And now another episode of Name That Party where the news customer reads a story and tries his darndest to discern from what party a scandal plagued politician hails. We have many times said that one of the main rules of the Name That Party parlor game is that if the Old Media is talking about a troubled Democrat, often times the pol's party is either not mentioned at all or is buried way down in the story. On the other hand, if it is a troubled Republican, why the party affiliation often leads the story if it isn't right in the headline itself. Today we have a pair of stories that proves this axiom well.
First up is the mysterious case of Detroit City Council Member Monica Conyers (wife of Representative John Conyers) who the Associated Press reports is "snarled in bribes probe." All the sordid details about the tale are laid out for us... except one. It seems the AP somehow forgot to mention that Monica Conyers is a Democrat.
Curiously, the AP does give a hint of our Mrs. Conyers' affiliation by mentioning that her hubby is a Democrat. I guess we are supposed to extrapolate that she is also a Dem?
The AP alerts us to the fact that the feds have fingered Monica Conyers as "Council Member A" in a bribes case involving cash bribes handed over in a the parking lots of fast-food outlets around Detroit. Still, no mention that we are dealing with a Democrat here.
In fact, this story mentions nearly half a dozen convicted or indicted Detroit politicians without ever once mentioning that any of them are Democrats. Curious that.
In typical tiresome fashion, Monica Conyers asked for prayers to God to help her in these troubled times. There are no atheists in foxholes, eh?
And now for story two:
Once again we find an AP treatment of a troubled politician in theirs headlined, "Sen. Ensign admits affair with ex-campaign staffer."
So, how do you think the AP handles to which party our friend Mr. Ensign is affiliated? Well, let us check the very first sentence of the story to see...
LAS VEGAS – Sen. John Ensign of Nevada, a leading Republican mentioned as a potential presidential candidate, admitted Tuesday he had an extramarital affair with a woman who was a member of his campaign staff.
Gosh. It took them all the way until the eighth word of the story to peg Ensign as a Republican.
The AP must be slipping!
(H/T NewsBusters readers Larry Ham, Steve Savino, and Marty)
Editor at Large
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Should have read
June 17, 2009 - 01:39 ET by Jman449LAS VEGAS – Republican Sen. John "The Republican" Ensign (R) of Nevada (the state he represents as a Republican), a leading Republican mentioned
as a potential Republican presidential candidate for the Republican Presidential nomination, admitted Tuesday he had an
extramarital affair with a woman (possibly also a Republican, same as Ensign, the Republican Senator) who was a member of his Republican campaign staff.
Fixed.
I am so sick of the MSM,
June 17, 2009 - 02:40 ET by RogerCfromSDI am so sick of the MSM, and every soulless idiot who betrays his or her country by lying to or ridiculing their fellow Americans.
A nation cannot be free without a free, unbiased media. We are not free.
nothing new under the sun
June 17, 2009 - 03:55 ET by konoHighlighting / hiding party affiliations to enhance Democrat image has been part of the old media's standard operating practices for at least the last three decades. (I didn't pay enough attention before that to tell if they did it even before Watergate.)
Page 1 / Page 16 is another of their favorite tricks, making sure everybody sees what makes Conservatives look bad and Liberals look good, and burying everything else.
What sucks is they get away with it. What sucks even more is how many people's beliefs and opinions are shaped by such blatant manipulation.
bigtimer brought up Ensign
June 17, 2009 - 05:39 ET by motherbeltbigtimer brought up Ensign in the thread on Jefferson yesterday....at the time it was this AP story where Republican was the first word!
I guess the WaPo didn't want to be quite so obvious. LOL
Such compassion. And gee, I didn't know he was a potential Presidential candidate! Good thing they provided that info!
I didn't think it was physically possible, but this both sucks and blows. -Bart Simpson
par for the course
June 17, 2009 - 07:01 ET by AJBThe state-run media has a manual which spells this out clearly. Why are we shocked? If the party is not mentioned, we HAVE to assume its a liberal democrat!
The first sentence of the
June 17, 2009 - 07:41 ET by amnigoThe first sentence of the MSNBC.com AP story reads:
"Republican Sen. John Ensign of Nevada, a leading conservative mentioned as a potential presidential candidate, admitted Tuesday he had an extramarital affair with a woman who was a member of his campaign staff."
Well Warner
June 17, 2009 - 08:12 ET by shawn228They did mention that her husband was democrat. I don't recall very often through the years someone saying Republican Laura Bush. Just like people focusing on abortions that Tiller did instead of his murder, people are focusing on how people are mentioning Ensign's party affiliation instead of him breaking his maritial vows.
He had my vote
Um...
June 17, 2009 - 08:16 ET by Warner Todd HustonUm... I'm sorry, but I am probably getting old and forgetful. Now, WHAT office did Laura Bush get elected to where "her" party label was needed in a news story again?
On the other hand, Monica Conyers IS an elected official. Darn if I can recall her party though. Can't seem to find it in the news.
Maybe you can help Shawn?
Be sure and visit my home blog PubliusForum.com.
Okay Warner
June 17, 2009 - 08:22 ET by shawn228Perhaps you got me there. Hey its only a little past 6 in the morning here :-)
Your also not commenting on the second part of my post. What do you think of Ensigns, wasn't it hypocritical of him to call Larry Craig a disgrace? Sort of like Newt Gingrich sayin' Clinton could not keep his maritial vows back then.
He had my vote
Yep
June 17, 2009 - 08:30 ET by Warner Todd HustonYes, it sure is. Ensign is also a member of Promise Keepers!!
Why do these nitwits always think that they'll never be found out? Ask John Edwards, Bill Clinton, Craig.... Gary Hart, fer cripes sakes!
Be sure and visit my home blog PubliusForum.com.
Thank you Warner He
June 17, 2009 - 08:32 ET by shawn228Thank you Warner
He had my vote
jessieH
June 17, 2009 - 10:32 ET by jessieHjessieH Democrat or republican, or libertarian, they all spell their party the same- corrupt. WE, the PEOPLE, are PATRIOTS! WE the PEOPLE, are AMERICANS! Exept for the libertarians, WE have been screwed by both parties.
In our local paper here in Michigan there was this story and...
June 17, 2009 - 10:56 ET by JTPanother story across from it on the previous page regarding a new state police building that no one besides the Governor (she is a democrat) and her campaign contributors (contractors) wants . The third sentence has the description of 2 republicans opposing it. The story regarding Conyers did not list her party at all but listed her husbands party near the end of it. It is now mandatory with the peestream media to see how much can be left out so as not to damage their own brand.
"Live for yourself...there's no one else more worth living for.
Begging hands and bleeding hearts will only cry out for more"- Rush--Anthem
"...potential presidential
June 17, 2009 - 11:24 ET by Cortillaen"...potential presidential candidate..."? Granted, I haven't been digging into the pre-pre-pre-presidential race, but I've never even heard of this guy mentioned in passing when the subject of 3 years along comes around. Of course, it seems nearly every Republican involved in a scandel becomes some sort of Rep "leader" overnight...
More of my thoughts
"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
I was wondering about this yesterday---
June 17, 2009 - 13:48 ET by Roscoe MendagoYesterday I read something about Detroit and a scandal involving the transport of sludge out of state. This particular deed was said to involve an un-named Detroit city counsel member taking a $6,000 bribe. I said to myself, "I wonder if it's that Conyers woman", well, JACKPOT!!!!
Now tell me is there a worst bunch of crooks in all of America than the people who run large inner-cities. To a person they all seem to be Democrats, and would put the leaders of countries like Zimbabwe, Somalia, or any sub-Saharan 4th world country to shame in their corruptness. What do you bet she's exonerated and walks, and you can rest assured if she were a Republican, both her and her husband John would be finished as politicians.