The Hypocrisy of Bashing Celebrities' Politics as Sport

I'm no fan of celebrity news taking precedence over 'real' news, but I am continually surprised at the double standard our mainstream American media take when it comes to celebrities' political views. Celebrities who wave the flag and say, "I support our troops," are not only tolerated, but celebrated (hence the term 'celebrity'), while those who dare step outside the carefully proscribed and prescribed bounds are virtually lynched.

The latest virtual lynch mob is feasting on Rosie O'Donnell. What did she do? She posted photos on her website that show her daughter dressed in a costume featuring a bullet sash. Everyone has been quick to call her 'sick' and polish off their best this-time-she's-gone-too-far! pious speeches.

http://abcnews.go.com/US/story?id=3322991&page=1

In this ABC News story, several 'experts' immediately spring from hiding and attack Rosie for her disgusting political beliefs:

[excerpt from news story linked above]

"People don't like children being used for political messages because they know the children aren't choosing to be involved," said Mark Weaver, Republican message strategist and professor at the University of Akron.

Are you fucking kidding me? Republican and Democratic strategists alike use kids to sell their messages. Are you telling me that the little girl in Ronald Reagan's 'Morning in America' campaign in 1984 waving a small American flag in a field of yellow poppies chose to be involved? And did people not like her 'being used for political messages'?

This is a classic case of accusing your enemy of doing something that you yourself do, and it's so transparent that anyone reading this ABC News article is immediately sickened and feels his intelligence insulted.

People accused Martin Luther King, Jr. and American civil rights activists in the 1960s of deliberately putting their children in the face of police dogs and fire hoses. When Americans see Palestinian children protesting nonviolently, they say, 'Look at that, a whole 'nother generation being brainwashed. How can those parents do that to their children?' without realising that when sane people see tiny white kids marching in Memorial Day parades in military garb and waving American flags, we think the same thing: Parents --> brainwashing children --> putting them out there on the streets.

The same thing. When you do it, it's inspirational. When a brown person does it, it's psychotic.

Rosie O'Donnell, you are officially a brown person now.