Pennsylvania officially recognises it’s in its Taylor Swift era
Politicians have officially recognised 2023 as the Taylor Swift era in her home state of Pennsylvania.
The resolution was approved on Swift‘s 34th birthday, passing by a majority of three despite most Republicans voting against it.
The singer, who was named Time magazine’s Person of the Year for 2023, was born in the state and lived there until she moved to Nashville as a teenager to pursue music.
The resolution in the state’s House of Representatives recognised the singer’s cultural and economic power.
The frenzy for tickets to her tour prompted the state to pass a law banning ticket scalping bots, after some fans found it impossible to get tickets.
Swift buoyed the local economy on her tour stops in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, and donated proceeds to local food banks.
She has donated millions to hunger and disaster relief efforts nationwide over the past 12 months.
While the resolution had its naysayers, it passed 103-100.
Speaker Joanna McClinton quipped, “haters gonna hate, hate, hate, hate, hate” – echoing the lyrics of Swift’s song Shake It Off – as she responded to one of the critics.
Pic: AP
Swift has “transcended the role of pop star”, the resolution said.
It said she “shines as a role model of courage, self acceptance and self-determination, persisting in the face of personal and professional obstacles and challenges”.
It is the latest in a string of accolades. People Magazine awarded her the title of 2023’s Most Intriguing Person of the Year while Forbes named her the world’s fifth most powerful woman.
The 12-time Grammy winner became Spotify’s most-streamed artist globally, with her songs being streamed more than 26 billion times.
Her Eras Tour is set to gross more than $1bn while the film version was the highest grossing concert film ever.
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Democrat Maureen Madden was an enthusiastic supporter of the measure and told the House how Swift had pushed young people to become politically active.
“I turn 64 years old today, and I think about who’s going to carry on our legacy. She’s not popular because she writes break-up songs,” she said.
“She’s popular because the largest demographic of people eligible to vote, the 18- to 24-year-old demographic, listens to her and does what she says.”
Swift’s impact as a woman, and on young women specifically, can’t be understated, lawmakers said.
The resolution recognised her “singular economic and cultural influence” as demonstrating “the power of female agency, feminine ideas, feminine art and a distinctly feminine narrative”.
Donald Trump has said he is considering “taking away” the US citizenship of actress and comedian Rosie O’Donnell, despite a Supreme Court ruling that expressly prohibits a government from doing so.
In a post on Truth Social on Saturday, the US president said: “Because of the fact that Rosie O’Donnell is not in the best interests of our Great Country, I am giving serious consideration to taking away her Citizenship.”
He also labelled O’Donnell, who has moved to Ireland, as a “threat to humanity” and said she should “remain in the wonderful country of Ireland, if they want her”.
O’Donnell responded on Instagram by posting a photograph of Mr Trump with Jeffrey Epstein.
“You are everything that is wrong with America and I’m everything you hate about what’s still right with it,” she wrote in the caption.
“I’m not yours to silence. I never was.”
Rosie O’Donnell moved to Ireland after Donald Trump secured a second term. Pic: AP
O’Donnell moved to Ireland with her 12-year-old son in January after Mr Trump had secured a second term.
She has said she’s in the process of obtaining Irish citizenship based on family lineage and that she would only return to the US “when it is safe for all citizens to have equal rights there in America”.
O’Donnell and the US president have criticised each other publicly for years, in an often-bitter back-and-forth that predates Mr Trump’s move into politics.
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This is just the latest threat by the president to revoke the citizenship of someone he has disagreed with, most recently his former ally Elon Musk.
But the two situations are different as while Musk was born in South Africa, O’Donnell was born in the US and has a constitutional right to American citizenship.
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Amanda Frost, a law professor at the University of Virginia School of Law, said the Supreme Court ruled in a 1967 case that the fourteenth amendment of the constitution prevents the government from taking away citizenship.
“The president has no authority to take away the citizenship of a native-born US citizen,” he added.
“In short, we are nation founded on the principle that the people choose the government; the government cannot choose the people.”
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