MAGA Loses Its Mind Over Taylor Swift; Steve Garvey’s Family Values–Coachella Valley Independent’s Indy Digest: Feb. 1, 2024

Indy Digest: Feb. 1, 2024

We have reached the point in this country where the relationship between a pop star and a football player has caused a significant portion of one of the two political parties to lose their damn minds.

The New York Times—the closest thing this country has to a newspaper of record, for better or for worse—published a story today with the headline “Taylor Swift Is a ‘Treasure,’ Says Liz Cheney, a Prime Trump Critic,” and the sub-headline: “The former U.S. representative and others opposing the former president have needled conservatives over baseless theories involving the pop star, the Kansas City tight end Travis Kelce and the specter of a Biden endorsement.”

This comes two days after the same newspaper on Jan. 30 ran a piece headlined “Taylor Swift, Travis Kelce and a MAGA Meltdown,” with the sub-headline: “The fulminations surrounding the world’s biggest pop icon—and girlfriend of Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce—reached the stratosphere after Kansas City made it to the Super Bowl.”

From that Jan. 30 New York Times piece:

“I wonder who’s going to win the Super Bowl next month,” Vivek Ramaswamy, the conspiratorial presidential candidate, turned Trump surrogate, pondered on social media on Monday. “And I wonder if there’s a major presidential endorsement coming from an artificially culturally propped-up couple this fall.”

The pro-Trump broadcaster Mike Crispi led off on Sunday by claiming that the National Football League is “rigged” in order to spread “Democrat propaganda”: “Calling it now: KC wins, goes to Super Bowl, Swift comes out at the halftime show and ‘endorses’ Joe Biden with Kelce at midfield.”

Other detractors of Ms. Swift among Mr. Trump’s biggest fans include one of his lawyers, Alina Habba, one of his biggest conspiracy theorists, Jack Posobiec, and other MAGA luminaries like Laura Loomer and Charlie Kirk, who leads a pro-Trump youth organization, Turning Point USA.

I am glad to report, however, that some high-ranking Republicans (besides Liz Cheney) are starting to push back on this lunacy. Here’s a tidbit from today’s New York Times piece: “Mercilessly mocked, some Republicans and conservative commentators have tried to pull it back. Spencer Cox, the Republican governor of Utah, said the 2024 election was going to be bad enough ‘without us making up more stupid stuff to fight about.’”

—Jimmy Boegle

More News

• After a proposed AIDS memorial in downtown Palm Springs suddenly became controversial because it looks to some people like a very specific body part, the Palm Springs AIDS Memorial Sculpture Task Force is having a series of “listening sessions,” with a limited number of people at each one. The five sessions are scheduled between Feb. 6 and March 12. People interested in being included can email bob@obayley.net. Learn more at psaidsmemorial.org.

• GOP U.S. Senate candidate (and Coachella Valley resident) Steve Garvey is pushing family-values bona fides as he ramps up his campaign. Some of Garvey’s children, however, are painting another picture of Garvey. The Los Angeles Times reports: “As the Republican front-runner in the race for a California U.S. Senate seat, Garvey has avoided detailed policy positions, instead relying on his name recognition and clean-cut image. His campaign website describes him as a ‘true role model,’ he praised the party’s value of ‘personal responsibility’ in a recent interview, and he called in an op-ed to ‘restore moral integrity in Congress.’ But the reality of Garvey’s life is more complex. The 75-year-old has struggled with debt, been repeatedly sued, faced a bitter divorce, and got two women pregnant before quickly marrying a third woman, his current wife, in a scandal that briefly made him a national punchline in 1989. He pledged in interviews at the time to take ‘moral and financial responsibility’ for the children. Speaking publicly for the first time, the two children involved in the paternity imbroglio, now adults, told The Times that their mothers repeatedly tried to arrange meetings and phone calls for the children with Garvey, but he declined to communicate. Also speaking publicly for the first time, Garvey’s oldest child from his first marriage said he cut off almost all contact without explanation about 15 years ago in a move that she still finds painful.”

• The Seattle LGBTQ+ community is ticked off after a series of raids of bars—including gay bars—last weekend. The Seattle Times reports: “Over the course of two nights, law enforcement officers did not find any alcohol-related offenses at the LGBTQ+ bars and clubs they inspected. But officers told managers at three of those clubs—Neighbours, The Cuff Complex and The Seattle Eagle—that they observed lewd conduct violations. No violations were found at the Lumber Yard Bar in White Center, which also was inspected. Specifically, officers said they observed some customers wearing jockstraps and in one case, a bartender’s exposed nipple. … An open letter posted on social media Monday, signed by some affected businesses owners and local LGBTQ+ community advocates such as Dan Savage, characterized the inspections as raids and called for an investigation into the inspections.”

• Our partners at CalMatters look at electric cars in California … and find that the market for the vehicles may be starting to slow: “The rental car company Hertz is selling about a third of its global electric vehicle fleet, replacing them with gas-powered vehicles. Ford in January announced that it was reducing production of its F-150 Lightning electric pickup truck after scaling it up last year. Tesla sales in California dropped 10% in the last three months of 2023, when compared to the same quarter a year earlier, according to data from the California New Car Dealers Association. And some automakers last year announced production cutbacks and delays in new electric models. Today, the California Energy Commission provided another piece of the puzzle: Sales of electric cars in California reached record levels last year, with 446,961 sold, up 29% from 2022, according to Veloz, a nonprofit that works with the commission to promote electric vehicle growth in California. But while sales of electric cars are still growing, it’s a slower pace of growth than the previous year: 2022 sales increased 38% from 2021.”

• Today’s recall news involves … older Toyotas! NBC News says: “Toyota Motor said on Monday it is urging the owners of 50,000 older U.S. vehicles to get immediate recall repairs because an air bag inflator could explode and potentially kill motorists. The Japanese automaker said the ‘Do Not Drive’ advisory covers some 2003-2004 model year Corolla, 2003-2004 Corolla Matrix, and 2004-2005 RAV4s with Takata air bag inflators. More than 30 deaths worldwide, including 26 U.S. deaths, and hundreds of injuries in various automakers’ vehicles since 2009 are linked to Takata air bag inflators that can explode, unleashing metal shrapnel inside cars and trucks.”

• And finally … remember the Alaska Airlines flight on Jan 5 that was rudely interrupted when a “door plug” on the Boeing Max 9 blew out? Well, that type of plane is back in the air … and some former Boeing managers do not think that’s a good idea. The Los Angeles Times reports: “Although airlines, regulators and Boeing maintain that the planes are safe after a federally approved inspection and maintenance process, critics argue that serious questions remain about the long-troubled Maxes. The Max 8 had two crashes in 2018 and 2019 that killed 346 people. ‘I would absolutely not fly a Max airplane,’ said Ed Pierson, a former Boeing senior manager. ‘I’ve worked in the factory where they were built, and I saw the pressure employees were under to rush the planes out the door. I tried to get them to shut down before the first crash.’ ‘I would tell my family to avoid the Max. I would tell everyone, really,’ said Joe Jacobsen, a former engineer at Boeing and the Federal Aviation Administration. Aviation safety experts have pointed to the blowout as just the latest example of a deeper problem at the manufacturer. They say the company needs a cultural change. Pierson said that returning the Max 9 to service was ‘another example of poor decision making, and it risks the public safety.’ Boeing said it had no comment on Pierson’s remarks.” Eek.

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