"J. Edgar" wuz robbed!

Oscar robbers to Eastwood:  "Hey, pal,
the country demands bipartisanship. 
'J.Edgar' is goin' down."

So says the New Yorker's Richard Brody, a big fan of Eastwood's film.  Brody sees in the movie's Oscar washout an example of accidental bi-partisanship.

"The liberal critique takes the film for a whitewash, due to its omission of some of Hoover's most egregious deeds--such as his involvement in McCarthy era persecutions--and its noncommital stance toward the relationship with his second-in-command Clyde Tolson.  The conservative side is hostile to any suggestion that Hoover might have been a homosexual."  http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/movies/2012/01/the-j-edgar-snub.html

Meanwhile another firestorm has broken out over the last-minute decision of the Academy to present the film the first annual "Edith Head/Edna Mode Award for Best Cover-up of a National Hero" for the film's "discrete (non)use of Hoover's many fashionable frocks." 

Not surprisingly, this has riled conservatives who don't believe rumors, published and otherwise, suggesting the FBI leader was an enthusiastic cross-dresser.  The LGBT community is equally outraged, and according to Carson Kressley, "deeply saddened."   In his prepared statement, the style maven said, "This could have been an occasion for healing, and more importantly, for learning.  Even a chunky right winger can rock a good dress just as hard as any liberal.  Such a missed opportunity."