It's hypocrisy so deep hip waders will not even help

“I came of age in the 60’s and 70’s, when all the rules about behavior and workplaces were different. That was the culture then.”

Have you heard or read these words?

If not, your Jeopardy category might have been, “Who said this?” with the answer “Harvey Weinstein,” the former partner in The Weinstein Company.

Weinstein of course was fired last Sunday by his own company’s board of directors following the unlikely revelations that the 65-year-old Hollywood producer has had a quarter-century history of alleged sexual harassment episodes with an untold number of women.

Why is this such a surprise that the New York Times would finally pull back the curtain on a formerly beloved film icon? Reports from Newsweek say that a piece investigated by former Times’ reporter Sharon Waxman in 2004 was never run. She was told that the story was unimportant.

The Times’ motives, while surprising considering their political bent, remain the subject of conjecture.

When I read those words in Weinstein’s official “cover-his-ass, save-his-job, calm-the-waters statement,” among the things that came to mind was I too “came of age in the 60’s and 70’s….”

But what Weinstein seemed to think was OK, and apparently used as a career cudgel, never has, and never will pass my “look in the mirror” test.

There is wrong at so many levels here that an entire edition of the Times would not be able to contain it.

A Google search delivers everything, both factual and salacious, one could ask for. But have a disinfectant wipe handy after viewing content of this week’s media soap opera scandal.

Weinstein is a guy I’ve heard of over the years, but until recently never paid attention to what films he’s produced.

The only money I know I’ve ever passed his way came from watching Robin Williams, Matt Damon and Ben Affleck in the 1997 film, “Good Will Hunting.” And I’m confident my financial stake is the equivalent of that 70-parts-per-trillion number the EPA says makes the water in Airway Heights dangerous.

It is so sad to see Weinstein wielding his power over women trying for their “big break” in what is often perceived as a nasty business. Troubling to know too is the revelation that the legendary “casting couches,” apparently really do exist.

The hypocrisy is so deep that hip waders will not keep you dry, and so thick and sticky it rivals roof tar.

Actress Ashley Judd somehow did not have the same outrage for Weinstein — who asked her 20 years ago to watch him shower — as she did the president in her “Nasty Woman” speech during January’s Women’ March.

Records show, and the Times reported, that Weinstein reached at least eight settlements with women over his boorish behavior dating back almost 30 years. I always figured Bill O’Reilly and Roger Ailes were not alone. A different political persuasion made them targets.

How does something like this go unreported for years and years?

Part of it rests with what actress Merle Streep had the audacity to call “our watchdog media,” which seemed to turn many a blind eye to Weinstein, pressured some say by the powerbrokers out in “LA LA Land.” They’ve also been too busy, in the last year at least, poking their noses into Russian rabbit holes.

Even now during the Oct. 7 airing of “Saturday Night Live,” which lavishly dumps on Trump through Alec Baldwin’s impersonations, executive producer, Lorne Michaels excused away any mention of Weinstein’s dalliances saying its “a New York thing.”

And speaking of dishonest duplicity, there are not enough words to even touch on Weinsten’s donations to his favorite political party.

If there is any good that comes out of this, it breaks the monotony of the constant media drumbeat of the dastardly daily deeds of our short-fused president, the tragic fallout from Las Vegas, or whatever other news will come our way.

Which leaves me to wonder if the late night comedians — Steven Colbert, the Jimmy’s Fallon and Kimmel, and Seth Meyers — will diverge to find new humor in Harvey?

I will not know myself because I quit watching their stale shtick months ago.

Paul Delaney can be reached at [email protected].