Are You a Swifty?

@loomisjohnson The “she’s a role model” thing you said so many of her fans said when asked what was so appealing about Taylor Swift…I find that unfortunate.  
This notion of a celebrity being a “role model.”  That dog won’t hunt.  
Just another person, like the rest of us. Flawed like the rest of us.  
MLK? Jesus? Okay, if someone chose people like that as role models, I could dig it.  
A celebrity? That is kind of sad. For this idea to still be so rampant is indicative of a sick society. We seem to expect celebrities (from whatever occupation) to be “role models” more than we expect actual good-deed-doers to be role models.  
Remember that ‘90s commercial with Charles Barkley where he said, “I am not a role model. Parents should be role models. Just because I can dunk a basketball doesn’t mean I should raise your kids.” Yup, that pretty much sums it up.  
The idea that a cliche-spewing, milquetoast, 1950s idea of what a “good role model is, a ‘non-controversial’ (controversy?!?! Oh no!! Using your brain for five seconds?!!? Oh no!! Saying things that challenge inane conformity?!?! Oh no!!! We can’t have our kids learning about such things!!) person?  
Wow. That is really sad and does not bode well for our future if we are so fearful of something “different” and so crave mindless conformity.  
Scary.

It’s hilarious when someone views an online forum thread as being so “beneath” them, and then goes out of their way to participate in it. 

It's all about the hype, her PR staff, aided for some reason by the major media...been there done that, see Madonna. 

I wonder how different her PR/media hype is from Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra, Elvis, Beatles, Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, Michael Jackson, & Bruce Springsteen…

About "role models":

History will demonstrate that deeply flawed individuals can be competant public servants. And those who fit the wide definition of "strong role model" can make the world a much more dangerous place.

"The opposition" uses a tool whereby they require supporters to "defend the indefensible", which is highly effective to force the other side to play defense, and kill (meaningful) conversations. The ability (and willingness) to connect the dots pertaining to major issues while minimizing the impact of (often trivial) individual flaws doesn’t make a person complicit, or a bad person. It makes them an adult capable of sorting things out, assigning priorities, and solving real problems. This also requres a high risk tolerance for being proven wrong.