Turnabout is fair play.
And we're going to be hearing a lot about 'fair play' today.
In other words, it's going to be a banner day for the 'what about' crowd.
That is how I characterize those who try to marginalize conduct of people such as ... oh, say, Roseanne Barr, by pointing out things that have been said by others.
They don't seem to address just what it was Roseanne said.
Now along comes Samantha Bee.
Like Barr, she's a comic. She also has her own show, 'Full Frontal,' which appears on TBS.
On Wednesday night's show, she had some things to say about President Trump's daughter, Ivanka.
Bee was upset with the president's immigration policy and urged Ivanka to talk to her father about the situation.
I have no problem with that.
Of course, the language Bee used left a little to be desired.
In fact, she used a common vulgarity to refer to Ivanka Trump.
There is no gray area here. There is no defending this.
What she said was hateful, wrong and has no place being uttered in a public forum, let alone on a TV show. Interestingly enough, this show is not aired live, and yet TBS still let the vulgarity go out over the airwaves.
That maybe tells us more about how coarse and base our national discussion has become than, just as with Roseanne, Bee had no qualms about using such language in a public forum.
As you might expect, Bee's comment exploded on social media. As it should.
Apparently, she realized the error of her ways.
She offered an apology Thursday.
"I crossed a line, and I deeply regret it," the comedienne said. Her network also admitted 'our mistake, too,' in allowing the comment to be aired.
So far, TBS has not indicated if they are going to take any action against Bee.
I think they should.
Should she lose her job, as Roseanne did when ABC quickly pulled the plug on her top-rated show after she equated former Obama adviser Valerie Jarrett with a primate? That's not really my call.
I didn't take a specific position on Barr's job status. I've never seen her original show, let alone the reboot. Then again, I don't watch all that much TV.
But no action is taken against Bee, you'd better Bee-lieve you are going to hear about a double-standard.
And I can't say that I'd blame them.
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