Sure, the left has Taylor Swift, but we have Catturd

I was certainly rooting for the Baltimore Ravens to beat the Kansas City Chiefs a couple Sundays back. And after that, I wanted the underdog Detroit Lions to pounce all over the San Francisco 49ers.

To be clear, the drama staged by the NFL powers that be surrounding Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce was not the motivating factor for cheering on the opposition Ravens. What turned me into a Ravens fan was my appreciation that Baltimore’s head coach gave glory where glory was due the previous Sunday following his team's win over the Houston Texans. The coach began his postgame press conference by reading a scripture verse where all praise went to God Most High when it came to victory.

The “silent majority” once referred to folks who were a strong, motivating force in the culture but did not have a media megaphone. Something similar is stirring today.

I watched most of the Ravens-Chiefs game until the Ravens were involved in a couple of wacky plays. Behind by 10 points at the time but with most of the fourth quarter yet to play, the deficit was certainly not insurmountable. But when quarterback Lamar Jackson threw an interception into the end zone with just under seven minutes to play, I’d had enough. I mean, Jackson had a receiver wide open but decided to try to thread the needle with another receiver caught between three defensive players? Go figure.

Postgame analysis, which spanned several days, got people talking about the possibility of a rigged game. It certainly seems that if you're looking for viewership in the upcoming Super Bowl, you would want more than just a toss-up and a “may the best team win” as the sole ho-hum driving force. Wouldn't you want drama and intrigue and, yes, a bit of romance thrown into the mix? Now that's a show!

Such a heady combination would draw in a totally new audience to replace the fans that have dwindled because of the NFL’s far-left end-zone messaging and its everything-gay promotions. (By the way, can a man who has “transitioned” soon be part of an NFL squad so that the league can boast of gender inclusivity?)

And if you want to ensure that your Chiefs are seen as the good guys in the upcoming matchup, you certainly don't want the underdog, never-been-to-the-Big-Dance Lions in the mix. We all know how much America loves to root for the underdog.

Now, I want to make myself clear. I am not suggesting any provable hanky-panky is afoot within the halls of power of the NFL. I am simply suggesting I think it is fair to say that the way things have worked out has caused more than just a few of us to utter one big, “Huh?”

Yes, the NFL has gone woke, and the upcoming Super Bowl is appealing to many in that peculiar camp. I for one will be tuning out, but I'm sure things will work out for the best. It will at least be an exciting, close-enough game, and the result will wrap up a wonderful, season-long narrative.

So, where are the stories from those on the right? Why are we always playing defense? Where is our offense?

Recently, I watched Tucker Carlson interview the internet sensation on X who goes by the moniker "Catturd." Catturd, of course, is not his real name, like William or Mike or Carl Catturd. Nonetheless, he has an interesting story about how he went from being a drug-using, tie-dye wearing, honest-to-goodness hippie to championing the common-sense viewpoint of the right. What happened?

While working construction, Catturd and his builder buddies would listen to Rush Limbaugh on the radio. Because he overwhelmingly agreed with Rush and his arguments against the left, Catturd soon came to realize that he himself was a conservative.

Catturd decided to start tweeting his own opinions and before long found himself internet-famous. His tweets even got under the skin of the high and mighty, such as former U.S. Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.). Catturd posted a cartoon mocking the congressman’s support of the war in the Ukraine, and this started a heated tweet exchange. Kinzinger threatened to punch Catturd’s lights out if ever they met on the field of battle.

Now why would a relatively small player in the culture wars be used here as an example of pushback against the Taylor Swifts of the world?

I think it comes down to what’s going on behind the scenes.

The left controls all the big messaging outlets known as the mainstream media. But the right seems to have a whole army of rabble-rousers behind the scenes in social media. In political days of yore (Nixon in the 1970s), the term “silent majority” referred to the folks who were a strong, powerful motivating force in the culture but did not have a media megaphone. Something very similar is stirring today.

Bold, outspoken champions on the right may have been shoved to the sidelines. (Think of Tucker Carlson, whose newfound home on X is roaring like a house on fire.) But add to their continued influence rising stars like Turning Point USA’s Charlie Kirk and mainstays like Glenn Beck and Eric Metaxas (both of whom I have worked with previously), and let’s just say that America’s personal 2024 Super Bowl, this year’s presidential election, is far from played out.

Be encouraged. Our movement is grassroots. And when we can build on the conservative clawing and scratching of a guy named Catturd, anything is possible.