The other night I was watching about Hollywood’s latest snafu in the world of politics.

This latest saga concerns pop star Madonna juxtaposing images of Republican presidential candidate John McCain to the likeness of tyrants, including Adolf Hitler and Zimbabwe Prime Minister Robert Mugabe, during the first show of her Sticky & Sweet tour.

Madonna treated McCain’s opponent, Barack Obama, a little gentler, contrasting his image to the likes of John Lennon, Mahatma Gandhi, Mother Teresa…and even controversial filmmaker Michael Moore.

In my opinion, the latter is the zebra in a herd of horses, but hey, who’s really noticing?

Some where between watching the pundits analyze and both McCain and Obama’s camps condemning the video, I realized I could not conjure up a time in my life that I thought Madonna was cool.

Some of her earlier music I suppose was appealing to me, because, lets face it, the 1980’s Madonna is nothing like the Madonna of today. I believe my grandmother probably quashed my liking of Madonna’s music when she called her “a good for nothing harlot.”

The pop star is no stranger to controversy; after all she has literally made a career out of it. But, to me, it’s a far stretch comparing Hitler to McCain.

In the past, Madonna has been connected to the Kabbalah discipline, which is rooted in Jewish mysticism.

Each one of us that has sat through a high school history class is aware of the horrendous acts that were committed by Hitler’s regime, in which nearly seven million Jews were killed along with six million non-Jews.

The Holocaust is one of the most violent and evil acts in human history and only a handful of other sinister events that have occurred can even come close to being comparable.

So, just because McCain is a Republican and his opinions and policies are conservative (though some will argue he is not a true conservative) he’s the equivalency of Hitler?

Madonna’s comparison is obviously not fair and the fact that she practices a Jewish discipline, she would think twice about conjuring up images of the man who was responsible for the Holocaust.

Madonna’s “subtle” endorsement for the presidential candidate of her choice is really no different than her other celebrity counterparts.

Hollywood has always been notorious for throwing their weight behind any democratic candidate/politician they can get their hands on. And this year is no different.

Obama has it made when it comes to the celebrity culture as not only is he a Democrat, but he has three of the traits all celebrities must have to be successful: good-looking, marketable and young. And the fact that Obama can give a speech on the turn of a dime helps his bid even more.

As I have written many times in my column, I do not affiliate myself with either the Democrats or the Republicans. I’ve always despised the two-party system in this country and I forever will, as neither completely represents what I believe in.

So much emphasis has been place on “unity” in this country, but yet politically (and in many other aspects) we have to achieve it mostly because of pitting Democrats against Republicans and vice versa.

I have yet to decide on which presidential candidate will receive my vote come November 4, but one thing I am sure of, Madonna and her lowly frolics will have no bearing.

Amanda VanDerBroek is a Staff Writer for the Roanoke-Chowan News-Herald. For comments and column suggestions email: amanda.vanderbroek@r-cnews.com or call (252) 332-7209.