Who cares what celebrities think?

That's the title of a blog entry at the excellent blog Betsy's Page. Betsy points out that Boston Herald City Editor Jules Crittenden's Op/Ed says exactly how she has feet for a long time:

I’ve been wondering if it is possible for me to describe exactly how much I don’t give a damn what actors think. Or rock stars.

I should state at the outset that when actors lend their celebrity to raise money for cancer research and similar causes, I think it’s wonderful.

On foreign policy, I just don’t give a damn. George Clooney has been almost as incensed about Iraq and the evils perpetrated by the Bush military junta, I mean administration, in the last few years as he was pre-911 about paparazzi paying attention to him. I don’t care.

Well, Betsy & I agree whole heartedly with that POV. The problem though is that the MSM & DNC make it a big deal because most Hollywood elitists are generally in complete agreement with the groupthink of the DNC & MSM.

Since most Americans are awed by celebrities, their political rants present the MSM & DNC excellent opportunities to spread leftist propaganda to the masses. It's just another tool in their vast arsenal. Seriously, next time a leftist celebrity speaks publicly watch how many microphones are jammed into their faces & how many cameras are present. Then a day or two later do a Google search on that celebrity's name. There will be hundreds, if not thousands of hits.

When conservative celebrities speak out the MSM & DNC ignore, dismiss or downplay what they have to say. Do a similar Google search on the conservative celebrity & you can cue the crickets chirping. When they do cover a conservative celebrity watch how often they go find a gaggle of leftist celebrities to counter what the conservative had to say. And no, you won't find conservatives being asked what they think of the rants from their leftist Hollywood peers. That just doesn't fit in the agenda of our leftist media.

Betsy then cites a clip from the ad ran by a bunch of Hollywood celebrities speaking out against terrorism:

A lot of bloggers are excited about the ad that 85 Hollywood stars and other celebrities took out yesterday coming out against terrorists.

"We the undersigned are pained and devastated by the civilian casualties in Israel and Lebanon caused by terrorist actions initiated by terrorist organisations such as Hizbollah and Hamas," the ad reads.

"If we do not succeed in stopping terrorism around the world, chaos will rule and innocent people will continue to die.

"We need to support democratic societies and stop terrorism at all costs."

Betsy nails it when she says:

That's wonderful, but haven't we reached a sorry state that we should be impressed that actors and actresses are actually against terrorists killing innocent civilians? When did it become remarkable for someone to speak in favor of democracy? I'm more depressed that this is considered taking a stand to oppose killing civilians.

However, I think she somewhat misses the point I made above when she continues:

Bloggers such as Powerline and Diana West at Michelle Malkin have noted how little attention their ad has received in the rest of the press. Well, that's the way it should be. No one should care what they think. Of course, if they were taking out a full page ad criticizing Israel or Bush, their ad would probably get national attention. It's a man bites dog story to have celebrities actually say something that makes so much sense. Who'd thunk it?

Don't get me wrong, Betsy's POV is quite correct. We really shouldn't care what most celebrities have to say on foreign policy or other issues where these people have no legitimate expertise. Many of the most outspoken celebrities that the MSM covers have little advanced education or practical experience that would warrant the fawning media coverage they regularly get.

That's why the ad Betsy mentioned got almost no media coverage. Even though this was a genuinely newsworthy item, the MSM has chosen to ignore it. It didn't comport to their leftist agenda. And that's why we see so many fawning media reports when know nothing celebrities spout all manner of leftist opinions. It's just another excuse to indoctrinate the masses.

The MSM knows Betsy's POV is quite valid, but they just don't care. And they won't ever admit it either. They'll keep on doing it as long as they believe it works.