Ever since Bill Clinton was elected president in 1992, actors, singers, and comedians have gained an increasingly more prominent role in national politics. With today’s social networking platforms such as Facebook and Twitter, anyone with a following can pontificate on any subject and be taken seriously by an alarming number of people.
The growing boldness of the performer pundit over two decades has ultimately led to the recent unfortunate incident when Vice President-elect Mike Pence was lectured from the stage by the cast of the Broadway show “Hamilton,” whose members apparently think that donning a white wig makes you an actual statesman. (Similar to Leonardo DiCaprio believing that putting on a pair of black rimmed glasses makes you a climatologist.) This incident constitutes an unfortunate breach of the old Hollywood warning against believing one’s own press.
While entertainers are certainly entitled to their opinions as well as their constitutionally protected right of free speech, the general public would do well to remember that the training and experience these people have, while great for wowing crowds, is vastly different than that needed for writing thoughtful legislation or crafting effective public policy. The ability to twerk doesn’t qualify one to engage in statecraft.
The one ability most successful performers do have is that of moving audiences emotionally. As a matter of fact, emotional appeals are their stock in trade. Hence the problem. While this is a fine quality in the theater or recording studio, it can be a powerful and dangerous weapon when taken out of its proper sphere and applied in other areas, such as politics.
An example of the misdirection of this talent would be the stereotypical Hollywood movie where a single pitiable character is artfully used to demonize an entire industry, people, group or nation.
Although the celebrity pundit has been with us for a while now, the election of Donald Trump to the Oval Office has unleashed an unprecedented torrent of political comment from this group of entertainers, often delivered on Facebook between intermittent periods of hysterical sobbing. One particularly offensive example of this post-election backlash was when Taran Killam of ‘SNL” fame tweeted “rural=so stupid” as a way of condemning Trump voters, people who might also be referred to as half the country. It seems ironic that Killam’s message to his own presumably enlightened Twitter followers possessed the complexity of a scratching on a cave wall.
By making these observations, I don’t mean to suggest that all conservatives are policy experts. There are plenty of people who espouse conservative beliefs who are not qualified to hold key political offices. But neither are they likely to wield an amount of influence that is so disproportionate to their abilities. For whatever reason, true conservatives seldom achieve fame in the various fields of entertainment.
The political sway that is held by pop culture celebrities today is a serious problem because, at bottom, a successful society must rest upon a foundation of order and reason. Laws and public policies must be created with the big picture in mind and also with the understanding that every single citizen will, unfortunately, have some problems that simply can’t be cured by government action, no matter how emotionally stirring their personal stories may be.
While I thoroughly disagree with the philosophies of the political Left, I do readily admit that there are thinkers of that persuasion who have spent countless hours studying, researching, reading and writing on the subjects of government and philosophy. It is not these people I am addressing here but rather the members of the most vacuous wing of the American Left, those who recklessly encourage their legions of followers to ignore the voices of reason in society while inciting them to take action based upon transient feelings.
While emotion is a wonderful human quality and the arts are a valuable component of any society, government is serious business and should be left to serious people.
Judge Eddie Vines is a district court judge in Alabama. Thinking of submitting an op-ed to the Washington Examiner? Be sure to read our guidelines on submissions.
