Thursday, July 26, 2007

Name That Party: NY Metro Area Edition

Charles Barron, the demagogue fixture of the City Council watched as one of his former lackeys Viola Plummer got tossed from the City Council chambers by the Speaker. He claimed that the speaker, Christine Quinn, was flexing her political muscles and that he would do everything possible to keep her from running for mayor. Quinn claimed that she was abiding by the rules and that only those invited by the Speaker could sit in the Chamber where Plummer had been sitting. Barron also claimed racism, but that gets overlooked every time Barron opens his yapper since that's his MO ever since he arrived on the political scene. He claims every white person is a racist (pot meet kettle).

No mention of political affiliations there, but all are Democrats. They just belong to different political clubs.

Another NYC City Councilman is in hot water. Dennis Gallagher is accused of raping a woman at his district office. The article promptly addresses Gallagher's political affiliation. He notes no charges have been filed and expects to be exonerated.

The ongoing fight between Spitzer, Bruno, and Cuomo continues, and the Times decides to give people a break on which parties the combatants belong to. Yet, this article in the NY Sun focusing on Governor Spitzer declines to mention his party affiliation (Spitzer, Silver and Cuomo are Democrats, Bruno is a Republican).

An investigation definitely needs to be launched into the actions of his administration. Specifically, they need to focus on whether Spitzer knew of the acts of his underlings in launching an investigation of Bruno's travel routines. This has the possibility of ending very badly for Spitzer, and the lasting damage could cripple his remaining term in office. One who would benefit? Andrew Cuomo, who was denied the chance to run for Governor by Spitzer, and instead settled for Attorney General.

How difficult is it to mention political affiliations in the first paragraph or work that detail into the articles? It's not like the Spitzer story happened overnight. There's no excuse for leaving out those details.

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