The Patriot Post® · Last Conservative Standing

As “50 Shades of Grey” proved, Hollywood considers nothing to be sin. Wait, there is one thing. In a scenario that smacks of a bad re-run, Tinseltown has again taken aim at one of its own for the unthinkable offense of not being liberal.

Tim Allen, the comedic star of “Last Man Standing” and “Home Improvement,” has gotten a lot of flak for telling Jimmy Kimmel what it’s like to be conservative in Hollywood. “You’ve got to be real careful around here,” Allen said. “You get beat up if [you] don’t believe what everybody believes. This is like ‘30s Germany. I don’t know what happened. If you’re not part of the group — [They say,] 'You know, what we believe is right’ — I go, ‘Well, I might have a problem with that.’”

Twitter went, well, atwitter over the remarks, with some criticizing Allen for the Nazi comparison and others simply blasting him for supposing he’s oppressed despite his millions of dollars.

First of all, Allen’s a comedian and he was making a joke, which Kimmel and his audience thought was funny.

That said, comparing anything that does not involve the mass, systematic extermination of an entire population to Hitler or Nazi Germany isn’t usually a good idea. Of course, that hasn’t stopped the Left from comparing Trump (and every other Republican or conservative) to Hitler early and often. Cher, Ashley Judd, Sarah Silverman and Spike Lee are just a handful of the many Hollywood leftists to compare Trump to Hitler in recent months. And they weren’t joking.

The definition of “Nazi” is not “that person or idea I don’t like.”

More to the point, Allen’s observation regarding Hollywood’s disdain for conservatives is grounded in fact. For an industry that crosses every boundary in its films and praises itself as the god of tolerance, it’s pretty intolerant of anyone who disagrees with the leftist mindset.

Take, for example, the case of actor Antonio Sabato Jr., who has appeared on shows including “Dancing with the Stars,” “The Bold and the Beautiful, ” and “Charmed.” Last year, he shared the rejection he’s faced for his non-liberal political views: “For the last seven-and-a-half years, I’ve seen this country led by a leader that’s made mistakes. I spoke my mind about it. But because I’m in the industry, you can’t talk about that. The media and the liberals act the way they act: They will back up the president until the end. It’s been interesting. I’ve had fantastic directors who have said officially to my agents and managers they will never hire me again. They will never even see me for projects. That’s unfair. It’s just like Communism.”

Stacy Dash, who starred in “Clueless” and “Renaissance Man,” had a similar story: “My acting opportunities have ceased because of my political beliefs. I’m being persecuted in Hollywood. I’ve been blacklisted. My agents have dropped me. I haven’t auditioned in over a year because of my beliefs and what I stand for.”

And Musician Joy Villa has been the subject of numerous attacks for daring to wear a “Make America Great Again” dress to the 2017 Grammy’s.

Even non-Republicans recognize being labeled an “R” has consequences — so much that they’ve seen the need to deny rumors to that effect. As Newsmax reported several year ago, after rumors swirled, “Desperate Housewives” star Terri Hatcher’s attorney told the media, “Please be advised that Ms. Hatcher is not a Republican.” Actress Mandy Moore’s publicist issued an even stronger denial: “Mandy is not, nor has she ever been, a Republican.”

Of course, Hollywood blacklisting is legendary. In the era of McCarthyism, dozens of actors, screenwriters, producers and directors were summoned before the House Un-American Activities Committee. On suspicion of communist sympathies, some lost their careers.

Hollywood today may be more appalled that the mid-20th-century blacklist targeted communists than that it existed at all. After all, finding a communist in Hollywood today is surely easier than finding a Republican. (And heaven forbid Hollywood formally renounce communism — or any other ‘ism’ other than capitalism. After all, they’re tolerant, remember?)

Yet, for all its talk of broad-minded acceptance, Hollywood has hung a scarlet letter around the necks of those who dare voice conservative opinions. It’s little wonder many Hollywood conservatives have gone underground with their political beliefs, congregating with other like-minded industry professionals through the Friends of Abe, a low-profile group where right-of-center Hollywood professionals can speak freely without fear of retaliation.

After all, in Hollywood, as in so many other elitist-populated arenas such as academia and journalism, diversity of thought is a beautiful thing — provided it all looks exactly the same.