Shades of pink and grey

Bill Whittle divides the world into two tribes--the pink and the grey--in an effort to explain the divisive state of our country today. The piece is rather long, but interesting.

Basically, the pink tribe is in denial about the existence of evil in the world, while the grey tribe acknowledges evil--and acts accordingly. These tribes are further divided into sheep, sheepdogs and wolves.

Here's something that struck me about the piece:

I simply do what millions and millions and millions of my fellow Americans do every day ... They step up to the plate, ... donate their time, their money, their food, their cars and their houses every single day, and ask and expect nothing in return, while a few miles away from me in Brentwood millionaire movie stars throw fabulous parties to remind each other how swell they are, then waltz out into their chauffeured limos with their tens or hundreds of millions of dollars firmly in place, feeling good that they had the chance to really make a difference by raising awareness of whichever cause they feel will most make up for their feelings of inadequacy and guilt by showing both themselves and us just how much better people they really are.

What kind of money could Barbra and Martin and Tim and Susan and Gwenneth and George and Steven and Viggo and Linda and Harvey and Brad and Angelina and Ben and all the rest – how much could they really put together, if they actually believed what they say – not to mention the cash available to the Malodorous Michigan Manatee of Mendacity? What kind of check could they write? $500 million would be less than 10% of every outspoken celebrities' combined wealth. That money could take every poor person in LA county and put them into much nicer apartments than the one I live in. They could, at a stroke, shame the President, the Congress, and the evil NeoCon warmongers by putting every displaced person in New Orleans in a Marriott for a year. They claim this is the kind of better human they have evolved into.

Since Hollywood became Hollywood, we've always worshipped movie stars in one way or another. Yet 65 years ago, when we were fighting against Germany and Japan, Hollywood considered itself a part of the war effort. Frank Capra produced propaganda. Carole Lombard died in a plane crash returning from a war bond rally. And Jimmy Stewart enlisted in the Air Force as a pilot, earned several medals and remained in the reserves until 1959. And he wasn't the only actor to serve.

All of this has been said before, of course. But at what point did Hollywood become a separate nation?