Jane Fonda? Bill Cosby? Let's go protest 77 Year-Olds!

You can feel it in the air. Or rather, smell it. It's Ben-Gay and Jean Nate, wafting at you from aging protesters who have decided that 77 year-olds are a very safe target.

Why should angry Blacks and Latinos have all the fun?

It was a miserable Christmas in which young people "of color" blocked the entrance to department stores and played "dead" in the streets. Some (gasp) shouted from the cheap seats at the St. Louis Opera and began shouting at aging middle-class whites having brunch at mediocre chain restaurants like "The Barking Dog."

HEY? Where's the payback for Older White People? Who can THEY safely protest against, mindful of police brutality and aggressive "security" from the stars? It's not going to be Miley Cyrus or Justin Bieber, leading young people into debauchery, drugs and public nudity. How un-hip. It's not going to be in front of a basketball or football game to protest the latest "star" re-instated after belting his wife or coming off a suspension for abusing hookers.

Why not...ah...pick on a 77 year-old white lady for something she did over 40 years ago? That's SAFE.

And why not pick on a 77 year-old legend who brought the world wholesome laughter and changed the racial views of a nation? HE has already told his audiences not to fight back or shout. That's SAFE.

What fun it is to get up some righteous rage.

What fun it is to get a chance to bellow and shout for a cause...as long as it's not likely to get you hauled off to jail for disturbing the peace.

Pop Ben-Gay and Mom Jean Nate, maybe they protested against important things years and years ago. It could've been the Vietnam War, or "The Bomb" or abortion (for or against), or anti-fur or pro-civil rights. Now? Nothing much appeals to them. There's too much risk for confrontation. As you get older, you don't want to march a lot. You definitely don't want to end up hauled to the slammer overnight without a Depend available, or pay a fine that could better be spent on boner pills or vagina lubricant.

And so, Ladies and Gents, it's "Let's Harass 77 Year-Olds!"

Even if you choose to believe everything horrible about them, the good they have done outweighs it, and at this point, neither are doing anything remotely illegal or offensive. "Never forget never forgive" on Jane, for something she's apologized for, is especially creepy, and if you want cowardly, how about the guy who stood in line a few years ago just to spit in her face? He wasn't going to do that to anybody else, was he? A book signing for Bill Clinton or George Bush or whoever? No way.

And Cosby? At this very moment, convicted rapist Mike Tyson is doing a one-man show. Nobody's protesting it. Why? Because he "paid for his crime?" Uh, he continues to deny he is a rapist. No, the reason is that the anti-Cosby people know that Cosby won't fight them. They aren't so sure about Mike Tyson.

Some people put themselves on the line for their cause. They have a Tom Joad vibe. Some just want to let off steam. And some are only going to come out if the target is someone who is 77 years old and very safe to attack.