"What a long, strange trip it's been," said that historic and influential musician, Jerry Garcia. It's astonishing to me that I never fell victim to the evil spell the Grateful Dead cast on so many people over the last fifty years. I have a number of Dead Head friends myself. Lawyers, bankers, you know, the usual folks. Maybe, just maybe when Neil Young was making hits with songs like "Ohio," when he sang, "Tin soldiers and Nixon coming…" all of the young voters within earshot would temporarily become deaf. But that's not how I remember Young's moment on top when my older siblings were still at home. This 2020's version of the uncool among us trying to demonize an idol of the cool kids' club was inevitable. Seriously, though, it's hard to demonize Taylor Swift. Historians will probably come up with other examples, but I can't ever recall objectors to the outsize influence of a popular music star over our youth losing the battle so embarrassingly. The "conservative" bunch are mad at someone more pure, more well-behaved, and simply more good than any of them. And by anyone's measure, including their own. I realize how dumb that sounds, and trust me, I feel dumber just writing it out. But the above descriptive is where a good chunk of America is when asked that profoundly transformative question: "What do you think about Taylor and Travis?"   Connect with Michael Leppert Visit michaelleppert.com to read the full post and links to any resources or articles mentioned. Twitter @michaelleppert  Facebook at Michael Leppert  

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