Double standard?

Since J-Lo performed for the ruthless dictator of Turkmenistan,  she has been the butt of many jokes.

Lopez performed a birthday serenade for the President of Turkmenistan. President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow is accused of human rights abuses in Turkmenistan. He is a ruthless dictator.

Sure, it was a last minute request and she was being paid a million dollars to perform her concert at a non-politcal event hosted by China National Petroleum Corporation, but is that an excuse? If she were Paula Deen, she would have been strung up. Somehow, the news of this unacceptable behavior was swept under the rug.

Deen was born in the South some 60 years ago when segregation was alive and well. I defy you to find a white person, other than civil rights movement organizations, who didn't use the "N" word during that time. It, unfortunately, was a term used by the majority of white people at that time.

I'm not saying that using the word was a good thing, but it's overkill to destroy her life over it. If her career is being dismantled, why does Lopez skate through untouched? Might it be race? I don't know, I just don't understand which is worse; a woman from the South, behaving as Southerners did in that day, or another woman singing Happy Birthday to a known ruthless dictator.

According to NPR, Here's how the State Department's latest human rights report about the Central Asian nation of Turkmenistan begins:

"Although the constitution declares Turkmenistan to be a secular democracy and a presidential republic, the country has an authoritarian government controlled by the president, Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov."

And the report goes on to say that "security officials tortured and beat criminal suspects, prisoners, and individuals deemed critical of the government to extract confessions and as a form of punishment."

Human Rights Watch calls the former Soviet republic's government one of "the most repressive in the world." It reports that "unknown numbers of people languish in the country's notoriously abusive prisons on what appear to be politically motivated charges."

The CIA World Factbook says that while "Turkmenistan held its first multi-candidate presidential election in February 2007," its elections have "lacked the freedoms necessary to create a competitive environment."

I'm not saying that Lopez should have her career dismantled over it, but clearly a million dollars can cause one to skip the homework. In my opinion, Lopez should donate the money to human rights organizations and move on. She already apologized and appears to have been instantly forgiven. I think Paula Deen should be afforded the same treatment.

See you tomorrow.