A Hush Over Hollywood by Pat Sajak

In A Hush Over Hollywood, Pat Sajak wonders why Hollywood is silent about the murder of Theo van Gogh. Pat supposes that there would be a great outcry over a similar murder of someone who'd spoken out against anti-abortion activists. He notes no outcry over the murder of someone who spoke against the treatment of women in Islamic countries, and he offers three explanations for the silence:

1. Fear for themselves.
2. Criticism of the murder is criticism of Islam.
3. Criticizing the murder implies agreement with President Bush.

It's a relay race of limping thoughts. There's barely time to notice one idea's leg-to-stand-on problem before it's on to the next idea.

Let me start by wondering who is this "Hollywood" you speak of? Is it the naval aviator played by Whip Hubley in the 1986 smash hit "Top Gun"? Maybe he's thinking of that guy who played Merlin in the same movie. Whether he's thinking of a character or an actor, he doesn't say, but he asks the reader to "picture" some metaphorical "Hollywood" doing something which he doesn't say ever happened.

Let me be clear. There's no Hollywood; there are only people within Hollywood. If some people in Hollywood have something to say about a murder, that's fine with me. If some people in Hollywood say nothing about a murder, that's fine with me too. I have my own opinion about murder, and it doesn't change according to whether I talk about it.

I don't think it's fair to Whip or to Tim to lump them together and assume they have the same views merely because they work in the same place. It's downright idiotic to infer what they think about a murder based on statements they haven't made.

I don't know why entertainers (besides Pat Sajak and Bridget Johnson and Rush Limbaugh) haven't said much about the murder of Theo van Gogh. If I had to guess, I'd say it was ignorance. Y'know, "Don't attribute to malice" and all that.

Complain about what celebrities say, and I may disagree, but I at least recognize some worthwhile debate there. But to complain about what celebrities don't say? My mind reels.