Breaking news: something happened a month and a half ago and Rupert Murdoch’s favorite news network just now found someone willing to say something outrageous about it.

Okay, so that’s not the whole story … But the summary is still quite apt.

This morning, Fox and Friends co-host Gretchen Carlson took on the issue of gender discrimination at bars in Minnesota, using as a touch-off point the banning of ladies night by the state’s department of human rights, which cited gender equality as its primary motivation. Gender-based pricing, they said, is illegal under the Human Rights Act.

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That happened in early June.

Cue Marc Rudov, a self-described anti-feminist and frequent guest on both Fox News and Fox Business. His take: ladies night at local bars is evil because “dating is legal prostitution” anyway.

Carlson appeared shocked. Her other guest — Lis Wiehl, who frequently spars with Rudov during Fox appearances — was not so much. Her response was rather dry: “Get a life.”

The pairing seems to be a frequent one for Fox News, which has squared Rudov and Wiehl off 49 times since 2007, according to Rudov’s Web site. Virtually all of Rudov’s media exposure comes from Fox News and Fox Business, and he’s a favored guest of Bill O’Reilly.

Rudov’s primary objective in his literature and appearances is to convince men to stop “kissing [female] ass.” On his site, he calls the United States a “gynocracy” and offers “coaching” for men with relationship difficulties. He declared during the 2008 primaries that Hillary Clinton lost the male vote because of her “nagging voice” and insists that women actually control 60 percent of America’s wealth.

During his Fox appearance on Tuesday morning, he did not appear very eager to discuss the fact that women, on average, earn about three-fourths of what men earn. A Government Accounting Office study released in 2001 [PDF link] attempted to explain this gap — the often-cited “glass ceiling” — by examining differences in work patterns between men and women. While a number of explanations for wage disparity were offered, the study concluded that there is no consensus on the why of the matter, and that work experience and education often did not count toward a woman’s weekly earnings.

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“Marc, now you’re saying it’s prostitution to go out?” Wiehl retorted. “That’s crazy.”

Crazy? Perhaps … But, crazy like Fox? No doubt about it.

This video is from Fox News’ Fox & Friends, broadcast July 27, 2010.

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