![Garrison Keillor. - [image courtesy Ryan Somma / Wikimedia Commons]](https://staticr1.blastingcdn.com/media/photogallery/2017/11/30/660x290/b_502x220x82/garrison-keillor-image-courtesy-ryan-somma-wikimedia-commons_1712577.jpg "Garrison Keillor. - [image courtesy Ryan Somma / Wikimedia Commons]")
It is a rare occurrence that two liberal media icons fall and for similar reasons, on the same day (Nov. 29). Matt Lauer, co-host of NBC’s “Today Show,” has been told to leave the building for what appears to be an incident that occurred during the Sochi Olympics, but the woman in question filed a complaint just the day before. Garrison Keillor, until recently the host of “The Prairie Home Companion,” has been given the royal order of the boot for “inappropriate behavior” from Minnesota Public Radio. Which story, not just the incident but how it was rolled out, was the creepier?
A report by CNN confirms facts relayed below.
Matt Lauer gone from the 'Today Show’
The first that the world learned of Lauer’s disgrace was when “Today” co-anchors Savannah Guthrie and Hoda Kotb made a tearful announcement at the beginning of the show. Both women, who expressed shock and surprise at the development, expressed their deep love for Lauer even though they supported the network’s decision. The incident that sparked the firing occurred during the Sochi Olympics in 2014 when Lauer is alleged to have sexually assaulted a woman. She was apparently not the only victim during Lauer’s years at NBC, but he is said to be adroit at terrorizing the women into silence. He also, by one report, had a button installed on his desk that allowed him to lock the door to his office without having to get up.
Garrison Keillor’s wandering hand
Later in the day, Garrison Keillor e-mailed the AP that he had been let go from Minnesota Public Radio for “inappropriate behavior.” Keillor thinks that the incident in question occurred when he was comforting a distraught woman by patting her on the back and then, “her shirt was open and my hand went up it about six inches.
She recoiled.” One wonders how that can happen, but apparently, it was enough to end a nearly 45-year career in public broadcasting and to make Keillor an unperson at MPR. Repeats of “A Prairie Home Companion” will no longer be aired. It will be as if Garrison Keillor never existed.
The choice
Lauer’s alleged crime is more heinous that Keillor’s, but the bear-like bard of Lake Woebegone has the weirder story.
For one thing, for all of Keillor’s obnoxious virtue signaling and lame, unfunny humor, he would seem to be the last person to get handsy with the ladies. Even his tortured defense of Al Franken, another unfunny pervert, did not set off any alarm bells. Of course, if Bill Cosby can be credibly accused of roofying multiple women over several decades, is anyone immune?
