Unlike Congressman Rick Renzi, who is a Republican, and whose party membership was identified in the first word of an Associated Press report yesterday about his indictment, the person involved in this situation, Wicomico County (MD) State's Attornery Davis Ruark, is not a Republican.
This explains why the AP report of Ruark's drunk-driving arrest begins devoid of any indication as to what party he might belong to:
Wicomico County State's Attorney Davis R. Ruark was charged with drunken driving Friday night after being pulled over for speeding and crossing the center line, police said.
Story Continues Below Ad ↓After failing field sobriety tests, Ruark was arrested and taken to Ocean City police headquarters, where he agreed to take a breath test and was found to have a blood-alcohol concentration greater than .08 percent, Maryland's legal threshold for drunken driving, police said.
Ruark was cooperative throughout the arrest and offered no excuses or explanation for his actions, said Officer Michael Levy, an Ocean City police spokesman.
It is not until the sixth paragraph that we learn Ruark's political party, followed by a reason why some people might remember him:
Ruark, a Democrat, has been state's attorney in Wicomico since 1989. He is a member of the county's Drug and Alcohol Abuse Council, and in 2004, he prosecuted Olympic swimming star Michael Phelps for drunken driving. Phelps pleaded guilty to driving while impaired and received 18 months' probation.
Look at the bright side: Unlike the William Jefferson situation in the summer of last year that was considered in yesterday's post (at NewsBusters; at BizzyBlog), the identification of Ruark as a Democrat occurred three paragraphs earlier (6th vs. 9th), and was crystal clear (Jefferson was never clearly identified as a Democrat, and the reader had to infer that he is from the same party as House Speaker Nancy Pelosi).
Totally separate from the party ID issue, I'm not sure why we should care who Ruark has prosecuted in the past. Other than the fact of Phelps's celebrity, there doesn't seem to be anything out of line in either direction in how Ruark handled his case. Is the AP writer of this unbylined article of the belief that Phelps should have been given lighter treatment, that Ruark is somehow getting just desserts, or what?
Cross-posted at BizzyBlog.com.
—Tom Blumer is president of a training and development company in Mason, Ohio, and is a contributing editor to NewsBusters
Editor at Large
Comments Policy
And yet another one
February 24, 2008 - 09:19 ET by ThisnThatHow about Gary Dodds, New Hampshire? Here's what the Boston Herald had to say about him:
DOVER, N. H. — A former congressional candidate was convicted yesterday of faking his mysterious disappearance after a car crash in an apparent bid to boost his long- shot campaign.
A jury convicted Gary Dodds of falsifying evidence, causing a false public alarm and leaving the scene of the April 2006 crash. Dodds, 43, claims he injured his head and nearly drowned in a river before being rescued 27 hours later. Prosecutors say he soaked his feet in cold water to make it appear he spent the night outdoors.
‘‘ He had a story that was going to stick to,’’ County Attorney Thomas Velardi said in closing arguments. ‘‘ It would’ve been a heroic story. great story — all the people who hadn’t heard of him before ... really would’ve known who he was.’’
Except for his shoes and socks, Dodds’ clothing was dry when he was rescued. His feet were purple and wrinkled, but the rest of his skin pink and dry. Dodds left the courthouse without commenting yesterday. His lawyer said he might appeal.
I couldn't determine his party, so I googled and retrieved this link, which is a 21-paragraph story from CBS and AP. This, finally, is the last paragraph: Dodds, a Democrat, had hoped to challenge the U.S. Rep. Jeb Bradley, R-N.H.
I'm sure it was an after-thought.
___________________________________
If you can read this, thank a teacher. If it is in English, thank a Soldier. - My barber
Here's another one
February 24, 2008 - 14:31 ET by superconhttp://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/G/GAMBLING_ON_CASINOS?SITE=FLTAM&SECTION=US
Casino Exec in Election Cash Controversy Ky. (AP) -- A wealthy casino operator is defending an eye-catching $1 million contribution to a political group that worked to elect a pro-gambling governor in Kentucky.
William Yung III, who heads Crestview Hills-based Columbia Sussex Corp., has essentially placed a huge bet that newly elected Gov. Steve Beshear will be able to get the state's long-standing prohibition against casinos lifted."
The Governor who is a Democrat is not identified by party but look how the only Republican in the story is identified.
"Beshear had made legalizing casinos a centerpiece of his campaign against former Gov. Ernie Fletcher, a Republican who had been politically weakened by political scandal."
Victory in Iraq.