Think CNN Will Get Around to Covering That Dem Lawmaker Who Had Sex With a 17-Year-Old Boy at a Rest Stop?
Minnesota Democratic State Rep. Kerry Gauthier has had a rough go of it lately. Embroiled in a sex scandal that has attracted the attention of national media outlets, Gauthier has gone from waging a promising reelection bid for his seat, to being caught engaged in oral sex acts at a rest stop with a teenage boy, to pulling out of the race and facing possible expulsion from the Minnesota legislature.
Gauthier does have one place in which he can reliably look for cover on this story however – CNN.
ABC has the latest:
Disgraced Minnesota Democratic State Rep. Kerry Gauthier decided late Wednesday night that he will not seek reelection after he was caught having sexual contact with a 17-year-old. But that hasn’t appeased some at the Minnesota State House — they want to expel Gauthier from the legislature now.
The move to expel Gauthier, so that he cannot serve out the rest of his term, will be started tomorrow, sources tell ABC News.
Last week it was revealed that Rep. Gauthier had engaged in oral sex with a 17-year-old boy at a rest stop in Duluth in July. He has since apologized for the incident, but the political outcry in Minnesota has been swift and strong, some accusing him of being a “child-molester.”
Seems newsworthy, but not so for the so-called worldwide leader in news.
To be fair, CNN has been incredibly busy covering the controversial remarks of Rep. Todd Akin – to the tune of 117 entries on the website as of this post.
Execute the same kind of search for Kerry Gauthier on the site, and you’ll find a lone hit from 2007 that has absolutely nothing to do with the Minnesota lawmaker.
The question has to be asked – What is the more newsworthy event here, the asinine comments of Akin speaking about “legitimate rape”, or the fact that a lawmaker engaged in a sex act with a boy nearly four decades his junior; an act that would have been considered legitimate statutory rape in about 12 other states?
We’re guessing CNN’s defense would be that Gauthier is not a national politician, in contrast to Akin. And yet every other major network has covered the story in some manner, including Fox News, MSNBC, ABC, CBS, the Huffington Post, etc.
So why has CNN avoided the scandal and instead had a laser-like focus on the Akin story? Is it nothing more than the placement of a ‘D’ in front of Gauthier’s name that has the network burying the story?
Breaking: Santorum Scores Big With Three State Sweep
Rick Santorum has slowed the Mitt Romney streak in GOP primaries with a surge of his own tonight, scoring victories in both Minnesota and Missouri. He also leads in Colorado, but the contest is currently too close to call.
Is this a game-changer, or simply a bump in the road for Romney?
UPDATE:
Fox News is reporting that Rick Santorum has also won in Colorado. From their breaking news ticker:
“Colorado Republican Party Says Rick Santorum Wins Colorado Caucuses”
From MSNBC (updated):
Rick Santorum scored victories in the Minnesota, Missouri, and Colorado nominating contests Tuesday night, winning him no actual delegates, but nonetheless blocking Mitt Romney’s bid to keep alive a streak of victories in the Republican presidential primary.
NBC News declared Santorum the projected winner of the Missouri primary, the Minnesota caucus, and the Colorado caucus. NBC will not be allocating any delegates from Missouri, Minnesota, or Colorado to Santorum in its projected count.
Romney finished third in Minnesota, a state where he won its 2008 caucuses, and where a key campaign surrogate, Tim Pawlenty, served two terms as governor.
CNN adds:
Rick Santorum won the Missouri primary and Minnesota caucuses Tuesday in results that reshaped the Republican presidential race by raising questions about frontrunner Mitt Romney’s ability to attract broad conservative support.
The former Pennsylvania senator was also leading in the Colorado caucuses, and would score a major upset over the front-running Romney if the trend held.
…
The victory in a state Romney won in his unsuccessful 2008 presidential bid was a strong statement by Santorum that he represents a major conservative challenge to the former Massachusetts governor and Gingrich, the former House speaker.
And from Fox News:
Romney is still ahead in the delegate count, despite Santorum’s big night. But Santorum’s victories disrupt the narrative that the GOP presidential contest had become a two-person race between Gingrich and Romney.
In his victory speech, Santorum said “Conservatism is alive and well in Missouri and Minnesota.”
Question is, is it alive and well in the rest of the country?
“I don’t stand here and claim to be the conservative alternative to Mitt Romney,” Santorum declared. “I stand here to be the conservative alternative to Barack Obama.”
Michelle Malkin makes two great points:
If Santorum sweeps these critical battleground states tonight, he will have won more states than “frontrunner” Mitt Romney (he has snagged three states).Nothing is inevitable in politics.Also noteworthy: Santorum is doing this with just a fraction of Mitt Romney’s money.
Money can take you far, but just like Mitt Romney learned in 2008 and is learning again, it can’t seal the deal
MMA Fighter Getting Beat Up Over Obama Remarks
Jacob Volkmann is a mixed martial arts fighter who also works as an assistant wrestling coach at the White Bear Lake School District in Minnesota.
Recently, Volkmann cracked an obvious joke about President Obama. A relatively tame joke at that.
The lesson the school decided to teach their kids? Exercise free speech and you may pay a price. Volkmann has been suspended from his job.
Fox News has reported on the overreaction…
Jacob Volkmann, 31, of White Bear Lake, Minn., said he was placed on paid administrative leave on Friday by the White Bear Lake School District after he invited Obama to make an appointment with him for a “glass-ectomy” on Dec. 30.
“A glass-ectomy is when you cut your belly button out and put a piece of glass in there so when you have your head up your butt you can see where you’re going,” Volkmann told a reporter following his victory over Efrain Escudero at UFC 141.
If anything, Volkmann should be sent to a comedy club to work on his material. The joke is terrible.
Gene Policinski, senior vice president and executive director of the First Amendment Center, puts things in context:
“That sounds more like a vulgar remark than a threat, at least on the surface,” Policinski said of Volkmann’s “glass-ectomy” comment. “The First Amendment doesn’t mandate civility, even though we may wish it did. One person’s vulgarity is another person’s off-handed remark.”
Overreaction, or proper punishment?
Mental Recession 