Another Round of “Name the Party!”
[guest post by JVW]
Once again, ladies and gentlemen, it’s time to play that fun game ”Name the Party!” where we provide for you a news item about a politician and challenge you to guess which party he or she belongs to. Today’s entry comes from an Associated Press story about a wayward state politician:
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — A newly re-elected Virginia lawmaker hitched a ride from the jailhouse to the statehouse to be sworn in, even as legislative leaders discussed how to throw him out.
Del. Joseph D. Morrissey, who spends his nights in jail because of a sex scandal conviction, was back in his familiar legislative arena Wednesday but with a whole new set of circumstances: Colleagues ignored him, he was stripped of committee assignments, he had to give up his old office, and his desk on the House floor was put in a far corner.
OK, so we have a name (Joseph D. Morrissey), a state (Virginia), a legislative body (House of Delegates, though you have to infer that from reference to “the House floor”), and the outlines of a crime (something to do with sex). Let’s keep playing and go to the third paragraph:
Morrissey didn’t appear bothered by his pariah status and instead brimmed with defiant confidence. He told reporters he wasn’t worried that both parties have repeatedly denounced him and said he doesn’t belong in the oldest continuously operating legislative body in the Western Hemisphere.
“I’m confident in Joe Morrissey and I’m confident things will work out exactly the way they are supposed to,” Morrissey said.
Ah, so close! We learn that both parties have denounced him. Is he a Democrat? Is he a Republican? The suspense is just killing me! Let’s keep going:
Morrissey said he didn’t find out he had won re-election until after he had returned to jail Tuesday night. Morrissey was convicted last month of contributing to the delinquency of a minor. Prosecutors accused him of having sex with a 17-year-old girl who worked for him. Morrissey and the teenager, now 18 and pregnant, have denied it.
Prosecutors said nude photos of the 17-year-old were found on Morrissey’s cellphone and allegedly shared with a friend. Morrissey, a bachelor who has fathered three children out of wedlock with three different women, has denied wrongdoing but entered the misdemeanor plea to avoid felony charges punishable by years in prison and automatic loss of his legislative position.
OK, now we know the crime for which Morrissey was convicted. He’s a sexual deviant who has a thing for underage girls. For whatever reason, it appears that he was allowed to cop a plea to a lesser charge to avoid a more severe sentence which would end his legislative career. But still, no mention of his party. Do you have any guesses? Let’s pick up at paragraph seven of the story:
An attorney, Morrissey has a history of fistfights, contempt of court citations and disbarment. He announced he was resigning his seat in December after his conviction, but promptly began running for his old seat as an independent after he said Democrats blocked him from the party nominating process.
Woah! Major clue here! The Democrats have blocked him from the party nominating process. That means he’s a Democrat, right? The version of the story that appeared in my local newspaper ended right here at paragraph seven. Do you suppose that the reporters might have given consideration to the fact that many newspapers wouldn’t make it even that far? Great work, Alan Suderman and Larry O’Dell of the AP. You kept us in suspense all the way until the latter part of the article, and unless we already know how this game generally plays out, we might still be wondering.
– JVW
You could cheat and take a shortcut: if it’s negative and the party isn’t mentioned, its democrat. No further reference to the story or other facts is necessary in 95 cases out of 100.
Ken in Camarillo (2c0dee) — 1/15/2015 @ 11:53 pmUnexpectedly!
redc1c4 (4db2c8) — 1/16/2015 @ 12:30 amthe DemoRats and the MSM think they are being so clever by leaving the party label off or only putting it in the last paragraph.
When the MSM talks about a Republican it’s always “John Jones, R-SomeState” was caught having sex with a 15-year girl or with his whole arm in the cookie jar in the first sentence of the article.
if no mention of party; the chances of it being a DemoRat approach unity… ;-[
robert rudzki (2f75a5) — 1/16/2015 @ 12:47 amThere, but for the Grace of Hillary, goes Bill Clinton.
Really bright and ambitious, borderline sociopath, hillbilly, no-account trash, who can’t keep it in his pants and can’t play by the rules as a lawyer either. He even looks like a character out of the “Deliverance” movie.
nk (dbc370) — 1/16/2015 @ 3:01 amthey just can’t help it, these Associated Press propaganda whores
here’s how propaganda slut Matthew Lee kicks off his story about John Kerry finally getting his douchebag failmerican ass to Paris
last week‘s terrorist attacks?
oh but no, Associated Press propaganda slut
you’re deliberately obscuring the fact that it took loser-assed failmerica well over a week to send anyone with an actual title over to Paris
happyfeet (831175) — 1/16/2015 @ 3:50 amsame as it ever was
mg (31009b) — 1/16/2015 @ 3:57 amDavid Byrne
nk, every time I see Bill Clinton the “Bad Boys” theme song from “Cops” starts playing automatically in my head. I expect Bill Clinton to commit a crime like this, but I picture the cops hauling him out a mobile home at a trailer park in his boxer shorts and a torn dirty t-shirt.
Similar to the “Name the Party!” game is the “Guess that Race!” game.
When a crime is committed by a “person of color” most news outlets will not provide that information. But they’re entirely willing to highlight the race if the perpetrator is white.
This is typical of the kind of reporting I’m referring to.
http://nypost.com/2012/07/29/drunken-gang-of-girls-in-subway-stab-attack-cops/
That’s not reporting. Nowhere in the article do they ever say one word about the race of these perps. And that information is important when the police are still looking for them, instead of already having them in custody. You end up with completely useless descriptions of the perps when the cops are providing that information so that the public can help them track the criminals down.
The LHMFM self-censors that information. So they’ll describe age, sex, and what they were wearing. But they’ll never mention what their skin color is. Apparently the lesson learned from the George Zimmerman case is that it’s racist to actually describe a black person’s skin color. The cops think it’s important. That’s why they asked George to tell them if Trayvon was black, white, or hispanic. And they’ll often (but not always; cops are sensitive about appearing racist, too) put out that information if they’re looking for the perps and want the public to help them. But most news organizations will not pass that information along even when the police do provide it. Instead they’ll provide a “description” that is useless once the perps figure out the media is only describing what they were wearing. So once they change their clothes they are completely unrecognizable, and barely recognizable even if they don’t.
If the LHMFM only tells you the cops are looking for a group of teenaged girls, and they only tell you stuff like “wearing a white jacket, jeens, and sneakers” that could be anybody.
Of course, if you do successfully “Guess that Race” they’ll assume its your inherent racism that caused you to guess they were black. As if you automatically assumed the criminals were black because you just assume “persons of color” are criminal. Which is why they make a point, I guess, of highlighting the person’s race if he or she is white. But the glaring silence on the subject of race when the perp is black is a dead giveaway.
There’s a good article about the phenomenon at City Pages, a site dealing with Minneapolis, and it lays out how the Star-Tribune consistently falls down on the job when it comes to providing the citizens of that city with information they need.
When black gangs were beating up and robbing students at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, the PC thought police got the panties in a wad because the university identified the perpetrators as black. They accused the school of profiling (which is of course racist). But federal law requires universities to report crimes against students, and those reports have to include descriptions of the suspects. Including race or skin color. The school had to issue a statement that they were against profiling.
Of course profiling is wonderful when it allows the press to speculate that a suspect must be white. Then they can’t get enough of profiling. Recall the around the clock coverage of the DC sniper case. The press that can’t stop calling profiling evil in any other circumstances would not shut up about how the sniper must have been white because middle-aged white men commit that type of crime most frequently.
Then they were playing their own version of “Guess that Race!” and with extreme enthusiasm.
Steve57 (f1883e) — 1/16/2015 @ 4:34 amIt is true that had he ever been a Republican, it would have been mentioned in the headline and the lede. If you ever have to ask, you know it’s a Democrat.
But it’s a trivial point. The potential Democratic voter doesn’t care about character, they vote for freebies on the one hand and vengeance on the other. More social programs, like free community college, balanced by taxing the rich and crippling business with regulations, with harassment of those they envy by their Social Justice Warriors.
Ever notice that “_______ justice” is never about justice, and always about either getting paid or getting payback, or both?
Estragon (ada867) — 1/16/2015 @ 4:56 amSimple, just assume all criminals are either Democrats or Blacks or both. Statistically it’s a given.
ropelight (f87b08) — 1/16/2015 @ 5:15 amHere’s an excerpt from the letter retired FBI Agent K. Dee McCown wrote to Attorney General Eric Holder dated 12/28/14:
ropelight (f87b08) — 1/16/2015 @ 6:28 amHappy, give Kerry a break. It was Christmas season and he was off in Cambodia.
It’s a long way and a lot of jet lag from Cambodia to Paris. He got there as soon as he could!
Dan (d2bbcb) — 1/16/2015 @ 6:37 amsometimes i lash out without thinking
happyfeet (a037ad) — 1/16/2015 @ 7:05 amRepublican crooks/deviants are identified in the first paragraph. Demos not so much.
AZ Bob (34bb80) — 1/16/2015 @ 7:17 amRefusing to name the Party works. I suspect many readers skim over the articles and don’t even think about what Party the subject belongs to, unless it’s clearly included as they do when Republicans are involved. In addition, it’s hard to Google articles about Democratic misconduct unless you know the names you’re looking for.
This is off-topic but the Boston protesters that Twitchy calls the #douchebarrels are getting some much needed blowback from the daughter of a seriously injured, elderly man whose ambulance had to be rerouted, and from the police who are shaming the protesters for wearing adult diapers.
DRJ (a83b8b) — 1/16/2015 @ 8:56 amctually, it’s not clear what he is. He definitely used to be a Democrat.
Might still be, but he didn’t win re-election that way.
The New York Times, described him, in paragraph 2 of its article:
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/15/us/virginia-joseph-morrissey-set-to-serve-in-jail-as-well-as-house.html
as:
He was accused of “having sex with the 17-year-old receptionist at his law firm and carrying nude pictures of her on his cellphone.”
But he claimed, a “spurned female suitor” had hacked the receptionist’s phone. The New York Times does not describe this any further. It sounds like he is saying a female non-friend, or former female friend, had framed him.
By the way he once lost his law license, but got it restored later.
Sammy Finkelman (be6791) — 1/16/2015 @ 9:05 amFrom he New Yorl Times:
Sammy Finkelman (be6791) — 1/16/2015 @ 9:07 amDeclare his jail cell to be his office…
kishnevi (294553) — 1/16/2015 @ 9:27 amTechnically, by the way, the article is right…he is an Independent for election purposes.
He is an independent for all purposes. I am not sure what ties him to the Democratic Party now.
Virginia doesn’t have political party registration, although it might get it:
http://www.nbcwashington.com/blogs/first-read-dmv/Party-Affiliation-Could-be-Coming-to-Virginia-137659823.html
His resignation took effect the day before his successor (himself) was tp be sworn in, so he didn’t miss a paycheck.
Sammy Finkelman (be6791) — 1/16/2015 @ 9:42 am“He is an independent for all purposes. I am not sure what ties him to the Democratic Party now.”
Sammy – Missing the point as usual. It shows how much it takes to be disavowed by the Democrat Party. Now that he switched parties to reclaim his seat you somehow want to claim all his prior sins as a democrat have been flushed down the memory hole. Good luck with that.
daleyrocks (bf33e9) — 1/16/2015 @ 9:54 amNew York State Senator Simcha Felder, elected from a district specially created for him, or somebody like him, is a registered Democrat, and was unpposed in the primary and in the general election.
Sammy Finkelman (be6791) — 1/16/2015 @ 10:03 amDaleyrocks @19.
No, you have a point. All these things happened while he was a Democrfat.
It’s just that in the current matter – the issue of him being sworn in after conviction and while serving a part time jail sentence – he’s not a Democrat there.
Sammy Finkelman (be6791) — 1/16/2015 @ 10:06 amSammy # 21 – why, Sammy ! I am *shocked at you, *shocked*, I tell you !
“All these things happened while he was a Democrfat.” – you just called him an f-in-Democrat !
The first emerging sprout of awareness !
Alastor (2e7f9f) — 1/16/2015 @ 10:55 amPersonally, I find “Democfrat” tends to work well, too, for accuracy …
Alastor (2e7f9f) — 1/16/2015 @ 10:57 am22. 23. That’s just a typo, and was unintended.
If you are talking about that, what do you think of the toll free help number for healthcare.gov (still valid) which is NOT a typo: (it could be an inside joke, or maybe it is the work of God)
1 800 F1-UCK-YOu
Sammy Finkelman (be6791) — 1/16/2015 @ 11:06 amSorry, but it’s true.
Sammy Finkelman (be6791) — 1/16/2015 @ 11:07 amDid they mention that he’s a disbarred lawyer?
askeptic (efcf22) — 1/16/2015 @ 1:06 pmThe New York Times wrote that he got back his law licemnse.
Sammy Finkelman (d22d64) — 1/16/2015 @ 1:13 pmNo one believe the Slimes without hard evidence.
askeptic (efcf22) — 1/16/2015 @ 1:23 pmIt’s just a cost-saving measure… column-inches and server space plus bandwidth cost money.
Therefore, modern journalist standards are that anyone who does (or is accused) of anything bad is assumed to be a Democrat unless otherwise specified.
For example, since I haven’t seen anything indicating that ISIS is *not* comprised of Democrats, current standards are that the terrorist group is an arm of the DNC.
malclave (4f3ec1) — 1/16/2015 @ 2:17 pmFun game to play with liberal family members but they claim it is just coincidence. So I have told the whole lot of them that I have a $20 bill for the first to bring me a link or a clipping of a story where the party is not identified by the end of the second graph, AND they turn out to be a Republican. No winners so far!
Ray Van Dune (d9ea85) — 1/16/2015 @ 4:43 pmAccording to Leviticus the editors at AP are just doing that to boost the bottom line, since AP is a business. Obviously leaving that out increases their profits. So this is just the free market at work.
Gerald A (d65c67) — 1/16/2015 @ 6:46 pm