Wow. Just Wow. And an OMG from Penzeys.

Let's just open with the amazing news from FOX: Tucker Carlson has been canned. 

Tuck describes his winkee

Interestingly enough, poor ol' Tuck didn't even get a good-bye show from which to sign off. Nope. No such luck. FOX simply announced they were parting ways. Oh, dear. There is so much to unpack in that simple statement. One might think this was a quickly made decision on the part of FOX who, for reasons I cannot possibly fathom,  seemed to be surprised that they had to settle that mega lawsuit with Dominion Voting Systems. I'm sure Tuck must be worth more than the 3/4 of a billion dollars Fox is gonna shell out on his behalf, but no matter; he and his producer are both out.

FOX NEWS MEDIA AND TUCKER CARLSON PART WAYS

NEW YORK — April 24, 2023 — FOX News Media and Tucker Carlson have agreed to part ways. We thank him for his service to the network as a host and prior to that as a contributor.
 
Mr. Carlson’s last program was Friday April 21st. Fox News Tonight will air live at 8 PM/ET starting this evening as an interim show helmed by rotating FOX News personalities until a new host is named.

Pretty unglamorous ending for their former golden boy, dontcha think? I mean, he was the bedrock upon which all bull-oney was perpetrated. Tucker Carlson so effectively portrayed January 6th as a chance to tour the capitol while reminding all Americans we had a right to treat the seat of America's democracy as if we were in our own homes...assuming you used a crowbar to bash in the windows to gain access to your own house. 

Not to be outdone by FOX, CNN equally abruptly canned Don Lemon, ostensibly for a string of incredibly idiotic statements about women. 

When declaring her run for the presidency, Haley called for mental competency tests for politicians over the age of 75. Lemon argued that Haley herself “isn’t in her prime.”

Lemon attempted to support his argument by saying that a woman is only “considered to be in their prime in 20s and 30s and maybe 40s. I'm just saying what the facts are - Google it..."

Hmm. Dad bod? Yup.

...he added when Poppy Harlow and Kaitlan Collins, his female co-hosts, pushed back his statement. He compounded his mansplaining that this really was referring to the common approbation that equated a woman's prime in relation to giving birth. This was not his first foray into misogynistic commentary. And not the first time he's been called to account for his rambling mouth. 

Seems to me Mr. Lemon, now 57, is sucking in a bit of dad bod in that picture, hinting not so subtly that he might also be past his prime.

Jeff "the Sheitl" Shell

What is it with guys and the news these days?  Jeff Shell is out at NBC for an "inappropriate relationship" that's been going on for over a decade. I don't mean to sound anti-feminist here, but guys have been screwing around at the office since offices were invented. If two people wanna screw around, that's their business. Of course, I'm not so sure I'd wanna fool around with a guy in such an obvious sheitl [toupee.] You'd think he could afford a better barber. Last year it was Jeff Zucker who was forced out due to a "consensual relationship" with a woman in the company. Next year, it'll be someone else. Whatever. 

I understand it's a slippery slope, that there is a possibility for preferential treatment or coercion that could lead to bigger HR lawsuit issues. I get that it can become fraught with workplace danger. However, there is a world of difference between having consensual affairs behind closed doors and spewing lies and/or misogynistic bull-oney on the air. 

I don't think there is a woman in the workforce ever who has not experienced some form of misogyny. There's always at least one asshole trying to cop a feel, or tell a female colleague to "fetch coffee." It's beginning to change, but we're not there yet. But can two people meet at work and have a relationship? Not any more, I suppose. 

So here's the other thing I noticed while following this week's revolving door of dismissals: bullying and lying doesn't get you canned...sex does. 

Bullying and creating a hostile work environment requires years to document and process. How many hundreds, nay, thousands of women have left a workplace because the men are intolerably badly behaved? How many women have been passed over or pushed out because they are, simply, women? Getting a company to move on that behavior was so impossible that it finally spawned its own protest movement: ME, TOO. And yes, there is progress; it is getting more exposure and it is easier to press the suit. This is definitely movement in the right direction however slow it is.

But a consensual relationship between two people coming to light, ends up with one or both out of a job. 

At the same time, however, lying to the American audience, spinning stories until they are no longer recognizable and bearing no resemblance whatsoever to truth not only go unpunished, but it's put out there as gospel until some really expensive lawsuit happens....like Dominion Voting Systems. The lies didn't get Carlson canned; the expense of paying damages did. It wasn't about truth, justice, or the American way; it was about the money.

There is no real equivalency here, no nuance. A Martian following the news this past week would undoubtedly come to the conclusion that Earthlings put no premium on truth, that all information coming from the box is nothing more than propaganda with no basis in fact. That FOX settled the law suit should tell everyone in America that the executives knew the on-air "talent" was lying through their teeth and straight into American living rooms. 

And you wanna know the really sad part? A significant percentage of Americans still believe Tucker Carlson was telling the truth and this is all part of a conspiracy theory. 

This is not simply a GOP  problem. The left is just as guilty as the right when it comes to screeds and misdirection. I would cite one of my favorite shops at this point. I am a long time Penzeys customer. They have a history of fair trade, fair pricing, and customer respect. Now a national chain of spice shops, Bill Penzey's vision is alive and well in the trinkets and prizes he gives out to his customers. He's an honorable man who fights for civil rights, public justice, hope, and kindness.

He puts out a great catalog and occasionally sends informative emails. 

Until this week. 

Mr. Penzey sent out an email that was painful to read. To these eyes, it was the antithesis of the kindness and hope he as always promoted. Basically, he called all Republicans benighted at best, misguided and mindless at worst. I was horrified. 

This is what he sent out. [The bolded sections are my emphasis.]

About Republicans

 

As we’ve now said on our first-ever About Us page on our website, there’s something unique about humankind’s relationship with spices that time and again have caused spices to be a driving force for change. We live in a time calling out for change and for solutions to the very real problems our country and our planet face. There’s two very different futures ahead for us totally dependent on whether we solve these problems or not. With so much at stake we feel obligated to use the unique position spices hold in our lives to try to help promote the solutions to these problems as best we can.

 

Watching the slow decline of the Republican Party over the last half century, and the steep decline/bottom falling out over the last decade, it can be easy to see the nonsense that has overtaken the party as pretty much random. Once you start seriously looking at the problems America and the world face and who and what are standing in the way of solving those problems, it quickly becomes clear there is nothing random to what the Republicans are promoting.

 

The Republican departure from conservative values and embrace of what, from a distance, looks a whole lot like insanity didn’t happen by chance. All of it has been intelligently crafted with the goal of preserving the position of those who profit from the inhumanity that is at the very roots of pretty much every problem we are facing. From the environment, to racism/discrimination, to health, to saving our democracy at home and growing it abroad, half the time Republicans are intentionally blocking the solution to the problems we face. The other half of the time they are the problem we face.

 

The truth of our time is we’ve arrived at the point where there’s no way to respect the nonsense the Republican Party is promoting and have any hope of overcoming the problems we as a nation and we as a planet face. Given the choice between saving America and planet Earth or saving the feelings of Republican voters, we are choosing to side with saving our country and our world. I’m sorry it’s come to this.

 

And no, there is no HATE!!! in any of this. There is a whole lot of propaganda at the heart of much of how Republican voters have been steered away from conservative values to what they now seem all too happy to vote for. The thing to remember about propaganda is that it doesn’t just misinform, it also works to make people immune from the truth by convincing them any facts that counter their propaganda are nothing more than HATE!!! But we really have no hate for Republican voters. None at all.

 

I actually like and respect most of you guys. Sure, there are a growing number that are there for the racism, but I still believe the majority of you have good hearts that want to help and do the right thing. I know you to be trustworthy, and honest, and funny, and caring, and good souls. The problem isn’t what you are, the problem is what you are now voting to support. You guys have been turned around.

 

Remember when your distrust of big city types, and your deep rooted beliefs in paying your debts, respecting your marriage, raising kids willing to serve, honoring your word, and going to church every week had you voting for Donald Trump over Joe Biden all because Biden’s son had a computer? Or how you couldn’t vote for Hillary because she was over-prepared and used emails? I know that to you your actions seem rational and in keeping with your values, but when it comes to voting you are now consistently voting in people who are the exact opposite of you and the values you hold dear.

 

What does any of this mean? Going forward we would still be glad to have you as customers, but we’re done pretending the Republican Party’s embrace of cruelty, racism, Covid lies, climate change denial, and threats to democracy are anything other than the risks they legitimately are. If you need us to pretend you are not creating the hurt you are creating in order for you to continue to be our customer, I’m sad to say you might be happier elsewhere.

 

If on the other hand you still want the best spices and don’t need us to respect what you now vote for to be our customer, Hooray! We are happy to have you here, but know that we will, on a regular basis, try to wake you up from this dream that has you believing there is anything conservative left at all to what the Republican Party has become. We can and will work without Republicans to solve the problems we face, but it sure would be nice to get back to a time where Republicans were equal defenders of equality, the environment, and democracy. We look forward to that day.

 

Thanks for reading. Thanks for being here,

 

Bill

And what makes it even worse for me, personally? I agree with large chunks of what he said.

But not all.

I have close friends who are Republican and are horrified by what has happened to their party. They are as disgusted by FOX News as much as we are. They are heartbroken by the lies, the hate and the threats. But they have significant disagreements with much of the standard Democratic platform. Are they benighted? Hardly. They will vote in primaries and caucuses to do what they can to bring the party back into the rational center. But even when Mr. Penzey says "And no, there is no HATE!!! in any of this,"  he's wrong. There is so much hate embedded in the body of that letter that I have to seriously think whether or not I will remain a customer. 

I looked to this guy and the store on Grand Avenue as a welcoming place that smells great and has women like me behind the counter who can speak intelligently about the differences between Ceylon, Korintje, and Vietnamese cinnamon. This is important stuff if you cook. Politics, at least until now, have never been on my mind when I walk through that amazing door. 

They are now. 

The Wifely Person's Tip o'the Week

A dash of ground chipotle will do wonders in your brownie batter.

A dash of cardamom can go into anything you bake to enhance the flavor.

Vanilla double strength is expensive but worth it.

I've learned a lot in that store. (sigh)