The Age of Enlightenment

By Scott V. Sandford
Justice Correspondent

Unemployed reactionary gasbag Andrea Tantaros did something she hasn't been able to do for the longest time: get in the news.  All it took was filing a complaint alleging a toxic environment of sexual harassment at her former employer, Fox News Channel.

Her complaint alleged that the “highly skilled, thoughtful, and polished host and political analyst” (that would be her) was injured by a “sex-fueled, Playboy Mansion-like cult, steeped in intimidation, indecency, and misogyny” (that would be the crown jewel in the Murdoch empire).

Pretty gross stuff, and no laughing matter, as we all know that sexism and sexual harassment are pervasive problems in our society, affecting even the most highly skilled, thoughtful, and polished political analysts.

Indeed, it's amazing that Ms. Tantaros lasted as long as she did at Fox News given the hideously inappropriate atmosphere of that so-called news channel.  It was the kind of place where on-air talent frequently made sexually disparaging remarks about respected government officials, including the President of the United States and the Secretary of State:

The use of demeaning sexual stereotypes such as the castrating female or the emasculated man of course has no place in political discourse or more to the point in the halls of a news organization.  And yet time and again Fox anchors made outrageous charges against Hillary Clinton; in at least one case, she was compared to murderers:

You might argue that senior government officials can take care of themselves.  But how is a thoughtful, highly-skilled and polished host supposed to survive in an environment that trafficked in crude sexual stereotypes, such as:

 Or:

And just to make plaintiff's case for summary judgment iron-clad, Fox News personnel consistently trivialized charges of sexual harassment and even went as far as blaming the victims of such harassment:

Not only was the victim in the Herman Cain case blamed for her plight, she was even publicly scorned as some sort of gold-digging tramp who deserved what she got:

Even Paul Weiss won't be able to pull Rupert Murdoch's withered gonads out of that fire.  Just write that seven-figure check and live to fight another day.  (By the way, Media Matters has a mere 40 pages of examples of such sexist bilge pumped out by just one Fox News personality.)

We look forward to hearing what the highly-polished and well-skilled Ms. Tantaros will say in the future about the troubling prevalence of sexism in the workplace and indeed in all aspects of our lives.  As our friend Hegel used to say, “The owl of Minerva spreads its wings only after you've been ordered to twirl around and shake your booty at Roger Ailes,” or words to that effect.  Or, as they never say at Fox News, “live and learn.”