Who said gallantry is dead?
Decrying sexism in politics, former CBS3 anchor Larry Mendte defended his wife, ex-Fox anchor Dawn Stensland - and women everywhere - in a long blog post on Friday.
He was responding to what he called "jaw dropping, 'what century are we living in?' statements" related to talk that Stensland might run for public office.
At issue is a single paragraph, written last month by a Michael Livingston, a Rutgers law professor, at www.pa2010.com:
"Dawn Stensland-Let me get this straight. She can't keep her husband interested, and she wants to take on Pat Meehan in the 7th? Last year's candidate (Craig Williams) didn't win, but he always showed up with the same woman."
Apparently, "can't keep her husband interested" refers to Mendte's public admission that he had a "flirtatious, unprofessional and improper relationship" with former co-anchor Alycia Lane, whose emails he illegally accessed before they were fired by CBS3 - first her, then him.
Lane initially denied any romantic relationship, but according to court documents she told the FBI about expressions of affection that included kissing and his gift of a Tiffany's necklace, but no "touching bodies," according to the Philadelphia Daily News.
After denouncing double standards for Sarah Palin, Hillary Clinton and other woman seeking to serve, Mendte, writing at themendtereport.com, zeroes in on the Livingston comment.
"It does make you wonder if Mr. Livingston can keep his significant other 'interested.' If not, is he qualified to teach? The very question is preposterous," Mendte writes. ". . . It does seem ridiculous when you apply that standard to a man, doesn't it? I dare say, Mr. Livingston would never, ever think to make a similar statement about a male candidate."
Mendte concludes:
"I can tell you this. Dawn will never be intimidated from running by anyone. And I believe any group or organization Dawn joins, she will automatically make it better.
"But politics is an ugly game, much more so than we ever imagined - and there is nothing ugly about Dawn."
Livingston, who has not backed off his remarks, deferred to his publisher, Dan Hirschhorn, for comment.
"He might write something on his blog. That's up to him," Hirschhorn said.
"As a nonparitsan news organization we do not endorse the statements of our more partisan contributors. However, we do defend their rights to make those statements about our political figures, even if they come off as a little bit more coarse in tone."