Perhaps we shouldn't be surprised in an industry that routinely protected the careers of the likes of Charlie Rose, Bill O'Reilly, Roger Ailes, Matt Lauer and Glenn Thrush while making the working environment as hostile as possible to female employees, that serial sexual harasser Mark Halperin feels so entitled to a media career.
And sadly, he's not wrong.
On Sunday, Politico reported that Halperin was in the process of writing a book for Regan Arts Publishing (with former talk show host, now publisher Judith Regan) on how to beat Trump in the 2020 election. And in it, he has enlisted the cooperation of 75 Democratic consultants.
-- HALPERIN interviewed more than 75 top Democratic strategists for the book including Jill Alper, David Axelrod, Bob Bauer, Donna Brazile, James Carville, Tad Devine, Anita Dunn, Karen Dunn, Adrienne Elrod, Jennifer Granholm, Ben LaBolt, Jeff Link, Jim Margolis, Mike McCurry, Mark Mellman, Amanda Renteria, John Sasso, Kathleen Sebelius, Bob Shrum, Ginny Terzano, and David Wilhelm.
-- HALPERIN has re-emerged in recent months, authoring his own newsletter, resurfacing on Twitter and appearing on Sirius XM with Michael Smerconish.
-- JUDITH REGAN will release this statement about why she is publishing Halperin’s book: “I do not in any way, shape, or form condone any harm done by one human being to another. I have also lived long enough to believe in the power of forgiveness, second chances, and offering a human being a path to redemption. HOW TO BEAT TRUMP is an important, thoughtful book, and I hope everyone has a chance to read it.” The cover
Not to put too fine a point on it, but what in the ever-loving F@#%??? Why are there so many Democratic consultants -- including FEMALE consultants -- cooperating with such a repugnant sexual harasser? Why are they contributing to the rehabilitation of Mark Halperin??? Are there no female writers--ones whose careers have been waylaid or even ended by being harassed on the job that could have been commissioned to write this book? Halperin famously called President Obama a "dick" and one of the sexist men in the media that feminist writer Jill Fillipovic named directly as hurting Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign in the face of the damaging and democracy destroying Donald Trump.
What message does this send to women, both in politics and in the media? White conservative men in the media can always have a career and damn all women for expecting consequences for bad behavior. Cool. That's EXACTLY the kind of message we should expect from Democratic consultants, right?
I hope that these consultants are seeing the feedback on social media of their rehabbing of Halperin.
And of course, you listeners of "Pro Left Podcast" know that our very own Driftglass predicted this very event years ago.
