Why Kim K. went to the White House

Never change, New York Post:

It’s the kind of story that could only exist in the crazy year of 2018, but Kardashian’s visit was actually in the service of a noble cause:

The mother-of-three requested the White House meeting after hearing about the plight of Alice Marie Johnson on social media late last year.

“This is so unfair,” Kardashian tweeted in October 2017, along with a link to an interview Johnson, 63, did on Mic.com.

Sources told The Post that Kardashian argued that Johnson — a Memphis great-grandmother convicted of a drug conspiracy — had paid her debt to society after 21 years behind bars and deserves clemency.

The meeting went “well,” sources said, and now the decision is in Trump’s hands.

After the meeting, Kardashian headed to Ivanka and Jared’s DC home for a private dinner.

It was to be a continuation of the White House meeting, since Kushner is a passionate advocate for criminal justice reform after living through his father’s imprisonment.

Usually, liberals say they’re concerned about the United States having the highest incarceration rate in the world, but on Twitter their top priority is laughing at and mocking a much-maligned, vapid celebrity.  And also Kim Kardashian.

Actually, not just on Twitter.  Also CNN:

…one particular CNN reporter didn’t take this prison reform summit seriously.

During a panel discussion on both Trump and the White House’s reaction to the Roseanne Barr controversy, Acosta slammed the “lack of seriousness” coming from the president.

“Forget about the fact that Kim Kardashian is here at the White House today and what planet that is anything resembling normal because it’s not. She shouldn’t be here talking about prison reform. It’s very nice that she is here but that’s not a serious thing to have happen here at the White House.”

[…]

Besides the fact that Acosta never took issue with the countless celebrities that had visited the White House under President Obamaincluding Beyoncé and Jay Z, George Clooney, Oprah Winfrey, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Bradley Cooper, Rihanna, and Zach Galifianakis, Acosta seems to have forgotten about his own 2015 interview with singer John Legend.

Acosta sat down with the Grammy-winning artist and discussed his music, Black Lives Matter, and yes, prison reform, something Legend at the time was planning on meeting with Obama about. And Acosta was genuinely engaged with Legend during the interview and took him seriously not only as an entertainer but as a political thinker.

The same can’t be said about his treatment of Kim Kardashian.

So why the drastic attitude change?

If your argument is that Legend is some intellect singer-songwriter and Kardashian is some air-headed reality star, that misses the point. Look at what they have in common; they’re A-list celebrities with huge followings who have sincere passions that involve politics and in this case, both are using their celebrity status on prison reform. And despite her husband’s recent outspoken support for Trump, Kardashian and Legend backed Hillary Clinton during the 2016 election. Which begs the question why Acosta would take one seriously and not the other.

You know my feelings about Trump.  But if he can be President, why can’t Kim Kardashian help nudge the United States toward criminal justice reform?  It wouldn’t be crazier than everything else that’s happened these past few years.