We interrupt this blog about Hilary Duff, "Napoleon Dynamite" and Britney Spears to make this simple request:

Can we stop with the g.d. Associated Press reports about C-list celebrities and their views on Bush or Kerry?

Linda Ronstadt, Whoopi Goldberg and Bonnie Raitt all have been singled out in the press recently for their anti-Bush views. So, who's next? Bonnie Hunt? Bonnie Franklin? Will there be a Republican boycott of "One Day At a Time" reruns on TV Land? Is anyone safe from this witch hunt?

I don't blame Republicans so much as lazy journalists for this media shitstorm over Linda Ronstadt's comments during her show at the Aladdin Hotel. The casino's president had an axe to grind with Ronstadt, exaggerated the anarchy of "drinks being thrown, posters being torn down" after she praised Michael Moore, and he turned it into a great publicity stunt for his financially strapped hotel. Good for him.

Meanwhile, the AP reporter (no doubt anxious for some pickup in the New York Post) gobbled it up and, under a tight deadline, didn't bother checking to see if any of this really happened. Some concert goers later said the response was a mix of boos and cheers, pretty much what you hear every time some star rants about politics onstage. Big effing deal.

A similar incident happened last year, when an Associated Press reporter described a near-riot atmosphere during a Pearl Jam show, when Eddie Vedder "impaled" a mask of George W. Bush on his microphone stand. And just like Ronstadt, it later turned out that the crowd reaction was exaggerated.

In conclusion, AP should stick to what it knows best: Stories about chickens disrupting traffic and barracuda attacks.