Good catch by Ann Althouse: Hillary Clinton walks onto the stage last night and gets kisses on the cheek from CNN town hall moderators Jake Tapper and Roland Martin. What the hell?
This is unethical in so many ways…
It suggests excessive familiarity between the journalists and the candidate, undermining the credibility of the journalists…
It perpetuates and validates a sexist, demeaning custom that causes problems for women in the workplace. As usual, Hillary is a feminist, unless she isn’t….
It creates an appearance of impropriety….
It signals that journalists are not objective, critical reporters, but friends and colleagues of those they exist to criticize….
It’s a double standard, for a kiss is not the same as a handshake. Either kiss Bernie Sanders too, or don’t kiss Hillary….
It is flagrantly unprofessional….
Also, ick.
It took a while, but CNN’s unethical culture is finally corrupting Jake Tapper.
Ethics Alarms 
Best comment on Althouse’s thread about this, from commenter “Brando”:
“How did they miss her butt?”
Are we certain they did?
The cheek kiss is making its way into American culture: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cheek_kissing
Soon the pranama: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pranāma
It’s not appropriate, for the reasons already expressed, however, I am guessing there are some ethical “blind spots” that have come into play.
1. Some of these journalists were active when Bill was President and may have come to know Hilary as First Lady and not a candidate, and in settings where that sort of behavior would be a bit more normal, i.e. receptions, etc.
2. It is one of those sexist norms that refuses to die, and trying to make it die is seen as being cold and distant.
3. It IS a double standard, and it’s frequently used as an excuse for titillation. I can tell you that as a frequent PBS concert-goer the meet and greet tickets go like a ball of fire for female performers, but move a lot slower for the male ones – most fans could care less about shaking hands with some tenor, but there’s a huge and devoted cadre of male fans who want to get close to the ladies just to steal kisses. The ladies are kind of stuck, if they firmly decline contact, the PBS money will dry up.
4. It’s well known which side most journalists are on now and which side they were on 24 (!) years ago. To them, getting in close contact with a Clinton is almost as good as having a drink on a sailboat with a real, live Kennedy.
5. I agree, yuck. Unfortunately, I think most reporters already believe Hilary has it in the bag and just see it as getting in good with the President they are going to need access to for the next 8 years.
Where’s Amanda Marcotte or Lena Dunham on this? Why aren’t they erupting like Mount Vesuvius?
Lena, I hear, is recuperating from an operation.
I just can’t believe the nerve of a guy kissing Hillary Clinton! Would they do that to Bernie Sanders or Donald Trump? I THINK NOT! This is sexism incarnate. The Patriarchy trying to demean a woman candidate!
Damn Tapper, don’t you realize that this is not Hollywood or France?
Coming from a Latin culture I wouldn’t have instinctively thought of the kiss as inappropriate. A kiss on the cheek is as common as handshakes for us.
I guess I don’t really have a point. Maybe that if I met Hillary I’d be expected to kiss her. :-\
A bit off topic but it concerns CNN — I can’t believe they interviewed the guy who rushed the Trump stage and treated him like a respectable news source. They are encouraging more of the same.
They should have kissed Bernie Sanders, too. THAT would have been news.
They just don’t care about these appearances of impropriety as there is no longer much appearance to maintain. This next election, as they see it, will either restore them to the top of the field with a Democrat/Socialist victory or it will mark the downfall of the agenda that they’ve already sold the tattered remnants of their virtue to forward. It’s all or nothing, so what (at this point! ) does it matter?
Where have YOU been????