Alone Again, Naturally

by Mark Steyn
Tucker Carlson Tonight
December 15, 2017

https://www.steynonline.com/8328/alone-again-naturally

On Thursday night I joined Tucker Carlson on Fox News to discuss the latest developments in what The New York Post calls the ongoing Pervnado, which is now ending not only careers but lives. Mediaite was struck by this moment:

"I think occasionally, 'Do I really want to be alone with a female employee now?'" Steyn declared, leading Fox News host Tucker Carlson to utter "I think that all the time."

Gretchen Carlson (no relation) didn't care for the cuts of our jibs:

While we're at it - wtf would be the concern 30 years later if u had a normal meeting w/ a woman alone? U would know if u did something off limits.

With respect, it's not about off-limits or on-limits: A doctor has a third party with him in the examination room not because he's feeling randy but for self-protection. That's the world we're moving towards in other fields of employment.

Heigh-ho. At this year's office Christmas party I'm going to stand in the far corner and hit on myself until everybody's gone home. Click below to watch the full segment:

I'll be back on camera to introduce a special live-performance edition of our Song of the Week this Sunday. I think you'll enjoy it. If you prefer me in non-video form, I'll be here later this evening with Part Eight of A Christmas Carol, our current nightly audio entertainment in our series Tales for Our Time.

Over at Powerline, John Hinderaker has some thoughts on my "Russia" round-up, and then adds this:

Finally, if you aren't regularly reading SteynOnline, you are missing out on a lot of fun as well as a great deal of insight.

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80 Reader Comments

Michael McCallion • Dec 18, 2017 at 14:06

Keep sweeping and clear out the "dusty old farts" gosh they have never accomplish any good work or shown due diligence when they were Men. After all "boys will be boys" when the libido arises. (back then, not every Women understood brushing her breast on a Males arm, even inadvertently causes a primitive biological thought in the Male)

The extra tetesterone can even come back when a joke is passed around a locker room at a Gym or some such, and all the people, (boys being boys) really laughed.

The Boss; back in the area of being with other Employees, some, maybe most, maybe all, Female; over the thirty five or more years stupidly retells the joke or comment. Maybe even claiming it as original in trying to be funny and/or collegial.

Sure hope none of the Now maligned Women have a Son trying to fit in with the "boys will be boys" sports venues or contests. It will be alright though.

Their Son will immediately Blush and tell all of the other "boys will be boys" crowd, especially any boy who is older-bigger, who tells the joke and gets the expected laughs. Please do not talk like that.

The locker room joke can be as raunchy, as the jokes during "girls night out" & "girls just wanna have Fun" crowd.

Won't be a problem the other; "boys will be boys" will immediately see the Blush on your Son's face and He will not have to chastise the older-bigger joke teller. All of the "boys will be boys" even the Old thirty something will recognize your Son has been educated to be a metrosexual.

By the way; if an Islamic/Muslim terrorist, bringing the barbaric culture He/She of (islamic gender apartheid); "Phyllis Chesler-2017" bursts into a School Room where your Daughter-Dear Ladies; is present,-- such as Quebec's __Polytechnique_ and gently order all the metrosexual males, including the Teacher, to stand in the Hallway while He__ LaPine__ Kills all the metrosexual females; your metrosexual Son will surely comply and be safe.

Apparently your Daughter, if present will be Killed, but Sonny will be okay.

In addition, Dear Ladies along with You: the media/bureaucracy/academic Leadership certainly know better than us; never identifying the IslamicMuslim Barbarian Killer by His given Arabic name only using the acquired Francophone__ LePine__ Name.

This reassurence means the massacre of Young Women being killed will not embarrass the people who, as you do Dear Ladies, understand only metrosexual men are safe in Western Society.

Kate Smyth • Dec 17, 2017 at 23:36

Unfortunately for you and Tucker, Mark, the precautionary third party "witness" to interactions with female employees/ colleagues may not be enough to protect you decades down the line, in a case of he-said-she-said.
Given that it is possible, in 2017, to accurately monitor one's daily "steps", a similar system of continuous personal surveillance providing a detailed and reliable history is probably required: the precise, irrefutable moment-by-moment record of what took place on a given day. (Of interest, a young male was recently found not guilty of murder following the death of an inebriated "hook-up" date- who fell from a high-rise balcony- based entirely on detailed audio-recorded evidence.... his "standard practice". A creep- no doubt- but not a murderer).

#metoo is fast becoming a case of mass hysteria, in the original sense of the word- the "wandering womb" thought to account for emotional over-reaction. Yes, women have regressed to behaving "like women", and militantly so. It's truly alarming. Notwithstanding the fact that she was the victim of a vicious rape and was not believed, the recent Rose McGowan on-stage call to arms is chilling. Matt Damon is absolutely right to point out that there is a spectrum of behaviours which should not be tolerated- nor conflated; vulgar, uninvited propositioning is not sexual assault. I would guarantee that most women have been on the receiving end of the former at some point— not because most men act in such a way, but because those who do try their luck with most women they encounter. This type of workplace mistreatment is completely inappropriate and should be dealt with either informally, or resolved internally in the appropriate way, ensuring due process is observed. As for those who are found to have committed actual crimes- including making false allegations- they too should be dealt with accordingly.

In terms of "the movement" more broadly, it is understandable that the majority of (innocent) men are on the defensive, given that immense power is wielded by those who can strip others of it with a single, tenuous allegation. Is the new misuse of female power as mature victim-accuser rather than young temptress, with the risk that actual crimes are drowned out by dubious #metoo-ism?

Sol Cranfill

Kate Smyth • Dec 18, 2017 at 01:24

Excellent summary. I think the answer is yes. Feminism, among other things, is a power-grab and in the end oppressive and abusive to women, who, just as though it were a male abuser, are held under sway and made to believe they're not entitled to be treated decently; hence, no one aside from a few like Rose McGowan and Ashley Judd have been banging at the door crying out for help and justice - and been turned away. I feel very badly for Ashley Judd to see her suffering at the hands of so many who are part of this monstrous meat grinder of a movement.

Kate Smyth

Sol Cranfill • Dec 18, 2017 at 08:35

I agree, Sol: the objective- common to progressive movements- is the perpetuation of "inequality" (whether perceived or real) in order to exert power and extract benefits.
What I don't understand is how the victim of a serious sexual assault or rape could not see the crucial distinction between her plight and that of women who've "only" been harassed. There's a spectrum, but one that involves a huge line that is crossed when a crime is committed.

Sol Cranfill

Kate Smyth • Dec 18, 2017 at 12:30

It might be a one-word answer: conditioning. Feminism has thoroughly impressed its twisted alternative to the natural order onto its subjects as a cult would. Through the oppression of endless repetition, exaggeration and ruthlessly stamping out of dissent, the will to resist conforming to the abusers' requirements (have independent thoughts) is defeated and they submit to the belief system and abuse that goes along with it.

Some men see the untended lambs and take advantage and their co-conspirators are the powerful women gaining more power, who do not care about Ashley Judd or the other sacrificial, collateral damage. It's just the cost of doing business.

Sol Cranfill

Kate Smyth • Dec 18, 2017 at 12:47

The feminists have a lot to gain by holding up the inversion of the severity/seriousness of the offenses. If they took rape and violent assault seriously, the other offenses would be seen as minor and their power would evaporate. The power rests in being able to pull a lever with a feather touch and cause any man, not just violent rapists, to fall.

David Elstrom • Dec 16, 2017 at 12:51

Travis Smiley's characterization of "investigations" is completely correct. I was involved in one when an employee was accused of making the workplace "uncomfortable." The complaint apparently didn't involve sexual harassment but resulted because the "target" was socially awkward and someone viewed him as somehow creepy. The interview with the diversity officer was instructive:

Diversity Officer: Have you noticed anything unusual about Tom's behavior?

Me: What's that supposed to mean?

Diversity Officer: Well, I can't say because I don't want to ask a leading question.

Me: Was this a specific instance of some sort?

Diversity Officer: If I tell you, you might recognize the complainant or complainants. I'm simply wondering if you've noticed anything about his behavior?

Me: If you have some specific question I might be able to answer, but your question is so vague, it strikes me as more fishing expedition than fact finding.

I won't go on with remainder of the meaningless "interview." You get the point. Everything secret, no evidence, unknown accuser or accusers--nothing but the flying gotcha all the way! He was forced to sign a letter promising to behave better. I remember telling my wife about the Show Trial nature of the case, and commenting that to be safe the poor guy should only talk to female employees via phone or through a closed door.

Debra Milligan

David Elstrom • Dec 16, 2017 at 13:12

You're not safe on the phone either! ESP is the only way to go now.

There are people gaming this system for promotion and $$$. One gal I knew said she lost years of her life because a female co-worker accused her of harassment based on the fact that she was lighter skin color than my former work associate. Yes, black-on-black "harassment".

The permutations are endless here -- if you've got a higher IQ, longer hair, look evasive when someone gets into your space -- it's all ripe for a complaint.

I worked with a geologist who liked women -- I mean, he seriously liked looking at women and to be honest, I liked looking at him. He was manly and not afraid of it -- this was in the 1980s, before the sexes got told they were genders and effectively became neutered. A gal who came to work looking like she just left the disco told me she was going to file a grievance against him.

I told her that if she did, I'd be testifying for him and against her. End of her -- she left the job and probably found riper pickings in another office.

The wimps in charge of the Grievance Office are now the enemy. They get paid to find these "problems" or they'll be out of a job. Another swamp to be drained.

Sol Cranfill

David Elstrom • Dec 16, 2017 at 13:22

Maybe Travis was excessively Smiley. These cases reminded me of when I worked in an office with about 21 people in individual offices and one day I dropped off a piece of paper with a clerk-type person. Later, a co-worker approached me and said, we need to sit down and talk about this morning. The co-worker asked me a few questions about that 4-second drop-off and told me the clerk had gotten offended because of what I hadn't done.

It was completely in her imagination. She had some sort of expectation and, when I failed to do it, some wrong had occurred, a complete nothing.

tug

Debra Milligan • Dec 17, 2017 at 07:48

Debra and Elizabeth,
Please consider the "emotions" of all "pink hat" Washington Women Marcher's before sharing your experiences about what you lived with in the work place. All "caring & sharing" should have no "hurtful" tone in your comments and observations.

David Elstrom • Dec 16, 2017 at 10:20

Anyone caught by the executive "press gangs" and forced to attend the indoctrination sessions (called diversity training or something similar) knows the implicit and generally fact-free assumption is that everyone is sexist, racist, mysogonistic, homophobic, transphobic, islamophobic, xenophobic, bigoted...the list grows and may become endless. That's insulting enough. But the reality of enforcement is: 1) There is no actual proscribed behavior because everything depends on the perception of the supposed victim, and (2) It works like the Stazi where anyone--victim or not--is supposed to watch and rat out any real or imagined "incidents." How much simpler it would be if society still enforced those quaint things called manners (which precluded accosting others) instead of having reduced all social interactions to legalisms.

Sol Cranfill

David Elstrom • Dec 16, 2017 at 11:58

Exactly. Emily Post's Etiquette is a good place to start.

Paul Nachman • Dec 16, 2017 at 02:55

Claire Berlinski develops in great depth the themes Mark and Tucker discuss in the video above:

https://www.the-american-interest.com/2017/12/06/the-warlock-hunt/

The only drawback in Berlinski's wise and L O N G piece is her reflexive cluelessness about Trump -- "received cluelessness" I'll call it.

Sol Cranfill

Paul Nachman • Dec 16, 2017 at 12:14

The power Claire describes herself having is a cheap power. What seems far more natural and feminine is the power to, without necessarily even saying it, cause men to treat them well. Men can be cads, in the wild and this is how they're turned into decent chaps, if they haven't already learned it at home. If she requires it of them, men will exhibit gentlemanly behavior because she is so lovely. Men will want to do this if they're not in the gutter. Many are, but this still works for them, as beauty is what the world desires in a woman and men will pursue it if she requires them to respect her. This produces a better society along the way. The power indeed rests with women, in their civilizing, pleasant femininity, and not this strange aspiration to be like men, as if the definition of the finish line is wherever a man has gotten to.

Age-Old Quandary / Alex Peck • Dec 15, 2017 at 23:06

"The tempter or the tempted, who sins most?" William Shakespeare, Measure for Measure.

Sol Cranfill

Age-Old Quandary / Alex Peck • Dec 15, 2017 at 23:22

Harvey Weinstein.

Bruce Gold • Dec 15, 2017 at 21:31

interesting these show trials for sexual harassment are following the exact procedures and methods of the show trials pushed on Universities by Obama's Dept of Education with their Dear Comrade letters. We need to clean up the educator swamp as well.

Hamish • Dec 15, 2017 at 20:22

It occurs to me that the fear of being alone with with a woman is analogous to the feminist shibboleth of women being afraid to walk down a dark street at night for fear of being attacked by man.

The difference being that once the woman leaves said street, the "danger of attack" is gone. Unfortunately for men, the danger seems to start when they leave the room.

Elizabeth Bakoss • Dec 15, 2017 at 19:31

Tucker's prior guest, from OK Wesleyan University, made a point about culture and morality since the 60's...I think he was a bit too academic, but he was right. The 60's, and Hollywood, and education have been telling us there are no moral absolutes and no one has the right to judge or push a philosophy. I am frankly glad to see people realizing this cannot be the case. There is objective morality; maybe we will begin to acknowledge it once again. I will wait for what comes out of Hollywood and what is taught in our schools to change, however, before I get too optimistic about our long term cultural and moral outlook.

I spent years in business, the finance industry in fact, and note that every year, sometimes more than once, we had to sit through sexual harassment training. Over time this evolved from men harassing women, to women harassing men, as well as men on men, etc.,, and most recently, religious harassment. An example being a company failing to provide a prayer room for Muslim daily prayers . And by the way harassment was not just physical or sexual, but was defined as a word or a joke, depending on how the hearer heard it. Businesses were/are required to have procedures in place to assure that a person who experiences harassment of any sort can come forward without fear.

I guess Hollywood and government are above having to go through training and follow guidelines...or take the training and then do what you want. Double standard as in everything.

PK33 • Dec 15, 2017 at 19:23

I heard from a colleague today that Disney has purchased the Fox network, including Fox News and other programming, like Family Guy. I have to wonder, what will happen to Fox News and right-of-center commentary.

Mark, care to weigh in with a prediction?

Mark replies:

Just to clarify, Disney has purchased (roughly speaking) the entertainment/content end of Fox (20th Century Fox movies, Star TV in India, etc) but Mr Murdoch is retaining the news/media end of things, including the Fox News Channel.

Paul Bohme

PK33 • Dec 16, 2017 at 07:21

I am very relieved to read your clarification Mr Steyn.

PK33

PK33 • Dec 16, 2017 at 08:27

Thank you for the clarification Mark, breathing a big sigh of relief here.

John Shuba • Dec 15, 2017 at 18:56

Good discussion. The basic problem is that we don't really know what "sexual harassment" really is. It is as subjective as the definition of "vulgarity." As Justice Harlan memorably wrote in "Cohen v. California" - One man's vulgarity is another man's lyric." I'm a lawyer and I have represented some pretty tough young ladies in court. Some are "biker chicks." I guarantee that they have a higher tolerance for randy male behavior than does a woman working on the staff of Liz Warren. That's the problem. The common law demands an "objective third-person" standard in evaluating (most) testimony and evidence. We have a "standard" based on the supposed victims evaluation of "offensive." (Not to mention the fact that they are usually dragged out ten, twenty or thirty years later.) This is the perfect McCarthyite storm. Ancient behavior and guilt without due process. Where's Arthur Miller when you need him?

Debra Milligan • Dec 15, 2017 at 18:39

I disagree with Tucker's statement that the "effort to eliminate sexual harassment" from American life is noble.

First off, get real. Harassment is part of life. A horrid part of life, but no law will prevent it. A sense of decency might reduce it and the odds of legislating decency diminish by the day.

I know that Mr. Carlson was victimized terribly and he might hope that the latest push for truth is honorable, but I think all of this brouhaha has very little to do with virtue.

Most of this legal "harassment" protection started under Clinton as a prophylactic for that pervert. Just like campaign finance reform for Senator Keating-5-McCain. "They" make the laws to protect Themselves.

I've worked in offices where women were protecting men who preyed on innocent women in the office; where women got their jobs, lining up to protect the creep as well as to "provide" for him; where women tried to deep-6 any threat to them from competent women new on the job; where the enabler women were part of the net to catch as many rewards as possible for protecting the powerful creep. The only true remedy for anyone -- male or female -- in such a den of vipers to walk away and let that kind of cesspool rot into extinction.

I've seen far more of that scenario than this Stronger Together farce. I fail to believe the reports of so many women aghast at 'Nobody Knew -- then -- Everyone Knew!" All of this faux-outage is for the money and the power and the attention for the hash-tag crowd has suddenly emerged. Getting the vapors now has legs — publicity-wise.

It is true that the media is a breeding ground for sexism. I worked at ABC-News back in the day when it worked gathering news and the very same male reporter who covered sexism in a Supreme Court case, came back into the office and called me "the one with the legs." I didn't hyperventilate. But I'll tell you what, the secretaries took note of this lowly clerical, a "temp", and amped up their makeup, at their desks, trying to get attention. I saw an entire desk row of compact mirrors get hauled out when they saw Sam Donaldson come gliding into the room. I referred to him as Donald Duck. He'd smack my typewriter with his rolled up script, and he'd shout, "Why don't you pay attention to me.?"

"Cause you're annoying," I told him. "And please leave my typewriter alone."

Not that I was Miss Prim. If Frank Reynolds had asked me out for lunch, I would have asked him out for dinner.

This false sense of modesty and re-issued Victorian morality being emblazoned in the headlines -- it's enough for real women to choke on.

Are there instances of women being victimized — in and out of offices? Yes. And now those females will be even less likey to come forward publicly because of the type of hysteria being seen right now. And the media just keep the Story going for the ratings.

I once engaged in a discussion with a doctor about a woman who had come forward with an allegation of rape on a bike trail. The rape had just "occurred." The physician was being very sympathetic to her plight. I told him her behavior was not typical of a victim of sexual assault or of any assault. So soon after her experience, her being in public, in the front of cameras, talking to reporters, making a big public outcry -- that behavior was not credible. Turned out the gal was pulling a hoax for money, attention, political reason. The doc later told he owed me one. That gal owed a lot of people, but I doubt she ever paid up.

P. Gao

Debra Milligan • Dec 16, 2017 at 03:05

Witnessed a few similar incidents recently that totally support your comment. Life is complicated. Everyone talks a big game, but scatters like... well you know, prevaricating roaches. "Uh, well, water under the bridge...' But this week's spectacle of that actress (Salma?) telling everyone how Weinstein told her she had to do an um, same-sex make-out scene (for him ..eew) and how sick it made her before hand and how she was vomiting in the dressing room prior... which for simple rubes like us, begs the question, why didn't she just puke all over his shoes, his tie, her co-actress's cleavage and thus very quickly ruin the 'mood' for everyone (including their recollection of it every time) rather than capitulate and do it? Gads, they're all supposed to be thesbians.

Debra Milligan

P. Gao • Dec 16, 2017 at 12:39

As Henry Kissinger said long ago of his romantic interests: "I forget they're actresses!"

Fran Lavery

Debra Milligan • Dec 18, 2017 at 13:40

You're very funny! I can just see the others amping up their make-up. As if people can't see the make-up is their mask. First question comes to my mind when I see a woman (or man, (Greg Gutfeld!) with a lot of make-up is: what's she (he) hiding? I never liked Sam Donaldson either. I do, however, like Greg Gutfeld. He has so many expressions in his eyes alone. He does not need make-up. He would shine brightly with nothing on.

Debra Milligan

Fran Lavery • Dec 18, 2017 at 15:14

Hi Fran,

The situation was funny - I'm just describing it. I was the Token White in the ABC News business office in Wash DC. Had just walked away from my full scholarship at GWU after 3 years (all I needed for what I needed) and I was working Temp. Part of my fear of commitment, part of gaining job skills post-student life. And I was so "young"!! I watched and watched and got a real education!

The funniest scene involved the Security Guy who was hired to guard the pastries for GMA (Good Morning America). The tray was kept in a room all its own. Over the course of the 8 months that I worked there, the size of this guy grew . . . and grew and grew.

I recall Bettina Gregory having a hissy fit because she wore a pink velvet pantsuit to cover the President in Plains, GA and got mud all over the pants. The dry cleaner bill was sky-high and was not approved by the Suit in charge.

Most of my job was to type payment vouchers to the reporters (Brit Hume was a real gentleman) and to help prepare the weekly imprest account by getting written approval -- sign offs -- from the Suits on the bills that ABC. The debts were to the moon and beyond. Xerox was owed in the 5 figures. It was a real workout for those legs!

Roone Arledge, the sports honcho, was tailoring the news after ABC Sports. And we now know where that brain-child idea went. The Mouse (Disney) owns just about everything, and the dinosaurs still left slogging through the sexist swamp are being taken down in anticipation of the 2018/2020 elections.

Where are my dragons!!!

Back then, the all-new electronic-news-gathering was known as ENG. One of the technicians welched on my Super Bowl bet with him. Is there no honor? I asked!

A lot of makeup takes too much time!! My husband likes the look of when I take the stuff off at night and there is still some residue! High-low maintenance!

Have a blessed Merry Christmas and a bright and cheerful New Year, Fran!!

Fran Lavery

Debra Milligan • Dec 18, 2017 at 18:07

That's my Alma Mater! Although no full scholarship here, sadly. Merry Christmas to you, too, Debra! Glad to see you're back!

Debra Milligan

Fran Lavery • Dec 18, 2017 at 19:39

In all honesty, CSUS is my "alma mater" -- finished up the 4th year there after I moved West, and finally got that BA piece of paper. Big difference between the 2 unis, private vs. public, but GWU is, from what I've seen and heard, really part of the Swamp now. It wasn't back then. It was a sleepy throwback to the 1920s, and had a lot of charm. I shall always think of it as my ivory tower.

Fran Lavery

Debra Milligan • Dec 18, 2017 at 23:57

Now I know we have two things in common. You once mentioned you waitressed in New Jersey. La meme chose pour moi. Atlantic City before the casinos came in. That pretty much dates me! I guess we've come a long way baby!

Debra Milligan

Fran Lavery • Dec 19, 2017 at 13:18

I waitressed in a lot of places! Was on a "date" with a guy to a diplomatic function In D.C. and one of the snobs asked me what I did (for a living). This rich jerk said "She collects W2s."

End of date.

Actually, Fran, I feel like I've come a long way back to my roots -- and myself -- with all of the corruption of the Dems that started back in the 1970s (or with JFK) gurgling up through the sewer swamp -- like that green algae of pond scum. All of their fomenting has been very cathartic for me. Hopefully for the nation too.

Back then, many of us were just out on our own, at least I was, trying to survive the Misery Index. I am finally seeing their own Misery Index catch up with them.

DON'T GIVE UP THE SHIP. And may you be forever young!

Fran Lavery

Debra Milligan • Dec 19, 2017 at 21:50

There's a genuine jerk for you! With dates like that who needs dates?
The rest you summarized quite succinctly, describing so in your unique way. I like it. It's like we're living along a curve and it's wrapping back around making progress but returning to roots, what really matters. "Surviving the misery index." Now that's some way to view it.
We're spectating now, but it seeps over into everyone else's lives. I like action moving forward, one way or another. It just seems like we've got a big clog in the swamp drain presently.

Debra Milligan

Fran Lavery • Dec 19, 2017 at 22:33

Call Roto-Rooter, Trump's the Name!!

Delibero • Dec 15, 2017 at 18:14

I haven't heard of one case of a female's sexual "impropriety" that becomes a major headline. A teacher's picture who had sex with a male student pops up once in while but soon disappears. The legitimate fears and concerns of women are well known and documented but here is a "petty" male view as well.

As a young male, I was unexpectedly "touched or fondled" by 4 women.The 1st was a 30-ish waitress who grabbed my 18 year-old virgin keester and made me an offer I refused in the kitchen of a rooming house. The 2nd was at a friend's house when I was unexpectedly kissed like Franken by a stranger as I entered. The 3rd was a co-worker who (while I was reaching across a table) leaned over and placed her arms and warm body tightly against mine and said, "What are you looking for?" The 4th was a friend's sister who sat beside me and then placed her hand on my thigh and slowly moved it up my leg. I was still a virgin waiting for the right woman to marry. Maybe I should hire Gloria Allred and weep for the cameras.

While I was surprised at these unwanted encounters, I dismissed them as weird compliments.

The worst women I met however, were those that later knew I was married and often complimented me physically and tried to seduce me. For some, they were very unhappy in their lives, for others it was just a sick game but not for the ones that asked me if I was happily married and did I need company after work and so on. Most women I worked with were great co-workers but some were not. I know unwanted physical interactions are different for women because most (but certainly not all) men are physically stronger than a woman so actions like this are more concerning to them.

But women that pursue or try to seduce gullible, dopey or weak willed married men especially at work are very dangerous to families and society. Most wives are well aware of this fact. I wonder how many of the men justifiably ensnared in these scandals (and not just collateral damage in a warlock hunt) met women that came onto them in the past and then stupidly believed all women are like that or will welcome your ego driven advances no matter how large your belly distends. I believe Charlie Rose said he thought he was only doing what he thought was mutual. Like most drives, the sex drive can conveniently deceive an eager mind.

Sol Cranfill

Delibero • Dec 16, 2017 at 03:50

Hot off the press, a Democrat woman from Kansas running for Congress just quit the race "after sexual harassment allegations resurface."

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/powerpost/wp/2017/12/15/female-congressional-candidate-leaves-race-after-sexual-harassment-allegations-resurface/?utm_term=.1e4c6d7f1987

Delibero

Sol Cranfill • Dec 17, 2017 at 04:38

I laughed when I heard the story but I wasn't laughing at the 2 people involved. Just the timing of it so soon after my comment. I wonder if it's a crack in the dam or just a one time story of a male complaining about a female.

Jennifer • Dec 15, 2017 at 17:04

That is very sad about the suicide of a man who claims innocence - the point from his perspective that Tucker Carlson may have missed is that there would never be able to be proof one way or the other whether he lived or died in a random accident rather than a suicide. I've been following this Me Too movement with growing alarm and have written a few comments and Tweets about it - it is a Witch Hunt when no proof stories are taken as a reason to end a career and ruin a reputation. Regarding Garrison Keillor, what I read of his statement is that the incident was more of a wardrobe malfunction - an odd blouse with an opening in the center of the back was unexpected. An old-fashioned gentlemanly movement is to place a hand on the center of a woman's back in kind of a protective or supportive motion possibly while going through a doorway or something. An old-fashioned gentleman wouldn't expect a fashionable hole in a blouse. In his statement he said he did apologize at the time as it was an odd moment to find his hand caught in a blouse and it was ~ six inches of a sliding motion - gestures are kind of instantaneous, it would take a couple seconds to realize that something odd was happening and to pause and try to extricate from a fashion malfunction. For the lady to accept an apology at the time and then bring it up years later is also odd.

In my comments here and there I've encouraged women and men to share experiences if it helps to unburden but to not share names if there is no proof. Defamation/libel/slander are something that can be a legal risk to an accuser when the tides shift against the accuser instead of shifting to believing anything from anyone. Truth and proof should be the primary goal, not just unburdening feelings about a touch. I also got negative feedback from a woman when I tried to point out that inappropriate touch might not be nice but it somewhat belittles the victims of more violent rape or assault. I was told to not belittle the other women's right to not be touched inappropriately - okay - I deleted the comment. Men and women these days seem to have very fragile egos and believe what they want. Disclosure: everyone's virtue is safe from me as I declared celibacy as my choice due to severe autoimmune disease and other health problems. Add the phrase necrotic ulcerous wounds, (calciphylaxis possibly) to your health experience and you start caring even more about skin integrity and avoiding antigens. It hurt someone's feelings who was close to me to have the suggestion that male antigens could cause health problems for a woman but feelings are less vulnerable to infection than actual open wounds. Men may also be at risk for health issues from sexual relations but women are more prone to autoimmune disease and it does seem to be related to pregnancy.

In history during times of increased environmental or economic stress, which we have both of at this stage of our history, it is more common for there to be increased persecution of minorities and women and possibly people with health problems - economic fear may leak out in ways that are harmful to others. I've written about that a few years ago and could add links if anyone were interested. The Me Too movement may be a counter to increased harassment of women as it became more recognized as a problem. In the film and TV industry I read an article which I didn't save the link to and haven't refound, but it stated that sexual harassment of the lower level women working in the industry is also a large problem and many try to protect themselves by dressing less well, not-looking-their-best, on purpose to try to avoid the unwanted attention.

In the larger world prior to the current Me Too movement sports athletes who make more money became targets for accusations of having fathered a child and were warned to avoid encounters with women they didn't know well.

On a more positive note - I really enjoyed the reading of The Christmas Carol. It is something my dad read each year when I was young - all in one sitting which got a little long and his voices weren't as good but the holidays are more like the holidays with a reading of the classic. I read it to my daughter over the course of several bedtime story sessions. The background information about the book and the other novels is also very interesting. Thanks for the interesting club forum and content.

Jennifer

Jennifer • Dec 16, 2017 at 12:06

After sleep - on a more positive note, it was extreme stress that made my autoimmune condition worse but it left me needing to follow a more restricted diet in order to maintain health. Feasibly prophylactic devices exist if someone cared about me and my health more than ego or other stuff but I've yet to meet someone like that. TV became a bit of a PTSD trigger as it was a constant presence in my life that I had no control over. I sat in the hallway to avoid TVs - longing for a room of my own like Virginia Woolf. Now I'm in an apartment with an enormous unplugged TV and was encouraged to get the very good deal for cable - I said no thank you but TV is part of modern life and staying current with what's happening. Can't win for losing sometimes.

Sol Cranfill

Jennifer • Dec 16, 2017 at 13:14

Well you hang in there. Fortunately there's SteynOnline, which is better than a lot of TV I used to waste my time with.

Debra Milligan • Dec 15, 2017 at 16:54

Oh, I meant "immoral" not "immortal" --- although this may have been a Freudian typo. They are becoming interchangeable terms.

Debra Milligan • Dec 15, 2017 at 16:51

Hey, I bring my husband in the examining room. It's a real party atmosphere! I refuse to leave it to the medical bureaucrats to be protect me from professional hands that may wander where they wonder . . .

Do you know that virtually every Study shows that the stress-meter goes up several notches where there are more than just Doc & Patient in the examining room. The more people, the more stress. Especially for the Doctor who has now become a functionary with medical school debts that outlast his time in the profession.

This witch-hunt was not meant to backfire on the Liberals who started it as a way to get The Women's Vote back or increased. Just like Antifa was not meant to point out the lawlessness of those Champagne Socialists. Just like Roy Moore's nubile memories were not meant to recall for everyone dates that we fondly remember.

What's next? Permission slips wherever we go?

I recall working in a restaurant, a steak house, where the favorite meeting place for the boss and the favorite waitress was the Walk-In. I happened to pop in there once to get a piece of cheesecake. Real cheesecake, the stuff you eat. At 17, I did not know the type of cheesecake being served.

This frolic took place decades ago. I guess it would qualify for a lawsuit now. Or at the least aspersions against everything the Left decides is "immortal."

The finger-pointer is invariably the guilty party.

Roy A Crocker • Dec 15, 2017 at 16:34

I'm gratified that others on this site are now discussing an issue that I raised when all these sex abuse claims went viral. I've yet to see anyone in the lamestream media or on Fox criticize those actresses who extorted large sums of money to purchase their silence so Harvey could continue on his merry way abusing women at will. Of course they knew that there would be many more victims to follow and now are celebrated as heroines for coming forward years later. Vice president Spence was ridiculed far and wide for stating that he was wary of meeting women alone. He'll have a long wait for the appropriate apologies from liberals in the media who are now following suit.

Michelle Dulak • Dec 15, 2017 at 16:23

My husband teaches in a public high school, and he never meets with a student without the door open. This is standard practice, and, as you say, it's for self-protection.

BallBounces in Charlottetown • Dec 15, 2017 at 15:29

Meanwhile, uptight loser weirdo VP Mike Pence has a rule that says no meetings alone with a woman. For this probity he gets charged with promoting "rape culture".

Sam Williamson • Dec 15, 2017 at 14:54

Frank Loesser's old song Baby It's Cold Outside is in danger of being banned from the airwaves soon, as a textbook case of modern sexual harassment.

At the time it was written, it was reasonable by the social standards of the day for the girl to play coy and for the boy to pursue. In those days, as in modern days, it was well understood that both parties (suitor and suitee) wanted to canoodle alone on the couch, but because Dad might come down stairs at any tine and spoil the fun, or worse, both boy and girl were expected to follow certain rules of courting. If the rules were breached, the boy was often free to walk away and the girl's life and reputation were often ruined.

But in the 75 years since, that old rulebook has been shredded a page at a time and replaced with a new "let's add a rule every year" version, that ensures when the boy takes a walk, the girl will no longer suffer thanks to abortion, single motherhood, mother's allowance, housing, child support, day care, and so on. Progressives are now adding the latest pages to the book are placing the males in danger, in some cases retroactively, by ruining their careers and lives. Today's woman is acquiring a power enjoyed 75 years ago by men. Today's male is becoming the coy boy, constantly wondering if he should I be alone with this woman (feel free to add in child or teen).

So the old models are turned on their heads, and females now hold a frightening degree of power today.
It wasn't the best model for the ladies years ago, it's certainly becoming a difficult model today's lads. Perhaps the great minds of society (I recuse myself) could set out to create a new rulebook that works best for all?

(To diverge from the above, does the modern rulebook not cause certain types of western males to look at other cultures, ones that are stronger and more aligned with their interests.)

Mark replies:

Since you mention it...

Debra Milligan

Sam Williamson • Dec 18, 2017 at 20:31

Dear Hubby and I were listening to Dean Martin's version of Baby It's Cold Outside, and according to my spousal unit, there are 3 females, GoldDiggers, if you will, who sing along with Dean. It is not a duet, as it usually is with other males singing this enticing song. Dean takes the role of the victim here, How can you DO this to me? (The male usually does take that position.)

I'd not really noticed the varying feminine tones, and I hope my son didn't either!!

I think too many women today are actually quite powerless -- they are dependent on a govt., a group, a system or a person to get what they want. I raised my son and my daughter as equals -- not the same, but with equivalent expectations of making it on your own. My observations of the past 5-7 years is that the young adult males are the ones who want to settle down and the young adult females are busy trying to become self-sufficient -- in the midst of all of this economic chaos and job destruction.

So the liberals have managed to mess up a society where they claim they want freedom and equality for women but it was all part of a power grab for the unfortunate gals who trust the wrong people. Consistently. Back to basics is politically incorrect but I've enjoyed that life "style" enormously.

Maggie Menzies • Dec 15, 2017 at 14:23

Then of course you get this sterling treatment that is regularly dished out to men -
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/news/judge-slams-met-police-after-liam-allan-cleared-in-rape-trial-pcqsp5x9s

Even though the case has been thrown out by the judge and, therefore, there is no victim (except the falsely accused young man) the accuser is still anonymous and will be for ever, probably.

Martin D • Dec 15, 2017 at 14:12

This seems to happen in unhealthy political systems. In Stalin's Soviet Union you were anonymously accused of being 'counter-revolutionary' and sent to the Gulags, in Mao's China during the Cultural Revolution your were sent to labor camps and 'struggled against'. And in Tudor England you risked prosecution on the same flimsy grounds for heresy, catholicism or protestantism, depending on which faction was in ascendency at court.
Extremely unseemly in a country that purports to set ethical standards for the rest of the world....

Tom Korte • Dec 15, 2017 at 13:28

Here's another false positive that has just come up.
The accused was on bail for almost two years before the fraud behind the charges came to light.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5184151/Rape-victim-texted-alleged-attacker-asking-sex.html

Sol Cranfill

Tom Korte • Dec 16, 2017 at 04:33

Anyone who clicks on this story must scroll down to the photo of Judge Peter Gower.

I am currently getting some ab crunches checked off because of it.

Andrew A • Dec 15, 2017 at 13:06

Mangez-le si vous voulez

It is always easier (and more cathartic) to accuse the innocent than the guilty.

Sol Cranfill

Andrew A • Dec 15, 2017 at 19:14

An important point.

Sol Cranfill • Dec 15, 2017 at 12:48

I wonder if Gretchen Carlson's remark isn't a general threat aimed in the direction of men.

Fran Lavery

Sol Cranfill • Dec 18, 2017 at 00:22

Her mind is probably in the defensive mode but her words are on the offensive. Isn't there a saying, the best defense is a good offense? I thought the remarks made by Mark and Tucker seemed like completely plausible ones based on everything that has been going on lately.

Sol Cranfill

Fran Lavery • Dec 18, 2017 at 01:09

If her mind is in the defensive mode, maybe her emotions got the better of her, as her statement - and I don't say this meaning to offend - seems childish. How can a thoughtful newsperson, who knows the climate inside and out and who settled in a case recently, have a blind spot as gigantic as to leave out the false-allegation factor?

Fran Lavery

Sol Cranfill • Dec 18, 2017 at 09:59

Probably, her emotions did get the better of her. She was being childish and she was being thoughtless. I would have thought she could have just kept herself out of it this time.

James Morphew • Dec 15, 2017 at 12:32

Mark mentions that the witch hunt started with Weinstein, but I would add that it goes back much further, both the Weinsteins and the ladies of recovered memories (or courage). Abuse of power for favors is as old as power. What we neglected was to carefully and completely define Abuse, as well as some rules for credibility of claims. Then the excitement of the topic (sex) amplifies all emotions. When we "agree" that Abuse is wrong (and therefore should be punished), we better first define Abuse, or we open up another gray zone for further abuse by interpretation. We didn't. Same with "evidence" -- 30 -yr-ago witness good enough? Another gray area. Tucker & Mark (& me) are nervous because we can drive a truck through those gray areas, right over our careers.

SEAN POWER • Dec 15, 2017 at 12:31

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/porter-flight-unruly-passenger-st-johns-1.4447353

Another story that has seemed to have disappeared down the memory hole. No comments allowed on this story from our national broadcaster and no follow-up from any local news outlets either. This is my back yard, anyone here know how to find out more?

Douglas Light

SEAN POWER • Dec 15, 2017 at 14:15

Another Seventh Day Adventist stirring up trouble again, I am sure.

John Shuba • Dec 15, 2017 at 12:24

The "weaponization of sex" was probably inevitable. As politics more and more approaches the dimensions of "absolute warfare", more and more of our personal lives finds itself under fire on the front lines. It is "witch hunt" in the truest and most deplorable sense. The charge is enough to destroy and the accused is reduced to a contemporary Josef K desperately trying to find out exactly of what he is accused of and who is accusers might be.

I am forced to conclude that there is one key reason why this has become such a tsunami. It is the ultimate weapon for ambitious feminists because only heterosexual MEN can commit these crimes and offenses. There is no need to distinguish between a possible rapist like Harvey Weinstein, a serial philanderer like Bill O'Reilly, and a creepy "toucher" like Al Franken. Everyone is tarred with with the same brush of sexual criminality. The Left has also concluded that a certain number of casualties on their own side (such as Tavis Smiley and John Conyers) can be tolerated in pursuit of political power. And of course there is the movement to "re-examine" the charges of groping and harassment brought against Donald Trump. Well at least one thing has happened that liberals are always screaming about - We finally HAVE returned to the "Dark Days of McCarthysm.

Sol Cranfill

John Shuba • Dec 16, 2017 at 02:42

Well said. During a short time after Harvey came tumbling down, the number of serious crimes he'd been committing as a matter of routine life for decades suggested imminent law enforcement and judicial action. Conspicuously absent since then, among his many cases and every one of the other media cases that I can think of, is any sort of actual, legal involvement, other than something like the LAPD claiming to be opening investigations. Normally, "news" follows. Not in any of these cases that I can tell. Further, other than Rose McGowan, who has been demanding justice? For two months, I have detected almost no expectation of actual justice being applied inside a court.

Bob Belvedere

John Shuba • Dec 18, 2017 at 08:46

John wrote:

The "weaponization of sex" was probably inevitable. As politics more and more approaches the dimensions of "absolute warfare", more and more of our personal lives finds itself under fire on the front lines. It is "witch hunt" in the truest and most deplorable sense. The charge is enough to destroy and the accused is reduced to a contemporary Josef K desperately trying to find out exactly of what he is accused of and who is accusers might be.

I must admit I'm rather unfazed by what's going on in this sense: we are merely going back to the situation as it existed at the time of The Founding and for many years afterwards. I would refer one to the things said by the Adams and Jefferson Camps back in the election of 1800 as an example.

Up until, say, sixty or so years ago this was Normal behavior — in politics, at least. Then people like The Murrow Boys started claiming they were 'objective journalists' [not simpleton reporters] and that they could be trusted to provide 'the straight poop'. Yeah, well...they provided much fecal matter for our consumption alright.

Paul Harmon • Dec 15, 2017 at 12:22

The reason this "warlock hunt" is out of hand, and has been since the Antia Hill/Clarence Thomas imbroglio, is the asymmetric moral and power structure that the left put in place in the 1990's. (1) Women can do no wrong. (2) If a woman think she's been harmed, she has.

So, the powerful, famous actresses who Harvey attacked can take large amounts of money, get all the advantages to their career incumbent with their silence, and allow their sisters to get harassed later on, knowing full well it would happen, without consequence. To take pay for physical favors is prostitution, but no one is willing to call it that. In order to have a realistic (and legal) leg to stand on, women have to come out when they have been harassed publicly and explicitly when it happens, not after decades of enjoying the benefits of having kept quiet and allowing other women to fall into the clutches of the pervs for payola.

And, women have to allow the jury of public opinion to scrutinize their claims of harassment to confirm that they have indeed been harassed. The current embodiment, in which women get to decide whether they have been harassed without being subject to scrutiny, has to end; it isn't reasonable, it isn't fair, it isn't tenable.

Sol Cranfill

Paul Harmon • Dec 16, 2017 at 02:50

You're right. It's very difficult for most people to see through this, if they have experienced the inculcation of feminism throughout their lives. It requires untangling their own belief structure, something unlikely to happen as long as they remain devoted to their leaders. What sad consequences of a terrible movement.

Kate Smyth

Paul Harmon • Dec 17, 2017 at 23:42

An excellent comment.

Thomas Ryan • Dec 15, 2017 at 12:04

The US seems to be prone to these periods where a witch hunt explodes, starting in Salem, MA. The most egregious was in the 80s when child day care facilities were destroyed by "social workers" leading three and four year olds to accuse adults of heinous acts of abuse without physical evidence. Dorothy Rabinowitz of the WSJ spent twenty years exposing this madness and finally was able to exonerate the last innocents in MA, but their lives had been destroyed by then.

SEAN POWER • Dec 15, 2017 at 12:00

I followed the embedded links before I watched Mark's interview with Tucker. I was amazed to see that the majority of women responding to Gretchen's tweet agreed with Mark. The most vocal opposition to Mark's take on this came from some beta males. Hmmm...

Robert Stewart • Dec 15, 2017 at 12:00

Having lost all knowledge of the circumstances that led to the revolt of the colonies in 1776, we are now faced with the need to personally experience the abuses of power that caused our ancestors to pledge their lives and sacred honor to the effort to overthrow the tyrant. Star chambers, charges based on testimony by individuals "known" only to the prosecutor, mass hysteria whipped up by the authorities, rights that are gifts of a beneficent government and not endowed by nature ... we've been there before. But few graduates of our public schools, K-PhD, have any knowledge of these events. Our "best and brightest" believe therapeutic indoctrination will change human nature and deliver utopia. A time released cocaine-like drug is routinely administered by nurses in our public schools to control the behavior of about one boy in ten. Like Candide, each new entitlement and therapy is embraced with a conviction that we now live in the best of all possible worlds.

Bob Belvedere

Robert Stewart • Dec 18, 2017 at 08:28

Damn well put.

Matthew McWilliams • Dec 15, 2017 at 11:50

If I may reply to Ms. Carlson; if I were alone in a room with a woman, after the fact I would know what I had done and the woman would know what I had done. However, no one else would know what I had done, and that's the problem. When a woman can make claims against a man about events that no one else has any first hand knowledge of, and that woman is believed without question, and the man's career and life can be utterly destroyed on the basis of those claims, we men have a very large problem on our hands.

Kurt Piper • Dec 15, 2017 at 11:37

I had something droll to say but my attorney edited it down to the following, "Have a nice day!"

Why it took an hour to edit that sentence is a mystery.

Sol Cranfill • Dec 15, 2017 at 11:30

The largely untold story is the false allegation shakedown. It's very difficult to prove a negative when an opportunist liar comes along to cash in on the easy pickings of every accuser being accorded belief.

Tucker experienced this as he recently described. It was by someone he'd never met. Luckily she was unstable and her story was proven false. He was in a different city at the time. But this is dangerous territory and Gretchen Carlson knows why.

Tom Korte • Dec 15, 2017 at 10:24

Isn't it peculiar how there are no such allegations being made in the world of Islam? It must be because they have the utmost respect for women. I guess that's why the Left doesn't need to bother with them.

David Watson

Tom Korte • Dec 15, 2017 at 11:12

The seditious left is uninterested in islam, or in women, only in gaining power. They use longstanding socialist tactics because they still work.

Roger Beesley • Dec 15, 2017 at 09:55

"Never be alone with a woman not your steady girlfriend or wife" is a practice I have followed for 45 years (although it doesn't much matter now).
Gretchen Carlson, beauty queen notwithstanding, is one whom I would be particularly careful about.

PK33 • Dec 15, 2017 at 09:20

How will society resolve the issue of harassment against women and the issue that men no longer want to be alone with women in a professional or personal setting? Islam has a solution! Women shall not work outside the home. Women shall be covered so men do not lust after them. Women shall be escorted by a close male relative when they are out of the family home. Women shall be forced to have FGM so they do not have sexual desires.

There, solved that for you Western rapists.

Is it just me or does anyone else get that creeping feeling that this is a vast, left-wing conspiracy to make Islam look good?

Tom Korte

PK33 • Dec 15, 2017 at 10:29

Covering women can serve another purpose, as can not allowing them to interact with strangers unless supervised.

Stroby • Dec 15, 2017 at 09:07

Mark,

You are an important voice and I don't want you to be silenced.

Please tell me you didn't wink at that girl in the bell bottoms as you opened the door for her at the Star Wars premier in 1977.

Cordially,
Stroby

Rodger Dodger

Stroby • Dec 15, 2017 at 10:47

Sorry, Stroby, it was I holding the door while winking (I can tell you!) for the bell-bottomed lass at the Star Wars premiere. And worse, I was easily more than ten years her senior. Get out the cuffs.