Name That Political Party!

Via Fox, the AP today "reports" the sudden return of Atlantic City's mysterious missing mayor who apparently lied like a rug about his alleged military service:

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. — Mayor Robert Levy, who's been missing for almost two weeks, is at home after leaving a Somerset County clinic known for treatment of substance abuse and mental health issues, his lawyer said Tuesday.

But once again, after reading and re-reading this report, Wonker is forced conclude that Levy belongs to no discernable political party.

Of course, a bit of sleuthing reveals he's a Democrat. Michelle Malkin has the story, along with reporting similar journalistic thoroughness at the New York Times.

Such "fake but accurate" reportage is the legacy of Dan Rather and the Rathergate Scandal at CBS, who were certainly careful to name the political party of George Bush whilst smearing him with documentable lies from a documentable liar. So it goes in the MSM. Revisit that story here in case you've forgotten.

UPDATE: This just in from Fox News online:

The mayor of Atlantic City has handed in his resignation, after he vanished for two weeks amid allegations that he lied about his military service and illegally collected veterans' benefits, his attorney said Wednesday.

In this report, we further discover that:

Members of the city council had asked a judge to declare the mayor's office vacant and clear the way for the council president William "Speedy" Marsh to take over as interim mayor.

The councilman met with his lawyer Tuesday and prepared to take office "immediately" should Levy's office become vacant, said Marsh's Atlantic City attorney James J. Leonard Jr.

So let's see. Atlantic City's mayor tries to scam the Feds, lies about his service record, resigns under pressure after allegedly seeking "treatment" for whatever ails his truth gland, and City Council members scheme to replace him in a rather swift political power play.

But once again, in the cited report, to which the AP "contributed" (i.e., provided the material via its wire service for later rewrite), never mentions just which political party these hacks belong to.

As we've already discovered, hizzoner (now ex-hizzoner) is indeed, you guessed it, a Democrat. Would the proposed power grabbing "acting mayor," Speedy Marsh, possibly be a Democrat? Who knows? No one in the media wants to say. This report, from the "pressofAtlanticCity.com" implies that's the case, but won't quite come out and state it:

For more than a week, attorneys have scrutinized the complicated state laws that govern vacant positions. While hazy, the consensus among the attorneys and political science experts suggests that City Council President William Marsh would become acting mayor immediately.

The city Democratic Committee then would name three potential replacements at an emergency meeting 15 days after the vacancy is declared. The only requirement: They must be Atlantic City Democrats.

So far, so good. Logic would tell you that if Marsh would become acting mayor and only the city Democrat(ic) Committee would name potential replacements that no Republican is playing in this round. But still no smoking gun on Marsh.

Wandering through the increasingly useless Google search engine (paid placement trumps useful placement every time), we discovered a website providing registration and electoral turnout data that finally outs Mr. Marsh as a Democrat.

Frankly, we don't know whether Marsh is a good guy or not. But if you don't live in Atlantic City, you sure have a heck of a time finding out which political party a guy is in. Particularly if the MSM story you're reading is about a political scandal with a Democrat at the eye of the storm.

If the scandal were whirling about a Republican, however, his party affiliation would be easily available to you, up front and center.

The AP has been particularly egregious lately in committing this kind of sin of omission. But once again, it shows you the subtle methodology that the hard left uses to shape the news to its Marxist ends. This Democrat non-reportage isn't incorrect. It's hardly a lie. It simply omits, ah, inconvenient truths. Thus, the MSM quietly lets Democrats off the hook for the bad things they do, and slowly, surely paints Republicans as the only party around that's corrupt. They're not telling you that directly. But, unless you do a good bit of hunting, you might just reach that conclusion, which is the MSM's desired outcome.

Frankly, there's enough corruption in both parties to go around. We'd be happy if the 'Rats would get full credit for theirs.