Whenever a Republican gets caught in a sex scandal the GOP party affiliation is permanently affixed to that person's name in the media - think most recently of Larry Craig and Rudy Giuliani. However when it comes to labeling Democratic politicians caught in affairs, reporters often suffer from brief bouts of amnesia. Such was the case on the Thursday "Today" show where co-host Ann Curry forgot to note the party affiliation of the Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick in her report on his recent ordeals:
See if you can spot the (D) label in the following January 31 "Today" show story:
ANN CURRY: A scandal involving private text messages forced a popular mayor of a major, a major U.S. city to make a very public apology last night and to beg for forgiveness.
[On screen headline: "Detroit Mayor Apologizes, Begs For Forgiveness"]
MAYOR KWAME KILPATRICK [No party label noted on screen]: Good evening Detroit, I want to start tonight by saying to the citizens of this great city, "I'm sorry."
CURRY: With those words Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, Wednesday night, began a seven minute apology for what he called the "embarrassment and disappointment" of the last few days.
KILPATRICK: Finally and most important I want to make a public apology to my wife Carlita, who I fell in love with when I was 19-years-old. This dynamic, strong, caring woman has been forced to go through this very difficult experience because of me. I truly apologize to you.
CURRY: First elected seven years ago, Kilpatrick and his former chief of staff, Christine Beatty are under investigation for allegedly lying under oath. Last summer two police officers filed a lawsuit saying they were fired for investigating whether the mayor used his security detail to cover up extramarital affairs. During the trial the mayor and Beatty denied being lovers.
ATTORNEY: Were you and the Mayor Kilpatrick either romantically or intimately involved with each other?
CHRISTINE BEATTY: No.
CURRY: But last week a Detroit newspaper revealed a series of steamy text messages exchanged between the two. In those text messages they professed that they were madly in love with each other. Beatty also asked the mayor if he missed her sexually. He responded by telling her quote, "I want some more." Wednesday night the mayor's wife Carlita, stood by her man.
CARLITA KILPATRICK: Yes I am angry, I am hurt and I am disappointed but there is no question that I love my husband. Most couples who work through problems in their marriage are able to do so privately. Unfortunately that option is not available to us.
CURRY: The mayor has said he will not resign but the county prosecutor has vowed to get to the bottom of the allegations.
—Geoffrey Dickens is the senior news analyst at the Media Research Center.
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You get 'em, county
January 31, 2008 - 16:17 ET by SchnikeysYou get 'em, county prosecutor.
That's a tough one, get him prosedutor...
February 1, 2008 - 06:08 ET by NavyBuckeyeThe CP is probably on this guys take. Once the mayor is found to be involved in mis doing you can be sure to find more government officials involved in the same. Not saying the CP is involved for sure but if it looks like a duck.....and so on.
“Were it left to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers or newspapers without government, I should not hesitate a moment to prefer the latter” - Thomas Jefferson
You mean again. The press
January 31, 2008 - 16:36 ET by kgYou mean again.
The press NEVER, and if they do then only in a few rare ocasions mention a corrupt person as a Democrat. The readers might find out that Democrats are as just corrupt, if not more than Republicans. They actually believe it works.
I just don't get this MSM
January 31, 2008 - 18:40 ET by TruthMongerI just don't get this MSM tendancy - it's a missed opportunity...
It would be so easy for the MSM to just call this mayor a REPUBLICAN...
And the people that actually listen to the MSM will just believe it...
or is this the beginnings of an effort to be fair?
are they trying?
a la new orleans and nagin
January 31, 2008 - 16:37 ET by tropicalreportIf Nagin is any indication, Kilpatrick will be re-elected in a landslide. A federal disaster declaration may have to be pushed for -- simply for allowing Democrats to run big cities.
Send your regards to:
January 31, 2008 - 17:09 ET by mattmSend your regards to: today@nbc.com
Addition: I just did a quick perusal of the web...no mention of his party affiliation in any of the stories I saw.
thank you, I did
January 31, 2008 - 19:20 ET by RiharThe letter was longer than I first anticipated. I hope they are bright enough to understand it at the Today Show. My Sarcasmometer(tm) was redlining the whole time.
When a liberal speaks, the truth is busy elsewhere.
Kwame is one ugly man
January 31, 2008 - 17:06 ET by Lame CherryI was more interested in what bed hopping Oprah or Rosie O sized woman would be inclined to fornicate with a man this ugly.
Teddy Kennedy did pretty good being a ugly man.....wonder if it runs with Democrats or does Kwame have Bill Clinton frumper tastes.
*HIC IACET ARTORIVS REX QVONDAM REXQVE FVTVRVS
Pro-choice = pro-adultery
January 31, 2008 - 18:21 ET by needleWhy should the MSM mention that a person caught in adultery is a Democrat? That is no more news than “dog bites man.” And why should it be otherwise? After all, considering that the overwhelming number of abortions performed are due to one form or another of adultery, the Democratic Party’s super-adamant pro-[abortion]choice stance is ultimately to accommodate and facilitate adultery. Though Democrats would no more admit it than Clinton would admit that he “had sex with that woman,” adultery is essentially one of the central [though strictly implicit] planks of the Democratic platform, and has been so for many decades.
Impunitas semper ad deteriora invitat.
Adultery
January 31, 2008 - 19:04 ET by the curatorThat's right! Because, God knows only DEMOCRATS would ever engage in adultery!
Signed,
Rudy Guiliani, Newt Gingrich, Pat Robertson, Bill O'Reilly, Strom Thurmond and the many others who wanted to sign but couldn't.
Adultery
January 31, 2008 - 19:04 ET by the curatorThat's right! Because, God knows only DEMOCRATS would ever engage in adultery!
Signed,
Rudy Guiliani, Newt Gingrich, Pat Robertson, Bill O'Reilly, Strom Thurmond and the many others who wanted to sign but couldn't.
Democrats must not engage in adultry
January 31, 2008 - 19:27 ET by RiharWe never see any evidence of Democrats engaging in adultry (or any other scandal for that matter). No "D" no problem, it's the Mainstream Media way. Besides, if any Democrat ever did do anything scandalous the MSM could just label the offender with a "rep." instead of an affiliation. Nah... they'd never do anything that underhanded. Would they?
Oh wait...
When a liberal speaks, the truth is busy elsewhere.
Way to be original
January 31, 2008 - 19:46 ET by the curatorThe schtick was funnier when I did it.
Problem is, I wasn't saying dems are clean. I was simply ridiculing the previous post which implied ONLY dems committed adultery.
Thank you
January 31, 2008 - 20:35 ET by RiharIf anyone noticed when you did whatever schtick you are mentioning, I'd be surprised.
I don't think the previous post implied that ONLY dems committed adultry. It seemed to state that it was simply a social norm of the democrats.
When a liberal speaks, the truth is busy elsewhere.
the curator; go to top of page read the LARGEST print!!
January 31, 2008 - 20:01 ET by upcountrywaterDemocrat after the persons name; THAT IS THE POINT; HELLO..
Rudy Guiliani, Newt Gingrich, Pat Robertson, Bill O'Reilly, Strom Thurmond and the many others who wanted to sign but couldn't.
These guys had REPUBLICAN after their names. How else could you POSSIBLY post that, and be correct???? HUMMM.
iranian uranium; iranian uranium, iranian uranium..
Oh joy to the world, 19 more atomic power plants!
O'Reilly
February 1, 2008 - 13:46 ET by mikebromoBill O'reilly is a Republican? He had me fooled.
Who cares
January 31, 2008 - 18:33 ET by DelsaWho cares. It was only a lie about SEX???
Please tell me you're
January 31, 2008 - 19:29 ET by CortillaenPlease tell me you're joking...
www.rhjunior.com Great comics with a hefty dose of Christian and anti-nutjob goodness.
"With your mind as high as Mt. Fuji you can see all things clearly. And you can see all the forces that shape events; not just the things near to you." -Miyamoto Musashi
Kwaim (Kwame)
January 31, 2008 - 21:33 ET by GForceThe thug cost Detroit tax payers over $9 million dollars!!
This guy should be in prison.
"It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it"-Aristotle
always lead your newscast with a bad Republican
January 31, 2008 - 18:34 ET by RousseRemember when "Florida-Republican-Rep.-Mark-Foley" got caught playing email footsie with some Congressional pages? The three major Houston area televison stations led their broadcasts with it for days and days, always making sure to tell us Foley was a Republican.
If Foley had been a Houston area representative, I could have understood the repetition, but he was from Florida. But nothing makes the news like a bad Republican. Bad Democrats are just so ordinary that it passes remarking upon.
Non-Party Office
January 31, 2008 - 18:58 ET by the curatorThe reason NBC didn't note Kilpatrick's party affilitation is because the Mayor of Detroit (like many mayoral positions) is a non-party position. Many mayoral races involve the top two or three people in a general primary - regardless of political party. While their affiliations may be publically acknowledged, they are seldom referenced when talking about the campaign, or when that person takes office.
So, all the hub-bub about NBC playing favorites here doesn't apply.
Really.......
February 1, 2008 - 06:16 ET by NavyBuckeyeYou must be studying how to twist the truth from the mainstream. It doesn't work. I know here in VA when they mention mayors, they show their affiliation. Anytime they are on tv they have the R or D next to their names. No scandals here with the mayors in Hampton Roads so I can't compare and contrast on a local level of the bias of not putting the D next to the Dummycrat. But they are party affiliated.
“Were it left to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers or newspapers without government, I should not hesitate a moment to prefer the latter” - Thomas Jefferson
It's really not that big a
January 31, 2008 - 19:36 ET by balboaIt's really not that big a story when a Dem does it, because we're, you know, Godless heathens. But when a lily-white Republican does? THAT is news, baby!
"Prior to his election as
January 31, 2008 - 20:42 ET by Rackie"Prior to his election as mayor in 2001, Kilpatrick made Michigan history as the first African-American, and the youngest person elected to lead either party in the Michigan Legislature when he became the leader of the House Democratic Caucus."
My guess is the mayor is a Democrat.
Once again, I disagree with
January 31, 2008 - 23:25 ET by JerOnce again, I disagree with the underlying premise. It has been my experience that, as a general rule, when the politician holds national office, or has widespread name recognition, his party affiliation will be noted, whether Democrat or Republican. But not if he is primarily of state or local interest e.g. mayors, state legislators, etc. [although I believe GMA screen labeled Kilpatrick as a Democrat earlier this week.]
I'm sure there may be contrary examples, but they will be exceptions and not the rule.
Jer
Jer
February 1, 2008 - 12:46 ET by Rackie"I'm sure there may be contrary examples, but they will be exceptions and not the rule."
After clicking around to various official state and local web sites I found no D or R designation assigned to any of the elected officials.
Double Standard means free pass for some
February 1, 2008 - 06:35 ET by Blogger Guy00001Some people are given a free pass to do whatever they want. This pass is not given to true conservatives. Only liberals get it, if they meet certain qualifications, which should be obvious when looking at the photo.