Two peas in a fetid pod
This post started as a screed about Juan Williams and the fact the man still feels ok drawing a paycheck from Fox News when the channels biggest star talks about the possibility of going to a lynching party when referring to Michelle Obama.
While pondering Williams' motivations and lack of ethics I thought of Alex Witt, Norah O'Donnell, Tamron Hall and all the other women who work with Chris Matthews and the personal compromises they must make to work with such a sexist pig.
I caught myself in my own hypocrisy when I realized I felt more sympathy for the women than I ol' Juanito.
Maybe it's because as a woman who has worked in a corporate setting, observed the frat house antics of male colleagues go unchecked and has caught her boss blantantly staring at her tits, I understand the horrible compromises that women make everyday just to earn a freaking paycheck. Maybe it's because I feel on some level Juanito has more of a choice at where he works and that unfortunately the atmosphere of the average newsroom isn't going to be more woman-friendly no matter where they go.
Ultimately, as much as I would like Juan to suddenly appear on Monday's Factor with a noose and a rainbow and unicorn emblazoned mylar ballon that says "Happy Retirement Bill!" and give the pervert a personal lesson about the fun of "lynching parties", the responsibility lies not with the unfortunate folks who have to work with these assholes but the networks that continue to employ them.
The fact that these men still have their jobs is the best argument anyone has against the rightwing's idea that the media is liberal or we are ruled by politically correct language.
It's a reason to doubt the motives, fairness and veracity of anything that appears on any of those channels because if the kind of racist and sexist crap that these fools spew is what makes it on the air what the hell must be going on behind the scenes.
When journalists wonder why people don't trust them or why bloggers and other forms of independent media are growing like weeds while their market share shrinks they only have to look at the continuing presence and power of these jerks and that should answer the question.
This post started as a screed about Juan Williams and the fact the man still feels ok drawing a paycheck from Fox News when the channels biggest star talks about the possibility of going to a lynching party when referring to Michelle Obama.
While pondering Williams' motivations and lack of ethics I thought of Alex Witt, Norah O'Donnell, Tamron Hall and all the other women who work with Chris Matthews and the personal compromises they must make to work with such a sexist pig.
I caught myself in my own hypocrisy when I realized I felt more sympathy for the women than I ol' Juanito.
Maybe it's because as a woman who has worked in a corporate setting, observed the frat house antics of male colleagues go unchecked and has caught her boss blantantly staring at her tits, I understand the horrible compromises that women make everyday just to earn a freaking paycheck. Maybe it's because I feel on some level Juanito has more of a choice at where he works and that unfortunately the atmosphere of the average newsroom isn't going to be more woman-friendly no matter where they go.
Ultimately, as much as I would like Juan to suddenly appear on Monday's Factor with a noose and a rainbow and unicorn emblazoned mylar ballon that says "Happy Retirement Bill!" and give the pervert a personal lesson about the fun of "lynching parties", the responsibility lies not with the unfortunate folks who have to work with these assholes but the networks that continue to employ them.
The fact that these men still have their jobs is the best argument anyone has against the rightwing's idea that the media is liberal or we are ruled by politically correct language.
It's a reason to doubt the motives, fairness and veracity of anything that appears on any of those channels because if the kind of racist and sexist crap that these fools spew is what makes it on the air what the hell must be going on behind the scenes.
When journalists wonder why people don't trust them or why bloggers and other forms of independent media are growing like weeds while their market share shrinks they only have to look at the continuing presence and power of these jerks and that should answer the question.
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