Ellen DeGeneres Defended Herself (But She Really Should Not Have Had To Do So)

‘Why should Ellen have to defend her friendship with George W. Bush?’

Imagine being so sensitive that seeing someone you love getting along with someone you hate triggers your emotions. It sounds like a scene out of some John Hughes flick from the 80s. Actually, this scenario could be pulled out of many movies about the high school experience. A place where hormones rage and irrational teenage minds (genuinely believing that they are in love) react irrationally to their ‘lovers’ or the person of their fantasy. They believe that this person is incapable of hurting them or doing wrong.

You would expect to find this kind of over-sensitivity there. However, it is a shame to see this kind of scenario play out on social media with supposed adults.

So, replace the irrational teenager with an irrational adult and their “lover” with a beloved television star, then you will have what we have just seen when Ellen DeGeneres decided to show herself seated beside former president George W. Bush at a football game.

Everyone loves Ellen! It is apparent though that it is not an unconditional love. It is a love that appears to be expressed as Ms. DeGeneres sticks to only being in the company of fellow supporters of all things that are progressive and LGBTQ-centered.

She is not ever to be seen interacting with conservatives and enjoying time with them. Then, she may be loved, but with a caveat.

So, she had to explain why she was hanging out with Bush.

The talk show host and comedienne was being respectable on her part. Nevertheless, it just shows where we are as a society when you have to defend mingling with others that are not of your political and social ilk.

It is not as if she had been fraternizing with a dictator. Think of Dennis Rodman hob-knobbing with Kim Jong-un. It is clearly reasonable (or necessary) to explain one’s motive for keeping company with an enemy of your country.

It is illogical that one should need to provide an explanation in such a case like the one with DeGeneres and Bush.

Ellen DeGeneres appears to have never enrolled in the Hollywood School of Politics and Chivalry, where the major ethic could be interpreted as never commune with the enemy. Some stars are so against their perceived enemy that they would dismiss a fan if they verbalized an opposing view. God forbid a fan actually voted for a Republican! Then, it is possible that you would be written off as a fan because you had committed a cardinal sin.

Let us also consider another scenario that many believe and actor, Mark Ruffalo, is now receiving attention for proclaiming: Bush is some kind of war criminal. Momentarily, let us see through the lens of Ruffalo and accept such a belief. The question should be asked: should we call out the sins of all former presidents and not show them any respect as well? Regardless of party?

So, should Ruffalo and others criticize Obama as well for things done during his presidency? Sure, Ruffalo called out Obama on his climate change views.

But what about Obama and his administration possibly throwing a wrench in the plans of certain law enforcement agencies hoping to go after Iranian-backed terrorist group Hezbollah for their trafficking of drugs and weapons? Per a Politico investigation, this was done while the Obama’s administration desired to secure a nuclear deal with Iran.

What about criticizing Obama’s Iran Deal for including the release of individuals who were considered threats against the United States’ national security? Then, take a look at the problems that surrounded Obamacare and his pulling of all troops out of Iraq and the subsequent rise of terrorism, specifically the terrorist group – ISIL, in the area.

Any informed American citizen can find problems with a president that they were not typically a fan of.

At the heart of all this hoopla surrounding who DeGeneres was beside, the unhealthy manner in which political discourse is had in modern society. If we continue on the trajectory, then civil discourse will truly be an idea from the past. Additionally, there may come a time where a particular kind of view and opinion is squashed altogether and the DeGenereses of the future may receive a harsh punishment from their political ideological family.

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