Witness the reaction to actor Brad Pitt's mother, Jane, who publicly opposed President Obama's re-election. Mrs. Pitt's pro-life, anti-gay marriage statement to her local paper last week enflamed the Tolerance Mob. And her mere expression of dissident political views exposed the glittering hypocrisy of the left-wing "No H8" campaign.
In a letter to the editor for Missouri's Springfield News-Leader, Mrs. Pitt responded to another reader who argued that Christians should not support Mitt Romney because of his Mormon faith. Arguing for interfaith tolerance, she praised Romney's "high morals" and "business experience." The celebrity mom urged "prayerful consideration" from fellow Christians before voting for Obama -- "a man," she pointed out, "who sat in Jeremiah Wright's church for years, did not hold a public ceremony to mark the National Day of Prayer, and is a liberal who supports the killing of unborn babies and same-sex marriage."
Self-appointed Tinseltown anti-bigotry cops blew their tops. The Hollywood Reporter labeled Mrs. Pitt's letter "anti-gay." Gossip website Global Grind, founded by rap mogul Russell Simmons, called her "homophobic." Perez Hilton, an L.A.-based gossip website operator and hanger-on to the stars who fronts the "No H8" gay-marriage movement in California, pounced on Mrs. Pitt as "mommy dearest."
Hilton angrily scrawled across a photo of Mrs. Pitt with her son: "A vote for Romney is a vote for God." After taking obligatory potshots at Christians, Hilton, who calls himself the "queen of all media," fumed: "Ugh! How can one woman birth such a beautiful boy, but have such unattractive views???"
You want ugly? Hilton knows ugly. He's the same trash-mouth blogger and former beauty pageant judge who attacked Miss USA contestant Carrie Prejean with misogynistic profanities in 2009 because she said she opposed legalizing gay marriage at the federal level in favor of states' rights to put the question up for a vote. "She lost not because she doesn't believe in gay marriage," Hilton railed. "She lost because she's a dumb bitch!"
You want ugly? When word of Mrs. Pitt's letter spread on social media late last week, Twitter lit up with a stream of death threats, smears and slurs. My Twitter curation site, Twitchy.com, compiled just some of the vile bile aimed at Mrs. Pitt for supporting traditional values and standing up for the unborn:
"BRAD PITT'S MOM WROTE AN ANTI-GAY PRO-ROMNEY EDITORIAL. KILL THE B***H."
"Brad Pitt's mom, die"
"F*** you, Brad Pitt's mom. The gay community made your kid a star, you whacko."
"Brad Pitt's mother...what a brainless old b***h..."
"Brad Pitt's Mom Slams Obama, Gays. That stand makes her a deluded, dumba** Fascist Repuke"
"I hope Brad Pitt has been supporting his mother and decides to cut her off. What a b***h."
"Brad Pitt's mom can choke on a (redacted)."
The usual civility police were in their usual place when the No H8 bullies mauled Mrs. Pitt: nowhere to be found. Brad Pitt also has been silent so far. His brother, Doug, did try, if a bit too meekly, to defend his mom on Monday in an interview with NBC's "Today" show:
"You know, I think moms and dads and kids agree to disagree all over the world. So why would our family be any different?" he said. "There can be healthy discussion when people disagree with you. The bad thing is when it turns to venom and negativity, and we don't have that in our family. It's open discussion. We can learn from each other, and if anything, it solidifies your point. Or maybe you learn something."
Learn something from us "deluded, dumba** Fascist Repukes"? Heaven forfend. The overwhelming majority of Hollywood libs live in a fantasyland bubble where every Obama critic is a racist, every pro-life activist is a terrorist and every defender of traditional marriage is a Neanderthal. Hold a mirror up to their hatred, and they'll call it an incitement to hatred.
Ironically, the iconic "No H8" campaign logo features celebrities with their mouths taped shut with duct tape to symbolize how they've purportedly been silenced. It's classic psychological projection from the practitioners of repressive tolerance.