Here we go again with another story where a Democrat is being accused of sexual misconduct, yet the Associated Press doesn't feel that mentioning the man's party affiliation is important to the story. In this case, the AP is carrying a story on "State Senator Dan Sutton of Flandreau" (that would be in South Dakota) who is being sued for "allegedly groping a male legislative page." Sutton is a Democrat -- not that you'd be able to tell from this story.
All AP reporter Chet Brokaw gives us to describe Mr. Sutton is "State Senator Dan Sutton of Flandreau." The story does, however, report in the last line that the S. Dakota Senate "voted to censure Sutton rather than expel him." This sounds rather more damning for the Senator than a mere allegation by some disgruntled page, doesn't it? That the State Senate took this unusual action seems to say that there is more than smoke with this but a fire raging.
And still we get no mention of party affiliation from the AP.
Here is the full report:
Lawmaker sued for allegedly groping a male legislative page
FORT PIERRE, S.D. (AP) State Senator Dan Sutton of Flandreau has been sued for $250,000 in damages by former legislative page Austin Wiese (WEES), who alleges Sutton groped him in a motel room in Fort Pierre.
Wiese's lawsuit alleges two counts of sexual battery and one count of sexual assault. It's a civil lawsuit no criminal charges have been filed.
The suit claims Sutton invited Wiese to stay with him at the motel during the 2006 session.
Court documents say they shared the one bed in the room and that on three nights in a row, Sutton inappropriately touched and fondled Wiese, who then moved out of the room.
Wiese, now 19, says he has suffered mental anguish, shame, indignity, embarrassment, pain and suffering.
He's being represented by former Congressman and Governor Bill Janklow.
Early this year, the state Senate held a hearing on the allegations. The Senate then voted to censure Sutton rather than expel him.
The Associated Press maintains that they have a policy that a lawmaker's political party affiliation is only mentioned when it is germane to the story. Of course, what "germane" means to the AP is a criteria that is never satisfactorily explained by the AP. One thing is sure, I personally have never seen a lawmaker misconduct story where the perp... I mean pol... in question is a Republican without his party affiliation being mentioned. Apparently, anytime it is a Republican in such a story it is "germane" to AP's story to mention his party!
Yet, mysteriously, when the story centers on a member of the Democrat Party, the AP quite often posts its story on lawmaker misconduct without the Democrat's party label mentioned.
Sure is mysterious, don't you think?
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}}---> Dutton the Molestor
October 4, 2007 - 04:33 ET by Cool ArrowSounds to me like Dutton and the Press are on the same page.
What right-minded parent allows their child to take such a job?
May as well let them take jobs pole dancing.
~LYDSEXICS UNTIE!~
So how I keep thinking that
October 4, 2007 - 04:56 ET by USA4freedomSo how I keep thinking that one day, if just out of pure embarrassment
the press would do the right thing.
It is daily living proof that the idea of political
correctness as well as the total left slant on every thing is never going to
stop.
These are the boys of Pointe du Hoc.
Ronald Reagan- 40th Anniversary of D-Day
}}---> Say it ain't so USA
October 4, 2007 - 05:06 ET by Cool ArrowI can't understand how the press continuesw to cling to to their the hope that the next "little scoop" will net a Pullitzer.
You can't get a Pullitzer as a defender of American values. Something earth shattering about this observation?
Better to suck up to the MSM establishment in hopes of personal notoriety than print the whole truth.
~LYDSEXICS UNTIE!~
Thank you Minnesota Public Radio
October 4, 2007 - 04:39 ET by Cool ArrowOpening with his party affiliation MPR offers the following:
There were unsubstantiated claims that Sen. Dan Sutton (D-Flandreau) engaged in sexually inappropriate behavior with a second young man seven years ago while on a band trip to Washington D.C. That information was revealed to Sutton's lawyers last week. The man making the claim is Brandon Carr. He has been subpoenaed but has not yet testified.
The plot thickens, and lengthens, I'm sure.
~LYDSEXICS UNTIE!~
The AP knows by now
October 4, 2007 - 05:19 ET by sarcasmoThat this policy is germane to media bias, and that party label is ABSOLUTELY GERMANE BY DEFINITION to any politician screwin'-scandal story... The AP can't be trusted with a word like "germane," they need an ironclad policy to prevent this kind of bias.
JMR
Rally online with fans of Dr. Ron Paul.
}}---> Agreed sarc
October 4, 2007 - 05:29 ET by Cool ArrowBut we must realize Dems see no problem with "it's just about sex" even if it's outside the existing marriage.
They are merely "peeved" when such stories come to light.
All is morally acceptable to them. They are therefore insulated from these "non-indiscretions" because they can't be labelled "hypocrites".
~LYDSEXICS UNTIE!~
that is fine with me.
October 4, 2007 - 05:44 ET by sarcasmoI just want party labels on EVERY scandal story. I fully accept that sex scandals are more shocking for (or when they happen-to) bible-thumpers for the same reason that a sweatshop offshore factory scandal would be a bigger scandal for the socialist types out there. Politicians ARE what they say they aren't, and whenever they do the opposite of what they say it causes people like me to crack jokes about 'em.
In fact, this brings to mind a story I've failed for years to find, but I swear I'm recalling correctly, and it was an excellent idea. A real journalist went to ladies of the evening who'd worked both the Democrat and Republican conventions, asking about the differences between Democrat and Republican Johns. Results were hardly shocking to a cynic like me (which explains my continued quest to find the article again in electronic form).
Basically, the girls said, Democrats just wanted ordinary sex, but these "men of the people" were always trying to pay less for it or scam the girls, with never a tip extra despite what's apparently a normal custom. Republicans, by contrast, were quite willing to pay premium rates to have sex, but these "family values" types wanted the most odd, kinky varieties of sex I can't mention here beyond "2 girls is only the beginning" -- basically nothing ordinary at all.
JMR
Rally online with fans of Dr. Ron Paul.
}}---> More bang for your buck
October 4, 2007 - 05:50 ET by Cool ArrowMakes perfect sense to me.
~LYDSEXICS UNTIE!~
Name the party no matter what!
October 4, 2007 - 05:53 ET by USA4freedomThere should be some unwritten law that states: When ever a politician
is in the news for any reason good or bad, they have to state the party.
These are the boys of Pointe du Hoc.
Ronald Reagan- 40th Anniversary of D-Day
}}---> It'd never fly USA
October 4, 2007 - 06:07 ET by Cool ArrowPress is not interested in truth in reporting.
~LYDSEXICS UNTIE!~
Exactly. And we need "Journalism 101" at NB!
October 4, 2007 - 06:11 ET by sarcasmoFor this kind of biased "error," NB needs to become sarcasmo-nasty and institute a new category: "Journalism 101." Yeah, on the surface it's a bit insulting to "professionals" in the media, but their continual attempt to hide blatant bias behind words like "germane" insults OUR intelligence, so they'd only be reaping what they've sown.
JMR
Rally online with fans of Dr. Ron Paul.
... not so worried about any
October 4, 2007 - 06:15 ET by Warner Todd Huston... not so worried about any insult to THEIR "professionalism." They ain't so worried about any insult to OUR intelligence!
I suppose I should PM Matthew and request
October 4, 2007 - 06:36 ET by sarcasmoA new, insulting NB category, then. It's sad that the situation has come to this, but this selective non-labelling "error" is just like decreases in the rate of increase in government-growth being called "cuts," and it simply drives me crazy. If they're insulted by a new "Journalism 101" category at NB, so be it.
JMR
Rally online with fans of Dr. Ron Paul.
}}---> Not insulting, sarc
October 4, 2007 - 06:42 ET by Cool ArrowI doubt much of NB would have a problem with some schooling on journalism.
~LYDSEXICS UNTIE!~
Hiding Sutton's party is nothing new
October 4, 2007 - 06:53 ET by nkviking75The AP did this before when reporting the story at the time of the censure several months ago. You can get background at the thread I started here.
The Sioux Falls Argus-Leader's version of the story completely omits Sutton's Democrat Party ties.
Chet Brokaw, the AP reporter I cited in my original thread, ID's Sutton as a Democrat in the first line of this story. Apparently MSM reporters can change.
When you put the clowns in charge, don't be surprised when a circus breaks out.
I bet he doesn't
October 4, 2007 - 08:16 ET by wiwfI bet he doesn't resign
The Rocky Mountain Collegian: Illustrating Idiocy
It reminds me of when the
October 4, 2007 - 08:26 ET by rwestIt reminds me of when the O'Reilly Factor labeled Mark Foley as "D-Florida" during his scandal and Arlen Specter as "D-Pennsylvania" when he was criticizing AG Gonzales.
}}---> rwest
October 4, 2007 - 08:42 ET by Cool ArrowAre you claiming the mistaqke wasn't corrected by FOX?
~LYDSEXICS UNTIE!~
if so...
October 4, 2007 - 10:38 ET by sarcasmoIt sure wouldn't be the first. Fox News isn't all that special, to be brutally-frank about it.
JMR
Rally online with fans of Dr. Ron Paul.
LOL!
October 4, 2007 - 10:46 ET by Sergeant ROCKRiiiighht! There are so many other news channels to choose from that attempt to offer all points of view and do the stories the liberals refuse to do.
You're letting your Ru Paul fanaticism cloud your judgement, chubby.
Indoctrinate-U
Our Education. Their Politics.
It's not misconduct when a
October 4, 2007 - 08:41 ET by mattmIt's not misconduct when a Demon-Rat does it.
"...not that you'd be able
October 4, 2007 - 09:51 ET by richflanj"...not that you'd be able to tell from this story."
Sure you can. No party affliliation noted = Democrat.
"The right to be heard does not automatically include the right to be taken seriously." --Hubert Humphrey
At least he was a Senator...
October 4, 2007 - 10:36 ET by Paul HansonThe AP may have a policy to not disclose party affiliation except when germane, but you can be sure that if the lawmaker was in the House (instead of the Senate as in this case), Representative would have been abbreviated such that the lead would be:
Rep. Dan Sutton of Flandreau has been sued...
This 18 year old was so
October 4, 2007 - 14:39 ET byThis 18 year old was so bothered that he let Sutton's groping continue for three nights and then waited a year before filing a lawsuit. Smells like an extortion deal to me, and I can guarantee you when I was that age and if that happened to me I'd definitly be kicking some ass. There's more to this story...
Blaster, are you telling us
October 4, 2007 - 21:01 ET by MikeBBlaster, are you telling us that you now believe Clarence Thomas, and doubt Anita Hill?
"A communist is someone who reads Marx. An anti-communist is someone who understands Marx." Ronald Reagan
democRATS ashamed of homosexuals..
October 6, 2007 - 08:40 ET by Sergeant ROCK.. which is why they shame Craig over his alleged indiscretions and shy away from being associated with this scandal.
Indoctrinate-U
Our Education. Their Politics.