The Reality Check

New Orleans Tragedy Not Worthy of Hollywood Millions

by Doug Patton

When the Left was using Cindy Sheehan to stage a political vigil outside the Bush ranch in Crawford, Texas, celebrities past and present came out to share the limelight. Peace movement dinosaur Joan Baez showed up. So did television president Martin Sheen.

And when hundreds of thousands of New Orleans residents found themselves displaced by the force of Hurricane Katrina, we got more of the same from the vacuous numbskulls of Hollywood.

California businessman David Perez looked at the misery on television and saw an opportunity to reach into his own pocket and pay $200,000 to charter a Boeing 737 to fly in food and water and to fly out evacuees.

Hollywood looked at the devastation in New Orleans and saw yet another opportunity to shine the spotlight on themselves.

Perez, chairman and chief operating officer of Surge Global Energy Corp., says God has blessed him financially. He says he is counting on his company’s drilling operations to pay his credit card bills for the relief effort. Otherwise, he says, he will take out a second mortgage on his San Diego home to foot the bill. He also says there may be additional flights to alleviate the suffering. This is a hard-working businessman doing good things for his fellow human beings.

Contrast his attitude with that of the twits from tinsel town, whose answer to tragedy is to throw a benefit concert to be broadcast to the world and to demand that the federal government do more.

These people are paid obscene amounts of money for pretending to be someone else on our large and small screens. They are among the wealthiest people in our society. They are also among the most liberal, and the most likely to politicize any tragedy that will embarrass George W. Bush.

As I searched for evidence of these elitist snobs digging into their own pockets, ala David Perez, I found a headline telling me about “action” being taken by Angelina Jolie. “Jolie Takes Action Over Storm Aid Efforts,” Hollywood.com tells us. Her “action”? She has written letters to Congress and the White House urging more federal help. Really. That’s it.

At a concert broadcast on NBC last week, rapper Kanye West played the race card. “George Bush doesn’t care about black people,” West said. According to West, “we already realized a lot of people that could help are at war right now, fighting another way, and they’ve given them permission to go down and shoot us.” This remark apparently was in reference to a “shoot to kill” order finally given to deal with violent gangs who had been shooting at rescue workers. No word on how much of West’s own ample personal resources were donated to the relief effort.

Another headline read, “Hollywood Rallies to Help Hurricane Victims.” The article went on to inform me that “singers, actors and entertainers from Hollywood will be featured in a fundraising special charity concerts for the thousands of Americans whose lives lay in shatters after the devastation of Hurricane Katrina.

“Some, like Britney Spears,” the article continued, “have also announced that they will offer their prayers for the victims. In a posting on her website, the 23-year-old Louisiana native writes that her ‘thoughts and prayers go out to everyone’ in the states along the devastated Gulf Coast.”

Apparently, celebrities are not inclined to dig into their own pockets like David Perez is doing. They are much too preoccupied with promoting themselves while pointing fingers at the President of the United States.

Imagine what the elites of America’s entertainment industry could do with just a week’s worth of the resources they squander on their decadent lifestyles. Imagine if they were just interested in giving. Just imagine.

Doug Patton is a freelance columnist who has served as a political speechwriter and policy advisor for federal, state and local candidates, elected officials and public policy organizations. His weekly column can be read in newspapers across the country and on selected Internet web sites, including www.TheConservativeVoice.com and www.GOPUSA.com, where he also serves as the Nebraska editor. Write him at dpatton@neonramp.com.

The opinions expressed in this column represent those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions, views, or philosophy of TheRealityCheck.org, Inc.