Awards shows are a popular arena for comedians to unleash their witty jabs at public figures with little consequence. Celebrities expect to get made fun of at an awards show. They are often seen smiling and waving during the joke, taking it all fairly gracefully.

I have seen very few celebrities who are willing to throw a fit over an award show comedy routine. Unfortunately, there will always be people who get angry over some innocent quip, and for the 2013 Golden Globes, those people were conservative politicians.

The HBO mini-series “Game Change” won three awards at the Golden Globes and portrays the selection of then-Alaska governor Sarah Palin as John McCain’s running mate for the 2008 election. Both Julianne Moore and director Jay Roach made negative comments about Palin in their acceptance speeches, which has left the conservative media in a frenzy. There are complaints, not only about the film winning so many awards just because it supports a liberal agenda, but also about the alleged bullying of Palin during the awards show.

These allegations made by conservatives against the Golden Globes and its participants are just another sad excuse to yell about how mean the liberals are to conservative politicians. The term used by Rush Limbaugh was “bash,” as if Moore and Roach had openly been insulting Palin in their speeches. All that I heard was Moore thanking Tina Fey and Katie Couric for their coverage of Palin.

Roach only made a simple statement of his opinion on Palin’s participation. They expressed their own political affiliations simply and quickly. Neither party focused on Palin for more than a sentence, and for good reason, as they were thanking the people who helped them win their awards.

The conservatives who cry that Palin is being bullied because there is no one to defend her at the Globes are ridiculous. Sarah Palin has chosen to live within the public eye for many years now, and I don’t see why she deserves special treatment over other politicians and celebrities.

I heard celebrities Meryl Streep, James Cameron and Quentin Tarantino all get insulted within the first couple of minutes of Amy Poehler and Tina Fey’s opening monologue, and no one seems to be upset that they were being bullied. It is widely accepted that celebrities are allowed to be called out by comedians, so why are they getting so upset by Sarah Palin in particular?

Perhaps it is because she is a politician and not simply a celebrity, but the outrage still confuses me. Aren’t both liberal and conservative politicians called out and often made fun of by the opposing party’s media every day? I recall the very conservative politicians who are pointing out this injustice using the same techniques that Moore and Roach used to criticize President Obama and other liberal politicians.

Is it also necessary to behave as if the Hollywood Foreign Press Association only gave the series awards because it supports a liberal agenda? Surely, if they wanted to make that point, they could have given it one award. I think it isn’t too hard to consider that the series might actually be good after winning a total of three awards, two of which were for acting. Perhaps if a movie came out with conservative leanings and won awards for being well-made, the GOP wouldn’t be in such a frenzy for blood.

A final argument against the bashing could be made for preserving Palin’s human dignity. Of course she is a human and deserves to be treated with respect, but sadly we cannot make everyone in the world refrain from putting one another down. When you are a celebrity, you are expected to deal with comedic comments often. If Palin’s political party can’t do so, perhaps they aren’t suited to the public positions they occupy.

Kate Haddock is a sophomore in English. Please send comments to [email protected]