Will John Boehner regret use of Taylor Swift GIFs?
House Speaker John Boehner assembled a listicle of 12 Taylor Swift GIFs to mock President Obama's community college plan. But is the songstress in on the gag?
House Speaker John Boehner assembled a listicle of 12 Taylor Swift GIFs to mock President Obama's community college plan. But is the songstress in on the gag?
On Friday House Speaker John Boehner attacked President Obama鈥檚 just-released community college plan with a listicle of 12 Taylor Swift GIFs.
We鈥檙e not making this up. Representative Boehner 鈥� or, let鈥檚 be honest, some younger Boehner staffers who know more what鈥檚 up with the kiddies 鈥� compiled a bunch of Swiftian clips, Buzzfeed-style, to illustrate what they consider the overreach of Obama鈥檚 promotion of 鈥渇ree鈥� community college tuition.
Listicles are a storytelling device in which movement is used to illustrate the lister鈥檚 idea, so we鈥檒l just condense the story Boehner鈥檚 telling. It starts with the slender songstress looking excited. Then she strokes her chin to illustrate thinking. Where will the $60 billion to pay for this effort come from? Will it be the result of a (gasp) tax increase? That might make citizens angry!
Cut to a GIF of Swift bashing in the headlight of a Shelby Cobra, which is a very expensive car.
Maybe it would be better if we just worked together and improved kids鈥� education. (Cue Taylor applauding at some awards show.) Looks like an apology is in order, Mr. President!
You鈥檝e got to see the whole thing, but it鈥檚 not bad in terms of a communications device. Maybe they鈥檒l try 鈥�9 Cat GIFs That Illustrate the Ukrainian Crisis鈥� next.
Except ... Taylor Swift. What does she actually think about the prospect of free community college? Because they鈥檙e just using pictures of her to illustrate GOP talking points.
We hope Boehner鈥檚 team cleared this with her beforehand. Because if she doesn鈥檛 like it, it is possible she might retaliate. And in terms of the culture, she鈥檚 a bigger deal than the speaker of the House. It鈥檚 a rough measure, but Boehner鈥檚 got about 314,000 Twitter followers. Swift has 51 million.
She鈥檚 written songs about ex-boyfriends who annoyed her in some way. We鈥檙e just pointing that out.
鈥淭his pretty much invites Taylor Swift to endorse the community college proposal, right?鈥� tweeted Kevin Collins, a left-leaning Princeton political scientist, on Friday.
This could turn out to be like New Jersey鈥檚 GOP Gov. Chris Christie getting all excited at Bruce Springsteen concerts, and then getting snubbed by his idol. Springsteen鈥檚 a Democrat 鈥� he played at Obama鈥檚 first inaugural.
Maybe Boehner鈥檚 staff should have used supermodel Kate Upton GIFs. Her uncle is Rep. Fred Upton (R) of Michigan. That might have been safer, on the whole.