There are plenty of reasons to be a little irritated with Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce. Being forced by one's daughter to listen to nothing but Taylor to and from school every day for several semesters is one example. Your hometown football team facing Travis in the Super Bowl is another. But beyond these minor infractions, there's not much to complain about when it comes to TnT (Taylor 'n Travis). One could argue that no couple better represents conservative American values. She's a wholesome, talented, self-made billionaire who combines talent and remarkable business savvy. He's a sure thing first ballot Hall of Famer on one the best-ever teams in a sport that, according to viewership numbers, Americans love more than any other form of entertainment. So, even in this Eras era when pretty much nothing can still surprise it, Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce have managed to blow the last vestiges of right wing media sanity to smithereens. (I don't call them TnT for nothing).

Things all started out simply enough. A girl named after James Taylor born in the right-leaning town of West Reading in swing state Pennsylvania meets the son of a steel industry sales rep from Westlake in the swing state of Ohio (the boy is also the brother of the person who perhaps best embodies America). It was a nice, little story. At least until the Pentagon, Biden, and the NFL got to work. Right-wing media figures target Taylor Swift with absurd conspiracy theory ahead of the Super Bowl. "With the Kansas City Chiefs headed to Super Bowl LVIII, influential MAGA Media personalities have started circulating conspiracy theories about the pop superstar, promoting the deranged notion that she is part of a sprawling psychological operations plot staged by the NFL and Democratic Party to deliver the 2024 presidential election to President Joe Biden." (For what it's worth, this is the first time I hope their conspiracy theory is true.) I suppose this theory is just a subtle twist on the classic story arc: Boy meets girl. Toddler loses election. Country regains sanity.

+ "The implication (again: forgive my telling you something obvious) is that the Chiefs are being ushered to the Super Bowl … somehow … to secure Swift’s endorsement for President Biden. This makes a lot of sense because the Chiefs haven’t been to the Super Bowl since, uh, last year, when they won. But before that they hadn’t been since, well, two years before. But that one they lost! But they’d won the year before that. You can see why they need … someone … to give them a boost. Because otherwise, Taylor Swift wouldn’t endorse Biden, something she hasn’t done since 2020 — the last time Biden ran." WaPo (Gift Article): The uncomplicated, dumb engine driving political false claims about Taylor Swift. Hey, it's crazy. But maybe not any crazier than the hundreds of other lunatical stories—designed to distort and distract—that have worked their way from the fringe to the mainstream of one of two political parties. And give the conspiracists some credit for creativity. Who could have imagined that San Francisco would make it to the Super Bowl and Fox News would be attacking Kansas City...

+ David Letterman tells Taylor Swift NFL haters to ‘shut up,’ her Travis Kelce romance is ‘a lovely thing.' (If Jon Stewart can come back to the Daily Show one night a week, how about we bring back David Letterman back to late night? We'll even waive the facial hair restrictions...)

2

Internal Combustion

"A century and a half ago, Confederate Gen. Joseph Orville Shelby splashed into the wild waters of the Rio Grande off this border city and fled to Mexico, refusing to surrender to Union soldiers. Now the park named in his honor has become a front line in a feud between the state and the federal government — a power struggle over who ultimately has the right to control the border and the tide of humanity trying to cross it." WaPo (Gift Article): Texas border city on edge as Gov. Abbott dials up battle with Biden. (It's not about solving the problem. It's about making the problem get more attention, even if that's best achieved by making the problem worse.)

+ "In recent weeks, [Governor] Abbott’s efforts have grown much more contentious, with Texas law enforcement seizing control of a park along the river in Eagle Pass that is used by the U.S. Border Patrol. Texas officials are now blocking access to the park by federal law enforcement, a move that has earned the endorsement of dozens of Republican governors in other states ... In a post on social media, Trump encouraged 'all willing States to deploy their guards to Texas to prevent the entry of Illegals, and to remove them back across the Border.'" ... But calls for support weren’t answered by just official state actors. A number of convoys of individuals supportive of Texas’s heavy-handed response to migrants — and its rejection of federal authority — are planning to travel to the area." WaPo (Gift Article): The combustible mix of right-wing anger coming together in Texas.

+ Meanwhile, the House GOP prepares to impeach Homeland Security chief over handling of U.S. border

3

This Won't Even Sting

"Their honey, which is runny enough to be drunk like a liquid and is said to have a citrusy aftertaste, is used by many Indigenous Peruvians as a natural medicine." And they're increasingly endangered which is a problem since they pollenate much of the Amazon. Oh, did I mention these bees are stingless? NYT (Gift Article): In Peru, a Mission to Save the Stingless Bee.

4

Hawkeye Pierces Through

"The 22-year-old senior has become such a household name that she's arguably the most famous athlete in all of college sports — a title few, if any, women have ever been able to claim." The great Caitlin Clark is in a league of her own. "Clark has 3,389 career points and is averaging 32.0 ppg, putting her about four games away from breaking Kelsey Plum's D-I women's record (3,527 points) and nine games away from breaking Pete Maravich's men's record (3,667)." But what she's done for attendance and attention could be even more impressive.

5

Extra, Extra

Response Ability: "President Joe Biden told reporters Tuesday he has made a decision about the US response to the drone strike that killed three US service members and injured dozens in Jordan." (The challenge: Show strength, deter future attacks, and don't let this war spread.)

+ Acute Story: "The challenge with opioids is not that they don’t work. The challenge with opioids is that they come with all this baggage: the safety and tolerability and addictive potential." Experimental pain drug may offer alternative to opioids for acute pain, study suggests.

+ Tech Overlords: Adrienne LaFrance in The Atlantic (Gift Article): The Rise of Techno-Authoritarianism. "To worship at the altar of mega-scale and to convince yourself that you should be the one making world-historic decisions on behalf of a global citizenry that did not elect you and may not share your values or lack thereof, you have to dispense with numerous inconveniences—humility and nuance among them. Many titans of Silicon Valley have made these trade-offs repeatedly." (If you want to make world-historic decisions on behalf of a global citizenry that did not elect you, I suggest writing a daily newsletter...)

+ Earhart Breaking News: Ex-US air force pilot claims he may have located lost Amelia Earhart plane. (Either than or its just another door from a Boeing 737 Max 9.)

+ Welcome Back: "There have been many Williamsburgs over time. It was a place of tenements in Betty Smith’s 'A Tree Grows in Brooklyn'; a haven for Jews escaping persecution in Europe; a stronghold for Puerto Rican, Dominican, Polish and Ukrainian immigrants." And now it's a home to Hermes and Chanel. "This story concerns more recent history, when a neighborhood of mills, foundries and meatpacking plants became a cheap-rent paradise for artists and, finally, a prime destination for developers and international luxury brands. This timeline charts that remarkable evolution in words and images, year by year." A really interesting, visual look at a neighborhood's remarkable transformation. NYT (Gift Article): Williamsburg. What Happened?

6

Bottom of the News

"Legendary San Francisco 49ers quarterback Joe Montana had an unparalleled intuition as a football player. He had an uncanny knack for finding an open wide receiver at critical moments, even when facing a wall of incoming linebackers. Well, it looks like that intuition extends beyond the football field and into the wild world of legal weed." 49ers legend Joe Montana is winning the California legal weed market. (I'd like to try a super bowl of this stuff.)