When is a Democrat a "conservative?" When he's featured in a scandal story about adultery and murder.
The Washington Post is downplaying the party affiliation of disgraced former Democratic Rep. Gary Condit (D-Calif.), identifying him as a generic "congressman" or as a "conservative." The coy treatment is in marked contrast to the paper's frequent references to the GOP affiliation of Sen. Larry Craig and other disgraced Republicans.
In the first four installments of a 12-part series on the unsolved 2001 murder of D.C. intern Chandra Levy, the Post mentions the party affiliation of her boyfriend Condit only once. In three of the four articles, Condit is merely a "congressman." In fact, in the third installment, "A Private Matter," which ran July 15, Condit is described only as "a conservative congressman from a right-leaning agricultural district." The series was written by Post staff writers Sara Horwitz, Scott Higham and Sylvia Moreno.
The first installment, "A Young Woman Disappears," introduces Condit as a "handsome, married congressman." The second installment, "The Gentleman from California," identifies Condit as a leader of "conservative-leaning" Blue Dog Democrats in the House.
But Condit was no conservative, receiving only a 44 percent lifetime rating from the American Conservative Union and a 50 percent rating in 2000 from the liberal Americans for Democratic Action.
The Post's failure to consistently identify Condit's party and to promote the idea that he was a "conservative" fits the liberal media's mold of painting conservatives as moral hypocrites, since Condit was married when having an affair with Levy. He was also one of the few Democrats who publicly criticized Bill Clinton over Clinton's affair with intern Monica Lewinsky. But on key social issues he usually voted with the liberal bloc. In a 2001 Media Reality Check, "Networks Failed to Label California Congressman as a Democrat in 92% of Levy Stories," the MRC exposed how the media often covered up Condit's party affiliation.
In 2003, Bruce Walker posted this comment on FreeRepublic:
Condit voted right every time according to the ACLU and almost every time according to the Children's Defense Fund, NARAL, Planned Parenthood and the Human Rights Campaign (no, not tortured prisoners in Iran, Cuba or North Korea, but affluent gay and lesbians in America). The National Right to Life Committee found Condit on its side only fifteen percent of the time.
In the fourth Post installment on July 16, "A Family's Anguish," Condit's party affiliation is missing again, and he is referred to only as Levy's "hometown Congressman." Condit lost his primary reelection bid in March 2002 after becoming notorious for having the affair with Levy, and subsequently becoming a suspect in her murder, which remains unsolved.
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July 16, 2008 - 18:32 ET by HeavyChevy`nuff said. I will be glad when all the liberal papers go away. Sadly enough then we will have to deal with them more on the net.
Oh yes..you can be sure
July 16, 2008 - 18:31 ET by bigtimerOh yes..you can be sure that the phrase that Pelosi and party loved to use for the '06 election, hand in hand with the msm, the good ol' Culture of Corruption only happened with the repub party...
Even though there are plenty of dems that have been and are still in major trouble legally and politically... but the print and msm love to omit the dem party anyway possible to just give the insinuation that the person being talked about just has to be a repub...real cute how they used the word conservative here...real cute indeed...
On top of that..they will intentionally not report anything about a dem doing wrong, or being accused of such, or arrests ect... if they can get away with it...thank God for the internet and blogs now.
Outrageous, despicable, but what is anybody going to do...except cancel subscriptions, write letters, email, call complain, quit buying channel of paper...complain to advertizers...nothing seems to work, even the loss of ratings or shares ect...
They have an agenda...and business/profits be damned.
"America isn't the problem...America is the solution." ~ Rush Limbaugh
Scary really.
July 16, 2008 - 18:39 ET by HeavyChevythat they would harm themselves, their rep, their employees, their entire way of making a living just to stick it to the Republicans or conservatives. There is no way in hell I would destroy my business just to make someone else look bad, but for the libs they would have no qualms hacking off their mother's toe to put the dems in a gleaming light.
HeavyChevy
July 16, 2008 - 21:13 ET by Rush FanI agree that it does not seem to make business sense to constantly stick it to Republicans and conservatives, who must make up close to half the WaPo readership. However, it appears the WaPo either doesn’t care or doesn’t realize the impact bias reporting has on their bottom line.
In my opinion, General Electric is another example of a company with a ‘don’t give a damn’ approach to political balance. As NBC/MSNBC moved to the far left and lost all semblance of objectivity, I and probably many others, wrote the parent company GE and indicated that we held them responsible for this lack of balance on their networks, and would no longer purchase GE products. Now what is GE currently planning for its appliance business? Why they are planning to auction it off. Now I’m not saying that there is a cause/effect between the negative feedback GE received from customers such as myself and their decision to sell their appliance business, but it does kind of makes me wonder.
------------------------------------------------
I'm voting for Barack Obama now that an AP poll shows people would rather barbecue burgers with Barack Obama than with John McCain.
Way back when this all
July 16, 2008 - 18:54 ET by motherbeltWay back when this all happened, they never referred to Condit as a Democrat either; why should they now, in the recap?
Shoot 'em all; let God sort 'em out! - Marge Simpson
Journalistic malpractice.
July 16, 2008 - 18:55 ET by Scout FinchOr outright fraudulent reporting. This reporter is deliberately attempting to hide the political affiliation of Condit and turn him into a Republican. Er, conservative.
The GOP should officially
July 17, 2008 - 09:58 ET by mattmThe GOP should officially complain whenever this happens. They can ask for corrections, write letters and op/eds, stage press "events" in front of the newspaper headquarters, etc.
But as long as they sit by and let Democrats get away with stuff Republicans would be lambasted for even it if it was merely an allegation, they will keep getting sand kicked in their faces. This is my biggest pet peeve with Bush.
The GOP has been letting this go on for far too long, and it ends up hurting America, because it serves to empower Libs who are gradually turning America into a socialist oligarchy.
Since Condit voted with
July 16, 2008 - 19:10 ET by NewsbusterbrownSince Condit voted with Republicans half the time, labeling him a moderate Democrat would be appropriate. Of course, even that is just too much for the Washington Post.
“There are no easy answers' but there are simple answers. We must have the courage to do what we know is morally right.” - Ronald Reagan (1964 Republican Convention)
Just for fun . . .
July 16, 2008 - 19:50 ET by seanrobinsJust for fun, I sent the following missive to the WaPo's ombudsman:
I'll let you know if I get any response. (Ha ha ha ha!)
sean robins
blog.seanrobins.com
sean... Excellent! Pleas
July 16, 2008 - 19:53 ET by bigtimersean...
Excellent!
Please do let us know...I just hope I'm here to catch it if you do get a response.
This inquiring mind wants to know.
"America isn't the problem...America is the solution." ~ Rush Limbaugh
Everyone knows he's a Dem,
July 16, 2008 - 20:36 ET by Biff McCainEveryone knows he's a Dem, why waste the ink? Besides they did mention it once.
If WaPo did a story about Mickey Mantle, how many times would you people need to know which team he played for?
Also, a 50% lib voting record is not lib at all, I believe Ted Kennedy has like a 98, and Arlen Specter (R-PA)* has around a 60.
* LOL
Just like a lot of us here
July 16, 2008 - 20:42 ET by bigtimerJust like a lot of us here know you're a troll Biffy, but not all that post here do..so we all need to let others know with a troll alert as much as possible.
"America isn't the problem...America is the solution." ~ Rush Limbaugh
Ink
July 16, 2008 - 21:06 ET by jaywlFor God's sake, Biff, that isn't going to get everyone in an uproar tonight. The question before us is not that the readers of this site, or some left leaning sites, know he is a Democrat. The obvious question is why the Post, and others, are loathe to identify Democrats when they are in trouble with the law or their morals. This effort even goes beyond that type of bull crap in the attempt to paint Condit as a right winger, conservative, with the inference that (don't think, now) he's a Republican from a conservative farming district. If that won't plant the idea firmly enough, I'm sure next they would be writing he was a gun totin', murderous, John Birching, negro lynching sonofabitch. Give us something to chew on, Biff.
Biff, after seeing the
July 16, 2008 - 22:38 ET by Captain RepusBiff, after seeing the content and nuances of several of your posts I am convinced that you are really Allan Colmes in drag. About the only difference I can see is that you have difficulty in talking over or cutting off those who respond to you.
How long?
July 16, 2008 - 23:12 ET by Kirk HallThis boggles my mind. I have said it many times. But how long has the media been this bad?
Unbelievable. I
July 16, 2008 - 23:16 ET by JerryUnbelievable. I absolutely LOATHE the MSM.
When asked if he went to war with Iraq to derail the impeachment vote: “I don’t think any serious person would believe that any President would do such a thing." - President Clinton (Dec 1998).
I disagree with much--if
July 17, 2008 - 01:15 ET by JerI disagree with much--if not quite all-of Mr. Knight's blog. A review of the archives of the Washington Post and the published installments of "Who Killed Chandra Levy" reveals little or no effort to conceal the party affiliation of Condit--not now, nor during the summer of 2001, or at any time in between.
Check out the second installment (which more fully introduces Condit to the readers). No less than three times, the congressman is clearly and unambiguously identified as a Democrat:
Behind them [a photo of Condit and Levy] was a large mural of a blue dog, the mascot for a group of conservative-leaning House Democrats led by Condit. [my emphasis in bold]
[Indeed, Condit was not only a leader of the blue dogs, he was one of the founders of this [yes!] conservative-leaning group of congressional Democrats.]
Further quoting the Post...
For the past 11 years, Condit had been building a reputation as a renegade within the Democratic Party. A photo of House Speaker Newt Gingrich, a Republican hung on his office wall. He was one of the few Democrats to publicly push President Bill Clinton to be forthcoming about his relationship with intern Monica Lewinsky. [my emphasis in bold]
True, except in rare instances, a conservative Democrat will be somewhat left of the average conservative Republican. [It is the same ideological dynamic by whch a John McCain, for example, is considered a "liberal" by many on the Right.]
It is also noteworthy that conservative talk show host, Michael Reagan, was an outspoken fan of Condit and pointedly praised his non-party-line voting record. Furthermore, Condit's district encompassed California's Central Valley which the WSJ's John Fund acknowledged was generally "conservative". Read Fund's commentary at:
http://opinionjournal.com/diary/?id=95000799
Finally, I do agree with Mr. Knight that the authors were a bit off the mark when stating ."...It was not a typical neighborhood for a conservative congressman from a right-leaning agricultural district." The use of the word "conservative" in that particular context without further amplification was misleading.
Jer
Nice work, Robert -- an
July 17, 2008 - 12:19 ET by lotrNice work, Robert -- an excellent example of what NB purposes to uncover. This is pretty damning. Had they consistently said "moderate Democrat," they may have been objectively accurate.