I’d probably argue that Mark Halperin’s shouldn’t have a paying job talking or writing about politics even if he’d never sexually harassed or assaulted anyone.  This is because I think he’s a hack and has always been a hack, and giving him employment in these fields is necessarily denying employment to someone more worthy.  It’s also bad for the public which, contrary evidence to the side, definitely deserves better punditry than Halperin will ever provide.

Athenae at First Draft  put it well he she wrote:

At least while Picasso was being a pervert he was painting Guernica. Halperin’s just out here demanding to be welcomed back to his position as Chief Obvious Take…

Which is not to say that it’s okay to put your hands on people so long as you’re brilliant. It’s more just to emphasize that letting Halperin back into the club wouldn’t even come with a side benefit. We need not worry that we’ll lose something in the bargain if the shunning of Mark Halperin continues until he shuffles off this mortal coil.

I know that there are people in media (I’m looking at you, Michael Smerconish, Mika Brzezinski, and Joe Scarborough) who look at Halperin and they think to themselves that he’s not going to paint houses or fix refrigerators because he’s essentially useless, so it would be cruel to keep him out of work indefinitely. Those people are well-meaning assholes. There are a million and one things to worry about in the world, and they’ve chosen to worry about how adequately a sexual predator can provide for his family. I suggest they worry about something else.

As Halperin makes his redemption rounds, he says exactly what some paid crisis manager told him to say. He’s spent his time in the wilderness and he’s talked to a lot of people, and he’s beginning to understand a bit about why it’s bad to press your genitals up against your coworkers. Yet, he still can’t get it right: “I’m not a perfect person now,” he admitted. “I’m happy to be judged by perfect people. What I want to do is continue to understand and to have conversations, but also I want to be someone who can work.”

If you are without sin, he’s happy to be judged by you, but for the love of God, please let up on the harsh criticism and let him work. Maybe it’s me, but that seems less adequate than your normal non-apology apology.

And let’s remind ourselves what he’s supposed to be apologizing for:

On October 26, 2017, CNN reported that five women had come forward and accused Halperin of sexual harassment. One woman told the network she was assaulted after visiting Halperin in the early 2000s. “I went up to have a soda and talk and — he just kissed me and grabbed my boobs,” the woman said. “I just froze. I didn’t know what to do.” Another woman told CNN that Halperin once pressed his penis on her shoulder during the 2004 campaign cycle. “I was obviously completely shocked,” she said. “Given I was so young and new I wasn’t sure if that was the sort of thing that was expected of you if you wanted something from a male figure in news.” A third woman, a former ABC News employee, told CNN she was on the road with Halperin when he propositioned her. “I excused myself to go to the bathroom and he was standing there when I opened the door propositioning [me] to go into the other bathroom to do something,” she said. “It freaked me out. I came out of the ladies’ room and he was just standing there. Like almost blocking the door.”

…A day after their first story, CNN ran a second story revealing that the number of women accusing Halperin of misconduct had grown to “at least a dozen.” In a lengthy statement published in response to the CNN report, Halperin denied some of the new allegations, including that he masturbated in front of anyone or physically assaulted anyone. He apologized to the women he “mistreated” and said that he recognized he had a problem near the end of his tenure at ABC, received weekly counseling sessions, and ended the behavior; however, a later report from The Daily Beast included an allegation of harassment from 2011.

Now if I was looking to hire someone to enter into people’s homes during the daytime and fix refrigerators, I would not pick a guy who has a real problem with boundaries like Mark Halperin, but some people think everyone deserves a shot at redemption and a chance to be beamed into every living room in the country.

I disagree. And I’d still disagree if he had the best jump-shot in the NBA or could make people laugh like Robin Williams. But however you feel about it, Mark Halperin is no Pablo Picasso and no one is suffering from his absence. When he comes asking for a job, people should tell him to go home and get his shine box.