American Idolatry

In case you didn't see the premiere of American Idol last week, you missed quite a spectacle. The finale of one of the shows was a young skinny guy wearing women's jeans, shirt, shoes and accessories, with a women's haircut. The judges were all quite confused, and I'm sure much of the rest of the country was as well. The guy's audition was horrendous, of course. But when he got rejected and left the audition room, he began complaining to any available camera that he had been discriminated against. He was "ashamed to be an American" if this is the way that we treat people who are different. I've got news for you, buddy. You were rejected because you SUCK.
This has become a major problem in this country. Anytime someone who feels different from the "norm" (whatever that is) gets passed over for a job or called out on something, they immediately yell discrimination, regardless of the actual reason for their loss.
Michael Jackson was not prosecuted because he was black (though he's not), but because he molested children. OJ Simpson was not prosecuted because he was black, but because he murdered his wife and her man-friend. Matthew Shepard was not murdered because he was gay, but because he had money. Ellen's sitcom wasn't cancelled because she was gay, but because people stopped watching it. And this wack job was not rejected for American Idol because he dresses like a girl, but because he can't sing.
Crying wolf like this doesn't make cases of actual discrimination any easier to deal with. It's just like saying President Bush is Hitler. Until he starts rounding up people by the millions for extermination, the only thing such rhetoric does is water down the real meaning of such a reference so that when the next Hitler actually comes along, no one notices.