Why We Still Aren’t Into Ellen’s Friendship with George W. Bush
graphic courtesy of nina bridges
When it comes to a wealthy talk show host defending herself being friends with a war criminal, there’s a lot to unpack. The talk show host is, of course, Ellen DeGeneres, and the war criminal, although not acknowledged as such by most Americans, is George W. Bush. The president that led a war against ‘terrorism’ by invading Iraq on the premise that they were hiding weapons of mass destruction, without evidence.
On a segment of the Ellen Show, Ellen makes a monologue about taking pride in her friendship with 43rd president of the United States, George W. Bush because we should accept people and be kind no matter what. Unsurprisingly, the video went viral. It was shared thousands of times by both liberals and conservatives and another growing group of political ideology that believes radical is the new ‘woke’.
Since Donald Trump’s presidency, there have been rallying cries to accept and befriend people with different ideologies than us and there is definitely value in that. But there is a difference between having a friend who thinks that maybe taxes should be a bit lower, and having a friend who chose to destabilize a whole country for a war that is still going on 16 years later. A war that resulted in over half a million civilian deaths in Pakistan, Iraq, and Pakistan. A war that killed over 100 Pakistani children in drone strikes between 2004 and 2009. Not to mention the creation of a detention camp that was considered a violation of human rights by Amnesty International due to detention without trial and methods of torture.
Ellen identifies herself as gay, but she fails to recognize her privilege as one of the richest and most influential talk show hosts in the United States. What is particularly jarring is the way Ellen says, “We’re all different. And I think that we’ve forgotten that that’s okay that we’re all different.” She continues, “When I say be kind to one another, I don’t mean only the people that think the same way that you do. I mean be kind to everyone.” As a white Hollywood celebrity, it seems like Ellen may never understand the consequences of Bush’s actions in the Middle East.
Of course, Ellen is not to blame for the actions of one man and the celebrities applauding Ellen’s video deserve criticism as well. But as someone with such a massive platform, Ellen should be held accountable for trivializing Bush’s war crimes as a different ideology rather than deliberate acts of violence.
Political ideology is a direct reflection of your values and the people you care about. Political ideologies reflect which rights someone thinks should belong to certain groups of people and the way in which these groups should be treated. When people support a president whose political ideolgies led to the death and torture of hundreds of thousands of people, it is longer a matter of kindness. Kindness is not earned by those with political beliefs that directly lead to violence against marginalized populations.