Another politician accused of molesting a kid

[EvilMonkey]

http://www.breitbart.com/news/2007/01/25/D8MSIME80.html

 

But guess what party he belongs to? You have to read down to paragraph 16 before AP mentions that he is a D. Guess party affiliation isn't that important to AP.

[Texsox]

I am certain it mattered to the kid.

[Soxy]

http://www.breitbart.com/news/2007/01/25/D8MSIME80.html

 

But guess what party he belongs to? You have to read down to paragraph 16 before AP mentions that he is a D. Guess party affiliation isn't that important to AP.

Because that's what's really important here. That he's a democrat. . .

 

And I hope he gets punished the full extent of the law.

[EvilMonkey]

Because that's what's really important here. That he's a democrat. . .

 

And I hope he gets punished the full extent of the law.

No, it isn't the most important part of the story. But to deny that it IS important is simply putting your head in the sand. Cerainly important enough to be mentioned before the last paragraph of the story. I also hope he gets the full punishment allowed.

[Balta1701]

No, it isn't the most important part of the story. But to deny that it IS important is simply putting your head in the sand. Cerainly important enough to be mentioned before the last paragraph of the story. I also hope he gets the full punishment allowed.

I for one hope that the South Dakota voters take fully into account this politician's behavior and the behavior of anyone in his party who helped cover for him the next time their politicians face the voters.

 

There, happy?

[EvilMonkey]

I for one hope that the South Dakota voters take fully into account this politician's behavior and the behavior of anyone in his party who helped cover for him the next time their politicians face the voters.

 

There, happy?

I would be happier if that had never happened to begin with, but I guess that is a good start.

[Balta1701]

I would be happier if that had never happened to begin with, but I guess that is a good start.

Well of course, wouldn't we all? But you're harping on the fact that he's a Democrat, and the fact that the national media only considered it a side-note to the story that he's a South Dakota Democrat, so I think the correct response to your issues is to hope that the South Dakota party takes whatever measures are appropriate and receives whatever punishment necessary from the voters in that state.

 

If I were in that state and a voter, I'd care a lot more about the case, but since I'm not, there's not much else for me to say; it certainly doesn't prove that every Democrat is a child molester, or that the national Democratic party covers up for child molesters, or that I should have any reason at all to do anything at all to change my life or my voting patterns.

[Kyyle23]

I dont mean to split hairs, but isnt this a case of sexual assault as opposed to molesting a kid? He was 18, is he still considered a minor in this case?

[mr_genius]

http://www.breitbart.com/news/2007/01/25/D8MSIME80.html

 

But guess what party he belongs to? You have to read down to paragraph 16 before AP mentions that he is a D. Guess party affiliation isn't that important to AP.

 

didn't you know? only Republican scandals are legit news. this won't get any media attention. doesn't fit the MSM political view of "Democrats = good".

[Soxy]

I dont mean to split hairs, but isnt this a case of sexual assault as opposed to molesting a kid? He was 18, is he still considered a minor in this case?

It's not child molestation since the victim was 18, but sexual assaults are a form of molestation, so the thread title is only half misleading.

 

This is actually a very low degree sexual assault (no penatration and no weapon), so I imagine, if it ever even goes to court, the politician will get probation and/or community service.

 

No, it isn't the most important part of the story. But to deny that it IS important is simply putting your head in the sand. Cerainly important enough to be mentioned before the last paragraph of the story. I also hope he gets the full punishment allowed.

Thanks, but I'd rather focus on the fact that some creep felt up an 18 year old rather than some aspect of journalistic style. Who the f*** cares what party this guy is? He should resign just like Foley, not because he's a democrat but because he's a pervert.

[Texsox]

No, it isn't the most important part of the story. But to deny that it IS important is simply putting your head in the sand. Cerainly important enough to be mentioned before the last paragraph of the story. I also hope he gets the full punishment allowed.

 

Who is it important to? Scum like this are scum no matter which party they belong to. I guess if someone wants to extract political gain in all this it's important. I'm certain the victim will be happy the GOP could maybe put the hurt on Dems for this. Then it will all be worthwhile.

 

Just shoot me if I ever put some kids life behind political revenge.

[Damen]

didn't you know? only Republican scandals are legit news. this won't get any media attention. doesn't fit the MSM political view of "Democrats = good".

 

Why should it get any more media attention than what it's received? Apparently, it's gotten plenty of local press in South Dakota. He's a SD state senator, and there's no evidence of any wrongdoing or negligence on anyone but that Senator. So why should this be any thing more than a minor story nationally?

 

Step away from the media conspiracy ledge for a little while, and use some common sense first.

 

This is a local story only for a reason. You think any scandal or crime committed by a lone Republican state senator gets national attention? I can't think of any...

[mr_genius]

Step away from the media conspiracy ledge for a little while, and use some common sense first.

 

This is a local story only for a reason. You think any scandal or crime committed by a lone Republican state senator gets national attention? I can't think of any...

 

if it was a Republican it's national news, i can gaurantee you that.

 

 

Common sense? c'mon, you're a democrat, you don't want to talk about that.

 

Democrat common sense in slogan form:

 

NO OIL FOR OIL!

BUSH IS WORSE THAN HITLER AND KILLED 50 TIMES MORE PEOPLE!

COMMUNISM, NOT GUNS!!

NO OIL FOR OIL!

RUMSFELD FLEW A JET INTO THE WORLD TRADE CENTER!

[Balta1701]

if it was a Republican it's national news, i can gaurantee you that.

I love this. Totally unable to provide an example, but your only evidence is a guarantee based on how your gut feels.

 

A very great man once created a word for that. "Truthiness".

 

For reference, how many people here remember the case of the Spokane Mayor Jim West, a vehemently anti-Gay Republican mayor who was found to have attempted to seduce a man he thought was 18 years old and who was accused of having molested a couple of Boy Scouts several years beforehand? Certainly slipped my mind until I started googling for a counter-example. My memory certainly doesn't make it into a national scandal.

Edited January 29, 2007 by Balta1701

[Mplssoxfan]

NO OIL FOR OIL!

BUSH IS WORSE THAN HITLER AND KILLED 50 TIMES MORE PEOPLE!

COMMUNISM, NOT GUNS!!

NO OIL FOR OIL!

RUMSFELD FLEW A JET INTO THE WORLD TRADE CENTER!

 

I want to see this in someone's sig line. I just might have to do it myself.

[mr_genius]

I love this. Totally unable to provide an example, but your only evidence is a guarantee based on how your gut feels.

 

A very great man once created a word for that. "Truthiness".

 

haha, you rely of Colbert too much as your main news source. Honestly, I am just too lazy to Google and find examples. If you think my observations of the media are incorrect, so be it.

[EvilMonkey]

haha, you rely of Colbert too much as your main news source. Honestly, I am just too lazy to Google and find examples. If you think my observations of the media are incorrect, so be it.

I know Denny Hastert received major press in Virginia as I heard from an ex-Illinois buddy of mine who now resides out there after the bogus land-highway stuff came up who heard it on the news.

 

You all need to stop thinking on such large levels here . There can be bias in the media without it being a 'conspiracy'. Liberal news writers tend to slant thier writing. They don't have some manual to go by when preparing these stories, that is just how they are. And yes, conservatives would be the same way in slanting their views in stories they write. Yes, this was a local story about a state level politician. That means it should have received MORE attention as to the political party. ESPECIALLY in light of what crime it was and the Foley incident preceeding it. Like it or not, that IS important today. What if his party only had a 1 person lead in controlling the house? Or if he is forced to resign, they lose a veto-proof majority? What if he chairs an important committee? I DID NOT say there was a left wing conspiracy to hide the party affiliation of the guy involved, but there had to ba a reason that it wasn't mentioned sooner than the last paragraph. We have gone over this before. When writing about politicians, the R or D almost always comes after the first mention of their name. When it doesn't, it stands out as either agenda based or supreme sloppiness. Either way, someone should be in trouble for the bad writing, and this guy should get everything coming to him.

[bmags]

I know Denny Hastert received major press in Virginia as I heard from an ex-Illinois buddy of mine who now resides out there after the bogus land-highway stuff came up who heard it on the news.

 

You all need to stop thinking on such large levels here . There can be bias in the media without it being a 'conspiracy'. Liberal news writers tend to slant thier writing. They don't have some manual to go by when preparing these stories, that is just how they are. And yes, conservatives would be the same way in slanting their views in stories they write. Yes, this was a local story about a state level politician. That means it should have received MORE attention as to the political party. ESPECIALLY in light of what crime it was and the Foley incident preceeding it. Like it or not, that IS important today. What if his party only had a 1 person lead in controlling the house? Or if he is forced to resign, they lose a veto-proof majority? What if he chairs an important committee? I DID NOT say there was a left wing conspiracy to hide the party affiliation of the guy involved, but there had to ba a reason that it wasn't mentioned sooner than the last paragraph. We have gone over this before. When writing about politicians, the R or D almost always comes after the first mention of their name. When it doesn't, it stands out as either agenda based or supreme sloppiness. Either way, someone should be in trouble for the bad writing, and this guy should get everything coming to him.

 

 

The AP style book would be the manual, actually. And party affiliation would be the low end of the totem pole in importance, as most normal people want to know who what happened and when. If you are looking for in depth reporting on this to answer all your what-ifs, the AP news wire reports are not what you should be looking for. And as for the last half, not really. For state senators and local positions such as mayor, they would be recognized in the place where it would affect their voters. But nationally, the position is more important than the party. There are exceptions, like if the person is speaking about their party at large, they'd obviously ID them, to prevent confusion to the reader. No confusion here, as his party really had no relevance to the reader.

[Rex Kickass]

I know Denny Hastert received major press in Virginia as I heard from an ex-Illinois buddy of mine who now resides out there after the bogus land-highway stuff came up who heard it on the news.

 

You all need to stop thinking on such large levels here . There can be bias in the media without it being a 'conspiracy'. Liberal news writers tend to slant thier writing. They don't have some manual to go by when preparing these stories, that is just how they are. And yes, conservatives would be the same way in slanting their views in stories they write. Yes, this was a local story about a state level politician. That means it should have received MORE attention as to the political party. ESPECIALLY in light of what crime it was and the Foley incident preceeding it. Like it or not, that IS important today. What if his party only had a 1 person lead in controlling the house? Or if he is forced to resign, they lose a veto-proof majority? What if he chairs an important committee? I DID NOT say there was a left wing conspiracy to hide the party affiliation of the guy involved, but there had to ba a reason that it wasn't mentioned sooner than the last paragraph. We have gone over this before. When writing about politicians, the R or D almost always comes after the first mention of their name. When it doesn't, it stands out as either agenda based or supreme sloppiness. Either way, someone should be in trouble for the bad writing, and this guy should get everything coming to him.

 

As someone in New Jersey finding out about a South Dakotan state senator's misdeeds - the party he follows matters little to me.

[Texsox]

Just a little thought on the whole IDing thing. Would any of this make sense

 

Bob Wills (Sears Roebuck) was arrested today in suspicion of molesting a child . . .

Rob Hall (Democratic Voter) was arrested today in suspicion of molesting a child . . .

 

Why do we want to know the party, (and we do)? Because we want to know if it's one of "our guys". Who cares about the kid, but was it one of "our guys" or one of "theirs"? How sad is that? Why don't we start holding these guys to the same standard regardless of which side of the aisle they sit?

 

If convicted, the guy is a scum and should be tossed out on his ass. We all agree on that.

[Damen]

I know Denny Hastert received major press in Virginia as I heard from an ex-Illinois buddy of mine who now resides out there after the bogus land-highway stuff came up who heard it on the news.

 

You all need to stop thinking on such large levels here . There can be bias in the media without it being a 'conspiracy'. Liberal news writers tend to slant thier writing. They don't have some manual to go by when preparing these stories, that is just how they are. And yes, conservatives would be the same way in slanting their views in stories they write. Yes, this was a local story about a state level politician. That means it should have received MORE attention as to the political party. ESPECIALLY in light of what crime it was and the Foley incident preceeding it. Like it or not, that IS important today. What if his party only had a 1 person lead in controlling the house? Or if he is forced to resign, they lose a veto-proof majority? What if he chairs an important committee? I DID NOT say there was a left wing conspiracy to hide the party affiliation of the guy involved, but there had to ba a reason that it wasn't mentioned sooner than the last paragraph. We have gone over this before. When writing about politicians, the R or D almost always comes after the first mention of their name. When it doesn't, it stands out as either agenda based or supreme sloppiness. Either way, someone should be in trouble for the bad writing, and this guy should get everything coming to him.

 

Again, let's try and inject some thought into this. Denny Hastert is a US Congressman, who also happened to be the Speaker of the House. This guy from South Dakota is a State Senator. Can you guess why a scandal involving the Speaker of the House would be a national story, while a state senator from a sparsely populated flyover state would not?

 

In addition, all of your "what-if" statements are pointless, as they don't apply to the issue at hand. Republicans have a comfortable majority in the SD senate, so if he resigns, that will not change any of the party dynamics. There was little reason to include the party in this situation becuase that had nothing to do with the situation.

 

on edit: Actually, upon rereading the story, I'm really kind of shocked that this is what you guys are using as some sort of evidence of liberal bias. The writer explained the story, explained why it was a large local issue, and in the process of that, revealed the party identification once appropriate. I really have a hard time believing you guys are serious that this would have been handled any differently if the party labels were switched. More importantly, that seems to be the only reason the story was posted here in the first place, which is pretty weak.

Edited January 29, 2007 by Damen

[EvilMonkey]

Again, let's try and inject some thought into this. Denny Hastert is a US Congressman, who also happened to be the Speaker of the House. This guy from South Dakota is a State Senator. Can you guess why a scandal involving the Speaker of the House would be a national story, while a state senator from a sparsely populated flyover state would not?

 

In addition, all of your "what-if" statements are pointless, as they don't apply to the issue at hand. Republicans have a comfortable majority in the SD senate, so if he resigns, that will not change any of the party dynamics. There was little reason to include the party in this situation becuase that had nothing to do with the situation.

 

on edit: Actually, upon rereading the story, I'm really kind of shocked that this is what you guys are using as some sort of evidence of liberal bias. The writer explained the story, explained why it was a large local issue, and in the process of that, revealed the party identification once appropriate. I really have a hard time believing you guys are serious that this would have been handled any differently if the party labels were switched. More importantly, that seems to be the only reason the story was posted here in the first place, which is pretty weak.

It was an AP story from a staff writer in SD, where it happened. Local politician with a local story, the affiliation is always mentioned. I don't expect it to be mentioned prominently if it made national wires, but locally, it is news. Pick up the Trib or Sun-Times. If it mentions a state senator, it also mentions the party, right away. Not at the last paragraph of the story. Sloppiness, agenda, bias, whatever it is, it is wrong.

[bmags]

It was an AP story from a staff writer in SD, where it happened. Local politician with a local story, the affiliation is always mentioned. I don't expect it to be mentioned prominently if it made national wires, but locally, it is news. Pick up the Trib or Sun-Times. If it mentions a state senator, it also mentions the party, right away. Not at the last paragraph of the story. Sloppiness, agenda, bias, whatever it is, it is wrong.

 

this was not written for local papers. AP is set up, so that stories like this can be sent to other newspapers for great national coverage.

[Rex Kickass]

It was an AP story from a staff writer in SD, where it happened. Local politician with a local story, the affiliation is always mentioned. I don't expect it to be mentioned prominently if it made national wires, but locally, it is news. Pick up the Trib or Sun-Times. If it mentions a state senator, it also mentions the party, right away. Not at the last paragraph of the story. Sloppiness, agenda, bias, whatever it is, it is wrong.

 

AP will offer several versions of the same story on the wire. One for SD papers and stations, another for national papers and stations. I'd be surprised if the SD version of the story wasn't organized differently.

[Texsox]

AP will offer several versions of the same story on the wire. One for SD papers and stations, another for national papers and stations. I'd be surprised if the SD version of the story wasn't organized differently.

 

Unless things have changed, AP customers can rewrite the story to fit their market. They do not have to run it exactly as written. (But most do)