Manufactured outrage du jour

Two ridiculous examples of fabricated indignation from the right:

1.)

Last night at an Obama fundraiser Robert DeNiro quipped, “Callista Gingrich. Karen Santorum. Ann Romney. Now do you really think our country is ready for a white first lady?”

Mr. Gingrich was not amused, demanding the president apologize.

“It is exactly wrong, it divides the country,” the former House speaker said. “If people on the left want to talk about radio talk show hosts, then everybody in the country ought to hold the president accountable when somebody at his event says something as utterly, totally unacceptable as Robert De Niro said last night, and I call on the president to apologize for him.”

Regrettably, the first lady’s press secretary apologized, saying the joke “was inappropriate.”

2.)

A Republican Jewish group is demanding an apology from senior Obama campaign adviser David Axelrod after he referred to Mitt Romney’s ad campaign in Illinois as “the Mittzkrieg.” …

“At a time when there is so much talk about the need for civility in political discourse, it is disturbing to see President Obama’s top campaign adviser casually throw Nazi imagery around in reference to a Republican candidate for president,”  the group said in a statement. “Holocaust and Nazi imagery are always inappropriate in the political arena. Axelrod should apologize for his offensive language.”

I trust the Republican Jewish Coalition has lodged similar complaints with every sports announcer who’s ever termed a pass rush a blitz.

By the way, Axelrod is Jewish.

Related articles

• Republican Jewish Coalition Denounces Axelrod’s ‘Mittzkrieg’ Tweet: Nazi Imagery ‘Always Inappropriate’ (mediaite.com)
• First Lady Aide Scolds Robert De Niro, Calls White First Lady Joke ‘Inappropriate’ (mediaite.com)