Anyone who’s seen Bravo’s "Top Chef" knows Tom Colicchio. He’s a man who knows how to cook and a man who knows good food. And, while his taste buds work magnificently, he’s apparently politically tone deaf. In the wake of Representative Giffords' shooting last weekend he served up a dish that turned the majority of the country’s stomach. He wrote on Twitter:
Sarah Palin had Rep Gifford in her crosshairs. She is now officially dangerous.
Tom later claimed he was "caught up in the moment," but is that true? He lists The Huffington Post and MSNBC as his primary source of news, and they aren’t exactly known to be way stations for the level-headed. Even if it were true, should he be allowed to slide so easily? Would he grant leniency to a conservative in a similar situation? After all, Tom has over 79,000 Twitter followers—including the liberal singer Pink, who retweeted the sickening amuse-bouche to her nearly 3 million followers!
Why is it that liberal artists and celebrities get to say whatever they want and claim it doesn’t affect society at large, while conservatives have to walk on eggshells, hoping that the pot-induced slumber of a crazy kid in Tucson, Arizona isn’t turned into a gun blazing rage because Sarah Palin went fast and loose with her use of gerunds?
As Rush Limbaugh aptly put it the other day, artists, writers, and pundits didn’t wonder aloud whether runaway liberalism played a role in the attempted assassination of President Reagan. There weren’t calls to replace liberal rage with the Laffer Curve. No one questioned whether rhetoric needed to be reined in. It was a tragic event that thankfully had a happy ending (for everyone but the Soviet Union and Communist thugs around the globe). But today it’s a different story.
Liberal celebrities like Mr. Colicchio have an itchy trigger finger when it comes to the Tea Party because they want to believe their deepest, darkest fears are true. (Perhaps I should rephrase that or a vagrant Kurt Vonnegut fan might be moved to violence.) Town hall meetings were said to have a “mob mentality.” Tea Party rallies always focused on the percent of white people who populated them, as if white hoods and torches were broken out and black androids were turned off the moment the sun went down. The last I checked, Andrew Breitbart was still waiting to give out $100,000 if to anyone who can produce video of a Tea Party member hurling racial epithets at Rep. John Lewis.
To the Tom Colichhios of the world, it’s never mind 14 trillion dollar deficits. Never mind healthcare mandates that were unconstitutional to all but Nancy “Are you serious?” Pelosi. Never mind presidential pronouncements that the United States was exceptional just like “the Brits believe in British exceptionalism and the Greeks believe in Greek exceptionalism.” The rhetoric of the Tea Party movement isn’t inflammatory because it actually is. It most certainly is not. It’s only inflammatory to liberals because technology has forced them to debate the issues—and they’re losing.
And speaking of losing, if this was Top Chef I’d tell Tom to pack up his knives and go home. The Tea Party? You’ve won the Libeal Media Feeding Frenzy Challenge and will be going to the next round. I’ll see you in 2012.
