign of societal decline.” One reason was she had encouraged Swifties to register to vote on National Voter Registration Day which led to a surge in registrations. Another is she endorsed President Biden over former President Trump.

For Kelce his sin against conservatives was being in a Pfizer add encouraging people to get a Covid booster. They are critical of someone promoting a vaccine that has and continues to protect millions from the decease. Too bad they are not critical of the Republican controlled House committee which voted to not approve development of the vaccine for the coronavirus in 2016 which was requested by Dr. Peter Hotez at a hearing. How many lives would have been saved by the development of this drug years before the pandemic started? Conservatives are also upset he was in a Bud Light commercial. This enraged conservatives because of the previous Bud Light commercial featuring a celebrity from the LGBTQ community.

Conservatives may wish to note a recent CDC survey found that about 25% of youth currently identify as members of the LGBTQ community. It is another reason why conservatives will not win the battle for individual rights, but can cause a lot of damage in the meantime.

Thought the anger against Swift/Kelce in part stems from the above. But I suspect there is more, a lot more. Taylor Swift is an immensely talented artist, but she is also a brilliant successful business woman. Many conservatives believe women should not have control of their personal health care, should birth children and generally be subservient to their husbands. With all her followers, Swift is a huge threat to conservatives who wish to legislate their version of religion on to the rest of us.

Kelce is the All-American guy who supports, getting vaccinated food banks, disadvantaged youth and the LGBTQ community. Conservatives cannot accept this.

Who knows if they will stay together, time will tell. What is true they are individually and jointly fountains. What is also true is they have the potential to influence their demographic on a variety of issues. Included in these issues are sexism against women and members of the LGBTQ community. Both work in diverse environments, especially Kelce, and I also suspect are very aware of racial issues. The recent tour in Buenos Aires during a record heat wave would be another reminder of climate change and the real world financial and human consequences.

Conservatives are scared Swift/Kelce and they should be. Hopefully Swift/Kelce will make all of the Conservatives fears and nightmares come true. Again, together or separate, Swift/Kelce are fountains, Conservatives are drains.