It does not surprise me in the least that Republicans have made a young woman the focus of their fears. When they fail to get wins in every other area of their lives, this political group has always focused their attention on young women.

It is their MO.

They did it to Rosalynn Carter.

Then her daughter Amy.

They did it to Hillary Clinton.

Then her duaghter Chelsea.

They did it to Michelle.

And then her daughters Malia and Sasha.

Let’s not forget Kamala Harris. They fear women of color the most.

That they’ve now made Taylor Swift the focus of their malcontent is just what they do when they are at their lowest. They single out a female and surround her like blood-thirsty sharks in the shallow waters.

Republicans have a long history of misogyny and patriarchy. It is the core of their agenda and has been for decades. They came for Rosalynn Carter because she was a vocal advocate for the Equal Rights Amendment. They made working women a cultural issue and criticized Rosalynn for supporting women who worked outside the home.

Her response?

“I don’t think I’m very different from people in the country today. Women work, but they also have a strong family life. I combined work and family life and outdoor life and companionship with my husband — who likes to jog and fish — with being a mother…Some women would rather stay at home and be a mother. Some work because they have to, some work to be fulfilled.”

The advantage of having lived through decades of presidential races and administrations is that you possess some institutional knowledge; you recognize the pattern.  

Carter kept his promise to appoint a record number of women to high-level jobs in the administration (just like Biden), including the first Latino cabinet member in Secretary of Commerce Juanita Krep.

Jerry Falwell went on the attack, deriding Rosalynn’s support for the ERA and her and Jimmy’s support for the LGBTQ community. Falwell’s motives were not lost on Rosalynn. She recognized fearmongering when she saw it.

She knew Falwell was using Jesus as a tool for political purposes, like the Pharisees of old. Speaking to the Washington Post upon her husband’s defeat for a second term, Rosalynn said, “It bothers me when you try to define a Christian as one who stands for certain legislation . . . they believe if you’re for the Department of Education, you’re not a Christian. Those things frighten me and I think that had a great impact on people, just hearing it continuously.”

The election of Reagan to office meant one thing to Rosalynn: “I think the President makes us comfortable with our prejudices.”

She was right then and she’s right now.

In my lifetime, I’ve watched as Republicans have used religion and rhetoric to embolden people’s prejudices. When a pastor in Oregon stood in the pulpit and declared that the only Christian vote was a vote for Reagan, I stood up and walked out of that church.

I knew then it was heresy, and it is heresy today.

Throughout their long lives the Carters compelled the nation toward love, toward forgiveness, toward compassion, kindness, and good deeds. The Carters lived faith. Falwell (father & son) simply exploited it.

Same as Trump and his crowd do today.

I wake up some mornings wondering how Michelle Obama and Hillary Clinton find it in their hearts to forgive Republicans and Media for attacking their daughters. I am old enough to remember when Rush Limbaugh, GOP firebrand and mouthpiece, said, “Socks is the White House cat. But did you know there is also a White House dog?” while holding up a picture of twelve-year-old Chelsea Clinton.

And the masses laughed.

That Chelsea was a child mattered not to them.

Fox News failed to monitor the use of the “n-word” by commenters upset that 17-year-old Malia Obama was accepted into Harvard. Fox didn’t even remove the post calling for Malia to get cancer or AIDS “or one of those colored diseases.”

Of course no one is surprised by Fox’s attacks on women. Good grief, it has long been a haven of sex abuse and exploitation. Megyn Kelly who was the subject of such abuse herself at FOX has nevertheless used her own platform to attack Hillary Clinton, Michelle Obama (and her daughters), and predictably, Taylor Swift.

Should any of us be surprised that Republicans – men and women – have unleashed the demons of vitriol on Taylor Swift?

As the mother of three daughters I was distraught when I read that 40 some million people had taken to Elon Musk’s failing Twitter platform to view AI created pornographic videos/photos. Some of which reportedly displayed her being sexually attacked. Don’t be fooled. If they can do this to Taylor Swift, they can do it to your daughter and granddaughter. That Elon Musk benefitted financially off of this sickness says all you need to know about him.

Donald Trump is a convicted rapist. Elon Musk is a first-rate misogynist and white nationalist. Women like Taylor Swift terrorize these two. They understand that a woman like Taylor Swift wouldn’t give men like them the time of day and they resent her for it. They resent her intelligence. They resent her kindness. They resent that they will never know what it means to be admired and beloved like her. They resent her power and influence. They resent her sense of self. They have no sense of who they are. They only measure their worth in dollars while Taylor cannot be bought (looking at you Scooter Braun). Taylor’s value is drawn from her creativity, the way she loves others, the way she conducts herself in private as well as in public.

At her core, Taylor Swift is every bit the Christian woman that Rosalynn Carter was. She’s goodhearted. Her faith compels to sow seeds of love.

She’d done that her whole life long.

That’s why we respect her so. That’s why we respected Rosalynn so.

That’s something The Rapist Trump will never ever possess.

And like the rapist he is, he resents any woman he can’t overpower – physically, mentally, emotionally, or financially.

Just ask E. Jean Carroll.