If they were Republicans, the media would be using the term "epidemic" to describe the corruption.
But when Democrats are snarled in bribery, adultery and other corruption, the media don't get too excited -- and when they do report it, they often forget to mention the politician is a Democrat.
From William Jefferson to Christopher Dodd to Charlie Rangel to John Edwards, the major media don't have much taste for telling you about corruption these days. The likely reason: All are Democrats.
In contrast, if the party label were different in any one of those cases would be a "problem" for the entire "Republican Party."
Folks, we're not making this up. It's provable fact.
Just consider the case of South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford.
"Sanford's extramarital affair a problem for GOP," blared a headline on MSNBC's Web site over an Associated Press "analysis."
"Sanford's affair admission rekindles a grand old problem," intones a broad-brush headline from the Seattle Times over a column from The Washington Post . "For a Republican Party down on its luck," says the column by Dan Balz, the Sanford case "draws more unwelcome publicity to a party that needs but cannot seem to get any good news."
Gee, could it be because the news writers have a blindspot?
Consider the case of one William Jefferson.
The former -- you heard it here first -- Democratic congressman from Louisiana was convicted last week on 11 of 16 corruption charges involving the taking of hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes. In one of the most blatant, banana-republic corruption cases in this country in years, Jefferson was found to have stored nearly $100,000 of his bribe money in a freezer at home.
Did you see any headlines anywhere that suggested Jefferson's case was a problem for the entire Democratic Party? Or that it was a trend of Democratic corruption?
Nope -- despite the fact that Democrat Sen. Christopher Dodd of Connecticut and Democrat Rep. Charlie Rangel of New York have serious ethical problems of their own to unravel.
Then there's John Edwards. Not exactly a private figure -- he was a Democratic vice presidential nominee only a few years ago, and a presidential candidate more recently -- Edwards was exposed as a serial liar and cheat for having an affair with a videographer while his wife was battling cancer. Now, a grand jury is reportedly investigating whether there were campaign laws broken when the woman was spirited off to seclusion and comfort by well-to-do Edwards supporters while he ran for president.
But as far as the media are concerned, like Jefferson, Dodd, Rangel, et al., Edwards' problems are only about him, not the party. No one at the Post is writing that Edwards, Jefferson or anyone else with a "D" behind his name "draws more unwelcome publicity" for the party.
Indeed, Jefferson's outlandish acts and conviction barely got mentioned in the major media last week -- and when it was reported, two of three major networks left off his Democratic Party affiliation. CBS News didn't even report the conviction the day it happened.
That's how you prevent a trend. You ignore it.
The Augusta Chronicle ©2010 Morris Communications, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
You're so hung up on Jefferson, until you forgot to mention that he was defeated, and is no longer a congressman. Like all those on the right, you will mention MSNBC, CBS during what you think they didn't or should have done, but fail to mention your friends at FNC telling it the way you and the right like to hear it. Like Fox news, I'm sure you think you're FAIR AND BALANCE too.
There all CROOKS! O
There all CROOKS! Oh yeah, that includes the drive by media to quote Rush who by the way is not my favorite,I just think that's funny.
Let us not forget Murtha with the defense contract problems, Blagojevich, and the Democrat running for Obama's old senate seat, Illinois State Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias, who is reported to be an Obama protege with mob ties throught his family bank. Don't expect to see that on your nightly news cast.
You could do like fox news did with Sanford and just run the caption showing him a democrat. Another talking point partisan hack job by the ACES. How about for once a thought provoking non Rush, Hannity inspired editorial. I mean all real papers have a little diversity. Everyday day I will get something bashing Obama, dems in Congress, or the MSM. Pathetic
William Jefferson is a virtually an unknown. Gov. Mark Sanford was easily on his way to contending for the Republican Nomination for President in 2012. Sanford lacks good judgment and the "Liberal" Media is correct to have exposed him. The Augusta Chronicle was certainly not going to do an expose on his shortcomings. The AP was reporting yesterday that Gov. Sanford used State aircraft for personal trips. Why should this not be news for a fiscal conservative that was going to allow the layoffs of teachers and other workers in his State by refusing stimulus money. This level of hypocrisy needs to be exposed. If you're affraid of hearing the truth about Republicans in the media, there's always Rush Limbaugh and the Fox News Network to spin or "Balance" the news to your liking.
Look at the situation the state of Georgia is in. The chronicle has not written one editorial because Sonny and the Legislature is Republican. You guys are the pot calling the kettle black. But Rush and Hannity don't talk about Georgia so neither do you.
I love it. William Jefferson, Roland Burris, and Rod Blageovich...all Democrats, and all with legal clouds hanging over them. Yeah, that's some great party for the working man. And CONCERNED, I hear from libs like you how worthless Fox News and Rush are, yet you can't post without mentioning them.
Of course there would be a double standard if the left had standards. It's easy to hold up the Repub congressmen as trouble for the party, because the party claims to have standards. This will never happen for the Dems. The secular party of no standards feels "it's all good" until one gets busted in a way that can't be covered up, then it's "every man for himself". The Repubs have chosen the tougher road, especially since they don't vet their candidates. While it appears to be an "uneven" playing field, it's actually two different fields. The NINE congressmen and senators of the Dem party currently being investigated or tried for major crimes (other than ethics) are the norm for this party. The fact the left wing voters don't know of them(or don't care) is also the norm.
Please Mark did this to himself, how do the editorial staff win awards is beyond me.
Yesssss!!! We still hear about Haliburton today because Dick Cheney used to work for them. The claim was that no bid contracts allowed Haliburton to overcharge for work done in Iraq. Nevermind no other company could deliver what was needed. Remember all the oil well fires they put out? Everything Haliburton does is scrutinized to the max. Their profit margins are about 1.5 percent in Iraq, far less than their core business. In essence they do work in Iraq because the government asks them to. And that government includes the Obama administration. Still we hear the neoMaos on MSNBC screaming "Haliburton." Unreal.
I think it has to do with the fall of those who preach virtue, persecute others for their morality, while all at the same time sleeping around on the wife, and having oral sex in airport bathrooms. It's the hypocrisy thing that makes for the headline.
Talk about being willing to look the other way, Riverman! The Halliburton no-bid contracts stink to high heaven and they failed to deliver on much of what they were contracted to do. But set that aside for a second: Politicians, no matter the party, and being human and in positions of power, tend to eventually slide toward corruption. I'm not defending it, just making an observation. What makes NEWS is when someone sets himself on a pedestal and makes sanctimonious remarks about others' failings...and then demonstrates that he is guilty of the very same things. That overlay of hypocrisy is both fascinating and revolting. And when you throw in the sort of narcissism Sanford showed, you've got a STORY WITH LEGS. Whatever. This newspaper continues its slide to the gutter.
Corruption knows no party affiliation. All you need is power and the money will follow close behind, then the corruption as well.
For once, I think Shivas is correct. He says that the Rep. party at least has the impression of trying to uphold some degree of virtue and "family values". The Dems. on the other hand, make no pretense of holding to any personal standards of virtue. When they fall from grace, it is expected and normal. Why not? They are the party supported by racists (don't forget Jeremiah Wright), abortionists, homosexuals, atheists, and the ACLU. Anything goes. The Reps., at least many of them, seem to speak of traditional family values and proclaim to hold these up. When they violate these principles it is hypocrisy in the first degree. All in your perspective, I guess. In politics, whatever gets you the votes is the primary morality. Sad -- for both parties.
howcanwe hit the mark, with Democrats it's expected.
HotFoot, let's have a little teaching moment. The military still uses no-bid contracts today. Haliburton continues to provide services under Obama. The reason a no-bid contract is given is because the company is the only one who can provide the service. Remember Haliburton's military contracts give them a profit of less than 1.5%, much lower than their core business. There is no looking the other way. The Cheney-Haliburton connection has been examined ad nausea by every neoMaoist in the NBC cafeteria including the servers. Zilch. But, yeah, yeah, I know corporations are evil and sell oil and medicines for too much and other black helicopter type stuff.
Strange, I seem to remember Edwards plastered all over the news. Jefferson lost to a Republican who was endorsed by many Democrats, including Jefferson's runoff opponent in the primary. If the money's iffy, maybe Edwards could just reimburse the campaign fund, like Sanford reimbursed SC for his "don't cry for me Argentina" trip. If Sanford hadn't pulled the disappearing act, and then tried to explain it constantly in news conferences, it wouldn't have received near the news exposure it did.
Hey TECH, got any quick explanations for Blageovich and Burris, or are they just victims of some right wing conspiracy?
Uh, how many GA democrats was it that are taxd cheats, I seem to have forgotten. Was it 50 plus?
Let's see...faulty wiring KBR (Halliburton) installed killed 16 U.S. troops. The Corps of Engineers' top civilian contracting expert, Bunnatine Greenhouse. testified that: "I can unequivocally state that the abuse related to contracts awarded to KBR represents the most blatant and improper contract abuse I have witnessed during the course of my professional career." And now the company has moved to the UAE to make it more difficult to prosecute them. Give me the citation on that 1.5% profit, wouldja? I'd be really interested in seeing THAT.
Just another letter from a CONservative christian that believes in the 8 or 9 commandments. Almost like he is proud of the actions of Sanford. BTW the news yesterday clearly showed that our little darling across the river was continually using the state aircraft illegally. But I guess that is OK with the writer, because "everybody else is doing it". When are americans going to wake up?
And??? Do this paper need news so bad, that they go and dig stuff up that happened months ago? As far as who did what, did you not, report on it? It is old news!! There are crooks in both parties, you are not reporting anything that we do not know!! This article seems to be just what it is, to start a back and forth about the parties, just something to have people calling each other names. I really think, that your paper, think that the readers are stupid, that we belive everything that you print. We don;t!!Bring us something that we don;t know!!!!
Oh, so now we change the argument to accidents that KBR (Haliburton) has been involved with. These are rightfully investigated, retribution paid and legal action taken if appropriate. Consider the enormity of building power plants and laying grids in a war torn country. Haliburton does not arm their employess and has lost many to hostile fire. I mean Haliburton criticism is right out of the Michael Moore movie where he claims they STARTED the war. Some people will believe ANYTHING if it sounds anti corporate America. This has all been investigated by everyone from the Ludowici police department to the FBI.
1941, that would require the Chronicle to engage in journalism, and while the news writers are solid, the editorial page has suspended all standards and even the semblance of balance. I've never seen a worse example than yesterday's opinions pages. They exercise absolutely no editorial judgment in letter selection and publish rants that contain lies and paranoid delusions, as well as religious pieties. The columnists are 90% conservative. But the main circus is the editorials, including the swinish cartoons. I mean, why not just publish a call for our president' assassination and be done with it? You bring down the level of discourse and civility in this region with every ill-conceived diatribe.
I see Obama has added another faction to his brown shirt army to come out and attack conservatives. The Service Employees Internation Union (SEIU) not only is working with the White House to create policy, they are now sending out their members to the town hall meetings to attack people who are opposing healthcare reform. More Hitler tactics from the Marxist Democrat Party. Maybe yelling at a meeting is in bad taste, but sending in the brown shirts to attack citizens is a classic Nazi tactic adopted by this strong arm administration. You have lost your FREEDOM people and you are just too stupid to realize it. This administration has no intention of listening to the people and is willing to threaten, pressure, and yes, even send out the union thugs to assault them. The SEIU has signed up to be Obama's Brown Shirt Army.
Facts tend to tick off the neoMaos. The Haliburton contract explanation is in Democrat Harry Waxman's Oversight Committee report and other places. Haliburton is assured 1% above costs and an additional awarded fee of up to 2% for its LOGCAP contract. That's the big one. It has all averaged about 1.4%. That's way below their profit in other areas of the company. Again, under Obama, Haliburton contracts have been continued. Who else do you think can rebuild the oil fields and infrastructure of the country? Take off your tin foil hats and use them to bake something in that you shoot in the wild. Man or woman up to real life facts and stop believing corporations eat their young.
We democrats know that as humans, God has already said that the " heart is decietful above all things and desperately wicked, who can know it? Man is not inherently good, he is inherently bad, when he does not take Christ as his life daily. The republicans are seeing that thier claim to perfection is not sustainable apart from daily walking with the Lord. Politics is about getting our way. Christ is about getting God's way.
MadMax, good post and that brings up something else. Although those of us on message boards and so on refer to the union thugs as Obama's Brown Shirts, it is far more noteworthy when Representatives use such terms. Nancy Pelosi, the Speaker of the House, calls protestors at meetings "Red Shirts" as a play on the Nazi angle. How many Republican Representatives have called Obama supporters Brown Shirts? Democratic Rep. Brian Baird actually called protestors Brown Shirts.
Know what's funny. Those elderly people in that tiny room listening to the Congressman who first laughed at the concept of this national health care plan. There was that one old white haired guy who asked the question and then started laughing at the answer of how the bill would actually save money. Remember that? I think Rush Limbaugh first picked up on it after someone caught the video and sound on a phone. It struck a chord with America. I bet those old folks in that home are smiling all day knowing they started this revolution.