If you're going to rant, you should be right.

A friend of my dad's was over at the house the other day, ranting. This particular friend only seems to rant: it is his preferred method of communication. After he finished ranting about the war on Christmas, the lack of pro-Bush stories in the media, and about a million other things, he happened to start in on celebrities who are vocal about their beliefs - be they political, moral, etc.

His position was that they should "Shut the F up." Mostly because that's just the way he feels about anybody who disagrees with him, but also because "Nobody really cares about what Susan Sarandon or Sean Penn thinks about anything, and I sure as hell don't want them to tell me what to think about it... Just because they have money doesn't make them qualified to tell people what to do."

I try to avoid this friend for many reasons, his negative outlook on life main among them, but happened to overhear this diatribe. It struck me as odd... although I've heard the argument before, I just don't understand it. To my way of thinking, just because they have money, it doesn't disqualify them from having opinions on the world they live in. Or from doing something about it. Certainly, whatever they choose to do (or not do) is more high profile because of their position in our society, but I don't see that that fact should hinder them from supporting whatever causes they see fit.

And if I believe in a cause, and support it, then why wouldn't I share my opinion with other people? I do that all the time now, in my own little world --- from buying Christmas presents from St. Jude's Hope Catalog to telling everybody I know who shops online about The IGive Shopping Window, which donates a percentage of whatever you buy online (at certain stores) to the cause you select, I tell the people in my life about the causes I care about and support. If I had a larger audience of people, would I stop giving my opinons, my support, my help? I don't think I could, or would want to.

So I think it's pretty ridiculous to suggest that celebrities would or should do any less just becaues they're famous. And I'm obviously not the only one... Check out who's Persons of the Year

Personally, I think if you can make a difference, you should. Period. And everyone can.