The Kind-Hearted Smart Aleck

I've been troubled by a couple of recent  Huff Post columns I read regarding celebrities, homosexuality, and privacy. Not long ago, actor Tom Hardy, star of the soon-to-be-released film,  Legend ,   was offended when being asked about his sexual orientation by a journalist. In response,  Huff Post blogger Noah Michelson wrote a piece defending the journalist, saying, "There is nothing offensive about asking a public figure about his or her sexual orientation." After Michelson received a great deal of criticism for his post, fellow Huff Post contributor, Michelangelo Signorile, defended his colleague, Noah Michelson, ending his article regarding the matter with the following paragraph: "It's not the media's job to cover up for public figures. And it's certainly not the media's job to send the mixed message to young people that, though they can now get married in any state if they're gay, heterosexuality is glamorous and exciting -- and report...

Alright, what is it with this "real man" talk the past couple of days? It was reported yesterday that a group in Tucson, Arizona was spreading around flyers about an openly gay board member at a school in the area, saying they wanted a "real man" at the position. Then today, the "real man" talk continued - this time courtesy of Republican New Jersey Senate candidate Steve Lonegan. When talking about his opponent - Democrat Cory Booker - Lonegan said the following to Newsmax's Steve Malzberg: "As a guy, I personally like being a guy. I don't know if you saw the stories last year, they've been out quite a bit, about how he likes to go out at three-o'clock in the morning for a manicure and a pedicure. Maybe that helps him get the gay vote, by acting ambiguous. Although I don't like going out in the middle of the night, or any time of day, for manicures and pedicures. It was described as his peculiar fetish, is how it was described...