As Senate Republicans rushed headlong to become a pale imitation of the Democratic Party with a budget vote only a foreign lender could love, Rand Paul decided to take a stand.

The Kentucky senator held up the vote, prompting the usual unwarranted media concern about a shutdown. Despite the nation’s history of surviving government shutdowns quite nicely, a panic tends to set in at the merest hint of one, especially among liberals.

This panic prompted Bette Midler to take to Twitter and offer this hot take on Paul’s actions:

Where’s Rand Paul’s neighbor when we need him? — Bette Midler (@BetteMidler) February 9, 2018

For those with shorter memories, Midler is referring to the neighbor who broke six of Paul’s ribs after assaulting him.

Sure, it is probably a joke. We all know, however, that if a joke like this were directed at a senator who is a Democrat the backlash would be immediate and severe.

A conservative tweeting something like this would almost definitely be suspended from Twitter. The site keeps crowing about its new guidelines to prevent this kind of behavior, but they haven’t seemed to apply to liberals.

The double standard here is not a new one, but that doesn’t mean it shouldn’t be called out when it rears its ugly head. Midler’s celebrity may give her immunity to criticism among liberals, but she isn’t a member of an exalted class to all Americans.

Just to the Twitter brass.

While I am no humor prude and I admit to enjoying pushing the envelope with humor, even I draw the line at making cracks about physical assault. Against anyone. It’s particularly stupid to direct things like this at federal officials.

As I write this, the tweet has been up for four hours and Midler doesn’t seem to be bothered by the criticism of it.