Another dish best served cold - charges of sexual harassment.  The casualty list grows with acclaimed "celebrity" Chef, Mario Batali. 

Mario is from Seattle and I recall the original family business a that was lost in the Sixties after the death of the Patriarch.  And now restored with the fabulous, Salumi.   If you are curious about the family, Mario and the empire that he built which now like a House of Cards (pun intended) is crashing, read this article, The Secret of Excess.  Or the book Heat, from which it comes, to understand the myth, the man, the drunk, the bully, the perv. Pick one or all of the above it is a like a menu of qualities we are coming to see across industries. "I'll have the but slapping, followed by the boob groping with a side of verbal abuse, hold the masturbation, I am on a low salt diet."

What I did find interesting is the consistent face of Gwyneth Paltrow at the center of these men whom she claims such staunch allegience, first Harvey Weinstein and Mario Batali, whom called her the best Sous Chef he has ever had.  What is it about that bitch that men seem to gravitate to, the idea of a blonde Jewish Goddess?  No wonder Mario disliked Ben Affleck, he saw himself in him. Takes one to know one I guess.

I am over the concept of "Celebrity Chef" and that price ticket that accompanies it.  Sorry but dropping $30 bucks for a plate of foam covered pasta, prepared by an angry abusive man and marginalized staff who fear for their jobs is not an additive I enjoy in my food.  I prefer salt from a shaker over tears thank you. What is in this cream sauce exactly?

Then we have the daily list of NFL sports commentators.  As if I need another excuse to ignore football.  Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is right given the injuries, the team owners attitudes towards their players and their own desire for reform, the NBA may be the game of the now. 

What I find interesting is that the stories are all beginning to sound the same.  A few drinks, come to my hotel room, my office, tight quarters, open bathrobes and then let me masturbate and you enjoy it and that is all the foreplay you need.  If you refuse I will rape you, talk smack about you, you will be afraid for your job and then you quit and its back to square one.

What is different that while many of the men are physically repugnant, Harvey Weinstein and Mario Batali,  Louis C.K. which on some level explains it.  But others are older, highly sophisticated, Garrison Keilor, Charlie Rose, John Hockenberry who are married, or well known and could get any woman of intellectual equal but they chose to prey on younger women, women of color who are less likely to kick them in the nuts or in Hockenberry's case push his chair down a flight of stairs.  And them we have the manly bros - the Matt Lauer, the John Besh, the Ben Affleck type.

Wait there is no type!  At the time Business Insider listed 36 men who are under "investigation" or are accused of sexual harassment or assault.  But wealth, power, fame are the common traits and the insular quality of the industry enable if not permit and tolerate it.  But we all know that it is across the board and the game of Sexopoly is a game played by all.

We have seen Gay men take hits, we have seen good men take hits and in the current climate I have laughed my ass off as two men here who were in the Administration of Nashville Public Schools take hits and have resigned.  My favorite was the man who touched a woman and additionally asked another about her religion.  Uh this is Nashville and that latter is common and it is what enraged me and in turn led me to blow my stack and the Police to come to my house on a "wellness check."  Funny when I complain about someone asking me about my sexuality and personal life including my religion I get the cops, this is what they do here.  But I am not famous, I am white but I am not of the tribe.   And the one man here was so irate after his resignation he went on a rampage and is spilling more tea, very un-sweet about Nashville Public Schools.  Bitch, please and by please have another cup and tell me more!

We now have Alex Kozinski, Federal Court of Appeals Judge under fire. An outspoken critic about the need for Judicial reform shows that yes like Al Franken there are those who are not all from Alabama and illiterate idiots that do stupid stuff. 

What we also do have is a problem.  The right to due process in many of these cases is being brushed under the rug where all stink bugs go to hide for the winter.  Everyone, the victims, the accused deserve their day in court.  Under the law you have the right to face your accuser and under the law defend yourself against those who accuse you of a crime.  It seems that will never happen so we have those willing to martyr themselves and fall upon the moral sword, as Al Franken did, or those who just resign from the day to day operations of their business, as in the case of Mario Batali, or others who are fired and retire into the good night.   Frankly I would like Matt Lauer to be tried and hear what he has to say about his sexual encounter that led a woman pass out and a Nurse to escort her out. There is some testimony there.

And there are Women who under a cloak of anonymity by choice or by force thanks to non-disclosure agreements who need to be heard and in turn verified and validated.  As much as I find Roy Moore a nutfuck of high order the woman who altered the yearbook is one who should be placed under oath as her credibility hurts all women who fear coming forward or who have.  And as the late Jim Neighbors used to say as Gomer Pyle, the eponymous Southern douche, SURPRISE SURPRISE SURPRISE! And occasionally there is a victory against those even so repugnant Southerners would not even vote for.  But I want to point out that his ratings among white women was higher than even their male counterpart.  This is shocking! Well no not really. I live in the South and I have said that the bar is high here, whoops I mean low when it comes to women and their attitudes about sex.

We should never be afraid but we all are.   Men will retaliate. Trust me that is their way and this will not go away.  Rugs get pulled and shaken and those stink bugs are just lying in wait.  Winter is not over and I could use a molten chocolate cake to assuage my nerves.