A few weeks after her moral preening and posturing at the Golden Globes, when she portrayed herself and her fellow jet-setting Hollywood millionaires as the most vilified section of American society, Meryl Streep’s new “poor me” violin concerto has tugged at the left’s heartstrings once again – this time at Waldorf Astoria in New York, during her acceptance of the National Ally for Equality Award from the Human Rights Campaign, an advocacy group for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender issues.

It’s terrifying to put the target on your forehead, and it sets you up for all sorts of attacks and armies of brownshirts...