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00Publius Contributor - Crime - Democrats/Leftists - Immigration/Immigrants - Media Bias - News - Security/Safety - The Law - Warner Todd Huston

AP Forgets to Mention Identity Thief is an Illegal Alien

February 24, 2008 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

I hate to say it, but for a “news” service that is supposed to thrive on the “facts,” the Associated Press sure seems to leave out an awful lot of them in their wire stories. We’ve seen dozens of examples of that when they conveniently forget to mention the political party affiliation when a public servant caught up in crime or scandal and happens to be a Democrat. We have also seen the AP somehow forget to mention when a criminal happens to be an illegal alien. Well, here is yet anther case where a crime is committed by an illegal and the AP seems to have developed amnesia about the fact that the criminal is an illegal alien.

In AP’s report headlined “Man Accused of Stealing 7-Year-Old’s ID”, the AP gives us the tale of a 7-year-old boy who’s Soc. Sec. # was stolen, the theft discovered when the boy’s mother tried to file her taxes. Their report is short and interestingly lacking one little detail…

CARPENTERSVILLE, Ill. (AP) — Police in a Chicago suburb say the Internal Revenue Service has told a 7-year-old boy he owes back taxes on $60,000 because someone else has been using the youngster’s identity to collect wages and unemployment benefits.

Officers in suburban Carpentersville said Friday the second-grader’s identity has been in use by someone else since 2001.

Detectives have filed a felony identity theft charge against 29-year-old Cirilo Centeno of Streamwood, Ill.

OK, folks, take a wild guess what the legal status of our nefarious Mr. Cirilo Centeno is?

Well, you might be able to guess, but the AP sure isn’t going to help you much. To fill out the facts of the case, we need to turn to the Chicago Daily Herald which reports that one tiny, little missing fact…(my emphasis)

Centeno said he bought the card for $50 from a friend and used it because he is in the country illegally, police said.

Gosh, what a surprise, eh?

Now, why is it that the AP felt it necessary to omit the fact that their criminal subject is an illegal alien? Is it not germane to the story? If they don’t think so, how do they justify that claim?

Continue reading “AP Forgets to Mention Identity Thief is an Illegal Alien”

00Publius Contributor - Crime - Democrats/Leftists - GOP - Media Bias - News - Society/Culture - Warner Todd Huston

AP Notes Criminal Politician’s Party At Last… of Course He’s a Republican!

February 15, 2008 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

In today’s second Media story about a criminal politician, we don’t have to play “Democrat or Not?” because we are told right away what the criminal politician’s party affiliation is in nearly every story available. Naturally, the criminal in question is a Republican. I know, it’s so surprising that the MSM is not shy about ballyhooing a criminal politician’s party if he’s a Republican, right?

A member of the Maryland House, Robert McKee, has been caught up in an investigation of child pornography. Terrible charges and, if true, the fellow should be locked away in the deepest hole. But, what party is he from? Ah, the AP is happy to let you know:

The FBI says its cyber crimes unit is assisting Washington County authorities in an investigation of state Delegate Robert McKee.

The cyber crimes unit includes investigations of child pornography.

FBI spokesman Richard Wolf says the Washington County Sheriff’s Department requested the agency’s help after searching the Republican delegate’s home in Halfway earlier this month.

Then there is the second version of the AP story where we get that party ID in the very first sentence.

A Republican delegate from Washington County has resigned after authorities conducted a search of his home.

The local news gets into the act with a story from the Herald-Mail’s second paragraph.

McKee, a Republican who represented Washington County, said in a statement released on House of Delegates letterhead, tht the Washington County Sheriff’s Department executed a search warrant at his home on Jan. 31 and seized his personal computer and other items, including images that are available on the Internet.

So, when contrasted with the story of DUI guilty plead by Tennessee’s Bob Briley, we can see how the MSM in general and the AP in particular is so unequal in their policy of how they report party affiliations.

Continue reading “AP Notes Criminal Politician’s Party At Last… of Course He’s a Republican!”

00Publius Contributor - Crime - Democrats/Leftists - Media Bias - News - Security/Safety - Society/Culture - Warner Todd Huston

AP: Tenn. Pol. Pleads Guilty to DUI… Democrat or Not?

February 15, 2008 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

You know, if the Associated Press ever straightens up and starts reporting the news like a truly unbiased news agency it would ruin our little game of “Democrat or Not?” Fortunately for us, it doesn’t seem like the AP is going to go legitimate any time soon and our little game can go on ad infinitum. Today our game is being hosted in the Tennessee House of Representatives where State Representative Bob Briley pleaded guilty to a DUI from last September.

The AP gives us the low down on the lowlife with all the details… except one.

State Rep. Rob Briley of Nashville has pleaded guilty to leaving the scene of an accident and property damage prior to leading authorities on a high-speed chase last September… Authorities said he struck the rear of a truck and then left the scene.

Now, you know how our game is played. We find a story about a politician who breaks the law or is caught up in some criminal activity or scandal. Then we canvass several stories to see how often the press mentions the party affiliation of the perp in question. Usually, if it is a Democrat, the party is rarely mentioned, if a Republican from that “culture of corruption” we are all so familiar with… well, not surprisingly, Republicans are pegged to their party in almost every case.

Admittedly, this particular story is not the stuff of national news. A local pol gets popped for a DUI and a hit and run — not really very big stuff there. Most of the published stories about Rep. Briley’s DUI have come from inside the state. And so far, the only outside news source that has mentioned this newest story is the AP. Naturally, as is their wont, the AP does not mention the fact that Bob Briley is a Democrat.

Now the local sources don’t often mention Briley is a Dem either, but It may be unsurprising that a local news source wouldn’t mention the party of an accused or convicted politician. Perhaps they might expect the locals to already know such information? Still, it is amusing that they don’t treat Republicans with such expectations. Whether the people know the politician in question or not, he is nearly always called a Republican should he happen to be one. But, being a national news service, the AP couldn’t expect everyone to just know that Briley is a Democrat. The AP should have mentioned the man’s party. Of course, they did not.

Continue reading “AP: Tenn. Pol. Pleads Guilty to DUI… Democrat or Not?”

00Publius Contributor - Democrats/Leftists - Media Bias - Morals/Sex - News - Warner Todd Huston

Gov’s Aide in Sex Assault on Boy… Democrat or Not?

February 10, 2008 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

Hello and welcome to today’s episode of “Democrat or Not?” Today we have the sordid tale of a “top official” in Governor Deval Patrick’s administration in Massachusetts who is accused of sexual misconduct with a minor in Florida. Oh, the story is filled with all sorts of details… well, all the details but one, of course.

Yes, folks, the AP gives us all the “relevant” facts:

A top official in Gov. Deval Patrick’s administration is accused of sexually assaulting a boy in the steam room of a Florida resort and has been placed on unpaid leave… Carl Stanley McGee, the assistant secretary for policy and planning, was arrested Dec. 28 after the suspected assault at the Gasparilla Inn and Club in Boca Grande, according to the Lee County Sheriff’s Office.

The AP story goes on to tell us that McGee met the boy at a resort at which they were both staying, how he chatted the underaged boy up one day and met him for oral sex in the resort’s steam bath facility the next. The AP even lets us all know that McGee “made $115,000 as a state employee,” and that he “worked at Boston law firms before joining the administration.”

We even get this bit of salacious detail from the AP story:

His marriage to John Finley IV in November 2005 was featured in The New York Times’ Vows column.

So, this well-publicized homosexual, state employee gets all his relevant data revealed by the AP in their story. Well… maybe not. You see, there is one little descriptive word that the AP seems to have forgotten in their avalanche of McGee’s resume.

And that word is DEMOCRAT.

Continue reading “Gov’s Aide in Sex Assault on Boy… Democrat or Not?”

00Publius Contributor - Crime - Democrats/Leftists - GOP - Media Bias - News - Society/Culture - The Law - Warner Todd Huston

AP Finally Reports Party Label Over Corruption… Guess Which Party?

February 5, 2008 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

Imagine this! We get to play our favorite game twice in the same day! Yes, it’s time once again for “Democrats or Not,” where we read an MSM story about corruption in politics and try to determine which party the perp is from… because the MSM won’t tell us — usually, that is.

This is a very special edition of “Democrats or Not,” because this time we don’t have to guess which party the violator in question is from. Amazingly, unexpectedly, we have finally found a story where the AP has found the temerity to list the perp’s party affiliation. And we can thank the AP for their bravery in, “Judge Grills E-Mail-Deleting Texas DA.”

An embattled prosecutor (District Attorney Chuck Rosenthal) facing a contempt charge for deleting e-mails was grilled Friday by a federal judge who said he should have known better than to erase material he had been ordered to turn over.

An outrage, I tell you. So, what party does this dastardly, low down, sidewindin’, fourflusher belong to? Which party has the AP valiantly blown the whistle on? (my emphasis)

Since the e-mails were made public, the Republican district attorney has been forced to abort his re-election bid and has faced almost daily calls to resign, including from hundreds of protesters who crowded the courtroom Thursday after marching from his office to federal court.

And there you have it. Story after story has the AP given us where they seem to forget to mention which party their monstrous perpetrator is from. We have detailed so many of those stories here for you. Democrat after Democrat after Democrat has gone unidentified by the AP and other MSM outlets in such stories.

Continue reading “AP Finally Reports Party Label Over Corruption… Guess Which Party?”

00Publius Contributor - Crime - Democrats/Leftists - Elections - Media Bias - News - Society/Culture - The Law - Warner Todd Huston

Texas Vote Fraud Charges, Were They Democrats? AP Won’t Say

February 5, 2008 by 1 Comment

-By Warner Todd Huston

Yes, ladies and gentlemen thanks for tuning in to our next episode of “Democrats or Not?” Our favorite game where we read a story highlighting corruption, fraud, and crime by a public official or party member and then we try to guess which Party the perps are from… because the MSM won’t tell us.

Today’s tale come from the Associated Press and concerns charges laid against 4 Duval County, Texas residents who are charged with making up fake mail-in ballots during the 2006 primary. It appears that Lydia Molina, Maria “Kena” Soriano, Elva Lazo, and Maria Trigo are charged with a Class B misdemeanor for possession and handling of ballots assigned to another person.

As the AP tells us the tale:

The defendants are accused of delivering mail-in ballot applications to Duval County residents who were ineligible to vote by mail, according to the news release. Only those who are disabled, 65 or older, or expect to be out of the county during an election are eligible to vote by mail.

The news release says that once the ballots were sent to the residents and completed, the defendants allegedly retrieved them and mailed them to the registrar to be counted without identifying themselves on the carrier envelope.

Well, nasty business that. But, what do we spy is missing from this sordid little tale? Why it’s a party affiliation isn’t it?

We get no party mention in the AP story or the San Antonio Express-News report.

So, how do we find out if these nefarious vote fraud agents are demented Democrats or wascally Republicans?
Continue reading “Texas Vote Fraud Charges, Were They Democrats? AP Won’t Say”

00Publius Contributor - Democrats/Leftists - Media Bias - Military - News - President - Security/Safety - Society/Culture - Warner Todd Huston

Reported Bush Lied ‘Study’ Not Revealed as Funded By George Soros

January 23, 2008 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

With Video posted at end of story…

Well, the AP has done it again. They have given us leftist propaganda and painted it as news. This time they have published the results of a “study” that claims that “Bush lied” in the run up to the actions in Iraq and somehow the AP forgot to mention that the organization that released this study was funded by the extreme leftist George Soros who has spent billions funding the Democrat Party and many far left think tank and advocacy organizations. Yeah, THAT study is going to be legitimate!

This one may as well have been just a reprint of the press release of the Soros funded Center for Public Integrity, but the AP dressed it up as an actual story written by Douglass K. Daniel. Headlined “Study: False statements preceded war,” the AP reveals how, “A study by two nonprofit journalism organizations found that President Bush and top administration officials issued hundreds of false statements about the national security threat from Iraq in the two years following the 2001 terrorist attacks.”

What AP forgets to mention is that the “two nonprofit journalism organizations” can hardly be imagined to be impartial. The Center for Public Integrity (CPI) is funded by well-known leftist, George Soros, as well as the Streisand Foundation, the Ford Foundation, and the Los Angeles Times Foundation — all of which are exclusively left in political philosophy. Even more ridiculously, the second of these “non-profit journalism organizations” shares most of its board members with the first. So, the Fund for Independence in Journalism can hardly be considered a separate entity from the CPI.

The AP merely spews the claims form this study as if they are real news, but much of the APs story is disingenuous as is the “study.”

“It is now beyond dispute that Iraq did not possess any weapons of mass destruction or have meaningful ties to al-Qaida,” according to Charles Lewis and Mark Reading-Smith of the Fund for Independence in Journalism staff members, writing an overview of the study. “In short, the Bush administration led the nation to war on the basis of erroneous information that it methodically propagated and that culminated in military action against Iraq on March 19, 2003.”

Two things here. First, few people now think Saddam had WMDs, of course. But nearly everyone thought he had them before we went into Iraq — including the leadership of every nation on the planet as well as Saddam’s own generals. So, it was not a “lie” if it was commonly thought to be true by nearly every head of state in the world. That saddam had WMDs may have been a mistaken notion, but it was not a lie before it was known for sure!

Secondly, it is interesting that this “study” claims that Bush “lied” about links with al-Qaida. Yet even they have to massage that claim of a lie into “meaningful ties to al-Qaida.” This means that even they are admitting that there are ties with al-Qaida but that they aren’t “meaningful.”

Does that mean the “lie” is not that the ties exist but how “meaningful” they are? Instead of a lie we are squabbling over semantics. In essence, Bush DIDN’T lie about ties to al-Qaida, the is just a debate on how “meaningful” those ties are.

In these very first two instances, Bush’s “lies” turn out not to be lies at all.

Continue reading “Reported Bush Lied ‘Study’ Not Revealed as Funded By George Soros”

00Publius Contributor - Democrats/Leftists - Elections - Media Bias - News - Society/Culture - Warner Todd Huston

AP’s Puff Piece on Chris Matthews ‘the Target’ For Far Left?

January 16, 2008 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

We are in the middle of an intense election cycle, we all know. Both parties are, for the first time in many years, completely undecided as to which of their candidates is “the” candidate. It’s pretty exciting for a political junkie. So, what does the Associated Press give us? What political news is of the utmost importance to help us all in this supremely important decision, so urgent that the AP felt we needed to know about it? Why, it’s that Chris Matthews has made a few lefties mad at him for helping Hillary win in New Hampshire, of course! The AP is trying to drum up sympathy for Matthews who is supposedly on the receiving end of a “backlash” for his supposed attacks on hillary Clinton.

Chris Matthews a target for people who believe media backlash helped Hillary Clinton

He’s become the target for critics who think a backlash against the media played a part in Hillary Clinton’s surprise win in New Hampshire. Chris Matthews laughs off that idea, and insists he has a lot of respect for her.

Geeze, give me a break.

So, we get a puff piece on that well-known and extremely important politician named Chris Matthews, huh? Yeah, I know Matthews is neither a politician, nor integral in the scheme of decision making for the presidency, nor even particularly relevant to much of anything. Yet, the AP gives us a two page puff piece on how Chris Matthews is being dealt a “backlash” from people who think that the media unduly attacked Hillary before her win in New Hampshire. Seriously… who cares? I mean, we have important political doings here, these days, and the AP gives us a piece on Chris Matthews as if what is going on with him is somehow pertinent to the decision we all have to make as voters.

The AP is also trying to paint Matthews as some sort of “hard hitting” watchdog keeping politicians, in particular Mrs. Clinton, honest. Yes, he is the bane of the left, a thorn in their side… no, he’s not one of them at all! No, they really mean it. Why Chris has even said negative things about Hillary before!

Continue reading “AP’s Puff Piece on Chris Matthews ‘the Target’ For Far Left?”

00Publius Contributor - Democrats/Leftists - Media Bias - News - Warner Todd Huston

Ask AP? Wanna Bet They Never Get to OUR Questions?

January 15, 2008 by

-By Warner Todd Huston

The AP “wants your questions.” No, really… I’m serious. With their continued roll out of “AP 2.0” (as I reported on here) the Associated Press wants you to email them with all those nagging questions you have about the news and current events. If you see or read a story from the AP and you are curious about something, drop ’em a line.

Do you read about world events online and wish you could click on a Tell Me More button? Do you watch newscasts, read blogs and download news podcasts, only to end up frustrated by a question that’s left ringing in your head?

Here’s your chance to get some answers from the people who really know the news: journalists at the world’s largest newsgathering organization.

The AP is not playin’, man. They are serious that these “journalists” are the ones who “really know the news.” Of course, the main reason they “really know the news” is because they make it up themselves! So, they outta know. Ya know?

OK, you wise guys, out there. If you can stop laughing I will continue this little report.

In any case, the AP wants to enrich your AP experience. No more will they just be relegating themselves to lying in one sitting. Now you can come back several times for spin and fiction over and over. It’s a veritable bacchanalia of “answers” we’ve got going here.

Continue reading “Ask AP? Wanna Bet They Never Get to OUR Questions?”