White then ends with a warning: “Boomer parents may want to let [Swift fans] have their fun — same as toying with matches and playing in the traffic. But here’s a frightening fact of the Swifties phenom: These kids seem ready for a leader, anxious for totalitarianism. It will take a counterrevolution to repair Swift’s moral, aesthetic, and political damage.”

The liberal media jumped on this, calling it “unhinged” and “nonsense.” Yet White’s shellacking reminded me of an older, better time in music criticism, when journalists were not afraid to criticize pop stars, even globally famous ones such as Taylor Swift. So many of them are now deemed untouchable. When was the last time Beyonce, Olivia Rodrigo, Madonna, or Bruno Mars got torched in a tough and perceptive way? It’s part of the new atmosphere where certain groups, politicians, and celebrities are untouchable religious idols. It’s not healthy in a democracy.